Friday 15th January 2010 New code as salmon fishing season opens
Fishermen casting their lines in pursuit of salmon on scottish River
Tay are being asked to free every salmon they catch in an effort to
preserve fish stocks. Tay District Salmon Fisheries Board made the
appeal on the opening day of the 2010 salmon season.

Previously, a voluntary code of releasing the first and every
subsequent second fish caught back into the river. But the change in
advice comes among real concerns over salmon stocks in the River Tay. Perthshire

Wednesday 16th December 2009 £800,000 facelift for Perth’s oldest house
The 15th century Fair Maid’s House in North Port, Perth is to be
renovated thanks to a £450,000 grant from the Scottish Government. The
Royal Scottish Geographical Society, who are based next door, will
provide the rest of the funding for the £800,000 facelift and will
oversee the project.

RSGS chief executive Mike Robinson said: "I think it will be great for
Perth and for RSGS to see this beautiful building given a new lease of
life and reopened to the public. I am grateful to the council for its
support and hopeful that people will back the scheme when they realise
how close we are, and will help us find the last £20,000." Perthshire

Wednesday 1st July 2009 Perthshire country home lures rare bird
The thinly spread hawfinch is being tracked by researches in a bid to study their survival rates. The birds like life in treetops so the project is providing plenty of challenges! Despite all, ornithologists have been managing to attach monitoring tags to the birds at Scone palace in Perthshire.

The hawfinches seem to like nesting in yew trees and, as these are often found on country estates, this is where the birds seem to be found in their greatest numbers.

Neil Morrison, who is working on the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), said: "One of the reasons we think Scone is so rich in Hawfinches is that the grounds have essentially not changed for decades, meaning that the birds have a undisturbed habitat in which to live and breed." Perthshire