Wildlife & Conservation
Keeping children engaged with the great outdoors
During lockdown, many families have found the time to reconnect with the outdoors. Now that restrictions are starting to ease, conservation expert Jeff Waddell explains why it’s important that families continue to explore nature together and gives advice on how to keep young ones engaged with the great outdoors. THE National Trust for Scotland (NTS)…
Read MoreReport reveals Scottish birds’ epic journeys
A TINY bird’s 11,000 kilometre flight from the Isle of Rum to Argentina has been revealed in a new report from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). The Manx Shearwater – weighing only about 400 grams and with a wingspan of around 80 centimetres – migrated from its breeding grounds in Scotland to the sunshine of…
Read MoreChris Packham launches Big Butterfly Count
TELEVISION presenter Chris Packham today launches Butterfly Conservation’s Big Butterfly Count. More than 113,000 people took part in last year’s survey and the wildlife charity expects even more participants this year. Fine spring weather led to the earliest average emergences of butterflies for the past 20 years and Butterfly Conservation has received thousands of extra…
Read MoreThreatened plants and wildlife get £1.8m
SIXTEEN projects to save Scotland’s wildlife an plants have been awarded £1.8 million from the Scottish Government’s Biodiversity Challenge Fund. Schemes receiving cash include Loch Lomond Fisheries Trust’s Endrick Legacy Project, which was awarded nearly £100,000 to tackle a wide range of highly-destructive invasive species, including Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, American mink and American signal…
Read MoreSpot the smaller things in nature this summer
Travel writer Phoebe Smith and binocular maker Swarovski offer tips to help countryside explorers slow down this summer and notice the little things in nature. 1. Look for nature’s clues Sometimes, when we take a walk, we can get so fixated on where we are headed to that we forget to take the time to…
Read MoreFrom the seabed to your sofa…
ARMCHAIR explorers can learn how to survey the sea and shoreline thanks to online training launched by conservation agency Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The training accompanies the Community-led Marine Biodiversity Handbook, Scotland’s first “how to” guide for planning and carrying out surveys and monitoring. Participants will learn about habitats and species and how to improve their…
Read MoreArtist supports golden eagle project
PRINTMAKER Lisa Hooper has won a competition to create a print that will promote the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project. The Wigtownshire-based artist’s design will be used on a poster and information leaflets. Hooper said: “I don’t normally do commissioned work, but this brief really grabbed me because of the subject matter and the…
Read MoreSuccess for birdwatchers’ mobile app
Just a year after its launch, more than 10,000 users have downloaded the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club’s free mobile app, Where to Watch Birds in Scotland.
Read MorePoint of no return?
A recent study of 121 black grouse leks (breeding sites) by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has shone a light on the parlous state of numbers in Scotland. The black grouse population has now declined to the point where the species is a high conservation concern and action is needed to halt their decline.…
Read MoreThe Big Farmland Bird Count
Sixty Scottish farmers took part in this year’s Big Farmland Bird Count, which saw more than 1,500 farmers across Britain overcame challenging February conditions to make the annual count of birds the biggest since it was launched by the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust in 2014. More than 120 bird species were recorded across 1.4…
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