• Shiants episode seven: An enchanting summer

    Shiants episode seven: An enchanting summer

    Welcome to the seventh instalment of our work on the Shiant Isles Recovery Project from Iain Maclean. The project is an initiative to remove non-native black rats from the isles in order to provide safe breeding sites for Scotland’s globally important seabird colonies. It is part funded by the EU LIFE+ programme and is a partnership between RSPB Scotland, Scottish Natural…

  • The parasitic plant that relies on fungus for food

    A particularly unusual plant called yellow bird’s nest has been found growing at RSPB Scotland’s Skinflats reserve, which sits on the edge of the River Forth. This is only the fourth time that it has been seen in Scotland since 2000 and all of the previous records were at sites near Glasgow.

    Yellow bird’s nest is interesting because of the complex relationship it holds with its surroundings. The flower…