Wildlife & Conservation
‘Lord of the Rings’ wych elm plays a role in saving its species
An ancient elm tree that has stood alone in the far reaches of Glen Affric for hundreds of years is now the guardian over a new generation of its species. The wych elm – known as the Last Ent of Affric in homage to the tree-shepherds from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings story – has…
Read MorePuffins begin to arrive back to Shetland for the breeding season
They are affectionately known as the ‘clown of the seas’, with their multicolored bills and bright orange feet. And now puffins have started to return to Scotland for the breeding season, the first beginning to arrive at Sumburgh Head nature reserve, in Shetland, in recent weeks. Scotland is home to around three quarters of the…
Read MoreOsprey who shot to fame in lockdown lays earliest egg of the season
An osprey who rose to fame during the first coronavirus lockdown has laid the earliest egg of the season live on camera in the Highlands. Viral sensation Dorcha and her mate Louis arrived back from their southern migration to their nest in Loch Arkaig Pine Forest in Lochaber on 28 and 30 March respectively. The…
Read MoreLemur Lounge: Lemurs prefer listening to music over sitting in silence
They have a penetrating stare, bushy tails and a penchant for singing. But it turns out lemurs also like listening to music. Though they are much less closely related to humans than monkeys and apes, we still have a lot in common with lemurs. Some worship the sun, while others have a sense of rhythm,…
Read MoreLove birds: Osprey couple reunite at Perthshire wildlife reserve for the fifth breeding season
An Osprey couple have reunited at Perthshire’s Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve for the fifth breeding season. Male osprey LM12 has returned to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s reserve on 27 March or his thirteenth breeding season. His mate for the past four years, female osprey NC0, arrived back on 8 March and has been busy…
Read MoreWildcats: HRH The Princess Royal visits project to restore wildcats to Scotland
HRH The Princess Royal has visited the Saving Wildcats project to find out about the team trying to restore the Highland tiger to Scotland. The project, based at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland’s (RZSS) Highland Wildlife Park, is working to save the cats which are one of the UK’s most endangered carnivores. The wildlife…
Read MoreClydesdale horse Seamus returned to Scotland after being saved
When Clydesdale horse Seamus was found starving in a field with no grass, it was touch and go as to whether he would survive. The rare Scottish breed are usually associated with pulling heavy farm machinery, but Seamus was so weak he could barely carry himself. With bare patches of flesh where there should have…
Read MoreTagged hen harrier disappears ‘in suspicious circumstances’ in Angus
RSPB Scotland is investigating the ‘suspicious’ disappearance of a tagged hen harrier – the fourth tagged bird to have disappeared in the area since 2017. Data from the young female bird, which was fledged at the Mar Lodge Estate in Aberdeenshire, stopped being transmitted on 15 February. A search of the hen harrier, named Shalimar,…
Read MoreRuined township on Isle of Skye discovered under 1977 tree plantation
The ruins of a township dating from the 17th or 18th centuries have been revealed on the Isle of Skye. Remains of houses, byres, barns and corn-drying kilns were discovered during forestry operations in Glen Brittle. Archaeologists from AOC Archaeology had been surveying the site before the trees were harvested on behalf of Forestry and…
Read MoreSearch for Scotland’s lost ice age pinewoods begins
They are home to wild Scots pines with an ancestry that can be traced back to the end of the last ice age. But now a project to find Scotland’s ‘lost’ native pinewood has been launched so they can be saved and restored before it’s too late. Caledonian pinewoods are globally unique and support rare…
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