Out of Doors

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BBC Radio Orkney

Factual: Science & Nature

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Out of Doors: Lichen, Brochs and Climbing

Lichen, Brochs and Climbing

BBC Radio Scotland - Out of Doors, Lichen, Brochs and Climbing

Mark Stephen and Euan McIlwraith with stories from the great outdoors.

There was excitement on Mull earlier this week as the BBC Winterwatch cameras caught a glimpse of Skye, the UK's oldest white-tailed sea eagle.  Mark and Euan chat to Dave Sexton from the RSPB on Mull about the sighting. 

Following Storm Arwen in November last year, lots of popular walking spots are still closed as work continues to recover fallen trees.  What impact does this have on how people are accessing the outdoors?  Mark meets Chris York from the Aberdeenshire Local Outdoor Access Forum to find out.

In this week’s Scotland Outdoors podcast, Helen Needham speaks to climber, Anna Fleming.  Anna has recently published a book about her climbing journey and how she came to find a new state of physical, mental and, to a certain extent, spiritual being through her experiences on the rock.  We hear an excerpt. 

Mark is at Drum Woods in Aberdeenshire to find out all about lichen.  Although the West Coast is often seen as the best place in Scotland for lichen spotting, ecologist and lichen fan Petra Vergunst shows Mark what can be found in the North East. 
					
Earlier this week, The Caithness Broch Project, which aims to reconstruct an Iron Age broch, released a new image of what the completed building is expected to look like.  Brochs were tall, drystone buildings which were unique to Scotland.  We’re joined live by project co-found Iain Maclean to find out more about the progress of the project. 

Euan is on the hunt for a rather smelly plant that is a favourite of our pollinators.  

From the Bird’s Mouth or Bho Bheul an Eòin, is a project involving language experts, scientists and researchers, to develop new Gaelic names for species that have made Scotland their home in recent times, but have no name in Gaelic.  Mark meets wildlife artist Derek Robertson from the project to find out more and we hear some of the accompanying Gaelic poetry written by Rody Gorman.

What happens to wildlife that once lived on sites that are now home to new housing estates?  Inverness has seen a huge expansion of housing in recent years so Phil Sime heads to one such estate to find out what considerations are made for wildlife when they are built. 

And Euan has another mystery bird.  Can you identify it from its call?

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