Dates announced for Voar Redd Up
This year’s Voar Redd Up, the 22nd since the event began, will take place on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th April. The Redd Up, organised…
READ FULL STORYStories tagged with Tag: Environment
Feisty goings on in swan lochs
Last year a pair of mute swans spent a lot of time on the lochs at Uyeasound, Unst. They didn’t look to be fully mature…
READ FULL STORYGathering pebbles may be great fun, but never turn your back to the sea
The route across Muckle Roe to the Hams is a great favourite among Shetland’s best walks. I have been lucky enough to take the track…
READ FULL STORYReturn of mis-named oystercatcher
Oystercatchers are back in force now. They are one of my favourite waders – showy and extrovert, with their piebald plumage and ringing calls. We…
READ FULL STORYIn the garden
I’m frequently asked where all the plants in my garden come from, and the answer, more often than not, is: good things come in small…
READ FULL STORYUp to 20,000 starlings across the isles
Most of the over 100 species of starlings are found in tropical Africa and South East Asia, but a few species breed in temperate regions,…
READ FULL STORYLearning about stick insects, masters of their niche in damp places
Sticks are sticks and legs are legs, but you don’t expect to find one growing out of the other. That is exactly what my visitors…
READ FULL STORYNow you see it, now you don’t – evasive shore lark
It has featured in this column since last December. It has disappeared for days on end and then reappeared. It survived the lying snow. But…
READ FULL STORYIn the garden
All successful gardening hinges on good soil preparation. When plantings go wrong, it is all too often blamed on the wind and the weather. The…
READ FULL STORYIn the garden
February, a short month anyway, and being the last for those final winter chores, is always way too short for fitting them all in. Spring,…
READ FULL STORYEarly frogs surprise school
The frogs who live in Dunrossness Primary School’s nature area are thriving, according to the school’s eco-committee. Members of the committee went out to the…
READ FULL STORYFamiliar, re-assuring sight of shag
The shag is one of the most familiar birds around the Shetland coastline during the winter months. The common name, shag, is derived from the…
READ FULL STORYHow do we find rosy solutions when there is a tangle of competing claims?
Suppose you love wild Shetland flowers. Suppose you love garden flowers too; you love gardening and think that community gardens and the new allotments initiative…
READ FULL STORYSigns of spring in air already
This being the last week of February, there are increasing signs of spring’s arrival. The last of the winter atlas counts are complete, before breeding…
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