Scottish Nature Notes

A guest blog by Dr Euan Dunn, author of a new RSPB report, which makes the case for strengthening the management of fishing for sandeels – a small oily fish that is both the target of industrial fishing in the North Sea and the favourite food of kittiwakes, puffins and much more besides.

No matter who you are, every single person can make a difference and help nature. In this blog we celebrate some of the small steps we can all take to hold decisionmakers accountable and reduce our own environmental impact.

Last week volunteers from the Cairngorms Connect partnership made a three and a half mile hike, climbing around sixteen hundred feet to Loch A'an, between them carrying 3,000 montane willow saplings. RSPB Scotland's Stephen Magee was among the tree-transport party, here he tells us what it was like to make this epic journey, and what the hopes are for these little plants.

To celebrate this year’s World Ocean Day theme ‘Life and Livelihoods’, we spoke to some of the wonderful people working to save our special seas at RSPB Scotland.

Project Puffin is a citizen science project that asks the public to be members of the Puffarazzi and submit photos of puffins carrying prey for their chicks. Our Puffineers (a group of fantastically dedicated volunteers) run this flagship citizen science project, that generates crucial data for conservation science and facilitates high public engagement. The Puffineers have a front and centre role on deciding the direction…

On World Peatland Day 2021, Julia Westbury tells us about two important areas of peatland restoration work on RSPB Scotland reserves.

Monitoring of protected areas has been inadequate in Scotland over the last decade. Niamh Coyne, RSPB Scotland’s Conservation Planner discusses the need for this to be urgently addressed to meaningfully deliver on the Scottish Government’s commitment to protect 30% of Scotland’s land for nature by 2030.

Two weeks ago, we issued a stark warning to all our newly elected MSPs about the perilous state of…

This week is invasive non-native species week. A chance to highlight the problems that non-native species can cause to plants and animals when they are introduced or spread outside of their natural habitat. Today we are looking at woodlands, what invasive species are a threat here, and what can be done to protect Scotland’s rainforest.

Today marks the start of this year’s Invasive Species Week. It is organised by the Non-native Species Secretariat to raise awareness of invasive non-native species (INNS) and how everyone can help to prevent their spread. Paul Walton, RSPB Scotland’s Head of Habitats and Species, explains more about the problems and what actions the Scottish Parliament must take to tackle the threats of invasive non-native species in…

We are in a nature and climate emergency and it is absolutely critical that we get to grips with turning this around in the next few years. Key to this is getting new policies and laws in place during this Parliament to start that change happening. Our newly elected MSPs have a lot of work to do.

Scotland’s nature is world-renowned. It is part of our heritage, our culture, our identity. It supports our economy and our…

Ailis Watt, a student at the University of Glasgow, tells us how important her local nature is, and why RSPB Scotland is campaigning for better access for everyone this Mental Health Awareness Week

We talked to Ben Yoxon, IOSF’s Education Officer and Broadford’s Team Otter leader about these groups and why they are so important, not only to nature but also to the young people involved.

In the run up to the Scottish Elections in May we will be talking to you about the transformative changes that politicians in Scotland must make to recover Scotland’s amazing nature and how you can help. Here we look at why we should make spaces for people and nature. 

As part of the Nature Recovery Plan (NRP) launched in 2020, RSPB Scotland, WWF Scotland, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust are calling for two NRP actions…

This year's City Nature Challenge took place over the weekend 30 April - 3 May, and what a great weekend it was. Sarah-Jayne Forster from RSPB Scotland's Giving Nature a Home's team tells us more.

A big thank you to everyone who took part in this year’s City Nature Challenge. It really was a special weekend for wildlife and not even the Scottish weather put people off – it was most definitely a little…

With the start of summer approaching we are gearing up to welcome swifts back to Edinburgh, where we have been working over the winter to create a sanctuary for swifts. Edinburgh Swift City Project Officer Katie O'Neill tells us what we can do to welcome them back.

In the run up to the Scottish Elections in May we will be talking to you about the transformative changes that politicians in Scotland must make to recover Scotland’s amazing nature and how you can help. Today, on World Curlew Day, RSPB Scotland's Chris Bailey looks at actions that would benefit and protect some of Scotland’s extraordinary wildlife. 

Restoring nature through wildlife and climate-friendly …

In the run up to the Scottish Elections in May we will be talking to you about the transformative changes that politicians in Scotland must make to recover Scotland’s amazing nature and how you can help. Today, we look at actions that would benefit and protect some of Scotland’s extraordinary wildlife.

Restoring nature and protecting Scotland’s iconic species

There are two actions in our joint Nature…

This spring we are voting for #oorfuture. The candidates we elect on 6 May will be responsible for taking action to tackle the nature and climate crises over the course of the next Parliament. We have joined forces with nature and climate groups across Scotland to encourage people to show how much they care ahead of next month’s election using #oorfootprint.

While Rare Invertebrates in the Cairngorms project volunteers continue working through the colder months, looking for the overwintering stages of various invertebrates, there is nothing like the thrill of seeing the first of Spring’s insects emerging! Here are five of Gen Tompkins, Project Officer, favourite harbingers of spring from the insect world.

Sarah-Jayne Forster, RSPB Scotland’s Giving Nature a Home Project Manager is encouraging us all to get closer to nature by recording the wildlife in our local patches for this year’s City Nature Challenge.

Do you love nature but have never recorded what you found? This year’s City Nature Challenge is taking place from 30th April to 3rd May and is the perfect way to start recording your local wildlife…

The results from Scotland's Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 are in! How does your garden compare?

In the run up to the Scottish Elections in May we will be talking to you about the transformative changes that politicians in Scotland must make to recover Scotland’s amazing nature and how you can help. Today, we look at actions to recover nature in Scotland’s spectacular seas.

There are two actions in our joint Nature Recovery Plan that focus on how we manage our seas and would deliver huge benefits for…

In the run up to the Scottish Elections in May we will be talking to you about the transformative changes that politicians in Scotland must make to recover Scotland’s amazing nature and how you can help.

Local activism is a crucial part of climate and ecological justice, and in this post we’d like to celebrate the inspirational work of Beenie-Ann from Shetland, age 10, who has been working at home, at school, and in her local community to bring about change.

RSPB Scotland's Duncan Orr-Ewing and Andrew Midgley discuss muirburn and what we would like to see in the face of the nature and climate crisis .