Blogs
23/2/2024 in: Auchnerran Blog under: Farming , Farmland Ecology
On a drizzly Saturday in November, four students packed up their fieldwork gear and drove up the winding and picturesque road to Auchnerran, the GWCT Scottish Demonstration Farm.
26/7/2023 in: Auchnerran Blog under: Farming , GWCT Scotland
Well, that’s everything done at our Scottish demonstration farm for another year! Another busy breeding season for the waders is winding down and coming to a close. While we had large numbers of returning birds (with a maximum pre-breeding count of 164 lapwing, larger than both the 2021 & ’22 seasons), we did have fewer nests than in previous years.
11/7/2023 in: Auchnerran Blog under: GWCT Scotland
A walk around GWSDF Auchnerran would not be complete without resident buzzards and red kites. We are lucky enough to be visited by an incredibly diverse range of raptor species, such as hen harriers, sparrowhawks and goshawks. Recently, we have witnessed a drastic increase in the number of raptors of various species observed utilising the farm, based on data from our raptor monitoring transects (conducted monthly since 2018).
21/11/2022 in: Auchnerran Blog
We are delighted to be able to send our culled rabbits to be used as feed for juvenile golden eagles at the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP). Remarkably, this project has been able to more than double the population of golden eagles in the south of Scotland since 2018.
10/11/2022 in: Auchnerran Blog under: Farming
Hello and welcome to another Annual Report of our activities at Auchnerran. What a challenging year it has been!
14/10/2022 in: Auchnerran Blog under: GWCT Scotland
The UK has long been known as a country of animal lovers, with our wildlife and countryside inspiring songs and art for centuries. However, in the UK we are also sadly one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and a number of our beloved species face declining populations for a variety of causes. This unfortunately includes our songbirds, with many species having seen a sharp decline in populations.
21/4/2022 in: Auchnerran Blog
In the past, many believed that the curlew’s haunting cry lamented the souls of lost sailors. Sad, then, to reflect that without concerted effort to save the curlew, we may soon mourn its loss to many parts of Scotland.
26/1/2022 in: Auchnerran Blog under: Nature , GWCT Scotland
The capercaillie is a truly magnificent species, one that almost seems too significant and primeval to occur in the small remaining pockets of Caledonian pine forests in the 21st century. The small, declining population of this species is now centred in Strathspey, with fewer individuals occurring in Deeside and Easter Ross. This, sadly, makes observing capercaillie particularly rare in Scotland.
29/11/2021 in: Auchnerran Blog under: GWCT Scotland
With the Guardian reporting declines in rabbit populations and the importance of intervention in their management, we thought it the ideal time to reflect on how they’re getting on our Scottish demonstration farm.
12/11/2021 in: Auchnerran Blog under: GWCT Scotland , Waders
GWCT is working hard to help these vulnerable species. At our research and demonstration farm, Auchnerran in Aberdeenshire, we are fortunate to have thriving populations of lapwing, oystercatcher and curlew
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