Author: Paul Barclay

Frost Beards

, by Paul Barclay
Sometimes you find beauty in the strangest places. Last Sunday was spent out with the Nature Ninja Volunteers at St Maurice’s Pond, removing invasive rhododendron and litter picking. St Maurice’s Pond itself is a beautiful place but you don’t normally get the best view of it while patrolling with a bin bag. On this occasion keeping our eyes to the…

Wild Ways Well 2018

, by Paul Barclay
Have you broken any New Year’s resolutions yet? We’re barely into the first week of 2018 and I’ve broken most of mine, which generally focus around eating less chocolate and bacon rolls. Why do I set myself such impossible goals? Time markers can be stressful events for many people. For those of us with depression they can be used as…

Christmas comes just once a year

, by Paul Barclay
Christmas comes just once a year – but for those of us with anxiety or stress problems, that can be quite often enough! Decorating trees, buying gifts, preparing meals, visiting family and friends, bad weather, crowded streets… with all the pressure on our purses, family relations and waistbands, it’s no wonder that the festive period is regarded as one of…

We wish yew a Merry Christmas

, by Paul Barclay
Every December the world stops. For weeks now the light has been fading,every day shorter than the one before, the cold and the dark becoming all encompassing. And then for a few days in December time stands still. The sun stops its retreat and holds its position in the sky… And the year turns. Minute by minute the days begin…

Fantastic Fungi

, by Paul Barclay
While out with the Wild Ways Well group this Thursday we were lucky enough to come across some amazing fungi in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Seafar Wood Wildlife Reserve. Each one was the size of a pinhead, and they ranged in colour from brilliant orange to vivid green. Fungi are fascinating, belonging to a Kingdom of Life all of their…

Night-time Window on Wildlife

, by Paul Barclay
Have you ever walked through some woodland and wondered what creatures might live there that we can’t see?  That use their superb senses and camouflage to hide from human eyes and come out only when no-one is around. Ever looked out into the garden, or the street and wondered what wildlife visits in the night?  Maybe you’ve heard the scream of a fox, the hoot of an owl or the snuffling of a badger. One way to find out is to throw a light switch or head out with a torch, but by doing so you might frighten off the animals you’d like to see, or at the very least change their behaviour hugely. 

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