Posts for May, 2024

High peaks, birds of prey, beautiful flowers, dragonflies and butterflies plus stunning scenery. A favourite destination, visited on many occasions in Spring and early Summer. This talk looks at “the barricade” between France and Spain from both sides where some of Europe’s most iconic species can be found – Wallcreeper, black woodpecker, blue rock thrush, Lammergier (bearded vulture) and lady slipper orchid.

Ralph and Brenda Todd give us a fascinating insight into Iceland. Sitting just below the Arctic Circle, Iceland is perhaps one of the most dramatic countries, relatively small in size, sparsely populated away from the capital Reykjavik. Geologically quite unique with many active volcanoes and geysers, stunning scenery and fantastic bird life. Having made two circular tours (20 years apart) along with some short visits this talk takes a look at the beautiful landscapes, waterfalls and geysers along with some of the flowers and birds to be encountered especially the seabird colonies of the towering sea cliffs.

John Miles, ex-RSPB Warden and now tour guide with his son Ewan for Nature Scotland will give an all seasons look at this amazing island.

Celebrated Urban Birder, David Lindo, takes us around the urban world of birds. Over 20% of the globe’s bird species have been recorded within our towns and cities, sometimes without us noticing. You will be surprised as to some of the variety of species David will be featuring. To see some of these great birds all you have to do is open your hearts, minds and importantly, look up!

Join award-winning musician, music tutor and experienced performer, Hamish Napier, in these local folk music workshops that:

– are open to melody and chord players alike,
– are open to people age 16+ who play a folk instrument at intermediate to advanced level,
– are suitable for both by-ear players and those who can read a little music,
– will build confidence, theoretical ideas and techniques, in a relaxed, fun and supportive environment,
– will show you how to interpret Scottish folk tunes and accompany using chord sequences
– will focus on local traditional tunes with links to the Badenoch & Strathspey landscape and heritage
– will give participants the opportunity to arrange some tunes together as a group, to perform at the monthly Storylands Sessions Late Show community concerts

The Braemar Nature Festival 10-19 May programme has landed!

Through a fantastic collaborative effort we have been able to pull together over 20 events over the week covering everything from health and nature walks to film nights, bat and moth safari’s to a Wood Ant walk. Several of our local estates are offering exciting events to learn more about the work they are undertaking, show you some of their wildlife and have the opportunity to assist with some conservation volunteering.

Discover more about Braemars past with a fascinating glaciology walk, learn how to use camera traps to their full extent and become a mountain hare surveyor; these are just a few of the events we have planned.

A full programme complete with booking links is available here: https://wild-discovery.com/…/braemar-nature-festival-2024

If you are an individual, organisation or business who would like to get involved then please do get in touch either here or explore@wild-discovery.com; the more people we can engage with nature the better!

And finally please spread the word. You can save this jpeg and circulate it to any groups and individuals who may be interested or print it out and place in your business window for everyone to see!

We look forward to seeing you all in May.

We are delighted to be hosting Fiona Hunter, one of the founders of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS), for an afternoon in our tipi dedicated to raising awareness and money for this wonderful cause. A chance to learn about the incredible work CHAS does to support children with life-shortening conditions and their families and to hear first hand from parents who are receiving essential support and respite for themselves and their 4 year old daughter Evelyn.

You will also have the opportunity to partake in breathwork, Somatics and yoga related methods which focus on managing and reducing stress with Katie White and Carrie Wilde, two fabulous local yoga teachers. And who doesn’t love a cup of tea and a bit of cake?!

Together, we can make a difference and show our support for this important cause. We’d love to see you there!

All ticket sales go directly to CHAS

In this talk, Nigel will show us some exclusive behind the scenes footage from his most recent films, featuring bears, bee eaters and eagle owls in Slovakia, leopards, oryx and hamadryas baboons in Arabia.

Much conservation activity serves to stop or, more dismally, merely slow the rate of biodiversity loss. But I will argue in this talk that island restoration offers the possibility of a net biodiversity gain, potentially in perpetuity. This is especially true when invasive species threatening native wildlife can be eradicated. The talk will particularly focus on projects around the world that have removed rats, goats and cats from oceanic islands over the past 30 years. During this time expertise has grown and projects on ever-larger islands have become achievable, with clear gains for seabirds and other threatened native species.

Over the past 30 years, it has become possible to document the geographical movements and activities of seabirds when they are out of sight and beyond the horizon of the land-bound observer. This has been achieved via electronic devices attached to the birds. An overview of these findings forms the basis of Michael Brooke’s talk; the depths (up to 500m) reached by diving penguins, the 10,000 km loops undertaken in 20 days by petrels during incubation while the mate incubates, the speeds (130 km/hr) attained by albatrosses blasted across the Southern Ocean by a tailwind.