Category: Species and habitats

The sounds of the wild seasons

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
If wild geese provide the soundtrack to winter walks, the warblers to the spring, and the screaming swifts are our summer music, then it is the incessant piping of young buzzards that sometimes fill these not-quite-summer, not-quite autumn days. In truth the adult buzzards have been calling to one another most of the year – only falling silent in the…

Evolution works in mysterious ways!

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
If Creationists wanted to cite an animal that seems to defy the theories of evolution, they should look no further than the common cranefly, Tipula paludosa. Every year as summer fades a rag-tag invasion of daddy-longlegs stumbles into homes all over the country, crashing into lampshades, dangling helplessly from undusted cobwebs, and wilfully drowning themselves in washing-up bowls and tea cups.…

The state of our woodlands

, by Tracy Lambert
The State of the UK’s Woods and Trees 2021 report came out earlier this year. Now you may wonder what that has to do with us here in Cumbernauld? It was based on UK trees. We are only a small town with lots of woodland so we are ok – aren’t we? Well, no, we’re not really. The Cumbernauld Living…

Why COP26 matters to Cumbernauld

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) is coming to Glasgow this November, with the goal of limiting global warming to less than 2?C above pre-industrial levels. Attended by politicians, experts and delegations from 197 countries, they aim to: Secure commitments to drastically limit emissions of greenhouse gases. Mitigate the worst impacts of climate change. Mobilise finance to deliver these ambitious…

To Bread or not to Bread: A Guide to Feeding Your Local Swans

, by Katie Brown
St Maurice’s Pond is an excellent spot to see new life this summer. Lots of different birds are currently raising their young; mallards, tufted ducks, swans, coots, moorhens and many more. Feeding and watching waterfowl is a good wellbeing activity and is known to help with anxiety and depression. But how can we ensure we are feeding them the right…

A yellow flood

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
Remember at the end of the winter, when the rain pelted down and we would find new puddles and pools had appeared overnight in the flooded fields and greenspaces around the town? Well now it is summer new pools have appeared – but instead of murky brown, this is a flood of brightest yellow. They are pools of meadow buttercups…

It mast be a good year for willow

, by Tracy Lambert
Willow catkins at seed. c. Tracy Lambert/Cumbernauld Living Landscape. I must admit it has been a bit weird seeing snow in June in Cumbernauld.  Bet that got your attention! In essence that has been what the ground has looked like this summer, all covered with willow seeds.  The edges of the grass paths have looked as if they have been…

Blue shade shoes?

, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape
Cumbernauld seems to be an island sitting in a sea of violetty-blue at the moment. Whichever direction you walk in the woods the bluebells are out. Surely one of our best-known and best-loved wildflowers, they signal the height of spring like nothing else, arriving with that other harbinger of the season, the cuckoo. It’s from this co-incidence that they get…

Our Brilliant Bogs

, by Katie Brown
The Nature Ninjas have been swinging their mattocks down at Abronhill bog and Ravenswood bog, removing birch regeneration. Now you might be wondering why conservation volunteers are removing native trees but there is a very good reason for what we are doing. Trees dry out peat bogs by sucking the water out of the ground through their roots, Peatlands are…

Birds, bees, buds, and bloom

, by Cumbernauld LL
      It’s spring! The bitterness of winter appears to be fading with fresh days that are gradually getting warmer. And we’re not the only ones to notice the longer days. Male birds are gearing up for breeding season, so have started showing off how loud and long their songs are, declaring their territory and hopefully wooing the females!…

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