Species and habitats Archives - Page 4 of 16 - Cumbernauld Living Landscape

Spring foraging – fresh food for free!

10th March 2021, by Cumbernauld LL

by David Walsh, Cumbernauld Living Landscape Project Officer As winter drifts away and spring emerges, we start to see an abundance of wildflowers back in bloom. Over the past year it has brought a particular sense of excitement for me. This is due to my new hobby: foraging! Foraging is often viewed as a bit scary. None of these plants…

Species and habitats, Volunteering, Tips and advice

Birds, bees, buds, and blooms

3rd March 2021, by Cumbernauld LL

By Teri Grieve, Cumbernauld Living Landscape Trainee Spring is coming! The bitterness of winter appears to have been interrupted, with fresh days that are getting warmer. And we’re not the only ones to notice the longer days. Male birds are gearing up for the breeding season, so have started showing off how loud and long their songs are at…

Species and habitats, General

Snowdrops – tougher than they look!

24th February 2021, by Paul Barclay

Head to any damp, shady woodland right now and there is a good chance you’ll come across one of my favourite flowers – the snowdrop. They appear towards the end of winter and are regarded as heralds of the coming spring. Winter is a dark time for me, when I often battle with my mental health, and I look forward…

Species and habitats, Creating Natural Connections, Wild Ways Well

Let’s Talk About Pigeons

10th February 2021, by Katie Brown

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…

General, Species and habitats

Stay home, stay wild

27th January 2021, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape

Winter can seem hard to get through at the best of times, but with the current restrictions on top, Cumbernauld Living Landscape feel it’s time to offer local people a whole load of safe, fun, nature-based activities to help see us all through. Our Stay Home, Stay Wild schedule started on Monday, and offers local people of all ages a…

Species and habitats, Inspirational

Why not all trees are equal

20th January 2021, by Cumbernauld LL

Part of our work in trying to restore our local wildlife habitats is taking out some of the things that would not be there naturally. You may have seen our teams of Cumbernauld Living Landscape volunteers out and about removing such things – which can range from litter to invasive species of plants. Some plants that are not native…

Species and habitats, Volunteering, Tips and advice

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

1st January 2021, by Cumbernauld LL

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…

General, Species and habitats, Guest blog

Trees for everyone

30th December 2020, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape

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…

Wild Ways Well, General, Species and habitats, Guest blog, Volunteering

The cleverness of corvids

23rd December 2020, by Cumbernauld LL

By Teri Grieve, Cumbernauld Living Landscape Trainee Some of the Cumbernauld Living Landscape team were out planting trees with our volunteers last week at Broadwood Loch, so I thought I’d tell you about others in nature that have also been helping our woodlands. Magpies, crows and jays all belong to a family of species called corvids, and they are very…

Species and habitats

Deadly fungus taking its toll on Cumbernauld’s ash trees

25th November 2020, by Cumbernauld Living Landscape

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…