Corrie Fee

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Coordinates: 56°51′41″N 3°13′44″W / 56.86139°N 3.22889°W / 56.86139; -3.22889
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Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)[1]
The Corrie of Fee
Map showing the location of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve
Map showing the location of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve
LocationKirriemuir, Angus, Scotland
Coordinates56°51′41″N 3°13′44″W / 56.86139°N 3.22889°W / 56.86139; -3.22889
Area164 ha (410 acres)[2]
Established2005
Governing bodyNatureScot
Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve

Corrie Fee is a glacier-carved

Angus Glens of Scotland. It forms part of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve (NNR), which is managed by NatureScot and lies within the Cairngorms National Park. The adjoining Corrie Sharroch and the slopes of Craig Rennet are also included in the NNR.[2]

The corrie is considered to be one of the finest examples of a glacial corrie in the British Isles, with its steep cliffs forming a natural amphitheatre.

arctic-alpine plants, including the largest area of montane willow scrub in Scotland, which is found at Corrie Sharroch.[4] The importance of the area's flora has been recognised by botanists since the 18th Century, and the site is now protected by numerous national and international conservation designations.[3]

Geology and geomorphology

Morraines in Corrie Fee

Corrie Fee has a complex geology, consisting of many different types of rock. Underlying the area are metamorphic rocks known as Dalradian rocks, which were formed around 600 million years ago during a period when the continent of Laurentia, which included Scotland and North America, began to collide with two other continents, Baltica (modern Scandinavia) and Avalonia (modern England). Dalradian rocks tend to be acidic, however at Corrie Fee there are also more basic rocks that are derived from muddy lime-rich sediments and volcanic material. These basic rocks are easily eroded, and form calcium-rich soils that support many lime-loving plants. The corrie also has outcrops of amphibolite, and intrusions of magma have formed sills that have a similar composition to the amphibolite.[5]

The current landscape of the Scottish Highlands was largely formed during the last ice age. At Corrie Fee, small independent glaciers cut corries during the last period of the Ice Age, called the Loch Lomond Readvance, when the weight and movement of the ice ground out the bottom and wore back the sides of the corrie to produce the steep, U-shape amphitheatre of cliffs evident today. The glaciers deposited the eroded spoil as moraines. There are several types of moraine on the corrie floor, including lateral boulder moraines, fluted moraines below the corrie lip, and hummocky moraines. The presence of these moraines has led the Fee Burn to take a highly meandering path through the lower corrie.[6]

Flora and fauna

Heath Spotted Orchid
in Corrie Fee

The Corrie Fee NNR supports Scotland's largest area of montane willow scrub, which is found in Corrie Sharroch in the southern part of the reserve. This type of habitat is one of the rarest and most endangered in the UK, and is now found only in the higher mountains of the Scottish Highlands, chiefly in the central Highlands. It survives as an example of the typical vegetation of the post-glacial period, growing on moist, relatively base-rich soils: due to the effects of grazing by red deer and sheep it is now only found on lightly grazed areas such as ledges, steep rocky slopes or boulder fields. In 2009, following fears that the montane willow scrub plants were isolated and unable to reproduce, more than 800 young montane willow shrubs were planted in the NNR by Scottish Natural Heritage and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.[3][4][7]

Many other rare plants are also found at Corrie Fee. These include

oblong woodsia.[8]

Many species of mountain birds, including

field vole and wood mouse.[9] Over-grazing by deer is known to be detrimental to many of the rare plants present in the NNR, and in 1991 a fence was erected to enclose an area of around 60 ha in Corrie Sharroch. Efforts have also been made to reduce deer numbers across the wider Caenlochan area in order to reduce grazing pressure by agreement with neighbouring estates.[10]

Conservation designations

Corrie Fee first became part of a National Nature Reserve in 1961, when the Caenlochan NNR was designated. This NNR covered a much wider area than the current reserve, and was mostly under private ownership. In 1985 the Nature Conservancy Council, the predecessor organisation to SNH, purchased 164 ha of land within the NNR at Corrie Fee and Corrie Sharroch. In 2000 SNH began a review of NNRs, reflecting the fact that other conservation designations now offered stronger protection than was previously available: this resulted in the NNR being reduced and renamed in 2005, with the new Corrie Fee NNR being confined to the area under SNH ownership.[11] The Corrie Fee NNR is classified as a Category VI protected area by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.[1]

The wider Caenlochan area continues to have statutory protection as a Special Area of Conservation,[12][13] a Site of Special Scientific Interest,[14] and a Special Protection Area for upland breeding birds.[15] A second SPA designation, Cairngorms Massif, also covers the area of the NNR.[16]

Corrie Fee also lies within the Cairngorms National Park and the Deeside and Lochnagar National Scenic Area.[17]

Visitors

Around 14,000 visitors visit the Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve each year.

Dreish.[21]

Corrie Fee is a noted location for winter climbing, with many short routes.[22] NatureScot have expressed concerns that climbing on routes in the spring may disturb breeding raptors.[18]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "Corrie Fee". Protected Planet. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Corrie Fee NNR". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  3. ^ a b c The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 2.
  4. ^ a b The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 10.
  5. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. pp. 7-8.
  6. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 9.
  7. ^ "Montane scrub and treeline woodlands". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  8. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. pp. 11-12.
  9. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. pp. 13-14.
  10. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 18.
  11. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. pp. 17-18.
  12. ^ "Caenlochan". Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 22 July 2008.
  13. ^ "Caenlochan SAC". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  14. ^ "Caenlochan SSSI". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  15. ^ "Caenlochan SPA". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Cairngorms Massif SPA". NatureScot. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  17. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 5.
  18. ^ a b c The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p. 19.
  19. ^ The Story of Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve. p.4.
  20. ^ "Visit Corrie Fee National Nature Reserve" (PDF). Scottish Natural Heritage. 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  21. ISBN 9780907521945
    .
  22. ^ "Coire Fee, Glen Clova". www.ukclimbing.com. Retrieved 15 January 2019.

Bibliography

External links

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