Scottish Nature Notes

To celebrate World Peatlands Day 2020 RSPB Scotland's Yvonne McMahon shares a bit about a peatland restoration project at our Loch Gruinart reserve.

Short-eared owls are one of the four species of owl you might see in Scotland. They are medium sized, with mottled brown bodies, pale under-wings and bright yellow eyes, which are very striking with their black outline! Molly Martin shares five facts to familiarise yourself with these gorgeous birds.

Homing 70% of UK seabirds population, it is that time of year again when Scotland’s cliffs are bustling with life. In the summer months, the sea exposed cliffs turn into a metropolis of our most loved seabirds. During this time, they are busy building a bond with their beloved partner while protecting their eggs which will soon be hatching. Once the cold winter returns, the seabirds head to open oceans, not reaching land…

Ahead of Volunteers Week next week (1-7 June), Genevieve Tompkins celebrates the remarkable volunteers of the Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms project in this blog.

RSPB Scotland's Allie McGregor shares five activities you can do to help nature in summer.

RSPB Scotland Policy Officer Erica Mason discusses the International Day of Biodiversity and how lockdown has highlighted the need to treasure our nature.

RSPB Scotland’s Kirsty Nutt discusses what biodiversity actually means and why it matters ahead of International Biodiversity Day on 22 May.

One of incredible volunteers, Lorraine Preece, shares some fabulous facts about small tortoisehell butterflies!

Nature of Scotland Youth and Education Award Winners Sunnyside Primary shared some of their highlights of what they have been up to since the award ceremony last year!

RSPB Scotland's Allie McGregor introduces some of our arriving spring migrants and tips for identifying them.

RSPB Scotland’s Jess Barrett has been seeing lots of eiders on her daily exercise by the Firth of Forth. Here are five facts about these seaducks you need to know.

Laura Copley, Scotland Education Families & Youth Manager, fills us in on RSPB’s Wild Challenge Awards scheme as a perfect way to enhance your children’s home-schooling experiences whilst being fun for all the family.

Chris Bailey, Advisory Manager, would normally be out and about working with farmers at this time of year. He tells us how he is managing to get his wildlife fix without his normal spring surveying. It turns out, friends with lambs are some of the best friends you can have!

 RSPB Scotland's Jane Shadforth shares five facts about iconic Scottish species, the corncrake.

Kate Kirkwood, Climate Change Youth Project Officer for our Giving Nature a Home Project in Glasgow, looks back over this year's City Nature Challenge, the amazing response from people taking part across Scotland, some of the species recorded in Glasgow, and a survey we'd be grateful if you could take part in. 

City Nature Challenge 2020 - what did you record?

City Nature Challenge is an international project to…

RSPB Scotland's Nora Casey gives us tips on how to spot signs of spring, how to engage a toddler with the changing of the seasons, and what the wildlife of Edinburgh is up to at this time of year.

RSPB Scotland's Vicky Turnbull, Warden for the Tay Reedbeds, shares an update following the fire earlier this week.

Dolphinwatch Volunteer Rebecca tells us about her reasons for volunteering with the Dolphinwatch team in the summer season of 2019 and shares how she is enjoying nature at home and without dolphins!

Dawn Chorus Day is coming up on the 3rd of May, a day for celebrating spring, the arrival of many seasonal species and the beautiful song they bring us. It is also a reminder that we don’t want our nature to fall silent.

Jenny Weston, our Conservation Officer based in our Aberdeen office lives about half an hour inland from Aberdeen. Most of the time though she is a mum to a 21-month-old toddler called Piper and as a result of the current Covid-19 restrictions she’s spending a lot more time trying to entertain her at home. Their childcare is usually shared between herself, her husband, nursery and grandparents.

RSPB Scotland's Paul Walton shares how you can bring butterflies to your window and experience their life cycle from home.

RSPB Scotland’s David Hunt gives us a glimpse into his new home working routine and some of his exciting new colleagues…. magpies, geese, swallows, dinosaurs, knights...

Heather Beaton, RSPB Scotland's Warden on North Uist shares the way she’s noticed nature carrying on as normal whilst everything else seems to be stopping or changing around her.

Today marks the third annual World Curlew Day! We want to raise awareness of these wonderful wading birds so we’re marking the day by bringing back the beautiful curlew knitting patterns we shared with you two years ago. 

Knitting for Curlews

Curlews, with their bubbling calls and distinctive long curved bill, are a firm favourite for many of us and depending on the time of year can be seen along beach shorelines or up in…

Colleen Turner, Community Engagement and Membership Officer for RSPB Scotland, fills us in more on the City Nature Challenge taking place this weekend. This year due to COVID-19 the Challenge is now running a UK project that anyone can take part in not just those in the original nine cities which includes Greater Glasgow – more information on this in this blog.