The arrival of autumn has bought with it some exciting changes around the Aigas site. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are beginning to change colour and red deer stags can be heard roaring across site as the rutting season gets into…
We have seen thousands of Pink-footed geese flying over Aigas recenly. These birds have migrated from their breeding grounds in Iceland, Greenland and Spitsbergen (Norway) to winter in the UK’s wetlands and farmlands. Around 510,000 individuals are expected annually in the UK, with a large percentage in East Anglia. Around…
As early September rolled around, it was once again time to say goodbye to our previous years placement students and say hello to our new placement students. Josephine The first month of the academic placement at Aigas has been a…
After a busy first couple of weeks on my placement at Aigas, going on days out along the West Coast spotting White-tailed eagles and looking after the wildcats, I was excited for my first hide visit. In preparation, I wrapped…
Winter always lingers on late into the year in the Highlands; gladly some preliminary vernal signs have started to make themselves clear over the last week or so. At Riverview we’ve seen the first Lesser Celandines blooming, Sallows freshly blossoming,…
It’s been a month of extreme weather here at Aigas. We’ve had snow and temperatures down to a biting -14⁰C, followed by a relative heatwave with the snow melting even up on the hills! Fortunately, a lot of the hardy…
Back in May last year, rangers Michelle and Richard, and education officer Milo, set themselves the challenge of recording 100 species in 24 hours in the area around their house. They ended up finding an incredible 140 species over the…
It has been a beautiful first December and January for me here at Aigas, with more snow than I have ever experienced. Just after Christmas we had our first proper snowfall of the year, which revealed all the comings and…
This season has been an odd one for us humans at Aigas, but for our wildlife it has been business as usual. We have been running weekly moth traps for the Garden Moth Scheme since March, and we have seen…
The word decomposition may have rather unattractive connotations – perhaps those of dying and death – but this is a vital process that is never more evident than in Autumn, when a walk in a deciduous woodland is framed perfectly…
