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July 7, 2007

From fox diaries to Wildlife Watch

Filed under: business — admin @ 4:27 am

AT FIRST glance, the streets of Glasgow may seem like the last place you would go looking to find exciting wildlife tales.

But, as Gordon Buchanan has been discovering, Scotland’s urban areas are teaming with different species - and one of the most entertaining is the fox.

The wildlife cameraman - who is more used to jetting around the world to film exotic creatures or watching white-tailed eagles on his native Mull - has spent the past few weeks following animals in Glasgow and filming fox diaries as part of BBC2’s Springwatch.

The escapades of some of the individuals he has seen - including “Jamie Fox” and the “Chip Shop Family” - have kept millions of viewers entertained over the past three weeks.

The fox diaries have developed into individual stories following each of the creatures, with viewers meeting Jamie’s cubs and learning more about the Chip Shop Family, including the troublesome cub Mungo, whose antics have had hearts in mouths night after night.

Mr Buchanan lives in Glasgow and has been putting his local knowledge to good use while following the foxes.

It is the close attention to detail - which is demonstrated by so many contributors to the Springwatch survey and The Scotsman Wildlife Watch - that helps Mr Buchanan and his colleagues when it comes to making wildlife films and finding out more about birds and animals.

Mr Buchanan thinks Wildlife Watch and other surveys have an important role to play in building our knowledge of Scotland’s wildlife.

“It’s of huge importance, and I think it’s really great that there is a platform for pulling all that information together and putting it to good use,” he said.

“It’s important because you can’t have eyes and ears everywhere when it comes to the science side of recording wildlife goings-on.”

Mr Buchanan added: “I’ve found that, wherever I am, speaking to the local people rather than the scientists, you can find out much more, because there are people living in certain areas of the country that are seeing stuff all the time.

“They may not think of it as being of that much importance, but when you actually collate all that information, it’s of huge relevance and you get a much broader picture of what’s going on, rather than plonking one researcher or one scientist down in one location.”

The Scotsman Wildlife Watch, which is supported by the Scottish Wildlife Trust, returns tomorrow. In our third survey, we want readers to go out into their gardens and the countryside and tell us about what they see.

Photographs are especially welcome and a selection of notes and pictures will be published in The Scotsman next week.

All readers’ records will be passed on to Biological Recording in Scotland (BRISC), which will distribute the notes to its network of local records centres and local recorders. The last Wildlife Watch, in March, attracted a lot of interest among readers, especially with schools and families.

Mr Buchanan said he thinks it is important to help children and young people to form links with nature. “I think it’s really important for children to take an interest in wildlife because, in today’s world, people are more in-tune with the countryside and issues like climate change.

“It’s today’s children that will have to make sure that we really look after what we’ve got.

“The adults who are around today didn’t grow up knowing anything about concerns for the planet or wildlife - we’ve really just been learning as we go.

“It’s really encouraging that children from an early age are beginning to understand about wildlife and about the challenges that they face.”

Springwatch comes to an end tonight - with a final highlights programme on BBC1 tomorrow - but Mr Buchanan is already planning his next wildlife filming trip.

He is heading to Shetland in pursuit of orcas, better known as killer whales, to find out why the huge mammals choose to spend time in Scottish waters.

And remember, please send in your sightings and photographs over the course of the weekend.

How you can take part in our nature survey

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?

Go outside and make a record of the wildlife you see, both in your garden and out in the country. Either take photographs or make written notes and e-mail them to wildlife@scotsman.com or post them to: Wildlife Watch, The Scotsman, 108 Holyrood Road, Edinburgh EH8 8AS.

WHERE SHOULD I GO?

We are interested in wildlife sightings from towns and cities, through to the countryside and coast. Sightings on Scottish Wildlife Trust reserves are also welcome. For details about SWT reserves, log on to http://www.swt.org.uk

WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

Anything and everything - birds, mammals, fish and insects. Records of unusual plants are also welcome.

WHAT NOTES SHOULD I TAKE?

Note the name of the species; the date you saw it; where you saw it (preferably including a postcode or a six-figure grid reference); how many you saw; and your own contact details. The records will be collected by The Scotsman and passed to the SWT and Biological Recording in Scotland, which may use them in their work.

WHAT SHOULD I TAKE WITH ME?

Take a pen and paper to note sightings. If you have binoculars take them; it is important to identify correctly the creatures you see. Take your camera; photographs can be useful for identifying species. If it is sunny, remember your sun-cream.

HOW CAN I TELL WHAT SPECIES IT IS?

Books to help you identify wildlife are often available in libraries. The SWT and RSPB websites can also be useful for identification: log on to http://www.swt.org.uk or try visiting http://www.rspb.org.uk.