The 2 Bogs at Night

Flanders Moss NNR & Blawhorn Moss NNR

It has been great to see that on social media many people ‘checking in’ at our reserves sharing their experience in pictures, capturing some spectacular moments for those of us who wouldn’t dare go adventuring out on a cold night. Chris Miles has recently visited two of our reserves and captured these stunning photographs. I asked Chris if he would write a few words;

I’ve always been in love with the sky and stared at it since I was a child but being from a big town light pollution has always hindered my view. As the town has grown  over the last 20 years (as has the whole  of the central belt) I can’t see as many stars as I saw when I was a child. Therefore I take any chance I can to get into darker skies.

The northern lights or Aurora borealis is very special. The popular places for Aurora chasing are like Duck Bay marina at Loch Lomond and a few others but these places can get too crowded so I try and seek out new places to visit and I get enjoyment from visiting places at night when everyone else is in bed. Under darkness these places become something different, something new. It kind of makes you feel like you’ve discovered somewhere for the first time.

I’ve had the moss on my ‘list’ for a while now and just been looking for the right time. Often when Aurora chasing you need to chase the weather as much as the Aurora so you need to go where there are gaps in the clouds.

But the skies were clear and Anna Lisa had asked a few times about seeing the Aurora and I figured the time was right to try it.

 

 

Northern lights from the Flanders Moss NNR viewing tower. Photo by Chris Miles

Photographed by Chris Miles – Flanders Moss Viewing tower

Photographed by Chris Miles – Blawhorn Moss

 

 

Thank you Chris for allowing us to share your photographs and for visiting one of our reserves.