Wild and Green Escapes

Scotland: Accessible Wilderness and Wildlife

By The Sea
It has been estimated that Scotland has 10,306 miles of coastline to explore with great wildlife viewing opportunities. Easily accessible but spectacular mainland cliffs with seabird colonies include St Abbs Head in the Borders, Fowlsheugh near Stonehaven and Troup Head on the Moray Firth.

Inland Reserves
National nature reserves with dune habitats include St Cyrus near Montrose and Sands of Forvie north of Aberdeen.

If You Go Down To The Woodlands
Scotland’s native pinewoods are now scattered across a variety of parts of the Highlands. They usually show a classic open habitat with an ‘understorey’ of juniper, heather and blaeberry (bilberry) and are home to Scottish speciality bird species such as capercailzie, crossbill and crested tit. Place to visit include The Black Wood of Rannoch (on the north shore of Loch Rannoch),Glen Affric, and the valley of the River Spey, notably Abernethy and Loch Garten.

Head For The Mountains
With 284 mountains in Scotland classified as Munros (i.e. above 3000ft) Scotland high-level habitat is a very special part of the wilderness experience.The largest area of continuous high ground is in the Cairngorms National Park and is truly Arctic tundra-like in its exposure and typical plant and animal species. The plateau can be observed from the viewing area at the top of the funicular railway on Cairngorm. A not too demanding walk east from the ski area at Glenshee near the Glas Maol allows the reasonably fit and well equipped to sample the special atmosphere of these uplands.

Other Special Habitats
Scotland has other highly characteristic wild places and habitats such as machair. This is grassland, rich with wild flowers, growing over shell-sand and is characteristic of the off shore islands of the western seaboard. It can be seen on many parts of the Uists, for example, at the Balranald RSPB reserve on North Uist.

Scotland’s wetland areas are also important places for wildfowl, which, especially in winter, offer another of Scotland’s great wildlife encounters. Enjoy flighting geese at places such as Caerlaverock in the south-west, Vane Farm north of Dunfermline and the Loch of Strathbeg north of Peterhead. All have hides and easy access for viewing the birds.

Useful Scottish Weblinks:

Visit Scotland
Wilderness Scotland
RSPB for Scotland
Scottish Wildlife Trust
Wild - Scotland
Scottish Natural Heritage
Scotland's National Nature Reserves
National Trust for Scotland