In the final part of our series about species missing from the Lake District, Site Manager Lee Schofield takes on the wolf. A ruined stone building known as Low Loup perches on a fellside shoulder of Mardale Common, high above Haweswater reservoir. It lacks only a roof, and sheep use it to shelter from the […]
Holes in the map, part 9: Wolves Read More »
In part 7 of our series about the Lake District’s missing wildlife, Site Manager Lee Schofield writes about the wildcat, a species that was common in our woods and fells until surprisingly recently. Somewhere between the muddy wild boars and the grumpy looking eagle owls at the Lake District Wildlife Park sits a wood and
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In the sixth installment of the series about specices missing from the Lake District, Site Manager Lee Schofield focuses on one of our most elusive native predators, the pine marten. At five o’clock in the morning, I crept downstairs with my early-rising son, hoping not to wake my wife and daughter sleeping above. We snuck
Holes in the map, part 6: Pine Marten Read More »
The fifth part of the series focusing on species missing from the Lake District, Site Manager Lee Schofield looks for water voles. For aeons, The Lake District and its abundance of lakes, becks, tarns, ditches, bogs and ponds was heaven for water voles, one of the UK’s most endearing small mammals. Made famous by the
Holes in the map, part 5: Water Vole Read More »
RSPB Haweswater Site Manager, Lee Schofield, explores the demise of a species which, until very recently, embodied British farmland. Discover how the return of traditional practices and nature-minded farming could be the key to the return of the Corncrake in Cumbria.
Holes in the map, part 3: Corncrake Read More »
RSPB Haweswater Site Manager, Lee Schofield, reflects on a species that recently vanished from the Lake District and what maps can tell us about the history of wildlife in Cumbria. For my 40th birthday, not too long ago, my wife gave me a framed print of the 1:25,000 Ordnance Survey map of the area surrounding
Holes in the map, part 2: Black Grouse Read More »
RSPB Haweswater Site Manager, Lee Schofield, shares insights into the nature and farming gains of the Swindale Beck restoration project; from a historically straightened channel to a new curving course brimming with life.
Site Manager’s Journal: Restoring Swindale Beck Read More »
In the first installment of a new series about species missing from the Lake District, Site Manager Lee Schofield introduces us to the Eurasian Beaver As a nation surrounded by the sea, there is no scope for some of our missing species to return to Britain under their own steam, no matter how attractive we
Holes in the map, part 1: Beavers Read More »
