The Scottish Government has announced that it will ask the public to make the final decision on choosing a national tree for Scotland. Rory Syme from the Woodland Trust Scotland said: “An official national tree would be a fantastic legacy of the Year of Natural Scotland, providing recognition of the role that native trees have in shaping the nation’s landscape and identity. “Scots pine will undoubtedly be a favourite, but many other species, such as rowan and aspen, have a rich heritage of their own and could be considered candidates. “Alex Hamilton deserves a great deal of credit for getting…

Swallows and Leach's Storm Petrels are the successes from St Kilda's bird breeding season this summer, the National Trust for Scotland reports, whilst numbers of puffins have remained the same. For the first time, a pair of migrating swallows have raised three chicks on the Hebridean island of Hirta. The nest was established in a garage operated by defence contractor, Qinetiq, who agreed to leave the doors open for the duration of the breeding season. Swallows are regular summer visitors to St Kilda, but this is the first time that they have successfully raised young. Meanwhile, efforts to monitor the…

There has been a confirmed sighting of the West Coast Community of killer whales off Peterhead, the first time members of this small and highly unique population have been reported off Scotland's east coast. Video footage of the sighting, by Peterhead man Ian Nash on 20 August, clearly shows a male whale known as ‘John Coe’, identified by a very distinctive notch in his dorsal fin, along with another male and at least one female. HWDT has been monitoring the movements of this group since the early 1990s, with sightings recorded mainly in the Hebrides as well as off Ireland…