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Update From the Reserve – March 2022
Written by: Stewart Borland
Published: 1st April 2022, last updated: 2nd June 2022
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With a ‘spring in our step’, we are as busy as ever around the Reserve. With a record-breaking announcement and the return of some summer favourites we are making the most of the kinder spring weather. Read on to learn more!
A World Beating Bug Hotel
A project that we have had in the works for almost a year… We can finally announce that the Highland Titles Reserve is home to the World’s Largest Bug Hotel! On the 28th of March, we received official confirmation from the Guinness Book of Records that our Bug Hotel has met all the requirements and at 199.9m3 has more than doubled the previous record holder based in Poland that measured at 89.37m3.
This has been a long time coming as we started the project back in September 2021. Watch the video to see our journey from the very first tree cut down to clear the area to the now inhabited hotel. We can’t wait to see the number and diversity of insects using the hotel continue to increase as we move further into spring.
Hive Check
Last week we had our first ‘proper’ hive check of the year, as it was finally warm enough to have a proper look inside our 8 hives rather than just a sneak peek! Sadly our fears were confirmed as it looks like we have lost a number of hives to the long wet winter.
While we are able to protect our bees from the cold frosty weather by providing them with extra honey to supplement their existing food stores, the constant dampness of this winter proved to be too much for the weaker bees. With extreme winters becoming more common we are considering moving our bees further down south for the next winter. But for now we get to look forward to a summer of watching our bees out and about pollinating the Reserve!
First Sign of Spring
How can you tell spring is here? For us at the Reserve, it is by the return of our much loved Canada Geese. For the last few years, we have been the summer residence of choice for a pair of Canada Geese. We are relatively confident that they are the same geese as last year as they always return to one of two nest sites. Fingers crossed we get some goslings later on in the year.
Rooted in History
The other week we took a trip up to the Mountain View Reserve. Following the heavy rainfall we have been experiencing, a drainage ditch has deepened and uncovered another amazing section of Scots Pine Roots that must date back thousands of years – a great reminder of the history we are protecting through our conservation efforts!
Clip of the Month: Our Voted for ‘Favourite Species’ – The Scottish Wildcat
In our mid-month update we asked you all to vote for your favourite species and there was a clear winner. While we love all of our species, we love any excuse to share updates on our favourite wildcat – Hope. Hope has been with us for over 3 years and while she remains very suspicious of humans we had a recent breakthrough… take a watch of Hope trusting Stewart to watch her eating, rather than her usual dash and dine!
If you want to stay up to date with all our Wildcat news while contributing to the protection of Scottish wildcats you can Adopt a WIldcat here!
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