• Tracking seabirds and tackling the Stenness Monster

    This summer, researchers will be out and about fitting satellite tags to seabirds as part of the Seabird Research and Tracking (STaR) project. The aim is to learn more about where fantastic species like shags, kittiwakes and razorbills forage for food. This summer, STaR team member Derren Fox is back in Orkney. Read on to find out about his work.

    Tracking seabirds and tackling the Stenness Monster

    Team Orkney saw a…

  • Victory in Strathy South battle but the campaign continues

    Conservation officer Kenny Graham reflects on a victory in the battle against Strathy South and highlights the next steps in the campaign.

     

    Photo Credit: Norrie Russell

    Beautiful, isn’t it? The Flows - arguably the biggest single expanse of blanket bog in Europe - are un-matched by anything in the UK. They are on the tentative list for inscription as a World Heritage Site; the bogs, dubh lochans and transitional mires…

  • The gardener's saviour

    RSPB Trainee Ecologist, Kirsty Godsman, introduces us to the black snail beetle.

    The gardener's saviour

    I would like to introduce you to my June beetle of the month - a wonderful little beetle that you may not be aware of but that you might soon hope to find in your garden...the black snail beetle.

    The black snail beetle (Silpha atrata).

    This beetle belongs to the same family as the burying beetles that are…

  • A record breaking giant tortoise in Cumbria

    RSPB Scotland Research Assistant, Davide Scridel, has gone south this summer to search for ring ouzels in the North Pennines. Read on to find out more about his work with this elusive species.

    A record breaking Giant Tortoise in Cumbria

    Stunning view of RSPB Geltsdale reserve.

    I must admit, my 2014 field season research location is not based in a bad location at all. Not only does it fall into an Area of Outstanding…

  • Royal opening for £5.4m revamp of Sumburgh Head in Shetland

    Pete Ellis, Northern Isles Manager for RSPB Scotland, describes his excitement at seeing the new visitor facilities at Sumburgh Head opened.

    On Tuesday I attended the opening ceremony for the newly refurbished Sumburgh Head Lighthouse Buildings. The buildings are on the RSPB Sumburgh Head nature reserve at the southern tip of mainland Shetland.

     

    Image credit: Frank Bradford. 

    Shetland Amenity Trust was the lead partner…

  • Tweet of the Day with Stephen Moss

    Leading nature writer, broadcaster and wildlife television producer Stephen Moss tells Nick Major about his new book and lifetime love of bird song.

    Every year Stephen Moss waits to hear the first song thrush of spring. Its “comforting, repetitive song...sounds like the bird is talking to you”, he says. The sound of the belly-freckled snail-basher, which usually appears “on a fine day in January”, has particular resonance…

  • Tracking seabirds on Fair Isle

    Senior Research Assistant, Rob Hughes, and Aberdeen University PhD student, Marianna Chimienti,  have been deployed to Fair Isle for the ‘summer’ as part of the RSPB’s Seabird Tracking and Research (STAR) project. 

    Tracking seabirds on Fair Isle

    Fair Isle is arguably the most remote inhabited island in the UK, sandwiched between slices of the Orkney Islands and mainland Shetland in the North Atlantic…