A rather belated Happy New Year & Happy Burns Night to all our clients and supporters. Not that it’s been a very happy start to 2021 but we can all do our bit to make our garden wildlife a bit happier by helping them during the snowy weather. We have had quite deep snow here for a couple of weeks and it’s very difficult for the birds to find anything to eat, despite most of the plants in the garden being there to help wildlife. By providing a wide range of food for birds such as peanuts, mixed seed, fat balls and apples, we should be able to attract and feed a wide variety of species. A supply of fresh water is really important too – for both drinking & bathing to keep feathers in good condition. I have seen a Stonechat in the garden for the first time ever, and have a Song thrush visiting the bird table regularly, which I haven’t seen before.
The Big garden birdwatch takes place this weekend. What could be nicer than helping capture a snapshot of our garden bird populations from the comfort of your (cold!) garden (it would be nicer doing it from the house). Getting data from all over the UK in the one weekend can provide very important data – it’s as a result of this survey that the fall in Song thrush numbers in the 70s was discovered. Last year’s top 5 birds in Scotland were House sparrow, Starling, Chaffinch, Blue tit & Blackbird. More details can be found on the RSPB website.
What’s new for us in 2021? We have joined Wild Scotland which is the body representing adventure and nature tourism operators in Scotland. Hopefully we will be able to reach a few more people through them and help locals and visitors to see more of our wonderful wildlife here in Perthshire. We hope to re-start our Beaver Canoe Safaris with new partners Beyond Adventure in May. And our new Angus Coastal Tours sometime this year, though that will probably take longer to get the go-ahead as it involves transport in our beautiful 7-seater electric van.
Every year we donate to a wildlife or environmental charity. Due to the awful fires in Australia last year we donated both to WWF & Humane Society International to help with the fantastic work they were doing to help wildlife affected by the fires. But this month we also had to help out the Trees for Life legal challenge to NatureScot’s issuing of licences to kill beavers here in Perthshire (and quite likely some of the kits we watch, when they leave home at 2 years old) when they are supposedly a Protected Species. I am very pleased to say that they raised the money required so watch this space for more news.
I hope to see you later in the year. In the meantime, take care and enjoy nature and its wonder. Daniele
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