Birds at Cambo

Cambo Estate is a good place to go bird watching. The estate firstly has a wide range of bird species that can be easily seen in its parkland, woodland and adjacent farmland. The estate has a wide range of habitats and works closely to enhance these to strike a balance between conserving bird biodiversity within the context of a working estate and farm. The species list for Cambo is well over 200 species, including most of the commonly breeding bird species to be found in wooded agricultural land in east Scotland. But Cambo also has a coastal location next to the Firth of Forth, so is good site for observing seabirds from the nearby colonies on the Isle of May and Bass Rock. Cambo is also adjacent to Fife Ness, a well know site for rare migrant birds and so during spring and autumn Cambo can play host to a wide range of scarce European migrants such as red-backed shrikes and wrynecks, as well as potentially much greater rarities from further afield (Pallas’s warblers are regulars!). Cambo Estate can therefore provide interest to the novice bird watcher who needs to see common birds easily in beautiful surroundings to become enthused, right through to the more experienced birder who might want to see a range of interesting species to maintain their interest. Most importantly, Cambo Estate provides an excellent venue for helping people appreciate how birds fit into a human landscape, and what we can do to promote the environment both for human quality of life and well as biodiversity.

Cambo is an island of woodland and mixed farming, surrounded on one side by the sea and the other by much more intensive arable farmland with few remaining trees. As a result it has a lot to offer both as a relic of more favourable wooded habitats in the area and because of its position on the North Sea, stuck out at the eastern edge of Fife.

Cambo has many resident bird species typical of mixed Scottish woodland and farmland. The commonest birds are probably the wrens, along with blackbirds, chaffinches, dunnocks, robins, blue tits and great tits. The woods are alive with these common birds’ songs all spring and summer. In the parkland there are many greenfinches, goldfinches and still a good number of tree sparrows, which have declined in many other areas recently. The hedgerows have many yellowhammers and reed buntings and there are a few corn buntings in the more open fields around the estate. In winter there may sometimes be large mixed flocks of these three buntings with many skylarks and tree sparrows in the stubble fields around Kingsbarns. Birds of prey include a few sparrowhawk and buzzard pairs and at least one kestrel pair. Barn owls are breeding near the estate but are strictly nocturnal: there also a few tawny owls. Jackdaws and carrion crows are common and Cambo has a large and noisy rookery in the sycamores at the mouth of the burn, but jays and magpies which are common almost everywhere else in the UK are very scarce. There are a few great spotted woodpeckers, although treecreepers are common (but difficult to see). Long-tailed tits, bullfinches and mistle thrushes are to be found on the estate but are never common. Woodpigeons and stock doves are common, particularly around the large trees in the parkland.

In the summer several species of migrants arrive to breed at Cambo after spending the winter in Africa. Barn swallows and house martins breed in and around the buildings of the estate and there is small sand martin colony on a sandy bank behind the beach just to the south of the estate. Willow warblers, chiff-chaffs, whitethroats, sedge warblers and blackcaps are common breeders in the woodland and in the scrubby edges to the fields and golf course. At migration time, in spring and autumn, and particularly after an easterly wind, rarer migrants such as pied flycatchers, whinchats, northern wheatears, spotted flycatchers, ring ouzels, common redstarts and cuckoos can be found, although one of any of these species in a day would be a good find.

The water available at nearby Kingsbarns Beach, the mouth of the Burn and the sea itself add hugely to the bird diversity at Cambo. Most common waders can be found on the shore in winter: redshanks, ringed plovers, sanderling, bar-tailed godwits, dunlin, knot, purple sandpiper, curlew and oystercatchers. Snipe are found in the damp field edges and lapwing and golden plover in the open fields as well as the shore. Rarer waders such as whimbrels, spotted redshank, jack snipe, curlew sandpiper, green sandpiper and black-tailed godwit may stop over, particularly on thundery days in July and August. At sea in winter there are always many eiders, and on a good day they will be joined by long-tailed ducks, common scoters, red-breasted mergansers, wigeon and red-throated divers. In July and August there is usually a flock of 20-30 moulting goosander along the shore. Further out hundreds of gannets will be passing every day on their way out from and back to the Bass Rock where they breed, just around the corner in the Firth of Forth. Gannets can always be seen diving when looking out to sea from the estate, except in December and January when nearly all head off to the waters around Spain. Other seabirds such as guillemots, puffins and razorbills are seen daily, although they are best seen, like the gannets, in the summer when they are breeding nearby. The same applies to sandwich, arctic and common terns. In late summer there may hundreds of terns of all three species around the rocky shore. Fulmars are common too. In autumn, with onshore winds, manx shearwaters with the occasional sooty shearwater, and arctic and great skuas can be seen hourly passing the estate.


In the spring and particularly late autumn, easterly winds bring in rarer birds. Yellow-browed warblers, lapland buntings, red-backed shrikes, black redstart, red-breasted flycatcher, barred warblers and icterine warblers are annual or near annual vagrants. Over the last ten years, there has also been a collared flycatcher, desert wheatear, pied wheatear, Sardinian warbler, radde’s warbler, greenish warbler, red-flanked bluetail, Siberian chiff-chaff, eastern olivaceous warbler and Pallas’s warbler all found within 5km of the estate. With the right winds, the Cambo Estate is a good hunting ground for the next big rarity!

The Fife Challenge Begins

The first of our Fife Challenge events couldn't have got off to a better start! Lots of events to come..... and they are all FREE! http://www.thefifechallenge.co.uk/events/

The Thomson family from Newburgh did really well with den making today. Campfires coming up soon!

Reinventing Valentine’s Day

VALENTINE’S Day costs the earth. A single red rose can cost up to £20, a whole bunch up to £70, and that is just the damage to your bank balance. Most Valentine’s Day roses we see in the UK come from Kenya where fresh water supplies are being drained to water flower farms, fish stocks are plummeting due to the sheer quantity of chemicals leached into lakes and rivers, and workers are paid as little as £1 per day. Add to that a healthy dose of carbon emissions from flying the flowers to these shores and suddenly a single red rose no longer seems like such a romantic Valentine’s Day gift.

With the UK’s population starting to wake up to the environmental and social damage caused by the imported flower market, could the rose’s days be numbered as the Valentine’s Day flower of choice? A quick internet search yields a plethora of eco-friendly alternatives; locally grown flowers from companies such as Wiggly Wigglers (www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) through to an acre of Brazilian rainforest for your loved one from the World Land Trust (www.worldlandtrust.org). But it seems we are still very attached to the red rose. Even the Organic Flower Company (www.tofc.com.uk), despite all their environmental rhetoric, offers imported roses for Valentine’s Day… no pesticides but plenty of air miles. With snowdrops being one of the few flowers in bloom in the UK on Valentine’s Day our interest was piqued: ‘What did we give on Valentine’s Day before roses were available?’  Roses on February 14th are actually a relatively recent phenomenon. In the cut flower industry, speed is everything, so importing out of season flowers from warmer climes has only been possible as airfreight has become more affordable. However Valentine’s Day has long been celebrated in the UK, coming second only to Christmas in the number of cards we purchase and send.

The flower industry has done such an effective job of equating red roses to February 14th that it is hard to imagine a world where roses weren’t in abundance until blooming naturally several months after the lovers’ day.  The Valentine’s Day tradition of exchanging small gifts or love tokens between lovers has been around for a very long time and was well established in England by the late 17th century. These tokens would often take the form of a written note on coloured paper.  The tradition grew among the  burgeoning middle class in the early 19th century with the notes becoming ever more ornate, often decorated with lace, silk flowers and pictures… and so the Valentine’s Day card was born. When uniform postal rates were introduced in 1840 the Valentine’s Day card tradition really took off and, not surprisingly, business was very quick to catch on. By 1870 the tradition of homemade Valentine’s Day cards had almost completely disappeared to be replaced by mass-produced cards.

These printed Valentine’s Day cards provide a fascinating insight into the changing imagery of Valentine’s Day. Although roses feature sporadically on these early cards the overwhelming majority of floral imagery is of seasonal flowers, flowers that would have been in bloom on 14th February. Primroses, snowflakes and, overwhelmingly, snowdrops are the flower of choice and remained so right up until roses became widely available.

So with an increasingly environmentally conscious market demanding guilt free seasonal gifts, is the time ripe for the humble snowdrop, the traditional Valentine’s flower, to make a comeback? It certainly is if Catherine Erskine of Cambo Snowdrops has anything to do with it. The newly launched Cambo Snowdrop bouquets have impeccable environmental credentials. The snowdrops are farmed from Scottish woodlands where they propagate naturally without requiring any pesticides or herbicides. They are sorted and shipped within five days of leaving the earth avoiding the need for the chemicals or refrigeration required for preserving imported flowers. Further to that they are complete plants, with the bulbs wrapped in damp moss, so after Valentine’s Day they can be planted in the garden where they will flower every February for years to come.
And the snowdrop-carpeted woodlands from which the bouquets are farmed are proving to be a big hit as a romantic destination for the environmentally conscious. Right at the heart of Cambo Snowdrops sits Cambo House, undoubtedly one of Scotland’s most romantic Bed and Breakfasts (www.camboestate.com). The seventy acres of snowdrop-carpeted woodland have to be seen to be believed. What’s more the snowdrops are obligingly at their most glorious in the middle of February to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Within half an hour of Leuchars on the London to Aberdeen mainline and only forty minutes from Rosyth ferry port, a romantic break at Cambo is within easy reach of the south of England or even mainland Europe without clocking up a single air mile.

So, with an increasingly environmentally aware consumer on the look out for simple changes to reduce their environmental impact, perhaps the days are indeed numbered for the imported red rose. Watch out Valentine’s Day. Watch out roses. The snowdrops are coming!

Buy your Snowdrop posy for your Valentine - click here to order or call 01333 450054

Badger Trail and Hide

Badger Trail and Hide

A woodland walk round the estate (forming a loop off the fife coastal path), taking about 45 minutes to complete, is a popular walk with visitors and locals.

Cambo Institute has created a badger trail and disabled access to the woodlands by making new paths that will allow wheelchairs and access to a badger watching area where benches will be provided. This has been possible thanks to support and funding from Fife Environment Trust, Leader in Fife and Awards for All.

The estate has several badger setts but one in particular is especially suited for badger watching. It is large and quite close to the main driveway but at a distance from the main road which is an advantage as it is unlikely to become the target for unscrupulous people who may dig out the badgers for baiting.

The badger hide is now complete and operational. If you are interested in using the badger hide simply get in touch with us or Scottish Badgers. www.scottishbadgers.org.uk

A Midwinter Night's Dream

A  uniquely refreshingly way to enjoy Shakespeare is on offer this February with a Promenade performance of a Midwinter Nights Dream amidst the beautiful snowdrops of Cambo Estate Fife on the 11^th and Fingask Castle Perthshire on the 22 & 23.

Lady Catherine Erskine says ‘we are delighted to host the Highland Shakespeare Company’s exciting production at snowdrop time, we have over 350 varieties of snowdrops at Cambo, and several named after Shakespeare’s ladies, and so are particularly looking forward to having Titania and Hippolyta here amongst their Courts, Puck, Oberon and all the players.

Audiences are asked to dress for an hour and a half’s walk outside and wear a tartan or similar blanket, to blend into the environment. The Café at Cambo will be open before and after the performance serving hot drinks, soup, mulled wine ext. 

The Highland Shakespeare Company was formed after the terrific success of The Tempest at last years Edinburgh Festival Fringe and subsequent tour to Fingask Castle Perthshire and Belladrum Estate in the Highlands. Inspired by the audiences response and encouraged by Patron and Executive Producer Richard Demarco's instruction to follow their hearts.

 ‘The vision of the Highland Shakespeare Company is to enchant audiences by bringing the bard's work to life in stunning outdoor locations. To invite the audience into a magical world where these epic yet touching stories can be found under the stars & amidst the trees of our very own Arden Forests. It seams very apt to launch Shakespeare’s birthday year amidst the first flowers of the year’ explains HSC Artistic Director Sunny Moodie.

‘Work on the production has drawn together fresh and talented young people who share a love of Shakespeare & performance; new music is being composed, dance sequences choreographed, costumes made, lines learned and characters developed. We have drawn from the powerful, elemental and evocative quarrel of Oberon & Titania for the theme of Midwinter:  'through this distemperature we see the seasons alter, hoary headed frost in the fresh lap of a crimson rose'. There is a truly timeless quality to Shakespeare.’

Performances last about 1, 1.2 hrs and begin at 5.15, audiences book by emailing: cambo@camboestate.com. or book online

HSC are grateful to the many in the Highlands who have given much inkind support to the venture: The Gerald Laing Art Foundation for Studio Space, The Greenhouse Community Initiative, Belladrum, Fingask and Cambo for much expert advice, to Moving Arts for Costumes and Lighting, and Justin Scobie Photography for his stunning images. 

Conon Brae Farm Conon Bridge Rossshire IV7 8AG

Artistic Director: Sunny Moodie TEL 07759087320

Production Assistant: Lizzie McDougall TEL  01349 63726

Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/tempestontour & www.facebook.com/midwinterdreaming

The Sawmill

The Sawmill (originally referred to as The Dairy), a 2-storey, 3-bay building with an advanced and pedimented centre bay, built of red sandstone with a piended roof. was converted by Cambo Institute’s ‘Cambo Green Team’ to form their base and funding has been acquired for solar panels and a composting toilet.

It is now being transformed to become one of the few ‘Men’s Sheds’ in Scotland as wood-turning machinery and tools are installed. Men’s Sheds have a similar ethos to a Green Gym.

A Volunteer Support Grant of £7,500 has been awarded for therapeutic woodwork groups which will take place in the sawmill and £1750 has been awared for the supply of equipment for helpers and hire of workshop.

The Cambo Green Team, under the guidance of Woodland Educator, Jon Warnes, meet every Wednesday at Cambo Sawmill and a lift is available from St. Andrews.

Tea /coffee are provided and people are advised to wear outdoor working clothes. Get in touch if you want to join in!

Bat Survey

A survey of bats in the stables building was carried out in September 2009 and indicated that there is a number of bats roosting in the roof and numbers suggest that these are non-maternity roosts. Common and soprano pipistrelles, brown long-eared bats, and Natterers were all identified, although numbers were small.

It is hoped to commence bat walks during the summer months.

Pipistrelles are the commonest British bats, weighing around 5 grams (less than a £1 coin). A single pipistrelle can eat 3,000 tiny insects in just one night!
The common and soprano pipistrelle were only identified as separate species in the 1990s and look very similar. The easiest way to tell them apart is from the frequency of their echolocation calls (sounds produced by common pipistrelles are above the range of human hearing with the exception of social calls that may be heard by children and some adults with good hearing).

Common pipistrelles feed in a wide range of habitats comprising woodland, hedgerows, grassland, farmland, suburban and also urban areas. They generally emerge from their roost around 20 minutes after sunset and fly 2-10m above ground level searching for their insect prey, which they catch and eat on the wing by ‘aerial hawking’.

Soprano pipistrelles usually feed in wetland habitats, for example over lakes and rivers, and also around woodland edge, tree lines or hedgerows, and in suburban gardens and parks.
They generally emerge from their roost around 20 minutes after sunset and fly 2-10m above ground level searching for their insect prey, which they catch and eat on the wing by ‘aerial hawking’. Soprano pipistrelles appear to be more selective in their habitat use than the more generalist common pipistrelle and feed mainly on small flies, particularly midges and mosquitoes that are associated with water.

Populations of pipistrelles have declined dramatically in the last few decades. This is at least partly as a result of modern agricultural practices, although common pipistrelle populations have started showing signs of recovery in recent years. Their reliance on buildings for roosting makes them vulnerable to building renovations, exclusion and toxic remedial timber treatment chemicals.

Brown long-eared bats are medium-sized. The ears are nearly as long as the body but not always obvious: when at rest they curl their ears back like rams’ horns, or tuck them away completely under their wings leaving only the pointed inner lobe of the ear (the tragus) visible.

As well as catching insects in free flight, brown long-eared bats are gleaners, often flying slowly amongst foliage, picking insects off leaves and bark. Their broad wings and tail allow slow, highly manoeuvrable, hovering flight .Sometimes they land on the ground to catch insects or to shift them into a controllable position in the mouth, and they are even able to take insects from lighted windows. Their flight often includes steep dives and short glides.

These bats are known as ‘whispering bats’ because their echolocation sounds are very quiet. They have particularly sensitive low frequency hearing and often locate prey from the sounds made by the insect’s own movements. They may sometimes use vision. Small prey is eaten in flight, but larger insects are taken to a ‘perch’.

Brown long-eared bats prefer to hibernate at very cold temperatures, often just above freezing point. Like the pipistrelles, it has declined in Britain due to changing land use, including modern intensive agricultural practices, and the conversion of barns which have resulted in the loss of suitable feeding and roosting habitats. It is particularly susceptible to pesticides, especially their use in roofs where it often roosts on exposed timbers.

Natterer's bat is a medium-sized European bat with pale wings. It has brown fur, also seen on the leg wing membrane, tending to white on its underside. It is found across most of the continent, but is considered scarce. It usually forages around trees and other vegetation, often gleaning insects from the surface of foliage. In the summer months it often roosts in old buildings with timber beams including buildings and barns. It mainly eats small flies, small moths, caddis flies, lacewings, beetles and spiders.