Why not all trees are equal

  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

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

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

Trees for everyone

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

Deadly fungus taking its toll on Cumbernauld’s ash trees

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

How to turn your garden into a hedgehog haven

A couple of weeks ago I had a surprise visitor. The little spikey creature wondered across the garden at night looking for beetles and slugs and my garden has plenty! I’ve never seen a hedgehog in my garden before but this is right time of year to spot them. Over the past few months hedgehogs have been starting to fatten

A secret winter larder on our doorsteps

Early November. The days are getting shorter, the yellowing leaves are nearly down, and even the grass is beginning to die back. It’s nearly winter. Yet out for a walk on a sunny day I still spot a bee or two, and a red admiral butterfly darts past looking pretty chipper. They’ve obviously discovered a source of food, despite the

We’re wild about bats!

We’ve been running some Bat Walks over the past few weeks and have loved telling people about these amazing creatures. Its been a great time of year to see them and Cumbernauld provides a fantastic habitat for them. Some of our walks have taken us down into Seafar Woods where the grassy clearings provide a supply of insects for these

If you go down to the meadows today

The Cumbernauld Living Landscape team are gradually getting back out to visit some greenspaces in Cumbernauld. Tracy, our Project Officer for Young People visited St Maurice’s Pond recently and was amazed at how much the meadow was thriving! There’s such a diverse range of plant species to be found including knapweed, yellow rattle and birds foot trefoil. Benefiting from these

Taking Care Of Our Greenspaces

Local resident Kate Fromings has written this guest blog about why we should take better care of the town’s greenspaces.  In Cumbernauld we are incredibly lucky to have the use of a plethora of greenspaces. No matter which side of the town you reside in, there’s a piece of nature just minutes from your front door. Abronhill has Forest Wood,

The plight of the male bumblebee

  PART FOUR Once the males have hatched, they leave the nest never to return. Their sole purpose is to feed, mate, then die— it is a very short life for the humble male. Most will never mate but those that do will pass on the genes from the mother queen bee and the grandmother, great grandmother etc. hence the