Author name: Charlotte Johnson

On Sunday afternoon we went out to North Berwick for a shorebird walk hosted by the Scottish Seabird Centre. Edinburgh residents got an opportunity to learn more about the shorebirds who call the Firth of Forth home.

We had an excellent (if sometimes grey) morning with Dr Rebecca Yahr, Lichenologist, from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on Sunday. As you’ll know, the Edinburgh Shoreline project is run by the Botanics, so we’re lucky enough to work with Becky, but Sunday was all about unleashing her on the general public, and what a day it was!

Emily Burton is the new Volunteer Coordinator appointed to work on the Wild Line project on behalf of the Scottish Seabird Centre and will be leading teams of volunteers in invasive species removal in East Lothian. Hop over to the centre’s blog page to find out more, and how you can get involved.

Our project partners at the Scottish Seabird Centre are on the look out for volunteers to be involved with the Wild Line project.

On Thursday 10th October we visited the RSPB Skinflats reserve near Falkirk with 36 P7 pupils from Craigentinny Primary School. Reserve Warden Allison and volunteers Grant and Nicola hosted us for a great session exploring the different habitats found on the site and the birds and animals that call it home.

For anyone that has recently visited the City Chambers, you might have spied the community map we made earlier this

Edinburgh Shoreline staff and volunteers spent a very pleasant Saturday in the Brunstane Burn with the Forth Rivers Trust, learning to survey invertebrates. Many thanks to Amy and Jonathan for spending a Saturday with us.

Many thanks to our super colleague Martine Borge, the Scottish Native Plant Horticulturist here at the Botanics, for hosting a group of residents from Wardie Bay Resident Association today.

On Sunday 1st September, the Edinburgh Shoreline Project and Lothian Conservation Volunteers planted a new wildflower meadow at Cramond.

Local resident Morag Edward is displaying a series of her artworks as part this years’ Porty Art Walk. Morag takes inspiration from the Edinburgh coast (as well us other coastlines around Scotland) and paints seascapes often with boats, birds, wildlife and swimmers in these scenes.

The Edinburgh Shoreline Project is delighted to offer the opportunity for one P6 or P7 class from a school in a coastal region of Edinburgh to visit RSPB Skinflats, near Falkirk.

On Friday 26th July the Edinburgh Shoreline Project accompanied academics from the University of Edinburgh for their first meadow scoping exercise. As part of Edinburgh Shoreline: The Wild Line the University of Edinburgh and City of Edinburgh Council will be planting 8 new perennial coastal wildflower meadows to connect up existing flower-rich areas from Cramond to Granton. This will create a ‘pollinator corridor’ in the north of the city.

We had a wonderful evening with residents of Wardie Bay on Monday evening, looking at the diverse plants that can be found on and around the beach . It was a warm and sunny night and the beach was full of Edinburgh folk – swimming, fishing for mackerel and enjoying al fresco dinners. 

Our fantastic Urban Biodiversity Officer Leonie Alexander, has written this blog post for Edinburgh Living Landscape on the work the Edinburgh Shoreline Project is undertaking with local volunteers to create flower-rich grassland along the coast.

CSGNT have generously translated a wide range of data for us from the most up-to-date sources, and incorporated it into one easy-to-use application.