Category: Species and habitats

Natural Connections – Dog mess spoils environment

, by Cumbernauld LL
The Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s Nature Ninjas were out in the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Cumbernauld Glen reserve last weekend.  As always we were so grateful for the hardy volunteers who turned out in the freezing cold to help us improve the habitat for Cumbernauld’s wildlife. We removed invasive dogwood, preparing the area for new planting – and uncovering some beautiful dog violets as we worked!  These lovely little plants are food for Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies and hopefully our work will help them to flourish. We had a brilliant afternoon and the volunteers did a power of work, back at the office however it was another type of dog we were thinking about as Tracy and I unloaded the vans and sorted the equipment.  Read on to find out what we discovered....

Natural Connections – Motorbikes drowning out the birdsong in Forest Wood

, by Cumbernauld LL
Damage sustained from high velocity vehicles limits our ability to carry out conservation work I love a walk in the woods at this time of year so at the weekend I headed out to the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Forest Wood reserve to see if I could spot the beautiful carved wooden pine martens the Trust has hidden among the trees.  The cold, still air carried sound wonderfully and my ears were tuned to the sounds of the birds singing, heralding the oncoming spring. Unfortunately however it wasn’t long before the sounds of the birds were drowned out by the sound of motorbikes.

Natural Connections – Track down the new carvings

, by Cumbernauld LL
Pine marten resting As part of a £50,000 WREN funded path access project in Cumbernauld.   Cumbernauld Greenspace Reserves Manager, Duncan has become a bit of a creative artist.  Duncan has chainsaw sculpted 7 life size pine marten heads and one full size body and placed them peeking out of tree cavities.  If you are wondering around Forest Wood keep an eye open for them and post your images to our Facebook page. Pine martens are nocturnal and incredibly shy creatures....

Natural Connections – Helping out our garden birds

, by Cumbernauld LL
We found ourselves at Ravenswood Local Nature reserve last Sunday finishing off the works around the Banter Bench to prevent mud accumulating on the installation. Big messy job, but I have to admit it looks lovely now and I might extend these works around that area to bring it all together.  We met two local residents with their children and they told us that they love the Banter Bench and often have a seat while the kids go off and explore the woods within their sight, anyway I am digressing.

Natural Connections – Winter's tracks and trails

, by Cumbernauld LL
Pine marten tracks This time of year is perfect for adventuring outside when it is frosty or has been raining to explore the wildlife that explore our greenspaces while we are all tucked up in bed fast asleep. On snowy or frosty days you can see the remnants of deer tracks across grassy fields while on rainy days you can spot animal tracks in the mud.  Even better if it has been raining then with the temperature dropping the tracks are frozen waiting to be discovered.

Natural Connections – What’s in store for 2017?

, by Cumbernauld LL
With so much achieved last year it is hard at times to imagine even more accomplishments for 2017 but we are a restless bunch in the Cumbernauld office and we are always looking to improve people’s connections with nature and wildlife.  So what is in store for this year?  

Natural Connections – Tackling non-natives for a very special butterfly

, by Cumbernauld LL
​Small pearl bordered fritillary at St Maurice's Pond​ December’s Sunday volunteer session saw our team out at St Maurice’s pond to remove European larch and rhododendron. We were getting some funny looks from dog walkers and families using the circular walking route as they passed us by, it got me thinking…. The folks who were giving us funny looks might not understand why we were taking out perfectly good plants.

Natural Connections – The wonder of learning

, by Cumbernauld LL
Identifying scat through smell Children's incredible aptitude for learning when the subject excites them and is different from the norm never ceases to amaze me. Last week Cumbernauld Living Landscape delivered four workshops about the wildlife you can find in Cumbernauld to P5-7 pupils at Woodlands Primary School. We covered badgers, otters, deer, foxes, hedgehogs and of course the elusive but beautiful pine marten, as well as more well-known species like herons, robins and butterflies. You could feel the excitement in the class with all the children very vocal and animated. We all left the school with a lighter step and wee buzz in our hearts, not to mention ringing ears!

Natural Connections – Discover Broadwood Loch

, by Cumbernauld LL
Plenty of routes to explore the beautiful Broadwood Loch We are hosting a guided walk around Broadwood Loch on Saturday 27 August from 12 - 2pm as a farewell to Cumbernauld Living Landscape’s summer events programme.  Broadwood Loch is on the site of the old Drum Mains farm and is now managed by North Lanarkshire Council. I can vividly remember chasing butterflies through fields of wheat when I first came to Cumbernauld in the late 1970’s.  I can also remember trying very hard to jump the wee streams but usually ending up in them and returning home filthy and wet head to toe. It turns out that peat stains your clothing very well!

Wildlife Watch pop-up events 2016

, by Cumbernauld LL
Getting to grips with nature As we get closer to the start date for the new Wildlife Watch Group in Cumbernauld we thought it would be a great idea to host a few Pop-Up events showcasing the kinds of activities that will be taking place during the Wildlife Watch Group itself. The wonderful staff at Palacerigg Country Park, where the Wildlife Watch group will be held, allowed us to set up four activity sessions in the Eriskay Longhouse. The wonderful volunteers here at Cumbernauld Living Landscape led the sessions which took place on the 28th of July and the 3rd, 9th and 11th of August in the run up to the schools starting again. 

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