The Flying Scotsman will be completing a number of special trips across the UK as part of its 100th anniversary in 2023.
22.12.2022 - 07:59 / dailyrecord.co.uk
At least 17 fluffy tern chicks defied the odds to thrive at a Scots nature reserve despite bird flu devastating other sites this year. Scotland’s wildlife agency NatureScot said the survival of the plucky little birds at Forvie National Nature Reserve in Aberdeenshire was “little short of a miracle”.
It comes as the avian flu epidemic has taken a huge toll on seabird populations in 2022. Including tern colonies in England, the Netherlands and France. But the trend was bucked at Forvie, where breeding terns are of international importance and the reserve is carefully managed to protect the birds from disturbance and predators.
NatureScot said the total of at least 17 little tern chicks successfully fledged was the highest since 2014. Reserve Officer Daryl Short said: “This year has undoubtedly been a difficult one, seeing the devastating impact of avian flu on birds around our coasts.
“Against that backdrop, it seems little short of a miracle that the terns at Forvie have had such a good season – a triumph in the face of adversity. It’s particularly pleasing that the little terns did so well, as the species has generally struggled here in recent years.”
Sandwich terns at the reserve also fared well with 1,031 pairs breeding and at least 865 young fledged. The pairs represent around 10 per cent of the entire UK breeding population, making the colony one of national importance.
And 1,140 pairs of Arctic terns bred with at least 882 chicks fledged, while 107 pairs of common terns produced 83 fledged young. An all-time record was also recorded for black-headed gulls at Forvie, with at least 1,029 fledged young.
Meanwhile, the site’s Kittiwake colony - a cliff-nesting seabird that has declined widely in Scotland - had 705 fledged
The Flying Scotsman will be completing a number of special trips across the UK as part of its 100th anniversary in 2023.
The last thing you want to do after a bath or shower is dry yourself with a grubby towel that's covered in tough stains.
Cops have charged a teenager after a missile was thrown at an Old Firm match.
Courtney Love would be happy about this news!
Angus Gunn is set for a shock Scotland switch of allegiance in order to answer Steve Clarke’s goalkeeping prayers.
A Scots woman who was told she had Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Scots travelling back home on the west coast mainline for Hogmanay have been "abandoned" after flooding closed the line and railway bosses failed to arrange onward travel.
Furious locals have been told it could be “many weeks” before a “ toxic” salmon farm barge dumped in a scenic Highland bay can be salvaged.
Some Scots may want to know what train services will be available over the festive period this year.
Things have turned rather bitter within The Traitors camp with fans turning on Wilfred Webster just days before the final after he threw Amanda Lovett 'under a bus'.
Bertha Barbee McNeal, whose Motown group The Velvelettes had hits with“Needle in a Haystack” and “(He Was) Really Saying Something,” died Thursday in hospice in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was 82 and had colon cancer.
Shoppers popping into town to get last-minute Christmas gifts have been warned that rail services are set to be severely disrupted.
When protests broke out in Iran in 2009 over the fraudulent presidential election, one of the country’s leading artists stood up against the regime and its violent repression of demonstrators. Vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian recorded a song with lyrics addressed to government militias attacking people in the streets: “Lay down your guns. Come, sit down, talk, hear. Perhaps the light of humanity will get through to your heart.”