A female osprey has returned the breeding site at Loch Garten for the ninth year in a row. EJ appeared at the RPSB reserve on 24 March almost bang on time with the predictions based on her previous return dates. Ospreys overwinter in West Africa before embarking on the gruelling journey thousands of miles back to the breeding area in the Scottish Highlands. Writing on the RSPB’s Osprey Blog, Caroline Rance from the RSPB said, “It’s great to see her back for her ninth season, at 14 she is getting on a bit and it’s safe to say there have…

Studies into a range of factors potentially affecting Scottish capercaillie have today been published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The research to understand the pattern of capercaillie productivity has resulted in three reports under a partnership comprising SNH, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Forestry Commission Scotland (FCS) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Lead scientists from GWCT, with the support of partners, found capercaillie breeding success declined over 1991-2009. This decline was related to changes in weather conditions and increasing evidence of predators in capercaillie forests. Previous studies linked the fortunes of capercaillie with…

The John Muir Trust, the UK’s leading wild land charity, is calling on voters to ask their election candidates to stand up for wild land. Elections are due to take place on 5 May for the Scottish Parliament, Welsh and Northern Irish Assemblies, and for local authorities in some parts of the UK. Stuart Brooks, the Trust’s chief executive said: “There is currently inadequate protection for landscapes in the UK’s most important wild land areas, and they are being lost and degraded at an alarming rate. It is vital that we take action now to protect our best areas of…

One year ago, the bird thought to be oldest breeding female of its kind ever recorded in the UK returned for the 20th consecutive year to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s (SWT) Loch of the Lowes Wildlife Reserve to the astonishment of wildlife experts. Now, despite the fact that a bird has yet to be sighted in Perthshire, staff from Loch of the Lowes explained why they remain hopeful that the bird could still return any day now. Robert Potter, the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s North East Reserve Manager, said: “This individual female bird is incredibly old and her return dates have…