Why a Hebridean WW2 airstrip was 'ploughed up'

Image source, RSPB Scotland

Image caption, RAF Tiree served as a base for different squadrons during World War Two

Sand and gravel on a World War Two airstrip in the Inner Hebrides has been ploughed up for the benefit of wild birds.

RAF Tiree on an area called the Reef on the Isle of Tiree was a base for aircraft and crews carrying out maritime patrol and meteorological flights.

The disused old concrete strip and taxi ways, along with the surrounding coastal grassland, has since become a "haven" for ground-nesting wading birds, according to RSPB Scotland.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The Isle of Tiree is a "haven" for birdlife

However, the sand and gravel laid 20 years ago over the airstrip to create a better nesting habitat had recently become overgrown and less favourable to the birds.

RSPB Scotland had a tractor brought in from the neighbouring Isle of Coll.

Image source, RSPB Scotland

Image caption, A tractor and cultivator were brought over from the neighbouring Isle of Coll

The tractor was used to pull an implement called a cultivator over the top of the airstrip to break up the vegetation and bring the sand and gravel back to the surface.

RSPB Scotland said the work had restored the strip to .

Tiree's birdlife includes oystercatcher, ringed plover, lapwing and snipe.

This work forms part of Life 100% For Nature, a project funded by the Life Programme of the European Union, NatureScot and RSPB Scotland.

Image source, RSPB Scotland

Image caption, The cultivator was used to break up sand and gravel that was laid over the strip 20 years ago

The Reef was requisitioned by the Ministry of War in 1940 for the construction of an air station.

RAF Tiree opened in 1941 and during its time served as a base for anti-submarine aircraft, a Polish air squadron and crews that flew out over the Atlantic to take weather measurements.

Part of the site remains in use as a working civilian airport.

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