St Andrews Links Blog

St Andrews University students lend a helping hand

We welcomed a few helpers last week when a group of students turned out to assist us in managing the gorse (pictured above – left to right: Heather, Eilidh, Char, Anais, Tuuli). The students hail from St Andrews University and offered us their help in return for a tour around our ecological management of the courses. Many thanks for the help team and we hope to see you again soon!

Elsewhere on the Links, a new wildflower zone has been created! We already have a few existing wildflower zones but our aim is to create small stepping stones and avenues of wildflowers to further attract the UK’s pollinators and invertebrates to the rich nectar on offer.

The seeds scattered were a mix of natives including selfheal, greater knapweed and lady’s bedstraw which are all suitable for our sandy horizons. Eden Course Greenkeeper, Colin Mitchell, kindly offered to sow the seeds via traditional methods and we hope to have a plethora of colours on show by the end of spring.

The Eden Course is proving to be diverse where our feathered friends are concerned with pairs of wheatears (below), whitethroats, yellowhammers and many linnets being sighted with nesting material in their beaks.

It looks however, that the crows and rooks around Pilmour Lodge have already made a start on raising a family judging by this newly fledged bird!

The Eden Estuary is awash with exciting birds including a newly arrived osprey, red breasted mergansers and a great crested grebe. The sea eagles can be seen on a clear day and if you listen carefully on the Jubilee Course you may hear a grasshopper warbler. We’ll bring you a little more on this handsome bird and how to locate it in the coming weeks but for now keep a look out and enjoy the wildlife!

Words by James Hutchinson, Environmental Officer