A bumblebee’s tale of spring and summer

  PART TWO The discussion I had with students from St Maurices’ about bumblebees will remain with me forever. For two years I would be stopped in the corridors by one or two students who asked me to repeat the bumblebee’s tale, as they couldn’t get their heads around the genetics of how brothers and sisters are related differently. It

The humble bumble

  PART ONE I finally feel that spring has arrived. You might wonder why. After all, meteorological spring was the first of March and the official beginning of spring was the 20th, so why now? Well, I just saw my first bumblebee, and it is never truly spring until I see one of those cute wee fuzzbutts! I adore bumblebees

New meadow proposal at Cumbernauld Community Park

“People and wildlife at the heart of Cumbernauld’s future” is our vision at Cumbernauld Living Landscape, so it’s important that wherever possible improvements we make to the town’s habitats also provide opportunities for locals to connect with nature. This year we have some exciting plans for Cumbernauld Community Park. Lat year, in partnership with Friends of Cumbernauld Community Park, we

Planting plastic

Planting trees is a rewarding experience, something we’re all being encouraged to do to help tackle the climate crisis and boost biodiversity in our local greenspaces. But the work doesn’t stop there if we want these trees to develop into healthy woodlands. Last week our Nature Ninjas volunteers were out collecting old tree guards in Glencryan Wood – not the

Visit your tree at Broadwood

If you took part in our tree planting day at Broadwood Loch in December you had the option to download an app and locate the exact grid reference for your tree. This means you’ll be able to chart your tree’s progress as it develops and matures, hopefully for many years to come! It will be fascinating to see how the

Getting stuck in for nature

Last Thursday as many as 300 people joined Cumbernauld Living Landscape at Broadwood Loch to grab a spade and plant a tree before enjoying some festive treats round the campfire.   With it being polling day we had a steady flow of children looking for something active to do on their day off from school, and plenty of adults looking for

What is biodiversity?

We have recently been asked “what is biodiversity, and is it really important?” Well yes, it is vitally important! Biodiversity is the variety/diversity and abundance of living species and habitats on the planet, right down to the rocks that weather to become soil. It is also how these species and habitats interact with each other to boost ‘ecosystem services’ such

A red squirrel revival?

Have you ever seen a red squirrel? Imagine one darting through the treetops of Cumbernauld Glen, or scurrying around the grounds of Palacerigg. It’s not as far-fetched as you might think! As Britain’s only native squirrel species, red squirrels were once widespread throughout Scotland. It’s only in the past few decades that they have been replaced by grey squirrels, an

Going Batty

    Believe it or not, it’s Autumn, you’d be forgiven for thinking we were still waiting on Summer, but I’m afraid for this year, that’s your lot!  You can see signs of the change all around, Trees beginning to change colour, a scattering of birch leaves in the wind, a heavy dew in the morning. One of the most