The Nature of Scotland â Autumn 2011 â Issue 13

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3 Floating homes Office workers welcome Loch Leven is one of Scotland’s most visited national nature reserves and internationally important for the birdlife found there. Volunteers help staff with a wide variety of tasks, ranging from visitor surveys to pond clearance. A couple of years ago the volunteers helped to build and place some rafts on which the great crested grebes could nest. The rafts reduce the risk that nesting birds will be disturbed by predators, people and dogs. They followed that up this year with a nest raft for the reserve’s population of black-headed gulls, a species that’s declined in recent years. The raft has the added benefit that it will be visible from a new bird viewing hide, which will be built later in the year. For retired train driver Alan Reid, volunteering is an opportunity to do something new and different. “It was really enjoyable making the gull raft because I’m very practically minded anyway, so I was able to use my skills, but on an unusual project. “It’s great fun, keeps me fit and helps the environment at the same time. No two days are the same when you volunteer with SNH, and the variety of work along with the friendly folk keep me coming back.” “You don’t have to be hugging a tree or mending a path to make a difference to the environment,” says David Stevenson, who volunteers with the John Muir Trust. “I work in the organisation’s office and I believe you can make just as important a contribution in this way. I’ve helped out with the John Muir Trust for a few years since I retired, and there’s been a wide variety of things to do.” David has put together a digital photo library to make it easier to illustrate material effectively; compiled reports on the achievements of those doing the John Muir Award; updated databases of members and supporters to improve communication with them; researched possible sources of funding; and even undertaken the old volunteer stand-by of stuffing envelopes. “It’s back-office stuff, but as many organisations discover, if you don’t have a back office working well, then the frontline staff aren’t going to be very effective,” added David. “So it’s interesting and worthwhile – and you get coffee and good company as well!” For more information about the John Muir Trust see www.jmt.org 28 The Nature of Scotland
4 3 Volunteers Sean Parker and Alan Reid (right) prepare to remove the new gull raft from Loch Leven for storage over winter. 4 Young Bioblitz volunteer Abby Morrison getting to grips with an insect survey. Dunes in June Volunteers in Ayrshire spent a couple of days at a ‘Bioblitz’ event in June, where they surveyed a section of the coastline to find out about the birds, insects, plants and fungi living there. At events such as this, it’s always possible that a new species might be found. After all, scientists reckon that there are around 12 million species in the world and only about two million have been identified so far. It’s also possible to find species that are moving north, which may well be an indicator of climate change. The information gathered will be going into the Ayrshire local biodiversity action plan and will help guide future management of the area. “Despite the changeable weather, we had a fantastic couple of days out surveying in beautiful locations, with lots of wildlife all around,” commented Scott Shanks, chairman of the Glasgow and Southwest Scotland branch of Butterfly Conservation. “One of the highlights of the weekend was the discovery of a rare sand dart moth in the dunes south of Turnberry. This is the first record for this species on the west coast of Scotland. Indeed, the nearest known records are from the Isle of Man, over 100 km away!” If you’re interested in exploring the possibilities for a volunteer opportunity near you, the best place to start is your local volunteer centre. You can find out more at the Volunteer Scotland website www.volunteerscotland.org.uk Alternatively, if you're interested in a particular aspect of environmental volunteering, but can’t work out whom to contact, you could email volunteer@snh.gov.uk and we’ll see if we can point you in the right direction. www.snh.gov.uk 29
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Page 4 and 5: Credits The Nature of Scotland The
Page 6 and 7: Autumn 4 The Nature of Scotland
Page 8 and 9: 2 The art of love In autumn, it's n
Page 10 and 11: 1 The power of natural play 8 The N
Page 12 and 13: value of smaller scale, loose, natu
Page 14 and 15: 7 8 If you go down to the woods Nat
Page 16 and 17: People of all backgrounds and circu
Page 18 and 19: Personal stories On the edge of Dun
Page 20 and 21: NEWS Dolly scientist working on clo
Page 22 and 23: NEWS Greater protection for shark,
Page 24 and 25: NEWS Extra rangers help capercailli
Page 26 and 27: Inspired by nature 1 As usual, we r
Page 28 and 29: In our third article to mark the 20
Page 32 and 33: Dualchas coitcheann Common heritage
Page 34 and 35: Supporting sporting interests 32 Th
Page 36 and 37: 2 Bad press Promoting country sport
Page 38 and 39: Reserve focus Visit the Clyde Valle
Page 40 and 41: 24 2 1 Cartland Bridge Start from t
Page 42 and 43: 7 7 There are good numbers of badge
Page 44 and 45: SNH Area News Northern Isles and No
Page 46 and 47: SNH Area News Strathclyde and Ayrsh
Page 48 and 49: Events diary 2011 October Friday 7
Page 50 and 51: Hare’s-tail cotton grass, Uath Lo
Page 52 and 53: Bruce Percy 1 Coming from an arts b
Page 54 and 55: Lorne Gill Lorne is the full-time p
Page 56: Sandra Bartocha Sandra is a German
Page 59 and 60: 1 interested to learn about some of
Page 61 and 62: 1 Red kites are good for business.
Page 63 and 64: “The project to reintroduce red k
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The Nature of Scotland â Autumn 2011 â Issue 13

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The Nature of Scotland â Autumn 2011 â Issue 13