Category Archives: Birds

Gulls: a balancing act

Posted on April 1, 2021 by NatureScot

It may not seem like it when gulls are swooping down trying to steal your chips, but the number of many species of gulls has plummeted. In fact, herring gulls and kittiwakes are on the red list of conservation concern … Continue reading →

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The Robin ‘Redbreast’ – but which ‘red’?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by NatureScot

Which Gaelic word for ‘red’ is more appropriate when naming the robin? Leugh ann an Gàidhlig What sort of ‘red’ colours the breast of one of our favourite birds – the European robin (Erithacus rubecula)? Perhaps the question is redundant … Continue reading →

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Dè an dath – agus ainm ceart – a th’ air a’ Bhrù-dhearg?

Posted on March 30, 2021 by NatureScot

An ann dearg no ruadh a tha broilleach a’ bhrù-dheirg (no an ruadhain mar a chanadh cuid!)? Read in English Dè an dath a th’ air broilleach – no brù – a’ bhrù-dheirg? Tha an fhreagairt follaiseach, nach eil – … Continue reading →

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Mapping the Birds of South East Scotland – A Celebration of Citizen Science in Action

Posted on February 5, 2021 by NatureScot

This week’s blog is written by Mike Thornton, a NatureScot operations officer in the Lothians, and a keen volunteer citizen scientist. Mike has worked on a range of citizen science projects, including the Birds in South-east Scotland 2007-13, a Scottish … Continue reading →

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Mentoring the next generation of conservationists

Posted on November 11, 2020 by NatureScot

In February 2020, Murray Borthwick was staring down a telescope at Morton Lochs, undertaking fieldwork for his honours thesis and simultaneously realising that studying birds was what he wanted to do for a living. Fast forward to the summer and … Continue reading →

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Spectacular autumn in Scotland

Posted on October 16, 2020 by NatureScot

Today we’re highlighting some of amazing wildlife spectacles you can see in Scotland in autumn, including the fierce deer rut, thousands of migrating geese and much more. Of course, many of us aren’t able to get out and about to … Continue reading →

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Wading birds and a shared approach to wildlife management

Posted on October 2, 2020 by NatureScot

At the end of last month, NatureScot launched the Shared Approach to Wildlife Management, which sets out how different interest groups can work together to help ensure healthy and valued populations of wildlife across Scotland. In the third of a series of … Continue reading →

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Eun a’ Chinn Duibh air a bheil ‘Ceann-fionn’ / The Black-headed ‘White Head’ Bird

Posted on September 24, 2020 by NatureScot

Carson a tha na Gàidheil a’ gabhail ‘ceann-fionn’ air eun le ceann dubh? Tha Ruairidh MacIlleathain a’ feuchainn ris an gnothach a shoilleireachadh. / Why do Scotland’s Gaels call penguins ‘white-heads’, despite their being black-headed? Roddy Maclean investigates a nomenclatural … Continue reading →

Posted in Birds, coastal, Folklore, Gaelic, Land management, Uncategorized, Year of Coasts and Waters 2020 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Farmers working to save Scotland’s corn buntings

Posted on September 16, 2020 by NatureScot

This week, NatureScot’s Helen Taylor tells us about the work going on protect one of Scotland’s best-known farmland birds – the corn bunting. Farmers do an important job making sure we are all fed – but they also have an … Continue reading →

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An dreathan-donn – eun beag leòmach / the wren – small and ‘conceited’

Posted on June 26, 2020 by NatureScot

Ged a tha an dreathan-donn beag, gu dearbh chan eil e bog / The wren might be diminutive, but in Gaelic tradition, it has a high opinion of itself… An dreathan-donn – eun beag leòmach Ann am beul-aithris nan Gàidheal, … Continue reading →

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