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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

One of my favourite tasks in the Mar Lodge calendar - adjusting the budcaps for another year. They (very successfully) prevent deer nibbling the leading shoots of regenerating pines.....but the main reason I love this task is cos we get to spend time in the Beachan Wood 🙂 #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm tempted to say it was a proper autumnal morning with lashing rain and gale force winds....but the weird warm air made it more like a post-tropical storm in summer! Felt all kinds of wrong. Anyway.....the afternoon cleared up a treat for work in the Quoich with our volunteers 🙂 #rangerdailydiary

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Reposted by Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲

London & Southeast🔅 @thesnowdreamer.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Historically late tropical night unknown for time of year. Still needs to be confirmed Heathrow fell just short 19.9C but seems inner London, St James’s Park stayed above 20C.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

18C in Aviemore at 5am this morning, 11C above normal for the time of year. And with gale force winds and heavy rain, this really doesn’t bode well for the last tiny wee patch of snow in the Cairngorms.

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Reposted by Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲

London & Southeast🔅 @thesnowdreamer.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A summer night 25 hours away from October, temps will not fall much overnight, lows of 19-20C are expected in London a potentially historic night.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Sounds a bit lively outside this evening. It's lovely hearing the wind wrapping around the house 🙂

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Went back to an old haunt from the late 90s / early 2000s the other day. I've always loved this pub....but seeing this particualr sign proudly displayed on the bar just made me love it all the more 😆🥰

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Lovely lofty Cotswolds walking the other day. Soooooo many stones in those walls! 😵‍💫

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Just the 9.5hrs to drive home today 😵‍💫 It's been a wonderful week down in the tropical south, but there's nothing quite like coming home to Braemar.....especially on an evening like this! The trees are all a bit browner, and the stags are roaring! 🦌😀

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

21C down here in Evesham today. Back up in the Lomond Hills......just 9C!

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

I don't mind saying this stretch of the North Downs Way was a little unsettling, on account of it looking like every single Viking / Medieval / GoT scene where unsuspecting travellers get marauded and robbed 😆

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

An unseasonal 25C yesterday for a 12km stretch of the North Downs Way. Crazy beautiful paths in this part of Surrey but BUSY! Not mobbed, but certainly busy enough that you can't ever really stop to pee cos someone will almost definitely appear if you try. And they did 😆

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

As England's most wooded county it's hard not to like Surrey. A beguiling mix of broadleaf, pine, heather and heath. I've been visiting family here for decades but yesterday was the first time I'd actually visited Horsell Common's famous sandpit, where HG Wells's Martians landed!! 🛸

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Still 20C here in Surrey this evening, whereas back home at Mar Lodge it's already down to 9C.

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Reposted by Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲

Roddy P @butnoidea.co.uk · 23/09/2026

They migrate south to warmer climes at this time of year.☹️

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A familiar sight, albeit 400 miles south of where I'm usually used to seeing them.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Yesterday I found myself in the RHS Garden at Wisley......and so naturally I had to make a pilgrimage to one of the celebrity sites of the Met Office weather station world 😆. Wisley recently recorded 62 days without rain, one of the longest such dry spells recorded in the UK.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Warm down here in Worcs / Gloucs but not crazy so, down into single figures at night, and the light is beautiful. Soooooo different to home so feels like a proper holiday even though it's just a family visit. D'ya know, it's like it's another country or something 😉

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

I've said it before and I'll say it again. There are pubs.....and then there are pubs 😉😎🍺

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Marshalling for the stone airlift last week. It can be a day of just standing around but it never really gets old watching the precision with which these pilots operate 👍. But let's be honest, the Quoich is a beautiful place to stand for a day 😉 #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

It's been a tiring but grand day on An Diollaid with our volunteers, clearing around 90 water bars and cross-drains 🙂 #rangerdailydiary

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Reposted by Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲

Simon Lee @simonleewx.com · 15/09/2026

Spotted some awesome fluctus clouds (Kelvin–Helmholtz waves) earlier this evening

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

The weather just about cooperated long enough for us to complete today's stone lift in the Quoich 🙂 As usual, I spent much of the day in awe at the skill of these pilots. #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Spent today getting everything ready for heli-lift tomorrow. Pegging-out the locations for stone drops, and then of course getting all the advisory signage sorted. Now just need the weather to cooperate! 😬 #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I'm very much the winter fan, but when we get to September and we get those bright, luminous days with a blue sky, a cold start, a bit of mist in the morning and bronze colours in late afternoon.....well, there's not much that compares, to be honest 🙂 A really beautiful day on Deeside. 😀😎

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

This is getting silly now 😆🐍. 6 separate adder encounters in 2 days!! All on vehicle tracks or roads, which again highlights just how important it is to keep an eye on what is on the road in front of you. Be kind and don't rush!! 🚘🙂 🐍 #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Two more adder encounters at work today, both on estate tracks and both within 2 mins of one another. Size is hard to discern when there are few reference objects to compare with, but you can get a sense from the way they move. This one was small, barely 20cm. #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

One of my favourite parts of my favourite glen. The regeneration is well advanced with a good broadleaf / pine mix, standing deadwood and huge fallen trees in the river. It's a very dynamic place, always changing.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Couldn't have asked for a nicer morning for this month's riverfly survey....although....a bit more of a breeze might have been useful to keep the midges at bay! #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Does anyone remember that beautiful time on Facebook, back in the 2010s, when if you didn't follow anyone or anything, your news feed was completely blank? Oh the nostalgia!

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I'd planned on going through to Keiloch and maybe having a stroll around Ballochbuie......but then I thought....there's no place like home 😉

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Last gasp of this year's heather...... And just a modest, breezy high of 15C today 🙂 Nice walking temperature with a bit of drizzle thrown in.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Fascinating to see the Dee floodplain restoration work progressing. The entire embankment is being removed to reconnect the river to the bulk of the strath, but they've also created new scrapes/lochans to hold water upstream longer and provide new habitat. They're already filling up 👍

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Yet another young adder on a road today. I've genuinely lost count of how many I've seen this year. Fantastic year for them 🐍🙂 #rangerdailydiary

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Lovely to see Creag Bhalg become ever so slightly more alpine with every passing year. The pines up here look bushier and denser than lower down the hill - they have to keep all the growth close cos it's such a harsh environment. They're getting there, but you can see they mostly grow eastwards 😉

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

It was very much autumn up above 600m this afternoon. Just look at those colours!! 🌈🙂

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Reposted by Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲

Ramblers Scotland @ramblersscotland.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Please report any problems you experience while trying to responsibly access North Chesthill Estate in Glen Lyon, Perthshire. That includes any unreasonable online advice or physical signs and barriers. Simply email @perthandkinross.bsky.social via outdooraccess@pkc.gov.uk More below.⤵️

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Estate defies access warnings - TFN

Hillwalkers to stay away from the hills north of Invervar

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

More detail needed on this. Whose helicopters are they? Are Scottish based heli companies going to be paid their daily rate to sit around waiting when they have other scheduled work for clients? 🤔 Are there enough trained pilots? Bit confused at the moment.

cairngorms.co.uk

Park Authority welcomes Ministerial Statement on wildfires

3 September 2026

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Looooong day, walking out to Corrour and then clearing 80 drains on the path up Bod an Deamhain. Great to have a 10-strong work party though! #rangerdailydiary.

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Slowly but surely, this is how it starts. Birches looking as though someone has spilled yellow paint from a great height 😀🍂

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Such a beauty 🙂 Just one of three adders I encountered this week. Three in two days, in fact, and all three I stopped in front of in a vehicle cos I wasn't sure whether it was a stick or a snake on the road. 🐍

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Ben Dolphin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️⛰🌲 @countrysideben.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Impromptu short cycle today cos I've been office-bound all week compiling a talk for an event next week.....but 'impromptu short' inadvertently turned into 38km plus more than an hour chatting to three groups of familiar faces as I was cycling through Braemar 🙂

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