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Interesting news · Wednesday 29 July
The Isle of May turns 70 as a National Nature Reserve
Fife · from nature.scot
Photograph · nature.scot
The Isle of May was declared a National Nature Reserve in June 1956, which makes this summer its 70th under protection. NatureScot, which has managed the island since 1989, is marking the milestone.
The May holds tens of thousands of breeding seabirds in summer, including its famous puffins, and the largest grey seal colony in eastern Britain each autumn. It is one of just four strategic seabird research sites in the UK, with bird monitoring running since 1966, and that long record has had real effect: island data fed directly into the 2024 ban on sandeel fishing in Scottish waters, protecting the puffins' main food.
Around 17,000 people now visit each year, sailing from Anstruther and North Berwick, with time ashore capped to keep disturbance down. Reserve manager David Steel has spent 12 seasons on the island, mid-March to November. Boats ran until the end of September.
A cafe and small hotel on the Main Street of Limekilns, on the Fife shore of the Forth, for breakfasts, brunch, cakes and ice cream by the Fife Coastal Path.
Alexander Selkirk was born in Lower Largo in 1676, the son of a shoemaker, and 2026 marks 350 years since the Fife fishing village produced its most famous son.
Kingsbarns Distillery, just outside St Andrews, has opened what is believed to be the first putting green at any Scottish distillery: six holes overlooking the East Neuk coastline.
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