Islay Birding gets top accolades

Do you want to go bird watching in Scotland? Then it would be a good idea to go with Islay Birding, which has been named as Britain’s first ever five-star wildlife attraction. Not only that it functions in sustainable harmony with nature and birds.

Started five years ago by Jeremy Hastings and his wife Anita in 2002, it offers tailor-made bird watching trips in the Inner Hebrides.


Mr Hastings is quoted to have said:

It is the most fantastic place in Britain for birds and nature and wilderness. There are old fashioned estates here and the farms still use traditional farming methods, so the habitat is ideal. And, because we are 16 miles out into the Atlantic, Islay is also on a major migration route.


The five-star rating comes from Visit Scotland’s new Wildlife Experience Quality Assurance Scheme and Islay Birding is the first attraction ever to receive top marks. Other attractions to receive recognition from VisitScotland include dolphin watching boat tours in Moray Firth, midnight badger trips and mink whale tours, all of which received four-star ratings.

Source: Opodo

Our ancestors chose caves ideally...

The Sevenways Cave is shown, located in the Peak District National Park

I have always fantasized about a cave being my home but for the ancients the cave was more than a home. They were the sites of their ritual activities as well as sites for burials. They did not take there dwelling place for granted, they searched far and wide for the perfect locale.

They preferred caves with larger entrances, deep passages, ones perched higher up, facing east or west and with flat areas out front.

The recently released three-year-long survey of approximately 230 caves in the Yorkshire Dales and 190 caves in the northern England Peak District determined that people there from 4,000 to 2,000 B.C. selected caves based on at least five criteria.

Thor’s Cave, located in the Peak District National Park

Sometimes caves were even like roadside motels, where both human and animal travelers would stop in for a night or two of rest before hitting the road again. These cave studies from the archaeological point of view can become a source of vast knowledge in the future.

Source: Discovery

Our ancestors chose caves ideally...

The Sevenways Cave is shown, located in the Peak District National Park

I have always fantasized about a cave being my home but for the ancients the cave was more than a home. They were the sites of their ritual activities as well as sites for burials. They did not take there dwelling place for granted, they searched far and wide for the perfect locale.

They preferred caves with larger entrances, deep passages, ones perched higher up, facing east or west and with flat areas out front.

The recently released three-year-long survey of approximately 230 caves in the Yorkshire Dales and 190 caves in the northern England Peak District determined that people there from 4,000 to 2,000 B.C. selected caves based on at least five criteria.

Thor’s Cave, located in the Peak District National Park

Sometimes caves were even like roadside motels, where both human and animal travelers would stop in for a night or two of rest before hitting the road again. These cave studies from the archaeological point of view can become a source of vast knowledge in the future.

Source: Discovery