Nature-depleted Scotland needs new era of rewilding says landmark book

A sticking plaster approach to conservation is failing Scotland’s wildlife – and with species such as red squirrel, wild cat and capercaillie declining or on the edge of extinction, a new era of massive rewilding is needed, says a landmark new book from Trees for Life and SCOTLAND: The Big Picture.

Scotland has the space and opportunity to take a fresh approach, with people working with nature, not against it, and allowing ecosystems

New ‘suspension bridge’ keeps red squirrels safe in Highlands

A specially designed rope bridge slung between trees high over a Highlands road is giving red squirrels a safe crossing. Camera footage has revealed regular use of the bridge by the charismatic species.

Conservation charity Trees for Life installed the bridge over a road near Shieldaig last summer, as part of its project to reintroduce red squirrels to the northwest Highlands.

Footage collected for more than a year from a camera trap has now revealed squirrels from a flourishing new population at Shieldaig crossing the bridge and exploring their new homes.

Together with nearby road signs alerting drivers to the squirrels’ presence, the innovative bridge appears to have had a significant impact in reducing road deaths of the

Vision for collaboration to make Glen Affric forest reach from coast-to-coast

Glen Affric National Nature Reserve could be at the core of an unprecedented collaboration between landowners and communities to create an unparalleled forest corridor stretching from Scotland’s east to west coast, says a new film from Forest Enterprise Scotland and conservation charity Trees for Life.  

Narrated by acclaimed cameraman and filmmaker Gordon Buchanan, the five-minute film – ‘Glen Affric: A landscape worth restoring’ – celebrates 60 years of

Great Pied Hoverfly (Volucella pellucens) west of Loch Ness

Volucella pellucens  © Ron Bury

I'm sorry for the lack of posts over the last two and a half months but I was away most of April and busy catching up after I returned so apart from anything else I missed posting a number of press releases from TFL and the HWDT. I might put a couple of the more significant ones up but thought I'd start off with some images and a video of a female Splayed Deerfly  Chrysops caecutiens feeding on a blue cornflower.

Well I thought it was until Neil Anderson pointed out in the comments below that it was the Great Pied Hoverfly Volucella pellucens which is the very opposite of the rarity I thought I'd found.

I should have paid more attention and feeling suitably

Helping ‘The Reds Return’ to the Highlands

Red squirrel © Peter Cairns

Trees for Life has launched an appeal to raise £22,000 to ensure a better future for red squirrels in the Highlands of Scotland.

The Reds Return appeal will enable the reintroduction of red squirrels in up to eight woodlands in the north-west Highlands, where new populations will be able to flourish, safe from competition and disease from grey squirrels.

This will also help the natural expansion of the region’s pine forests, because reds inadvertently plant new trees by forgetting where they have buried their winter stores of nuts and seeds. 

It will allow more people to see red squirrels in the

Record numbers of common dolphin sightings off Scotland’s west coast

HWDT Common dolphin

Sightings of common dolphins across the Hebrides have reached a new record high according to research conducted by marine conservation charity, Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust.

Evidence collected during marine research expeditions on the Trust’s specialized research yacht Silurian in 2017 has revealed a dramatic 24% increase from the previous year’s already record-breaking figures.

The findings were made in a research season running from April to October 2017, part of the charity’s unique long-term citizen science project monitoring whales, dolphins and porpoises – collectively known as cetaceans – and basking sharks in the Hebrides.

“We have never documented so many sightings of common dolphins off Scotland’s west coast before. Our findings highlight the importance of on-going monitoring and research to strengthen our understanding of what is

Results of the National Whale and Dolphin Watch 2017

Short-beaked common dolphins
Rebecca Knee/ Marine Discovery

As announced on TV’s BBC Countryfile last night, results of the 2017 National Whale and Dolphin Watch are in!

During last year’s event, which took place 29^th July – 6^th August, a record-breaking 1,529 hours of dedicated watches took place. Some 300 hours more than any previous occasion, this represents 2,500 volunteers all around the British Isles getting involved to report on the UK’s whale and dolphin species.

2017 was the sixteenth year that this huge citizen science scheme had taken place and clearly the event is building on popularity year on year. “It’s so important for people to join in helping us to track

Rare high-altitude money spider discovered near Loch Ness

Rare money spider Hilaira nubigena © Jens-Kjeld Jensen

Surveys at Trees for Life’s Dundreggan Conservation Estate in Glenmoriston near Loch Ness have revealed a rare money spider in a find described by experts as “spectacular”.

The discovery of an adult male of the species Hilaira nubigena at the native forest restoration site in Inverness-shire is the first record of the spider west of the Great Glen for more than 25 years.

The rare arachnid has been recorded from damp moorland above 400m and up to 700m, but little is known about its habits. It may be characteristic of high-altitude habitats such as ‘montane woodland’ – a

Crucial work to help save Scottish wildcats

 Pete Cairns - The Big Picture

This press release was issued on the 16th January 2018 so I'm a bit late posting, but better late than never. January was not a good month.

DNA collection and genetic analysis of wild Scottish wildcats is taking place this winter to help guide current and future conservation efforts for this endangered Scottish species.

Scottish Wildcat Action (SWA) and the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland (RZSS) will take part in a short period of wildcat trapping over two months in three of the project’s five priority areas.

The focus of this work is on targeted trapping of