Conservationists object to Coul Links golf course

WILDLIFE charities are calling on the public to object to plans for a golf course at Coul Links in Sutherland. Seven organisations – including the National Trust for Scotland, the RSPB, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust – are “extremely concerned” about revised plans submitted to The Highland Council. Craig Macadam, conservation director at insect charity…

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Bluebell wood freed from Rhododendron bushes

VOLUNTEERS from the Kinclaven Woodland Working Group are celebrating the eradication of the final Rhododendron ponticum bush at Kinclaven Bluebell Wood in Perthshire. Over the last four years, the team of 50 has worked to reduce a thick mass of the plant, spending nearly 2,000 hours on the task. The plant had claimed more than…

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Attenborough’s ‘Wild Isles’ shines light on salmon

WILDLIFE legend Sir David Attenborough’s Wild Isles television series will shine a light on the plight of Scotland’s wild Atlantic salmon on Sunday. Attenborough will use his BBC One show to highlight that “there has been a 70% loss in 25 years, and [wild Atlantic] salmon could be extinct in the next two decades”. Members…

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Wildlife film inspires Dundee art project

A BBC wildlife documentary has inspired Turner Prize-nominated artist Heather Phillipson in creating her work for this summer’s Art Night Festival in Dundee. Phillipson’s work, provisionally entitled “Dream Land”, will be exhibited at the University of Dundee’s Cooper Gallery from 16 June to 1 July. Phillipson will attend an Art Night event at the gallery…

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News from the rivers Dee and Tweed

IT’S been a busy month for the rivers Dee and Tweed. Actor Robson Green, Olympic rower Dame Katherine Grainger, and internationally-experienced river guide Al Peake have been appointed as ambassadors for the River Dee Trust. Green said: “It’s the bonniest river, not only in Scotland, but in Britain if not Europe. “But, like all rivers,…

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TV’s Miranda Krestovnikoff headlines Scottish Marine Fest

TELEVISION presenter Miranda Krestovnikoff has been unveiled as the star act at this year’s Scottish Marine Fest. Krestovnikof, who rose to fame as one of the presenters on the BBC series Coast, will open the festival on 8 June. The five-day programme runs at the Scottish Seabird Centre in North Berwick until 12 June. Other events…

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Loch of the Lowes ospreys return on same day

BOTH breeding ospreys at the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s (SWT’s) Loch of the Lowes nature reserve in Perthshire have arrived back on the same day for the first time. Female NC0 arrived on the nest at 7.43am today, followed by male LM12 at 1.43pm. The SWT’s Perthshire ranger, Sara Rasmussen, said: “This is the earliest NC0…

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Mother’s Day: business as usual on farm

MUMS throughout Scotland might be putting their feet up on Mother’s Day – but not farmer Shona Duncan. Shona and her daughters – Rebecca, 24, and Sally, 22 – will be out on Sunday looking after their livestock and their glamping pods at Duncan Family Farms near Loch Lomond. “Mother’s Day is typically more chaotic…

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Nature inspires Borders Art Fair

TWO dozen new exhibitors are taking part in this weekend’s Borders Art Fair. Eleven of the first-time exhibitors are Borders-based and include printmaker and painter Emma Jones, ceramicist Belinda Glennon, and mixed media illustrator and artist Sara Rhys. Jones, who lives in Chirnside, said: “We take a lot from nature but often feel we are…

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Dogs Trust celebrates fostering scheme

THE Dogs Trust is celebrating the work done by its forster carers to look after rescue dogs. Some dogs are not suited to life in kennels, and so the trust places them in a foster home through its “Home from Home” fostering scheme. The trust said that foster carers play a major role in helping…

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