Nature

As summer starts to retreat into autumn, the hills and woods of the Highlands put on a spectacular show of mauves and purple. The heather is in flower.
 By Cherry Alexander The ling heather on our surrounding hillsides is Calluna vulgaris, a member of the heath family of plants which

Secretive and rarely seen, 
the European Pine Marten, (martes martes) is about the size of a cat. It can be ferocious, with sharp teeth and claws which help it to hunt birds and rodents. By Cherry Alexander Dark brown on their backs and with a distinctive yellow bib, this is

Common frogs are one of the only six native species of amphibians found in Scotland. They come to ponds to breed during the spring and spend much of the rest of the year feeding on dry land. They generally appears shiny and wet, in contrast to the dryness of a

The European or Eurasian Badger (Meles meles) is a native British species of mammal and a member of the mustelid family, which includes pine marten and stoats. By Cherry Alexander In the rural area of North Dorset where I lived previously, badgers were very common, and hedgehogs were not. I

They are great for wildlife and diversity, providing food and homes for invertebrates, mammals and birds. By Cherry Alexander Isabella Tree, who farms at Knepp in Sussex, which is famed for its successful rewilding project, encourages gardeners to abandon perfection. “Perhaps the greatest insult to nature in a garden is

Cherry Alexander tells us about the recent Lichen Safari in Ledmore & Migdale Woods. These complex organisms are made up of a fungus and one or more algae living together. By Cherry Alexander The first Lichen Safari was rained off and although the Easter Ross Ranger, Marcia Rae from High