February 2010

Glenlivet gets ready for spring

The Crown Estate Countryside Rangers at Glenlivet Estate are helping local wildlife get ready for spring as they put up over a dozen bird boxes made by local community groups.

Tomintoul Youth Club and pupils from the rural skills course at Speyside High School joined forces with the Countryside Rangers and the Glenlivet Wildlife Recording group over the winter months to make bird and bat boxes.

Garden birds are on the lookout for nesting sites at this time of year and the British Trust for Ornithology is asking bird lovers across the UK to help birds by putting up nest boxes in their gardens as part of National Nest Box Week this week.

Over thirty young people at Glenlivet honed their joinery skills as they constructed three different types of boxes including bat boxes for pipistrelles, open-fronted bird boxes for robins or grey wagtails and hole fronted nest box for blue tits, coal tits and great tits. Some made boxes for their own gardens, while the others will be put up this spring by Glenlivet staff around the adventure playground area in Tomintoul and along the nature trail at Glenmulliach forest.

Countryside Manager at Glenlivet Vicky Hilton said; “Putting up a nest box may only seem like a small thing to do but it can make a big difference in providing an additional nesting habitat for wildlife.  It has been great to have help from the community in making all the boxes and I’m sure the wildlife will appreciate it too!”

And the provision of nest sites is not just for small garden birds. The Crown Estate Rangers and RSPB staff recently installed a nesting platform for Golden Eagles at Glenlivet as part of the North-East Scotland RaptorWatch project. 

Andrew Wells, Head of Countryside Management for The Crown Estate added “the nest box work at Glenlivet is part of a wider programme of events and activities we are holding on our estates around the country to promote national nest box week.  This is helping conservation efforts for a wide range of birds, particularly those such as Barn owls where the availability of suitable nesting sites is a major constraint on their breeding success.”

December 09

Glenlivet Estate installs eagle ‘des-res’ to attract iconic birds

A bespoke nesting platform has been built on the Glenlivet Estate in a bid to attract more breeding pairs of golden eagles to make it their home.

The project was undertaken by North-East Scotland RaptorWatch, a partnership involving RSPB Scotland, Grampian Police, Scottish Natural Heritage and Cairngorms National Park Authority. The Glenlivet Estate is one of 22 working with RaptorWatch to try and improve breeding numbers of golden eagles, peregrines and hen harriers in Scotland’s north-east.  More....

December 09

Tree o'clock

Crown Estate properties across Scotland recently joined in a world record attempt to plant 1 million trees across the UK in one hour.

At Glenlivet Estate, twenty nine volunteers helped plant an impressive 2,250 trees to start what will be a new 40 hectare native Caledonian woodland near Altnaglander.  More...

November 09

Glenlivet Estate celebrates green tourism award

The Crown Estate has won a major industry award in the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards held recently.

The Glenlivet Estate which is part of The Crown Estate, won the Green Award category. The Green Award recognises organisations or groups which are proactive in raising awareness of the environment, adopts high standards of sustainable business management and have a strong involvement in local conservation activities.  More...

Sept 09

A tree came to school today

Pupils at Tomintoul Primary School have used a tree from a local Crown Estate forest to create benches and flower tubs for their playground. The project was the idea of Vicky Hilton, Countryside Manager for The Crown Estate’s Glenlivet Estate.

Vicky said: “We wanted to support the ‘FSC Friday’ event being run by the Forest Stewardship Council, which  aims to raise awareness of the FSC logo as a mark of responsible forestry and highlight the fact that forests and woodlands in the UK and internationally need to be well-managed. More...

June 2009

Long Service Award for Crown Estate man after 44 years on Fochabers Estate

A well known Morayshire man who spent his working life with The Crown Estate was presented with a Long Service Award on his retirement this week. Jimmy Gordon joined The Crown Estate in 1965. He retires from his position as foreman of the Fochabers and Glenlivet Estates maintenance squad after 44 years, a period that saw him move from salmon fishing into joinery and finally to team management.

More...

June 2009

Expanded plans for Scalan seminary
Following discussions between The Crown Estate and the Scalan Association, the association has to purchased the old Scalan farmhouse and arranged a long-lease further grounds to protect and enhance the historic seminary of Scalan and its surroundings in the Braes of Glenlivet. The seminary has long been a place of pilgrimage for many, and attracts visitors from all over the world because of its importance to the Catholic Church in Scotland. The Association has carried out renovations to the building in recent years and had been keen to secure ownership of the additional building and management of the wider site to allow future improvements to be carried out. More...

May 2009

Glenlivet event focuses on plight of the water vole

The Crown Estate and the Cairngorms Water Vole Conservation Project are teaming up to celebrate National Biodiversity Week with a community event looking at water vole conservation at Glenlivet Estate.   The event, to be held on Thursday 21 May, at the Glenlivet Estate Office in Tomintoul and will start at 10am with an introductory talk about water voles and the work of the project.  The group will then move outside to get hands-on and learn about how to find water voles in the wild. More...

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