Fans of Changing Landscapes will be glad to know the results of last September’s project are now online!  We gathered together another great team of tutors and Oban High School pupils for a couple of days on Iona, and their creative efforts in music and poetry can now be viewed here.

Feels like it’s been a busier winter than usual, in spite of the storminess!  I enjoyed catching up with ranger colleagues at the NTS countryside conference, including a site visit to the Knapdale beaver trial – we all know species reintroductions can be controversial so it was fascinating to learn all about how that one’s been going.

Bunessan primary afterschool nature club has been running all winter, and Iona’s will restart in the spring.  We’ve been making art to celebrate our local environment with It is Our World, learning about the Scottish Outdoor Access Code through games, video clips and an obstacle course challenge, taking part in the Big Schools Birdwatch and doing some citizen science through the What’s Under Your Feet? project.

Meanwhile I’ve started visiting the Bunessan Pre5 class every month, so far exploring hibernation and winter using all our senses, and also enjoyed some evening stargazing with Iona primary school families including spotting familiar constellations and waving to Tim Peake as the ISS flew past!

Have been spending plenty of time planning our summer events programme so look out for some old favourites and a few new ideas in the mix!  This year I hope to take some school and holiday club groups to our new community forest at Tiroran as well.

On Iona, the National Trust for Scotland’s new Shelter is nearly ready to open…hope to tell you more about this soon!

Emily Wilkins – ranger for South Mull, Iona, Staffa and Burg