Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Local Group

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http://www.swtaberdeen.org.uk/

Chairman’s Message

It’s great to see that our local group has been very active in the past year. We had a really interesting programme of events outdoors and indoors, all providing a lot of knowledge about local wildlife. Can I make a big plea though: often our outside events are fully booked in advance and there is a waiting list but then some cancel at the last minute or just don’t appear on the day. Sometimes I know this might be unavoidable but please, if you have to cancel, let us know as soon as you can so we can offer the place to others.

Seasonal Ranger, Lucy, did an amazing job looking after our reserves and organising volunteer parties to help manage them (see the summary of her report in this newsletter). She reports that there were almost 600 volunteer hours worked in the last year! Our tree nursery, managed by volunteer Tim, is now producing trees for our woodland at Gight with the first tranche of about 60 mixed broadleaved species growing well. Look out for a call for volunteers to plant hedges at the tree nursery soon! A special mention has to be made for the work of volunteers looking after our wildflower project at Tullich, especially Ewen Cameron, who puts in many hours making sure our management of the site is as good as it can be. Do visit the site if you’ve not yet done so. This newsletter provides an interesting overview of quite a few wildlife projects going on, all of which need volunteers to help. Look out for all the volunteering opportunities we advertise on our local group Facebook page and website!

Roger Owen

Seasonal Ranger Reserves Report: Volunteering

The full Seasonal Ranger Report can be accessed here.

The NE Seasonal Ranger post covers four Aberdeenshire SWT reserves - Longhaven Cliffs, Gight Wood, Red Moss of Netherley, and Coulnacraig Meadow and the season ran from 24th March to 30th September. The Ranger carries out practical conservation, maintains access and safety on reserves, recruits and manages volunteers, updates species lists and keeps the Reserve Manager updated. Volunteers were recruited through the SWT website and the newly launched Kinetic volunteer portal, and on the Local Group’s Facebook page and from family and friends. An amazing total of 595 volunteer hours were worked on the reserves this season! The contribution to the reserves from the volunteers cannot be overstated. A BIG THANK YOU to them all for coming out in all weathers and bringing lots of enthusiasm and fun!

Across the four Aberdeenshire reserves activities ranging through path management, fencing/step repairs, litter removal, updating species lists through bioblitz’s, helping with Herbivore Impact Assessments, weeding, raking, sowing Yellow rattle and removing a LOT of birch regeneration from the Moss. Spending time working on these beautiful and varied reserves and working with a supportive manager and colleagues, as well as an amazing group of enthusiastic and hard-working volunteers made this Ranger’s job an utter delight!

If you would like to volunteer to help maintain our reserves during 2026 keep a lookout for the opportunities we advertise on the Trust website and our local group Facebook page: here. Lucy Duerdoth (brief summary by Roger Owen)

Aberdeen Wildlife Watch - Back in Action!

The Scottish Wildlife Trust runs Wildlife Watch clubs for children across the country, giving young people the chance to get outdoors, explore, and build a lasting connection with the natural world. After a long pause during the pandemic, we’re thrilled to announce that the Aberdeen Wildlife Watch group is up and running again.

The pandemic reminded many of us how valuable nature is for our wellbeing. For children, especially those who spent their early years in isolation, it’s vital to have opportunities to play, learn, and connect with others in green spaces. I’m sure we can all agree that, at a time when our environment faces so many challenges, helping young people develop a love for nature and an understanding of wildlife is more important than ever. These early experiences can inspire future environmental champions.

Our first official session took place in March, and since then we’ve met on the first Saturday of each month, 10am–12pm. We began at Duthie Park to establish our group and have since explored other spots around the city, including Maidencraig Nature Reserve and Hazlehead Park. Each session has a theme, shaped by the season, local wildlife, children’s ideas, and, inevitably, the Scottish weather. We keep things hands-on and adventurous, with activities ranging from scavenger hunts and bug hunts to pond dipping, butterfly catching, nature art, and outdoor games. The sessions are aimed at 8–12 year olds, and while we have a wonderful group of regulars, we would love to expand our group and always welcome new members. If you know a child who might enjoy coming along, please email wildlifewatchaberdeen@gmail.com for details. One of the highlights this year was a collaborative session with a local Brownies group at Allan Park. It was fantastic to introduce a new audience to outdoor exploration and show how much fun nature can be. If you’re involved in a children’s group in Aberdeen and would like to arrange a joint session, we would also love to hear from you.

The Aberdeen Wildlife Watch group is led by a team of trained volunteers from a variety of backgrounds - from environmental students to teachers and ecology professionals. What we share is a passion for nature, education, and the benefits of outdoor learning. The Scottish Wildlife Trust offers training in outdoor education, PVG certification, and opportunities for additional qualifications, like first aid. Volunteering is as rewarding for the leaders as it is for the children, and we’re always happy to welcome new faces to the team. It’s a joy to see children exploring, learning, and laughing together in Aberdeen’s parks and wild spaces. With each bug spotted, leaf collected, or pond creature discovered, it’s not just about making memories, we are helping to inspire the next generation of nature lovers. Whether you are bringing along a child or joining as a volunteer yourself, we would love to see you at a future Wildlife Watch session!

Rachel McDade, Aberdeen Wildlife Watch Leader

“The Wind Shows Us How Close To The Edge We Are”

I have been troubled by wind recently. Not in the digestive sense but the lumps of atmosphere which assail me with ever greater frequency and greater force all year round. Gone are the calm, lazy summer days of my childhood. When you baked in the garden without a breath of wind, hearing the drone of bees from a distance. Now we still bake in ever hotter temperatures but are liable to be cooled by 20mph winds. And good luck hearing bees above the sound of fully leaved trees in motion due to 30mph winds.

Practically wind has been causing me problems watching wildlife. These days I mostly photograph insects with a macro lens, so I already have a small depth of field to work with. When your target is blowing back and forth, in and out of focus it is a pain. But thankfully there have been a lot more insects about this year to photograph compared to 2024, both in our garden and the wider area. There was a period when it seemed I was seeing hoverflies new to me every day, even on my walk to work. There have been far more butterflies and bumblebees about as well. But the warm, dry spring wasn’t entirely positive for all species. There was a lack of mud for Mason Bees, and I witnessed two fighting over a barely moist patch of soil. 2024 was a disastrous year for Red-tailed Bumblebees with their numbers falling by 75% nationally. Personally, I only saw three individuals last year. But so far this year I have only seen one. So, they aren’t rebounding to any noticeable extent. New species continue to appear in the house and garden this year, including Potter Wasps, an Alder Fly and a Cucumber Spider. Never having seen an Ancistrocerus Potter Wasp before we rather confusingly had two different species in the garden at the same time in May. Also, a small fly Tethritis neesii, which sounds more like a medical condition, on Oxeye Daisy with which it is associated. Hopefully some of these sightings are in response to our continuing work to make the garden even more wildlife friendly.

I have started running a moth trap in the garden this spring. It is great fun as no two catches are ever the same. Sometimes a bumper haul of all sizes needing an hour to process, sometimes just a few ‘tiddlers’ – micros which are a lot trickier to ID. Being out early when everything is cool and peaceful checking the trap is a great way to start your day. The number of bees and wasps on the go before 0500 on warm days has been a revelation. I had never suspected the number or variety of moths to be found in our small garden, over 60 macros so far. Plus, uncounted micros. Because we hardly see any moths in the house now compared to 25 years ago. But this activity is also dependent on wind. It is a waste of time putting the trap out if it is too windy. I have been sending in my moth records and all the other sightings too, important when distributions and numbers are changing so rapidly with the changing climate.

As well as causing practical difficulties the amount of wind we are experiencing is causing me philosophical unease. This increase in wind is clearly related to climate change due to the amount of heat and gases the modern world pumps into the atmosphere. It literally brings this global problem to my doorstep. I am just so thankful that I have a garden where I can largely shut out the modern world and watch wildlife in a peaceful oasis. Even if the plants are blowing about in a stiff breeze.

Gavin Forrest

Tullich Wildflower Meadow

Many of you will have seen invitations to our hands on conservation events at the wildflower meadow out at Tullich Kirk. Perhaps you have been following the regular updates from Ewen on Facebook. But where did it all begin?

Tullich Kirk traces its origins to the mid-600s, when St Nathalan founded a chapel on the site. By the 1400s, a medieval church had been constructed. Tullich Kirk survived the upheavals of the Scottish Reformation and continued to serve as a parish church until 1798, when it was abandoned in favour of a new church in Ballater. However, the kirkyard remains active as a burial ground to this day.

In 2021, a wildflower meadow was planted in memory of Esther Woodward, a much-loved past Chair of our local group and leading light among conservationists in northeast Scotland. The original planting of Esther’s plot was paid for from a bequest she left to the local Trust group. The site was planted up by volunteers with locally grown wildflowers supplied by Curam Fyvie and added to Buglife’s B-Line Network. Our group, supported by local volunteers, helps manage the site in conjunction with Aberdeenshire council. Spearheading these efforts is volunteer Ewen Cameron who has helped shape the site planting out plug plants, removing seed from vigorous plants to allow other plants to become established, watering and collecting seed. The emphasis is on native plants with stalwarts such as marjoram, thyme, cuckoo flower, wood sorrel, bird’s foot trefoil, devil’s bit scabious, ragged robin, cowslip, yarrow, red campion and many more. These are wildflowers that were once common in our grasslands but have been disappearing under pressure from increased pesticide use and changes in land use.

Managing a wildflower meadow isn’t about leaving nature to get on with things. In the early stages a few of the original plug plants were dug out by rabbits so Ewen fenced off the plot for a couple of years until the plants were sufficiently well rooted to take care of themselves. It turned out that a few of the newly planted plugs were being pulled out by Greylag Geese! Other interventions include removing non-native species such as sycamore, lupins and sweet william, reducing vigorous plants such as dock and creeping thistle by taking off seedheads early, and monitoring and responding to conditions. For example, by planting a range of plants, including deep-rooted, native plants, the plot is still looking good despite the dry, hot weather without any need to add compost or fertiliser that leaves a carbon footprint on our organic plot.

One of the success stories of the last few years has been yellow rattle, aka the meadow maker, generously sown by volunteer Emma W. One area in particular has been positively rattling with seed over the last two years. This is a sure sign that the vigorous grasses are being subdued.

Over the last twelve months, the group has organised several hands-on volunteer days, supported by Ewen and Emma, with local members lending a hand planting, weeding and collecting seed. Recently we held a bumblebee and moth survey where Annie Ives of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust provided help in identifying some of our nationally scarce bumblebees, such as the Broken-belted bumblebee. Data collected from these surveys are submitted to NESBReC and will form a benchmark for the future.

If you are interested in being part of this community project, keep an eye open for local events starting in spring. These are advertised by email, on our website and on Facebook.

Liz Chellingsworth

Volunteer River Monitoring on the Dee – first results

I wrote in the previous newsletter, about how much I enjoy showing people how to survey and monitor their local rivers using aquatic invertebrates. I pointed out that this provided a lot of useful information about the health of a river, especially using the SmartRivers methods which identifies the river bed invertebrates more or less to species level, each of which has a different tolerance to pollutants like sewage, pesticides and other agricultural run-off as well as to physical problems like excessive sediment, channel straightening or artificial beds and banks. The first data from SmartRivers monitoring on the River Dee, in conjunction with the Dee Catchment Partnership, has been produced and I thought a summary of its findings would of interest.

There are 10 sites now being monitored by volunteers (see figure). The data pulls out a variety of issues and it's interesting to see that chemical pressure (e.g. pesticides) is having a moderate impact at the main stem at Milton of Crathes as well as in several lower tributaries. Milton of Crathes also shows moderate eutrophication pressure so is quite clearly impacted by agriculture. On the other hand, the Water of Tanar and the Tarland Burn at Aboyne have high community conservation scores indicating relatively rare assemblages of invertebrates. In terms of species rarity the caddis Ceraclea nigronervosa on the Leuchar Burn is one of only 6 records of that species in the NE of Scotland.

This is only the first report using volunteer data and will be repeated twice a year, building an even more detailed picture of where the human pressures are in the Dee and point to where we can take action. If you are interested in taking part in Volunteer River monitoring, please get in touch with me at: rogjan.owen@gmail.com

Roger Owen

Working together for Scotland’s most vulnerable species

Species on the Edge is a collaboration of eight conservation organisations, working with communities across Scotland’s coasts and islands to save our rarest and most vulnerable species from extinction.

I work for Buglife as a Conservation Officer with the Species on the Edge programme, covering the stretch of coast from Aberdeen to Dundee. This part of the programme focuses on three invertebrates: the Northern Brown Argus butterfly (Aricia artarxerxes), the Bordered Brown Lacewing (Megalomus hirtus), and the Small Blue butterfly (Cupido minimus). Each of them has a special connection to the plants and habitats along our coast, and each needs a bit of extra support to secure their future.

The coastal distribution of Northern Brown Argus in my project area is from Cove, Aberdeen to St Cyrus National Nature Reserve. Their flight season is between June and August, with appearances creeping in earlier in recent years. Common Rock Rose (Helianthemum nummularium) is the sole foodplant of the larvae and is usually found in rocky outcrops in low nutrient soil. Spotting the eggs of the Northern Brown Argus is easier than you might think as the creamy white structure contrasts against the dark green waxy leaves of the Rock Rose.

A little more challenging to find is the Bordered Brown Lacewing, nestled among Wood Sage (Teucrium scorodonia) on southerly facing rocky, low nutrient soils. It’s quite a reclusive species and through surveys we aim to visit new sites with similar habitat to understand more about its distribution. This year we celebrated 200 years since the first discovery of the Bordered Brown Lacewing in the UK by launching “200 hours for lacewings”. The campaign aims to hit a collective target of 200 hours of volunteers’ time; learning about, surveying and managing habitat for the Bordered Brown Lacewing.

Finally, the Small Blue butterfly, the UK’s smallest native butterfly, measures as small as a 5 pence piece. Coastal hotspots for the Small Blue in this project area stretch from Dundee to St Cyrus. Adults are on the wing from mid-May to early July and its sole food plant, Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) flowers from June to September. Through Species on the Edge, we are striving to discover as much as we can about the distribution of each species and to enhance habitats to increase their chances of survival.

We are accepting volunteers at this time, for a variety of surveying and habitat work. Full training will be provided for joint and independent surveying. Contact me at fiona.basford@buglife.org.uk if you are interested in volunteering some of your time and follow Buglife and Species on the Edge social media channels for updates on training, workshops and habitat work parties.

Fiona Basford

Social media goes wild

Do you follow us on Facebook? If not, follow this link: Link and see what we get up to when we go wild on social media.

The group uses the Facebook page to signpost events across the northeast organised by the Trust and by other local wildlife groups. It’s a great place to find out about community initiatives in the City and Shire, volunteering events in the northeast, local training opportunities and citizen science activities. There are also regular wildlife activity ideas for young children. Look out for wildlife brainteasers, seasonal foraging ideas and some plain daft nature observations.

The page is jam packed with wildlife trivia: some things you didn’t know, and some things you probably never knew you wanted to know. We also share links to projects that bridge wildlife and history or the arts.

And remember, if you have a story to share, get in touch!

Dr Roger Owen (Chair)	Email for all committee members: committee@swtaberdeen.org.uk
David Elston (Treasurer)
Dr Kathryn Wright (Secretary)
Steven Watt (Webpage Editor)	Email: webmaster@swtaberdeen.org.uk
Lynn Wood (Newsletter Editor)	Email: rogjan.owen@gmail.com
Local SWT Staff
Rab Potter (Reserves Manager NE)	Tel: 01828 634205 Email: rpotter@swt.org.uk

Activities Programme 2025 – 2026

2025

November 13th – Protecting the NESBiP Big 5 – what you can do! Abbie Ferrar

2026

January 22nd - The ECHO Soils Citizen Science Project. Karolina Trdlicova

February 19th - SmartRivers: Volunteer Invertebrate Monitoring in Scottish Rivers. Roger Owen & others

March 19th – Managing Aberdeen Local Nature Reserves. Jack Elphonstone, Aberdeen City Rangers

April 16th - AGM and talk: Sea the Connection. The Trust’s Living Seas Team. Elouise Dalziel

These events will be promoted on our Facebook page and via Eventbrite invitations to members. It is essential to book in advance.

Contacts for Members: committee@swtaberdeen.org.uk
Reserves Manager (Rab Potter) : rpotter@swt.org.uk 01328 634205
Local Scottish Wildlife Trust website: www.swtaberdeen.org.uk
National Scottish Wildlife Trust website: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/

The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee, registered in Scotland (registered number SC040247), having its registered office at Harbourside House, 110 Commercial Street, Edinburgh EH6 6NF. It is also a Scottish registered charity (charity number SC005792).