Auchnerran Blog

Ahead of World Curlew Day, Dave Parish asks what can be done to help the species?

Along with the rest of the country, Auchnerran has had a fair dusting of snow. We took the opportunity to take photos of some of the beautiful winter wildlife on display.

The LIFE funded LaserFence project is testing a novel laser system for potential use as a deterrent for pest species of mammals, and we are now ready to test it on rats.

This is the week for our Big Farmland Bird Count across the UK and we have had another good build up to the event. GWCT Scotland ran an informative and fun Big Farmland Bird ID Day at GWSDF Auchnerran and one again in Northern Ireland.

2017 was a busy year on the Game and Wildlife Scottish Demonstration Farm at Auchnerran. We would like to thank all of the individuals and organisations that made it a success highlighting the importance of integrated land management for Scotland and the UK.

Ironically on a day packed with weather – including sunny spells, sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow showers, we set-up a new weather station today at the farm with colleagues from the James Hutton Institute. 

The last couple of years at GWSDF Auchnerran have highlighted the huge abundance of breeding waders on the site, with Lapwing, Curlew, Oystercatcher, Woodcock and Snipe present in droves. Here are a few photographs from the 2017 monitoring season.

GWSDF Auchnerran is a hill edge farm that is looking to inform other environmental organisations of the importance of integrated land management, influence Scottish government policy regarding the sustainable wildlife management in areas of productive agriculture and inspire farmers, land managers, communities and members of the public with the respect to the benefits farming and game management bring to our diverse countryside.

On a much-needed sunny day in Aberdeenshire recently, GWSDF Auchnerran welcomed Graeme Dey MSP, convenor of the Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee (ECCLRC); and Andrew Proudfoot, senior assistant clerk to the committee.

At the end of July, GWSDF Auchnerran hosted a meeting with a group of wildlife managers to discuss the LIFE Laser Fence project and its applicability to a variety of situations. The Laser Fence project is a partnership between several European organisations, led by Liverpool John Moores University, and is investigating the general question: can laser technology be used to scare mammals away from designated areas?