EHG23 - Walkover Survey - Ledmore & Migdale

The Ledmore & Migdale WGS survey area covers roughly 7.5km² of land on the north side of the Dornoch Firth to the west of Spinningdale. The area was largely occupied by softwood plantations up until WWII when most mature timber was clear-felled. The pinewood around Migdale Rock and the oakwood on the shore of the Dornoch Firth survived this felling. Since 1945 much of the southern part of the survey area has been re-planted with spruce, larch and pine but the remainder has been left and, with only light grazing, is now covered in naturally regenerating birchwood, gorse, rank heather and bracken. Good ground visibility only occurred in the north-east limit of the survey area, where heather cover is short and in the vicinity of Rivra, where grazing pressure has been high. It was decided that total coverage by systematic survey was not possible in areas with poor visibility. Therefore fieldwork was primarily designed to examine known sites to check their extent, nature and condition. All areas were covered, at least in a superficial manner and any previously un-noted sites that were encountered were recorded. <1>