标签 苏格兰 下的文章
内斯特角灯塔上空的银河 ,苏格兰斯凯岛 Milky Way over Neist Point Lighthouse, Isle of Skye, Scotland (© Shaiith/Getty Images)
内斯特角灯塔上空的银河 ,苏格兰斯凯岛 Milky Way over Neist Point Lighthouse, Isle of Skye, Scotland (© Shaiith/Getty Images)
Step into the dark
We're on the Isle of Skye, a fitting locale to celebrate the beginning of International Dark Sky Week, and not just because of its name. The Isle of Skye is one of several parts of Scotland that are set aside as Dark Sky parks, where the lack of artificial light makes stargazing a spectacular event, with or without a telescope.
First observed in 2003, International Dark Sky Week was the brainchild of then-high school student Jennifer Barlow. Her goal was to bring awareness of the impact of light pollution on people and the environment. Her efforts have made it a worldwide event and a centerpiece of Global Astronomy Month.
Chon湖上空的低空云,苏格兰特罗萨克斯 (© Alistair Dick/Alamy)
Silver birch (Betula pendula) woodland, Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, Scotland (© Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo)
Silver birch (Betula pendula) woodland, Craigellachie National Nature Reserve, Scotland (© Nature Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo)
The Lady of the Woods
Silver birch trees like these in Craigellachie National Nature Reserve have long been celebrated as symbols of purity and rebirth. In early Celtic mythology, bundles of their twigs were used to drive out spirits of the old year while in Scottish Highlands folklore it was believed that a barren cow herded with a birch stick would become fertile. Known as the “lady of the woods”, the old Gaelic word for birch, beith, can be found in some Scottish place names – the same goes for birk in England and bedw in Wales.
This nature reserve in Strathspey, in the Highlands, is known for its upland birch woodland, which is home to an impressive selection of moths among a wide variety of other creatures from dragonflies to peregrine falcons. The light, open canopy of silver birches also encourage wood anemones and dog violets to grow during the spring and summer – as well as offering a glimpse of panoramic views of Britain’s largest national park – the Cairngorms - which can be enjoyed, unobstructed, if you climb to the hill’s craggy summit.
秋天的罗梦湖和特罗萨克斯国家公园,苏格兰 (© Jon Arnold/Danita Delimont)
苏格兰福斯湾的巴斯岩 Bass Rock in Scotland’s Firth of Forth (© Richard Shucksmith/Minden Pictures)
苏格兰福斯湾的巴斯岩 Bass Rock in Scotland's Firth of Forth (© Richard Shucksmith/Minden Pictures)
An island for the birds
Those white specks scattered around the surface of Bass Rock are northern gannets—seabirds that spend their springtime breeding and nesting season on the islands and shores of the North Atlantic. At the height of the birds' Bass Rock nesting, roughly 150,000 gannets arrive to rear their chicks, making this location the largest gannet colony on Earth. There are no human inhabitants on Bass Rock—the lighthouse is automated. The tiny volcanic plug island is just over a mile off the coast of the Lothian region of eastern Scotland in the Firth of Forth.