Blogs

Louise provides another update from her eventful hike.

The Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust (GWT) is honouring Lionel’s memory by launching an award along the lines of our annual GWT Young Gamekeeper, but for Young Ghillies. 

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).

Louise provides a second update from her epic solo hike.

Bees' Needs Week is back from 10th to 17th July, and it's time for everyone to play their part in helping bees thrive.

During July, GWCT's Dr Louise de Raad is spending two weeks of unpaid leave to hike Tour Du Mont Blanc, one of the most famous long-distance treks in the world, totalling 170km. She hopes to raise enough funds to help improve facilities at our Auchnerran Demonstration Farm in Scotland.

The late May bank holiday is never much of a holiday for our Scottish uplands research team. This date often marks the start of our grouse chick-catching period. There is a window of just a few weeks to get around all the study areas to record the tick burdens – before the chicks are large enough to fly away from us.

The UK government has launched a significant new fund aimed at creating and restoring natural habitats on a large scale. With a budget of £25 million, the Species Survival Fund aims to halt the decline of various species and support the government's key target of species conservation.

During July, GWCT's Dr Louise de Raad is spending two weeks of unpaid leave to hike Tour Du Mont Blanc, one of the most famous long-distance treks in the world, totalling 170km.