Category: Species and habitats

Looking out for Bluebells

, by Aimee Moretti
(c) Katrina Martin/2020 Vision    ‘There is a silent eloquence In every wild bluebell’ – Anne Brontë As we begin to see the bluebell carpets rolling out, this quote certainly rings true. I want to take this time to highlight the importance of protecting these beautiful flowers. Throughout the blog, I will be referring to the ‘common bluebell’ but that…

One swallow does not a summer make…..

, by Laura Healy Smith
Swallow, (c) Chris Gomershall, 2020Vision Every spring, I long for the sight of swallows returning to perch on telegraph wires and preen themselves after a mammoth journey which seems impossible for such a tiny, slight bird. Their chatter has been the constant soundtrack to my life over the years and their petrol blue and red plumage – and forked tails…

A helping hand for bees

, by Tracy Lambert
Spring is beginning to awaken and last week our Project Officer spotted her first tree bumblebee of the year. As you can imagine, the bee was a bit sluggish after a long winter sleep. The bee would have been seeking food and heat. The risk is that this mild period of winter could be a false start for many of…

Over to you…

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
Over the last couple of years I have really enjoyed writing pieces for this blog telling you about some of the fantastic wildlife that we have in Cumbernauld, and about the amazing people that we have worked with to protect and improve our beautiful greenspaces. Sadly this will be one of the the last pieces for a while, as the…

No more elephants!

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
The elephant in the room’ is a hugely overused phrase these days, don’t you think? So I’ve come up with a new one: ‘the heron in the loch’. I was strolling back along Broadwood Loch when I saw the tall, ashy-grey shape of a heron a few yards away. I saw it – but I hadn’t registered it – it…

A New Home for Our Little Yellow Friends

, by Katie Brown
Everybody loves daffodils. Those yellow trumpets that herald the arrival of spring. I don’t think I could name a more cheerful plant. Their Latin name “Narcissus” is also the name of a Greek legend where a beautiful young man fell in love with his own reflection and stared for so long that he starved to death. Daffodils might also be…

Love dust in the air?

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
This week the greenspaces around the town have purred with insects feeding on the wildflowers brought out by the recent warm weather. Bumblebees, hoverflies, craneflies, day-flying moths, they all seemed drunk with the perfume that the bluebells, violets, hawthorn and the rest were pumping out to attract them. On one walk recently I saw a single, male, green-veined white butterfly…

Bee helpful, save our pollinators!

, by Katie Brown
You know it’s spring when insects start to appear. I wasn’t too thrilled to be chased by a wasp the other week but I’ve enjoyed seeing their much friendlier cousin the bumblebee emerge from hibernation. The giant bees you see in early spring are queens. Once the temperature is warm enough, the queen will emerge from the hole in the…

The empress of flowers!

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
All around the town, on the verges, next to the footpaths, on the playing fields, the fast-greening grass has been sprinkled with splashes of white and pink where daisies are taking advantage of the short time before the mowers come out in force. In some people’s eyes, of course, these are weeds, not wild flowers. Weeds because they’re everywhere, rather…

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