Posts Tagged ‘birds’
‘I’m selling my off-grid eco-cottage for £40k and it comes with a Boeing 737 kitchen.’
A private chef is selling his off-grid eco-property for just £40,000 – after transforming a Boeing 737 galley into a working kitchen. Owner Andrew Mellon transformed the home in Banff, Aberdeenshire, during lockdown but is now selling it at auction. The cottage is entirely off-grid, with just two solar panels providing enough electricity to power…
Read MoreA week in the life: a Scottish country vet
Few people really know what the life of a country vet actually looks like. From going out on site, visiting clients and pioneering forward-thinking research, no day is the same. We go behind the scenes with gamebird vet Dr Matthew Balfour, from St David’s Game Bird Services in Scotland, who takes us through a week…
Read MoreThousands of Pink-footed geese arrive in Montrose
Thousands of Pink-footed geese have arrived in Montrose as they migrate south for the winter. So far, more than 25,000 have been counted, with more expected to arrive in the coming weeks. Every year, the birds stop off at Montrose Basin after flying in from Greenland and Iceland. This year the birds arrived earlier than…
Read MoreHidden gem: Tom Williamson on transforming his garden into a magical green space
Tucked away behind a 1950s semi detached house in Bonnybridge lies Tom Williamson’s hidden garden. Over the last 12 years 67-year-old Tom has transformed the space around his ex-council house into a magical garden packed with 600 different plants across three ‘rooms’. A traditional garden sits at the front of the house with a container…
Read MoreNumber of critically-endangered capercaillie increases
Numbers of critically-endangered capercaillie have increased for the first time in eight years. The birds are on the verge of extinction in Scotland with numbers having decreased by more than 50% in the last five years. The latest national survey (2021/2022) estimated there are only 542 capercaillie left in Scotland. But the latest lek count…
Read MoreQuirky cottage which was transformed using Boeing 737 goes on the market
A private chef who transformed a Boeing 737 galley into a working kitchen is now selling the home – for just £60,000. Andrew Mellon, 54, bought the old jetliner on Ebay for just £149 and converted his cottage kitchen in Banff, Aberdeenshire, with it. The galley can hold around 1,000 everyday kitchen items and includes…
Read MoreNoss Nature Reserve reopened following avian flu outbreak
Noss National Nature Reserve has reopened to the public following the island’s closure last year due to avian flu. The Noss ferry has resumed service this season and NatureScot staff are looking forward to welcoming visitors back to the island, which is home to thousands of seabirds each summer. Last summer both Noss and the…
Read MoreWhich birds are missing from your area?
THERE are 73 million fewer birds in the UK than there were back in 1970, according to figures released by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to mark today’s International Dawn Chorus Day. Almost 30 million house sparrows, 20 million starlings, four million skylarks, two million blackbirds, and one million chaffinches have vanished from the…
Read MoreNature 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…
Read MoreMove from research to conservation to save migrating birds
SCIENTISTS want efforts to shift from research to conservation in order to save migrating birds. Species under threat include cuckoos, swifts, and turtle doves, as well as swallows and whinchats. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) warned that gaps in research into the problem shouldn’t…
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