The Magic Hours

In the cold, dark winter it’s not always easy to get out for evening walks, although slowly but surely the days are lengthening. The sun now dips below the horizon at around half five compared to just half four a month ago, and it is just over four weeks now until the spring equinox when day and night are equal.

Let’s Talk About Pigeons

Here at Cumbernauld Living Landscape, we love birds of all shapes and sizes but pigeons are such a familiar sight that most of us barely notice them. This week it is time to give our friend the pigeon some much deserved love. Speaking of love, did you know that pigeons mate for life? Male woodpigeons will bow and fan out

Learn a Magical Spell

  A few years ago, after a fruitless tramp through a woodland looking for wildlife I sat down on a tree stump in disgust and discovered something unexpected. I can do magic. As I sat quietly a flicker of movement from the corner of my eye revealed a bumblebee emerging from a hole in the ground. Soon I could see

Fluff up and cuddle up – staying warm in winter (if you’re a bird)!

By Teri Grieve, Cumbernauld Living Landscape trainee On any winter walk a common sight, and perhaps the poster child of our snowy winters, are our resident robins, which stay with us all year round. Strangely though their bright chests may stand out against the white of the snow, they almost vanish against the bare branches of the shrubs. How do

Trees for everyone

By Katie Brown, Cumbernauld Living Landscape trainee If you happen to be going to see the swans down at Broadwood Loch over the holidays, you might well spot the new trees that have been planted by the Cumbernauld Living Landscape volunteers and staff. These are native species that will help local wildlife thrive, so look out for oak, hawthorn, crab

Frosts, fires and foxes – what a way to start a new job!

by Katie Brown, Cumbernauld Natural Connections Trainee For those of you who don’t yet know me, hello, I’m Katie and I’m the new Creating Natural Connections trainee at Cumbernauld Living Landscape. I have lived in Cumbernauld my entire life and in this new role I hope to inspire my local community and learn something new every day. I’m only one

Two new Access to Nature projects start work

Great news! As part of our Access to Nature work, which aims to make Cumbernauld’s green spaces more accessible for everyone, work is due to start on improving the paths through Seafar Woods and Ravenswood. The work has been funded primarily by the Campsies Centre. This is what we are planning: Seafar Wood path upgrades Managed by the Scottish Wildlife

Deadly fungus taking its toll on Cumbernauld’s ash trees

A deadly and incurable disease which kills ash trees is sadly starting to take its toll in Cumbernauld’s woodlands. Ash dieback is a fungal disease that was accidentally introduced to the UK in the early 2000s, and has since spread from the south east of England to almost all parts of the country. It originally came from Asia, where the

Orchard training will bear fruit for the village

A local orchard will receive some important TLC in the future thanks to a TCV training session for  Cumbernauld Village Action for the Community (CVAC) volunteers. Participants learnt about planting and caring for orchard trees, and will be able to apply what they have discovered to the Cumbernauld Village orchard. The session was delivered as part of Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s

Choo, Choo, this Trainee is leaving the Station!

On 4 September 2019 I officially joined Cumbernauld Living Landscape and as I sit here writing this its hard not to be emotional. How do you reflect on one of the most pivotal times in your life? Let’s try. Three years ago, poop lying on the ground was something to be avoided, now it’s a thing of marvel and intrigue