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Record ringing season for terns at Forvie

The total, announced on 4 August, includes more than 1,000 Sandwich terns, over 100 Arctic terns, and smaller numbers of common terns and black-headed gulls. It is the highest figure recorded at the reserve.

Forvie carries more weight than its size suggests. Half of Scotland's breeding Sandwich terns nest there, along with a fifth of the country's breeding black-headed gulls. All of these species are declining nationally, and Arctic tern sits on the red list for birds of conservation concern.

Each year staff and volunteers put up an enclosure on the south of the reserve to keep nests clear of disturbance. Reserve manager Catriona Reid said chick productivity had been high this season, and thanked the ringing group's volunteers along with visitors who respected the seasonal closure at south Forvie.

Ringing tracks movement and survival. That gets more useful, not less, as the pressures on seabirds pile up.

Loch Leven distillery recommended for approval

The application went in back in December 2024 and came before councillors on 6 August, with officers recommending approval. The site sits close to North Ballachulish, on the southern shore of the loch, a couple of minutes from the bridge.

Work would come in two phases. First the distillery itself, with production space, milling, a stillhouse, a tasting room, shop and a maturation warehouse. The visitor wing, café, picnic area and second warehouse follow later, once the spirit has had time to sit.

Each warehouse would hold around 1,800 casks, adding up to 360,000 litres. Seven full-time jobs are expected. Three in production, three across the café and shop, and one running tours and the visitor centre.

The distillery is built around triple distillation, using three copper stills. Three chimney elements on the buildings are meant to echo those stills, and the Three Sisters of Glencoe up the road. Whether that lands as neatly in stone and timber as it does on the drawings, we shall see.

Glenmore could reopen on Friday, fire service says

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says it is planning to reopen the Glenmore area on Friday 7 August, though it has been careful to stress that nothing is settled. Conditions on the ground could change. Crews have been at this since the fire was first reported on 15 July, and around 20 firefighters and four appliances remain on site with helicopter support. Thermal imaging drones go up twice a day to find hot spots, and the work of dampening deep-seated fires in the peat will carry on for a while yet.

Glenmore Forest and Loch Morlich are still closed. So is the Ryvoan pass, including the route to Lochan Uaine. SEPA has confirmed blue-green algae in Loch Morlich, so keep out of that water regardless of what happens with the cordon.

Seventeen businesses in the area remain shut. Community leaders reckon more than 200 jobs are at risk, and Glenmore Campsite has cancelled over 1,200 bookings.

Forty satellite tags are going onto sea eagles in the west

Forty new satellite tags are going onto sea eagles in western Scotland over the next two years, as part of a project looking at how the birds and livestock interact. Up to 35 of those go on chicks at around eight weeks old, when they're full-sized and a fortnight or so off fledging. NatureScot is funding the tags and working with RSPB, SRUC, Natural Research and a collective of independent ornithologists, with NFU Scotland and the Scottish Crofting Federation feeding in on policy. The tags can last years, so they'll show where the young birds go after they leave the nest. NatureScot senior ornithologist Andrew Stevenson says the gap in the knowledge is the immature birds, which wander widely for three or four years before they settle on a territory. SRUC is separately fitting GPS collars to lambs in Argyll.