A choice plant for pollinators
Farewell summer, hello autumn - this Scottish Pollinators post (21 September 2023) shares a focus on verbena, a beautiful pollinator friendly plant. Start planning for your 2024 garden (and school grounds wildlife areas) now!
Do you have ‘plant blindness’?
This article in The Conversation (7 August 2023) shares research around people’s attitudes to so-called ‘weeds’ and their importance for pollinating insects. Learn to love ivy - bees do!
The bumblebees of Bressay
This post on Scottish Pollinators (28 July 2023) tells the story of an event focussing on the bumblebee species of Shetland. The Species on the Edge team organised a day designed to encourage the public to come along and learn how to identify bumblebees, and the wildflowers and the habitats important [...]
Have a pollinator picnic this summer!
Earthwatch Europe invite you, your friends and family to have a Pollinator Picnic this summer, across the UK.
Foggie-toddlers and confusing history lessons
This Scottish Pollinators post (6 July 2023) looks at the challenge around the identification and naming of bumblebees, with a bit of history.
Monitoring matters
This post by Scottish Pollinators (29 June 2023) reports on the Third Annual Pollinator Conference. The range of talks provided a real sense of the ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ behind monitoring our insect populations. Check out this article to see the range of different survey types, their value, the role of [...]
The body snatchers
Read this fascinating post in Scottish Pollinators (1 June 2023). This links stories of family feuds among the Egyptian Gods with the complex ‘arm’s race’ relationships between parasitic invertebrates and their host species. Read on to discover how parasites can manipulate their host’s behaviour to their advantage.
Young people help to create wildflower areas in North Lanarkshire parks
Local authorities are becoming much more savvy managing their parks and greenspaces. This post in Scottish pollinators A shift in emphasis (26 January 2023) describes how North Lanarkshire Council has created a series of trial wildflower areas within high profile public parks. Another smart Lanarkshire move has been to encourage the [...]