The Isle of May National Nature Reserve is currently teeming with seabirds so, to celebrate, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) is hosting a seabird safari and all are invited. The privately operated boat services have been subsidised for children by SNH for this special day, while entry to the island is free. The trip, on Sunday 19 June, will involve seeing the spectacular seabird colonies on the island and learning more about the lives of the birds. Puffins can be seen close up on the island and the huge cliffs hold guillemots, kittiwakes, razorbills, fulmars and shags, which can be seen…

Researchers monitoring beavers re-introduced to the wild have struggled to keep tabs on all of the animals due to the difficult terrain at Knapdale, Argyll. 15 European beavers were released into the wild in 2009 but the annual report of the Scottish Beaver Trial says that only 9 were believed to still be alive in the release area by June 2010. The beavers were released with radio tags attached to their tails, some of which have fallen off. Other beavers have been hard to track because of the dense forestry, steep hillsides and complicated network of rivers and lochs. The…

This week saw two high profile court cases relating to illegal poison and the killing of a bird of prey on Highland estates result in hefty fines for the estate employees. A massive quantity of banned substance, Carbofuran, was found on the Skibo Castle estate near Dornoch in May 2010 during a police serach after two golden eagles and a sparrowhawk were found dead on the estate. Inverness Sherrif Court heard that estate worker, Dean Barr had enough of the poison to, “wipe out the entire Scottish golden eagle and red kite populations several times over according to the RSPB”.…

Hunting for glass eels and aquatic mini-beasts are just two of the activities taking place during Scottish Biodiversity Week, starting today (Saturday 21 May). Organised by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and partners, the week is being celebrated by parks across Glasgow, the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, as well as nature reserves and country parks across Scotland. Events include 40 hour-long tours in 11 parks across Glasgow; guided walks, fungi quizzes and wildlife-related craft activities at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh; a search for aquatic mini-beasts at Scotstown Moor local nature reserve near Aberdeen; a ranger-led hunt for glass eels at…

Up to 100 pilot whales are at danger of stranding in a South Uist sea loch in the Outer Hebrides. It is reported that many of the mammals have injuries to their heads which marine experts say may have been caused by attempts to strand themselves on the rocky shore. The whales have been in Loch Carnan since Thursday (19 May) afternoon and rescuers are currently battling to try and save them using inflatable pontoons to refloat any stranded whales. Last year a smaller pod of pilot whales were seen in a similar situation in the loch. A few days…

Yesterday saw teams of pall-bearers carrying a coffin over the hills into the Monadhliath to symbolise the loss of Scotland’s wild places to wind farm developments. The protest – led by outdoors blogger Alan Sloman – saw the coffin rowed across Loch Farraline south of Loch Ness whilst a fiddler played a lament. The coffin was then carried over the moors by a group of around 40 before heading down to pass Dunmaglass Lodge on the estate owned by millionaire Jack Hayward, who has already received planning consent for a windfarm on the northern parts of the Monadhliath hill range.…

Red squirrel conservationists have reported a growing confidence in their bid to protect Scotland’s remaining red squirrel populations, it was announced today (16 May 2011). The announcement comes as Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS), the largest coordinated project to protect red squirrels in Scotland, marked its second year in operation recently. Mel Tonkin, SSRS Project Manager, said: “This project is the first strategic approach to red squirrel conservation ever to be attempted in Scotland. By channeling resources to priority areas in our aim to protect red squirrels by halting the spread of grey squirrels, we are making encouraging progress. “Most…