News and Blogs

  Aberdeen City Council has been collaborating with the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project for 11 years to bring one of Scotland’s iconic species, the red squirrel, back to Aberdeen. These efforts have been acknowledged with a nomination in this year’s prestigious Nature of Scotland Awards in the Forest and Woodland category.   RSPB’s Nature of Scotland Awards, sponsored by NatureScot, recognises and celebrates achievements in nature conservation across Scotland. The Forest and Woodland Award category was launched this year to shine a light on sustainable forestry and woodland champions - from individuals and businesses, to communities and organisations who are creating and/or managing woodlands with nature and wildlife at the heart of their activities. Protecting red squirrels is an important part of woodland management in Aberdeen. Following the introduction of the non-native grey squirrel to the city in the 1970’s, native red squirrel populations were soon replaced. In 2007, Aberdeen City Council initiated grey squirrel control efforts in a number of woodlands to encourage red squirrels back into their original habitat. When the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project became established in 2009, a red squirrel protection network of control staff, landowners and households was established in collaboration with Aberdeen City Council. Aberdeen City Council’s support of the project has had a remarkable impact, from facilitating access ...

  Last month the Red Squirrel Forum for South Scotland was awarded a game-changing grant from the Red Squirrel Survival Trust to help protect local red squirrels in Southern Scotland with innovative equipment.   Collaboration and community action are crucial to the long-term survival of red squirrels in Scotland, and in the South, dedicated red squirrel volunteer groups are leading the way in priority areas where protection is needed the most. These groups, supported by the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels project, fall under the collective banner of the Red Squirrel Forum for South Scotland. Stretching from Stranraer to Berwick the Forum, established in 2018, promotes a landscape-scale strategic approach involving more than 350 volunteers in 18 red squirrel groups, all working to monitor, promote and protect red squirrels where they live. Field equipment has a vital role to play in volunteer activities, and a recent grant of £14,120 awarded by the Red Squirrel Survival Trust to the Forum will help provide groups with game-changing tools including 10 thermal imaging scopes and 120 trail cameras. Both thermal imagers and trail cameras enable volunteers to detect squirrels, red and grey, much more efficiently, enabling volunteers to identify areas that may be under threat from the non-native grey squirrel. View of squirrel through thermal imager © Scott Country International The new equipment is novel to most people and fun to use, so it will a ...

  National Red Squirrel Awareness Week is a time for one of our favourite activities – squirrel spotting. Our Great Scottish Squirrel Survey is a fun opportunity for all the family to enjoy the great outdoors looking out for tufted ears and bushy tails, so why not get creative with how you’ll be taking part this year?   One of the greatest things about the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey is that anyone can take part, from absolutely anywhere in Scotland. Be it from your back garden, your local park or the wider countryside, we want to hear all about what you’ve seen between 21-27 September. Here are a few fun activities for the whole family to join in with and get any young wildlife watchers in the making excited for squirrel spotting.   Build a window wildlife hide If you can’t get outside this week, why not take up a spot of window wildlife watching? You could whip up a homemade hide in no time with minimal materials, perfect for squirrel spotting in secret. All you need is an old cardboard box, some scissors, a pencil and some masking tape (for any added extra features!). © Keilidh Ewan Instructions If you have regular garden visitors, these only need to be reported once or twice a year to keep us updated, you can also report how many squirrels have been seen together at any one time if you are lucky enough to have a popular spot in your garden.    Go on a scavenger hunt Before ventu ...

  Red Squirrel Week (21-27 September) marks the return of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrel’s Great Scottish Squirrel Survey; a nationwide squirrel spotting campaign that has an even greater role to play in the protection of Scotland’s native red squirrels than ever.   The impact of Covid-19 saw the suspension of many conservation activities throughout spring and summer. For Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, this meant valuable data usually gathered through fieldwork and annual spring surveys was lost. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is calling on the public to report their sightings of both red and grey squirrels in their gardens and in the great outdoors between 21-27 September, to create a snapshot of the situation on the ground. All sightings from the week can be reported at scottishsquirrels.org.uk and will be included in a national database that directly influences conservation action. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is a partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust that is working to protect red squirrels where they are most under threat from the spread of the non-native grey squirrel. Sightings of both red and grey squirrels from members of the public help the project understand population changes over time and decide where to focus conservation efforts. Taking part in the Great Scottish Squirrel Survey this autumn and reporting squirrels – both red and grey – in as many different places as possible, will help make up f ...

  During the Covid-19 lockdown in Galloway, members of the Squirrel Group in and around Gatehouse of Fleet have continued to monitor their local red squirrel population from the comfort of their own homes and gardens. Peter Garson tells us all about a garden count scheme which just keeps on running.   Seeing red squirrels when you are out in the woods is really not that easy – an occasional chance event for most of us. It’s a lot easier if you have a thermal imaging scope, as this kit detects heat and can even ‘see’ though the vegetation, although coming in at a high price means this is not a feasible option for most of us. Reds are naturally sparse in broadleaf woodlands (where greys can be up to ten times more common), but at least there are few leaves to obscure our view for half of the year. Conifers provide a much better habitat for reds and are more important for them as greys do less well there - but the dense foliage and close spacing of trees in plantations makes it really hard for spotting squirrels. So, whilst we can map chance sightings of reds, how can we get a handle on how many squirrels there are out there in Gatehouse? This is important, because distribution and abundance are the two key measures of conservation status for threatened populations through time – we really need to measure both. Providing food for red squirrels via bird feeders in gardens is the way most of us get to see them regularly. Some people put up the specia ...

  Following a report of two grey squirrels in Aberfeldy, Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels are asking Perthshire residents in the Aberfeldy, Dunkeld and Pitlochry areas to be on high alert. Locals are urged to report all sightings of grey squirrels to help protect Perthshire’s red squirrel populations.   Over the last week, two sightings of grey squirrels have raised concern for the security of Perthshire’s red squirrels. Grey squirrels are known to occur in Dunkeld and Birnam, and in lesser numbers as far north as Dalguise. These most recent reports from the Aberfeldy area mark a potential northward spread of grey squirrels which could have serious consequences for the area’s red squirrel populations. The greatest threat facing Scotland’s red squirrels today is the presence of the invasive non-native grey squirrel, which were first introduced in the late 1800s and soon replaced red squirrels throughout most of the UK. Larger and more robust, grey squirrels outcompete reds for resources such as food and living space, making it difficult for red squirrels to successfully breed and for their young to survive. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels (SSRS), a National Lottery-funded partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, have been monitoring squirrel populations across the country since 2009. This year, SSRS have received an increase in squirrel sightings reported from the Dunkeld and Birnam area which initially raised concerns that gre ...

  For the Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels team the health, safety and wellbeing of our volunteers, staff and the public is our highest priority as we follow the latest guidance from the Scottish Government in transitioning out of lockdown. We have issued the following information for SSRS volunteers in light of the most recent easing of restrictions.   Recognising that nature has an important role to play in both physical and mental wellbeing, outdoor volunteering can provide many positive benefits at this time. And so, where we are able to operate safely, we are pleased to offer opportunities for further outdoor volunteer work to recommence with us where new measures are in place.   Grey squirrel control volunteers In June, we welcomed the return of Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels grey squirrel control staff and essential control volunteers to outdoor working who were able to work alone and apply social distancing measures in alignment with our new SSRS Covid-19 risk assessments for outdoor working. Following the latest easing of restrictions, grey squirrel control volunteers are now able to travel outwith a 5 mile radius of home to conduct voluntary control work. Trap-loan scheme & trap hosts For those on the trap-loan scheme trapping on their own property and therefore able to abide by all Government guidelines as an independent unit, trapping can be resumed as normal. For those participating in the trap-loan scheme in which dis ...

  Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels has adjusted its Priority Areas for Red Squirrel Conservation (PARCs) in the south of Scotland to better protect existing populations of red squirrels.   PARCs were first introduced in 2014, as a new approach to red squirrel conservation action in southern Scotland aimed at targeting limited project resources to the areas where they will provide the greatest benefit to red squirrel populations in the region. From years of project experience we know that to successfully protect red squirrels, it is essential that grey squirrel control operations are sustained and coordinated across a landscape; focusing our work on priority areas gives us a stronger chance of achieving this. Whilst we aim to create enduring networks of red squirrel protection measures within these PARCs, in order to ensure they remain effective, it is necessary that the PARCs retain some flexibility so that we can adapt to changing situations in the region. In 2019, several of the original PARC boundaries were reviewed and redrawn based on the latest evidence on the ground. Decisions were based on a variety of factors such as the presence of healthy red squirrel populations, the urgency of threat from grey squirrels, support and cooperation from local landowners and the presence of existing volunteers and red squirrel network groups or sufficient human populations from which new volunteer networks could develop. The most recently revised PARC boundaries ...

  Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels is asking Kincardineshire residents to help protect red squirrel populations by reporting all sightings of red squirrels and their non-native cousin, the grey squirrel.   Grey squirrels are known to occur sporadically in low numbers between the Rivers South Esk and North Esk, the latter forming a natural boundary between Angus and Aberdeenshire. Growing numbers of grey squirrels have been recorded north of the River North Esk at Benholm and Inglismaldie Woods to Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels in recent weeks, raising concerns for the red squirrel populations of Aberdeenshire. Aberdeen is the only location in northern Scotland which has an established grey squirrel population. They were first recorded in the city’s leafy parks and gardens in the 1970s, and soon replaced red squirrels across the city and in many neighbouring areas of Aberdeenshire as far away as Banchory and Alford. Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels, a National Lottery-funded partnership project led by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, has been working since 2009 to restore the red squirrel population by removing the grey squirrel competitor, allowing reds to recover. As a result, in recent years grey squirrels have been increasingly confined to urban Aberdeen, with red squirrels being seen in more areas of the city each year. An ongoing monitoring campaign across the region, which relies heavily on the help of local volunteers, has enabled the project ...

  Following the First Minister’s announcement of Phase 1 of the Route Map easing coronavirus restrictions, in which it was stated that priority outdoor work that has been put on hold could resume from Friday 29th May, the Scottish Wildlife Trust has been working on guidance that will allow priority outdoor activities to restart.   The first Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels staff to resume outdoor work were our Grey Squirrel Officers, who returned on the 1st June, working alone and applying control measures that have been set in place by the Scottish Wildlife Trust and Saving Scotland’s Red Squirrels. We are now issuing measures that will allow priority grey squirrel control volunteers to return to work where they can do so safely.   Grey squirrel control volunteers A specific Covid-19 Risk Assessment has been developed in collaboration with other government and non-government outdoor-based organisations and is now ready for circulation to essential grey squirrel control volunteers. This can be accessed through the Community Hub Grey Squirrel Control Group documents, or by contacting your local Community Engagement Officer or Conservation Officer. In accordance with government guidelines, priority grey squirrel control work must be undertaken unaccompanied (or only in the presence of people from the same household). Volunteers must also remain within a short distance of their local community (broadly within 5 miles) and not undertake any un ...