2022 County Report for West Inverness-shire

Ian Strachan & Ian Bonner

In 2022 more than 11,400 records were made or received. The year’s activities included two very successful Field Meetings: Sithean Mor/Ardnish, near Arisaig, in June, and Corrour Estate in July. The first was a weekend meeting with 12 botanists taking part; our primary aim of finding Diapensia lapponica (Diapensia) was not met but many good plants were found in amazing weather (see report in 2023 Yearbook). At Corrour we had a full week in July courtesy of the Estate, following a similar event in 2009. 17 botanists participated for all or part of the week and collected more than 6,000 records, with many notable finds, such as the first site on the estate for Phleum alpinum (Alpine Cat’s-tail). Records were also made on a range of other sites across the county, and we are grateful to all contributors, notably Liz MacDonald, Jill Williams, Marion Moir and Jim McIntosh.

Informal botanical training was provided to Knoydart Estate rangers during a visit to Slochd a’ Mhogha. Advice was also provided to FLS staff, including joint monitoring of an important orchid population. Other key orchid sites were monitored during the year, and biannual recording of NPMS plots at Moy was carried out by IS for the 7^th successive year.

A poster was presented at the Scottish Botanists Conference featuring some highlights from the year. A paper written jointly with Sarah Watts (lead author) and Richard Marriott was published in British & Irish Botany, describing two remarkable finds at Corrour in 2021 (see 2021 report).