Rachel is in Lochaber where one of the biggest nature restoration projects in the country is underway. The Nevis Nature Network Project covers 22 thousand acres which includes fragments of Scottish rainforest and rare montane scrub. She met project manager Ellie Corsie for a walk to hear about their restoration vision.

Mark is on Calton Hill in Edinburgh hearing about the challenges of repairing our historical buildings. Many of our famous landmarks were built using stone that is no longer quarried in Scotland. Imogen Shaw from the British Geological Survey tells him about their desire for more buildings to be built using Scottish stone to allow quarries to open here.

Rachel delves into the history of the Newburgh on Ythan lifeboat, the oldest lifeboat station in Scotland. Charlie Catto has written a book about its history, and she met him at the station to hear about his research. She also hears about the plans of the Newburgh and Ythan Community Trust to take on the building and hopefully restore it to the condition it was in when it was first built in 1877.

In the week where competitors took part in the 268-mile Montane Spine Race between Derbyshire and the Scottish Borders, we chat live to world record endurance cyclist Jenny Graham about why people want to take part in these kind of events and how she prepares for them.

Mark is on Royal Deeside where a recent collaboration between Aberdeenshire Council and the Cairngorms National Park Authority has resulted in a new stretch of path being built. The Charter Chest Path links up the existing path network and keeps cyclists and pedestrians off the busy road. He went for a wander with Colin Simpson, Head of Visitor Services and Active Travel with the National Park.

Back to the Nevis Nature Network Project where Rachel continues her walk with Ellie Corsie to one of the areas of montane scrub they want to protect.

Phil Sime takes a walk around Ness Islands in Inverness in the company of historian Norman Newton. Norman tells him about the areas interesting past including being home to a very popular outdoor arena and a dog cemetery.

Mark Stephen chooses some Burns favourites including his rendition of Tam O' Shanter

The weather has certainly been a big talking point for a lot of us this week. And it’s also the theme of a new exhibition at the McManus Art Gallery and Museum in Dundee. Rachel went to take a look at A Weather Eye along with curator Kirsty Matheson.

We hear from Paul Hetherington of charity Buglife about the impact the mild weather before Christmas, and now the very cold weather, is having on our bees. Sadly, it’s not great news.

A second pair of lynx has been captured after being found near Kingussie in the Cairngorms National Park. Two other lynx, released illegally, were caught in the same area on Thursday. We get the latest from BBC Scotland’s Environment, Energy & Rural Affairs Correspondent Kevin Keane.

Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre in Aberdeenshire is Britain's only purpose-built all-weather facility for cross-country skiing and roller skiing. And since there was a bit of snow on the ground, Mark went along to try his hand at cross-country skiing.

We speak live to Donald MacRae, vice chair of Scottish Mountain Rescue about the conditions the teams across the country have been facing so far this year. We also hear advice on heading to the hills at this time of year and how prepared you need to be.

Staying in the hills, the Glenmore Visitor Centre and Café near Loch Morlich has had a bit of a facelift in recent weeks. It’s now owned by the community, who have big plans for the centre. Rachel went along for a visit to hear about what they’ve done so far, and what’s yet to come.

The wintry weather prompted Mark to think about the extreme winter weather of the recent past, including low temperatures in Braemar of -27.2 degrees Celsius.

Photographer and Landward presenter Shahbaz Majeed has a new book out which explores Scotland’s landscapes from a slightly different perspective. Recently, Rachel caught up with Shahbaz in his home city of Dundee for the Scotland Outdoors podcast. He told Rachel the story of how a rather unexpected request led to him making a name for himself behind the lens.

And when Mark visited the Huntly Nordic and Outdoor Centre, he couldn’t say no when he was offered the chance to go tubing. The simple pastime of sliding down a hill in an inflatable ring is pretty popular at the centre with kids and big kids too!

Rachel Stewart speaks to photographer and Landward presenter Shahbaz Majeed

Helen Needham meets musician and composer Cosmo Sheldrake

Mark Stephen and Rachel Stewart spend a day on the island of Jura to get a sense of life on the Ardlussa Estate where the Fletcher family have lived for five generations. Mark also visits Barnhill, the house where George Orwell wrote 1984 which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year

Mark Stephen gets a tour of the Palace with Curators Deborah Clarke and Emma Stead

Mark and Rachel are joined by the Astronomer Royal for Scotland, Professor Catherine Heymans who can tell us what’s actually happening to earth to make the days so short.

Mark finds out whether our garden birds are impacted by the short days, and he also visits the Nature Scot Forvie National Nature Reserve where despite the dark and cold, new life is arriving as seal pups are being born.

While we’re experiencing our shortest day, Antarctica will be marking their Summer Solstice. Rachel chats to Maggie Coll, a wildlife monitor with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust who manage Port Lockroy. She tells us what conditions are like there and tips to cope with 24-hour daylight.

Joining us in the car park is Professor of Human Geography at University of Edinburgh, Hayden Lorimer. We chat to Hayden about the different ways people have marked the winter solstice throughout time. And we also discuss the best ways to cope with the short days and lack of light.

Our Scotland Outdoors podcast this week features the last instalment of our Kidnapped series. We hear an excerpt as Mark nears the end of his journey along the Stevenson Way.

And Rachel meets storyteller Jackie Ross at the East Aquhorthies Stone Circle near Inverurie to hear some tales of the winter solstice and some superstitions linked to this time of year.

Mark Stephen follows the route from Balquhidder to Corstorphine in Edinburgh

Mark meets builder and artist Becky Little whose work is being displayed as part of an exhibition called A Fragile Correspondence at the V&A in Dundee. Her work involves using soil from different areas in Orkney made into cubes.

A WWF Scotland scheme which is aiming to create seagrass meadows and restore oysters to the Forth has reached a major milestone. Rachel visits the Restoration Forth project to hear about what they’ve achieved so far and what their plans are for the future.

Mark is in The McManus: Dundee's Art Gallery and Museum where there’s currently an exhibition all about the Dundee Naturalists’ Society which is marking its 150th anniversary this year. Mark met up with some of the members to hear about the group’s history and what they get up to now.

Listeners have been getting in touch with Out of Doors to tell us they aren’t seeing the usual numbers of garden birds at their bird feeders and tables. Mark met up with Ian Broadbent, North-East Scotland recorder for the Scottish Ornithologists' Club, to chat about whether numbers of garden visitors are down, and what might be the cause. They also speak about what we can do to help encourage birds and get them through the winter.

We’re joined live by Dr Julie Oswald from the University of St Andrews who has developed a groundbreaking tool that uses machine learning to identify dolphin species based on their calls. We hear some examples of what dolphins sound like and find out why identifying them is important.

It’s the time of year to coorie down and listen to some folktales and we have just the thing with two tales from our recent trip to Islay, an island full of myths and legends.

There’s a new eye-catching steel sculpture in Callendar Park in Falkirk. It’s been created by artist Caspar J Wilson and is a memorial to those who experienced loss in the Covid pandemic. Rachel met Caspar and heard how he spoke to hundreds of people in the local community before creating the sculpture.

And our Scotland Outdoors podcast this week features Helen Needham looking through some audio gems from BBC Scotland's archive including an Orkney Hurricane, Sightings of the Loch Ness Monster in the 1930's and Terrifying Sounds from the Hamilton Mausoleum which is what we hear an excerpt of.

Helen Needham presents some audio gems from BBC Scotland's archive