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Wildlife at Scolty Woodland Park Blackhall Forest
Aberdeenshire
Scotland
Banchory, Auchattie, and Strachan are the nearest towns or villages.
OS Grid Reference: NO 660 950
 Scolty Woodland Park forms the eastern end of the long forest of Blackhall. The Park has four waymarked walks as well as lots of small paths. Scolty Wood is managed with the help of the local community, through Scolty Woodland Park Association, and is very popular with local people and visitors alike.
Mammals: Red squirrels thrive in this mainly conifer wood. They are able to survive on the tiny conifer seeds protected inside woody cones. The red squirrels long front teeth make short work of the hard cones - look out for the remains of chewed cones on the ground, which will show you where a squirrel has been feeding!
If you would like to see bats during the warm summer evenings, keep looking up as you walk along the forest roads. Pipistrelles fly regularly up and down these breaks in the canopy, searching for insects. We have information about Red squirrel and Roe deer
Birds: Throughout the year, as you walk from the shelter of the woodland out to the edge of the forest, listen out for the lonely call of the buzzard as it soars over forest and hill.
If you get frustrated this summer, trying to recognise all the small brown birds which zoom from the dense cover on one side of the path to the other, why not learn to identify these birds by their calls? It adds a new interest to the music of the dawn chorus, when you realise that the tiny bird you are listening to has flown all the way from Africa to nest here!
Insects and reptiles: Many small woodland birds like the treecreeper in the photograph live by eating insects and spiders. Summer is a time of plenty, and many species time their broods to coincide whent he greatest number of caterpillars can be found.
In winter things are much more difficult, as the insects which are still around have retreated deep into the cracks and crevices of tree trunks and old mossy trees. Treecreepers and coal tits have small sharp beaks which allows them to probe into cracks and under bark, seeking out the insect larvae in their winter retreat. Habitats: This mainly coniferous woodland is a mosaic of trees, open space, young planted broadleaves and marshland.
How to get there:
Scolty lies to the south of Banchory, just over the River Dee. There is a car park there, or people can walk in from Banchory.
Local Weather Forecast (Multimap) Enter through:
Scolty Car Park
Facilities:
  Activities:
   
Other places to go in Blackhall Forest
Blackhall
Contact:
Liz Wallace
01466 794161
e-mail: liz.wallace@forestry.gsi.gov.uk
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Did you know Within the woodland are moss-covered ruins, remnants of when the land was farmed.
What else is here
Find out more
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