Good afternoon folks, 

I can't believe that's a week gone by again! I hope you are all well and staying safe. 

An informative blog for you today, from Ewan, all about our four species of grouse on Abernethy, but before that, just to say there's still no news form our osprey nest I'm afraid - birds are in the area but no nesting action unfortunately. Now, over to Ewan...

There are four types of grouse in…

Good afternoon, folks. I hope you are all well. Do you have sunshine? We do, and boy, doesn't it make a difference!?

This week we have a blog from Anna, one of our team who has not been furloughed, but before I hand over to her, just to let you know that although ospreys are still being seen in the area by members of staff when they are out on their fire and buildings checks, I'm afraid there hasn't been any activity…

A treat for you this afternoon, with a beautifully written blog from Ewan. I hope his words resonate with you, as they did with me. And I hope you're all staying safe and keeping positive. Now, over to Ewan...

In many ways, it feels like not much has happened over the last few weeks, and like not much has been achieved. But somehow, also, it feels like my wheels have been in constant motion, spinning relentlessly…

Hi folks, like many other organisations, the RSPB has furloughed some of its staff during the Covid-19 crisis, which is why it's me who'll be posting any blogs for the foreseeable future, as Fergus has been furloughed for a wee while.

So, you've already met Rishane, and here she is again, with some of her beautiful photos of species she has seen around Abernethy since she arrived. Many of these pictures were taken…

Here is a walk that Ewan took through the forest before our season began at Abernethy. I hope his words remind us of what is still out there, waiting for us to appreciate it again.

Although it began with a wintry shower, the sun soon came out on a bright spring day over Abernethy. With visitor operations suspended here at Loch Garten and across the RSPB, the 2020 Nature Team face some of the uncertainty that many will…

Here is a wee blog from Stuart telling you about his journey into conservation. He has been with us since last year through thick and thin. Hopefully, his positivity will lift all our spirits today! 

My name is Stuart. Originally, I hail from Warrington; a large town in the north-west of England. Wedged between Manchester and Liverpool, it makes up part of a large urban sprawl that covers much of north-west England. Growing…

Next on our list, we have the wonderful Bethia of Nethia. A local lady with a worldly perspective. 

Being a student of science, it seems that writing creatively is no longer something that comes naturally to me. My imagination has been stamped out by facts, figures, and doomsday statistics. So when we were told to write introductions about ourselves, I pictured a short and to-the-point paragraph – name, background, why…

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a National Park, nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. I spent most of my childhood in the forest, building forts, wading across streams, climbing trees, and skirting elk and bison poo. I value my childhood and appreciate how fortunate I am to have grown up in an environment that invites such strong connections with nature. 

When I moved more than 5000km away to attend university…

Here is another blog to introduce one of the finest naturalists on our time. Please welcome Ewan...

In a very real way, Loch Garten is where it all began for me. I came here first as a little kid, nearly twenty years ago, and after learning about the forest creatures, seeing the red squirrels and the little birds at the feeders and above all, of course, seeing the ospreys on the nest: I was hooked. I think I went away…

Here is another fantastic little blog for you all to read. Neil is as charming as his blog suggests. 

As we wake each morning to a new and fast changing world, we are all having to adapt to a new way of living, for the short term.

For us as Visitor Experience Officers at the Nature Centre and the centre being closed, we are learning to engage with you nature enthusiasts in new way by bringing nature, and our lovely selves…

So first on our new team introduction is going to be Rishane, who has come all the way from France to be isolated with us this season! I will let her tell you more... 

So, this is it. We’re all stranded. When I first arrived in the Scottish highlands the last thing I expected to happen was being told to self-isolate. But let’s be honest, social distancing was already a thing here, even before the outbreak of coronavirus…

Hello bloggersphere,

  I hope you are all doing well considering the circumstances. Thought I would do my best to update you on the most current goings on at the centre. We have got most of the way through the refurbishment before the work had to stop for obvious reasons. The centre has a new lease of life with the new windows installed and the walls removed it is almost unrecognisable. For those of you who have visited…

Hello blogger’s! Hope you are all getting into the festive spirit. We are seeing our days getting colder and darker, but luckily the Christmas lights are up now and the tree in the office is keeping moral high. It has been an interesting few weeks with all the developments taking place at the centre. We had to take everything out the centre to prepare it for the refurbishment. One of the best things to come out of clearing…

Hi everyone, yes, I do still work here! It’s not often that I get let out of the office (Fergus has me well-trained) but we like to mix it up little every now and then, so here’s my first blog for a long while…

I hope you are all doing well and gearing up for a crisp winter and some festivities. I can’t believe it’s nearly December already and I’m sure it’s a sign of my advancing years that the months…

While we are all missing our ospreys. I thought I would take the time to learn more about the migration process and try to imagine what ospreys must experience when they are not breeding in Scotland. This got me digging into a treasure trove of migration techniques that probably don’t even scratch the surface on this amazing feat undertaken by birds each year. If we step right back in time, some of the earliest explanations…

Hello bloggers. I hope you haven’t been climbing the walls since the ospreys have left the country for sunnier climes. Right now there will be ospreys congratulating themselves on surviving the migration and hopefully lots of juveniles now bustling for prime fishing spots around the river systems of Senegal.

We have started to see a shift away from the warmer weather we are used to and the transition into autumn…

Hello bloggers, 

We have had a rough and ready season this year with the sad events of EJ not returning to Loch Garten, paired with the happy events of celebrating our 60th anniversary.  This has been a monumental year in the Operation Osprey project as we have become a victim of our own success. We are situated in the epicentre of a thriving population of ospreys of which we find around 250 breeding pairs in Scotland.…

July is the perfect time to go in search of one of the showiest and fascinating types of wildflower. A good colony of orchids can reach several thousand in number, and often this could be dominated by a single species with other rarer orchids amongst them. Fragrant orchids waft their honey-like scent on the wind in a fine breeze.

Moths play an important role in orchid pollination, with several types of orchid releasing…

As you might remember from my first introductory blog post at the start of the season, my background in conservation is Marine Biology and I’ve studied as a marine biologist for 4 years. I have mainly worked in rockpools, but now I find myself deep in the heart of the Cairngorms National Park, at the wonderous Abernethy Forest. So, what is a landlocked marine biologist supposed to do?!

While I am here, I want…

Hello Bloggers,

The last week at Loch Garten has certainly been exciting. I think it's safe to say we have had more action over the course of the last 2 weeks compared with the previous 2 months. 
For you who are new to the blog or for you who have been living under a rock these last 3 months, EJ (our old female) has failed to return and useless George (the male) was so heart broken he decided to go off and be useless…

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to update you on some recent activity at the LG nest - unfortunately not of the osprey kind, but hopefully of the positive human kind.

As we are painfully aware, this season is proving to be one of the most, if not the most, challenging season we've ever had at LG. The non-arrival of EJ, coupled with the failure of her new partnership last year, has meant that a brand new pair has to be…

Sorry for the A-pollen puns, I bet yew all can't quite beleaf why Fergus still lets me write blogs. Trust me, I'm pineing for him to branch out and ashk someone else to do it, I walnut be able to go on. I'm sycamore blog writing. 

Oaky, enough of the terrible puns. If you haven't guessed already, today's blog is all about the pine forest and in particular, the return of the pine pollen. 

For you who do…

Hello bloggers.  After much deliberation we thought it time to write a blog on our favourite osprey who sadly has not returned this year.  And who better to help me with all things EJ than Alison and Valerie who have been volunteering this week, so over to them...

And hello from both of us!!  Apologies for the length of this blog but we thought we would just summarise EJ’s life, especially for those of you who haven’t been…

Hey guys, here is a little update for you giving you an idea of what our volunteers get up when they are not at the centre. I would also like to caveat this by saying that Liz wasn’t made to write this under duress. All the lovely things she is saying about our team are her own words!

Hi I’m Liz and I am a RSPB Volunteer. Three years ago, I discovered the volunteer opportunity at Loch Garten in the Cairngorms.…