The Freshwater Pearl Mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is one of the UK’s most threatened species – with Scotland alone having almost half the global population. It is a fully protected invertebrate species and is a wildlife crime priority, as illegal pearl fishing is decimating the remaining population, and dredging, forestry (whose run-off increases turbidity in the waters) and water sports all impacting its survival.

Balquhidder, historically, is an important site for the Freshwater Pearl Mussel, made famous by the well-known illustrations by Clark Stanton, for the Illustrated London News, accompanying an article published on 17 September 1864. I’ve reproduced that below (with Apple Intelligence doing a remarkably decent job of extracting the text from the images of the paper’s pages).

A recent survey has shown that the Freshwater Pearl Mussels still maintain a presence here, but that their survival may be being adversely affected by both private and commercial kayak and paddle board launching from some parts of the river system – we’re working with NatureScot and Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park to try to resolve that, but it’s a slow process. Anyway, on with the historical bit…