Girl Guides & Wednesday Event

September 9, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Last night I went along to the girl guides to run a session on white-tailed eagles and wildlife watching. Hopefully I’ve sparked an interest among some of the girls to work towards a few badges and to develop a new hobby!

We covered the timeline of white-tailed eagles and some of the other species we lost like Beavers and Lynx and talked about the reintroduction of the eagles and the beaver. Some of them were keen on the idea of a wolf reintroduction too!

Working with the girl guides

We had a look at some online apps you can use now to help with wildlife watching – less boring than the guide books and you have the added benefit of sounds and calls at the touch of a button. These apps are available for everyone on a smartphone or a tablet and most are free. Great to help ID something out in the field. The iRecord butterflies app and mammal tracker apps are really good too, allowing you to submit a sighting record and help out with conservation too.

The girls had a try with a telescope and binoculars, something that could be important if they take the interest further. Binoculars are a wildlife watchers best friend and come in a range of prices and qualities too – my first ever pair were probably not even £10!

Getting our younger generations involved and interested in the natural world is so important and even more apt when we live on a spectacular island like Mull. We’re spoilt with stunning scenery and amazing species.

EVENT! Wednesday 10th September

: Seeing Stars

Seeing Stars – 7.30pm – 9pm school group 9pm-10.30pm everyone else!
Meeting at Ulva Ferry School, come along to enjoy a night of stargazing, learning about constellations, aurora alerts and more.
No need to book but call or text me on 07540792650 for more info!

Marine Education Day

September 3, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Yesterday I attended a Marine Education Day in Craignure for the school children of Mull organised by the GRAB trust.

I focused on showing the link between white-tailed eagles and the marine environment – how on earth does plankton and seaweed have an impact on our apex predator? We played a great habitat web game to show this, demonstrating how everything links together one way or another. We saw how important the marine habitat is for lots of species, not just the obvious ones like dolphins and whales! I then mixed things up a bit by adding in an oil spill or plastic litter – we found how one human action can impact species right up the food chain. If we continue to damage our marine environment we could definitely see problems with our white-tailed eagles.

White-tailed eagle workshop

We also had Q&A time and kids always manage to amaze me with their questions and insight plus we had our lifesize eagle silohette and foot for everyone to enjoy.

We ran four of these workshops throughout the day for the groups of children, Tobermory, Bunessan, Dervaig and Salen schools were all present and so it was a great way to meet some children I hadn’t managed to see this year – they’re already looking forward to a visit next season.

Life size white-tailed eagle

Also this week I led a guided walk for the Windsurf cruise ship whilst it was anchored in Tobermory. We headed off along the coastal path to Aros Park, enjoying the views of Tobermory bay and the waterfalls. We chatted about the history of Aros Park and then headed off to view the standing stones at Baliscate before heading back down toward the main street. Lovely morning and we were lucky with the weather.

Thanks for reading – Rachel 🙂

What a load of rubbish!!

August 24, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Very satisfying day today, the time was finally right to collect all that rubbish piled up on the beaches of Burg and Iona! Earlier in the year hardworking Thistle Campers (www.nts.org.uk/thistlecamps) had cleared the coastline, taking out what they could carry and leaving behind the heavy stuff, including 2 lorry tyres and lots of broken creels. I’ve been waiting for the right weather to take it all away and thanks to some very cheery helpers and sunny calm conditions, today was the day! We did give the beautiful B.Marie a temporary alternative makeover as a rubbish barge, but she’s none the worse for the ordeal, and our haul is now piled as neatly as possible on Fionnphort pier ready for the bin lorry to take it away. Many thanks to Mark, Stuart, David and Sophie for all their efforts and our contribution to making some of our coastline and seas a little bit cleaner.

You’ve probably seen some of the shocking photos of the effects of marine litter on wildlife, and even entire islands made up of floating plastic…but this week I came across a hopeful twist, a company which is processing plastic taken from the sea into threads to weave fabric, and make it into clothes to sell – how’s that for creative recycling?!

If this has inspired you, more beachcleaning opportunities after our Scoor Cave walk on 3rd September.

Changing Landscapes

August 11, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Time to feature a guest blog from Janna Greenhalgh, editor of ‘Round and About – Mull and Iona’ magazine: http://www.roundandaboutmull.co.uk/ Look out for R&A in local shops every month, with loads of useful information and events, including ranger news.

“The audience in Iona Abbey on Monday 23rd June was delighted by the performance of ‘Changing Landscapes’ by Oban High School pupils – a carefully blended mix of traditional music, song and poetry. This was the result of a project instigated by the National Trust for Scotland, which has education as part of its remit.

The youngsters came over to Iona for two days and learned something of its history and experienced present day Iona, concentrating on the changing landscape and the conservation of wildlife, with the aim of expressing their thoughts and feelings about this in their music and writing. ‘The whole project has been a wonderful experience’ said Emily Wilkins, National Trust Ranger for the Ross of Mull, Iona, Burg and Staffa: ‘especially as most of the pupils had never been to Iona before’

Members of the High School’s Traditional School of Music worked with Donald Shaw of Capercaillie, and Advanced Higher English pupils worked with local poet Jan Sutch Pickard. Both mentors took part in the performance along with the pupils, and the level of expertise and professionalism was astonishing after such a short preparation time. Credit must also go to Sileas Sinclair and MorvenMcKerrell, who work on a regular basis with the pupils of the Traditional School of Music.

The music was played with feeling as well as accuracy, and the songs and poems at times very moving.

Donald Shaw summed it up ‘Being creative with these young artists in such a magical environment on the edge of the world re-affirmed my belief that we are in a great moment for our culture’. ” JCG

Have a look at the Changing Landscapes Flickr page for lots more photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/80087340@N06/sets/72157645160034325/

Erraid & Kids Beach Day

August 11, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Coming up this week we’ve got two lovely events!

Tuesday 12th – Erraid guided walk with Emily

A walk exploring the natural and cultural history of this tidal island (setting for Robert Louis Stevenson’s ‘Kidnapped’), stopping off at the seal colony, lighthouse observatory and a beautiful sandy beach. You may wish to linger and explore the many lovely beaches around Knockvologan after the walk.

10.30am-2.30pm, £7.50/£5, meeting at Knockvologan Farm, bring along waterproofs, sturdy walking footwear, lunch and a drink, call 07717581405 to book or for more info!

Thursday 14th – Kids Beach Activity Day

Spend the day on the beach. We’ll do lots of activities, including a beach clean up & rock pooling. Take the plastic challenge – how many “one-use” plastic items do you use in a day? Try and count before you come along. Use an ID sheet to find local shoreline creatures. We’ll have a great day whatever the weather and get our feet wet!

10am-2pm, £7.50/£5, meeting Calgary Bay car park, wear suitable, weather appropriate clothing, good footwear and bring along lunch and a drink. Booking not required, but helpful. You can call Rachel on 07540792650 for more info.

Next week… 21st August – Froglife comes to Mull

Dragons on the move – a unique opportunity to learn more about pond life from wildlife charity Froglife! Join the Ranger Service and Froglife to study and learn about the local pond life in the area with:

– fun pond dipping sessions

– activites

– craft sessions

– use of lab facilities to study what you find

– join a guided walk to look for reptiles in the area

1-3pm, £5/£3 at Corry Meadows, Fisnish (PA65 6BA), please wear appropriate clothing and footwear, for more info please contact Jan on 01680 300640 or 07765898600

We had a great time over the last two weeks with Bunessan Show and Salen Show, both great days! The was windy and then very muddy respectively for each, I think my van only just made it out of the field. Things are just about back to normal with Scottish children back to school this week already. We will be at Tobermory Lifeboat Day this weekend though (Sunday 17th), so come and support our much appreciated emergency service!

News from the south!

August 8, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

Hello, I’m Emily the ranger for Iona, Staffa, Burg and the Ross of Mull. What have I been up to recently?

Well, wildflowers and seashore safaris have featured in many of my events this year. Here’s a lovely scarlet pimpernel found growing near Sandeels Bay on Iona, and some rockpool friends:

I have been working alongside Mary Ireson and Scott Douglas, youthworkers in Tobermory and Oban respectively, to bring together young people from all over Mull, and from Oban, for fun outdoor activities. This week’s challenge was a camping trip to Ulva (thanks to Fran and Isaac from Camas outdoor centre – http://www.iona.org.uk/island-centres/camas) as part of the John Muir Award, discovering, exploring, conserving and sharing the experience of wild places: http://www.johnmuiraward.org

The group worked as a team to help carry all the equipment, stopping for games and butterfly spotting along the way, and set up camp near the coast. A highlight of the evening’s beach exploration was observing the fascinating world of the hermit crab as we found a large colony in a nearby rockpool and spent time offering them empty shells as potential new homes or watching them delicately scavenging the eyes from some nearby dead sandeels to eat! Some of our group made an in-depth study of the creatures living inside a cowpat!! I think John Muir would have approved 🙂

Ulva Ferry

Fun in the rain and the sun!!

July 29, 2014March 6, 2015 / rangerservice / Leave a comment

On Sunday the Ranger Service team times two-headed to the Uisken Games, a fun pack afternoon at, you have guessed it, Uisken, aimed at raising funds for the RNLI by the Ross of Mull and Iona Branch of the RNLI fundraisers and the campers at Uisken Beach.

We ploughed through some heavy showers which seemed to get heavier and heavier as we got nearer to Bunessan and even drove through flooded roads but when we got to Uisken Beach the sun was shinning, Huge sighs of relief!

We set up our tent with our activities, Rachel had been rock-pooling and found some wee ‘sea critters’ as she called them and shared her wide knowledge of them with a enthralled audience. We also had a wee fishing session using a toy fishing set for Nemo and his pals. Other activities included beach bingo- looking for specific shells and shore items and returning with them to get a prize and we had a rotten quiz sheet, guessing how long many of the items tagged as marine litter take to decompose – please note that glass takes about 1 million years and plastic juice bottles about 500 years to decompose.

Fishin!

We also brought with us a load of logs donated by Forestry Commission Scotland to be auctioned. They raised £50 for the RNLI.

Delivering the winner their logs is always a good way of getting to corners on Mull you have never been to, mind you not sure I want to go back where we were as it involved getting half way back up the hill having emptied the trailer, the van stalled, we took the trailer off, pushed the van up the rest as the gravel was loose and we had no traction and then pushed and towed the empty trailer until everything was on the flat again.

Eventually getting home, that night I slept like a log!!

Fun in the Sun at Calgary Art in Nature followed on Monday. We had a great turn out with a lovely mix of ages and visitors and locals, with new friends being made. Environmental games and activities filled the morning and hopefully the youngsters went home having had a fun morning, having learned something new and were exhausted!!

Fun in the Sun

Mull & Iona Ranger Service

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