Town & Country

At the mouth of the Firth of Forth, the Isle of May was once a favourite with monks, Vikings raiders and smugglers, but has for some time been the haunt of breeding grey seals and a noisy flurry of some 200,000 nesting seabirds in the summer, including puffins, guillemots, shags, oystercatchers, fulmars and gulls. Due to this year’s alarming strain of avian flu in seabird colonies, NatureScot was forced to close the island for five weeks, but, earlier this month, it finally reopened to public landings, the majority of seabirds having left to overwinter elsewhere. As breeding seasons vary between different species, many other coastal nature reserves and islands are still closed

If you plant it, they will come

WHEN Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis was invited to draw a selection of Britain’s Ancient Trees as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy (QGC) initiative marking the Platinum Jubilee, it was her dream commission. The individual character of trees—scars, burls, galls, warts and all—has always fascinated her and no tree is more characterful than an ancient one.

Beginning on Boxing Day last year, Miss Aytoun Ellis has travelled the length and breadth of Britain drawing 20 venerable specimens selected from the QGC list of 70 Ancient Trees. She has chosen a variety