mull and iona ranger service

Meet the team

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Recently we showcased our work through the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association social media channels. Here’s a summary of who we are and what we’re working on this year.

Hi. I am Jan Dunlop and the Ranger Manager for Mull and Iona Ranger Service. My job predominantly covers the north of the island and the islands of Ulva and Gometra.

The beauty of our jobs are that we can plan for our days but something else quite often becomes more of a priority and we have the flexibility to work with this. We are very lucky to have a very wide remit from environmental education for all ages, working with land managers on access type issues, conservation management and in particular helping manage Calgary SSSI and encouraging use of Ardura, our community woodland; and that is just for starters.

Mull is a key spot for wildlife watching and photography, and some of our job is educating about responsible wildlife watching particularly otters, hen harriers and eagles.

Our volunteers and our local communities make our job a real pleasure to do and wouldn’t be possible without them. Working on an island is also very special as are our close work colleagues. Funding for our Ranger service is our biggest challenge and has got increasingly hard over the last 25 years that the ranger service has been in existence, but like mink we are pretty hard to eradicate.

Hi, I’m Emily Wilkins and I work in a partnership ranger role between Mull and Iona Community Trust and National Trust for Scotland. My focus is on the south-west part of Mull (known as the Ross) and the NTS estates of Burg (on Mull), Iona, Staffa and the Treshnish Isles, getting involved in visitor engagement, access work, wildlife monitoring, environmental education and outdoor wellbeing events along with a great team of colleagues and volunteers. At this time of year survey work is a priority, in particular for the rare Slender Scotch Burnet moth and the plants on which it depends. Maintaining good habitat for the moth means finding a balance with grazing cattle, sheep, deer and feral goats, and also involves us in some adventurous bracken clearance on steep slopes! Find out more here: https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/burgs-beautiful-slender-scotch-burnet-moth

Hi I’m May, one of the NTS Seasonal Rangers on Iona, Staffa, and the Treshinish Isles, this is my first season! Our regular job on Iona is on Tuesdays when we run short, guided nature walks for visitors from our visitor shelter. In just 45 minutes we aim to introduce folk to the nature and wildlife on the island, something that doesn’t often get focussed on! We talk a lot on our new conservation farming efforts, including our new flock of Cheviot and Shetland sheep that will be doing some conservation grazing for us. All of this is to aid the fortunes of the elusive Corncrake, a moorhen sized bird that has declined by 70% since the 1970s, partly due to the intensification of farming. Not often seen, Corncrakes have a distinctive call, echoed in their scientific name of Crex crex. Another part of our work on Iona involves population surveys of the Corncrakes which have to be carried out between midnight and 3am as that’s when the calling is most active!

As part of our conservation farming efforts, we have left some meadows ungrazed and unmown, which has led to a wealth of wildflowers growing in them! Primrose, sea campion, meadow cranesbill, spring squill, cuckooflower, heath spotted and northern marsh orchids, yellow flag iris; the list is almost endless. Wildflowers are something we always make an effort to point out on our guided walks and the insects love them! Iona is such an amazing place for the visitors to come and visit and I love showing them around the island!

Hi. I am Peter Skinner, one of the NTS rangers for Staffa, Lunga and Iona for my second summer season.

Staffa has just reopened to visitors after work building a new jetty. The picture shows one of the boats bringing visitors, of which there can be 4 to 5 hundred on a busy day. They come to see the amazing geology, puffins and other wildlife. My job is to greet the visitors, answer lots of questions and ensure the wildlife is respected with so many visitors. We monitor some of the seabirds such as fulmar, shags, gulls and storm petrels. We also record all aspects of nature such as this common blue butterfly.

It is great seeing so many people encounter puffins for the first time. It feels like a privilege to work in such an amazing place, help protect it any enable so many visitors to experience coming here.

The seabird season is in full swing on Lunga with the sound of shag, razorbill, guillemot, puffin and kittiwake chicks filling the air (to name a few!). Before we know it, the birds will be back out to sea for another winter.

Lunga is the largest of the Treshnish Isles, an archipelago in the Inner Hebrides that came into the care of the National Trust for Scotland in 2023. My name is Louise and I am privileged to be a ranger for my third season, sharing these beautiful islands rich in wildlife. Each day brings a variety of tasks like recording sightings, checking wax blocks for the presence of rodents (or hopefully lack of!) and answering thoughtful questions. June is an exciting time on Lunga, bringing lots of lovely visitors and new life, as well as, the Treshnish Isles Auk Ringing Group (TIARG) attending to do the annual counts and tagging of seabirds.

A particular favourite for a lot of people, me included, is watching the moment a puffin brings a beak full of sandeels back to the burrow where a puffling eagerly awaits! If you capture a seabird with fish in its beak you can contribute to ‘Seabirds, camera, action!’ to help Scotland’s seabirds! Find out out more here:

https://www.nts.org.uk/stories/seabirds-camera-action

What else have we been up to recently? In the last couple of months we have hosted a royal visit to Ardura Community Forest; worked with our local primary schools on topics ranging from owl pellet dissecting, to adders, slow worms and bees; carried out a seabird census of Iona’s offshore islets; searched for alpine plants and carried out Habitat Impact Assessments high up above Burg’s clifftops; raised awareness about responsible visitor behaviour; run a community garden bioblitz; teamed up with a local geologist for two popular Pebble Picnic events; encouraged volunteers to participate in Buglife’s Riverfly project; hosted Rachel and Reid (the rat-detecting dog) from Biosecurity Scotland – thankfully our seabird islands remain rat-free! Never a dull moment!

Wintering Well

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Inspired by a project from the University of Glasgow, Emily teamed up with SWMID community gardener Lorraine to run a series of weekly Wintering Well Garden Gatherings throughout January and early February at the Ross of Mull Community Garden in Bunessan.

For anyone who struggles with grey skies and long hours of darkness, it’s important to get outside into the daylight whenever possible. Our events provided a reason to venture outdoors and gather around the firepit for hot drinks, cake, companionship and creativity!

This year, sessions were loosely themed around foods that can support our winter resilience and incorporated an optional nature- or arts-focused activity to help us embrace the season. Unlike last year we were lucky with mainly blue skies although temperatures varied wildly from thick frost or cold winds to still sunny days when we could appreciate apricity (the warmth of the sun in winter). Some participants made the most of the good weather to walk or cycle from home to the garden.

Our first theme was ‘roots’, we munched on a rooty parsnip cake and thought about what might be going on for us that’s not always visible on the surface. Participants took photos to represent how they feel at their worst and best in winter, which were then collated into a gallery to discuss the following week.

The next theme was ‘greens’. We drank sage, rosemary and plantain tea, ate kale and beetroot swiss roll and learned how to prune blackcurrant bushes, taking the cuttings home to place in a vase of water and watch the buds unfurl into leaves. Some of us plan to root them too!

In week 3 the theme was spices, so we enjoyed homemade chai tea and spiced cake. Spices are important in winter as a small pinch can transform something that would otherwise be bland. Our activity was looking at a patch of sky through a frame and choosing three words to describe it, to encourage us to look for the tiny details that can transform our day. Local poet Brian then created this lovely piece from our chosen words.

Medicinal plants were the focus in week 4. Lorraine had created elderberry rob for us to drink, and a low-sugar beetroot cake with dark chocolate. We wove willow into dreamcatchers infused with our hopes and intentions. Willow bark has pain-relieving properties.

The first week of February saw our last gathering for now, when the theme of citrus was celebrated with fresh scones and newly-made marmalade, and an orange and almond cake. Brightly-coloured citrus fruits are great for vitamin C and encourage us to search for the hopeful colours of the coming spring, which we found in hazel catkins, early daffodils and a rainbow amongst the showers.

Thanks to everyone who took part, it was lovely spending time with a different selection of folk each week and we hope these sessions gave you something to smile about this winter!

Beachcombing and Bookbinding

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The ranger service collaborated with Toben Lewis of Baile Mòr Books for an event this week.

Participants gathered at Ardalanish beach for a clean-up and to search for items that could be recycled into book binding art. Our island coastlines collect a lot of rubbish that washes up from the sea, a sad reminder of how much plastic is thrown away.

Leaving the beach cleaner than we found it.

In the afternoon some of us had a go at making our own books under Toben’s expert tuition. We began to transform a pile of potential materials…

We drilled and cut and stitched, learned the correct way to fold paper and tried a Japanese binding technique. We even included some paper made from seaweed.

Here’s the finished result! Trash transformed!

Working with Bunessan and Iona schools

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A little round-up of some recent ranger sessions with the children of the Ross of Mull and Iona. Environmental education is an integral part of our work, encouraging everyone to connect with nature and take action to care for it.

We run afterschool clubs with both Bunessan and Iona primary schools.

Fiona Fraser helped us learn how to be archaeologists with her simulated dig activities.

Both groups found out about the night sky, making star constellations with candles on the beach.

As spring approached we investigated nearby trees and how to identify them from their bark and twigs before the leaves had opened, then thought about what characters might represent them!

Meanwhile in class time, Iona primary became soil scientists helping us investigate the grassland health of nearby farmland, and Bunessan primary are busy writing new information signs for their nature trail at Tiroran Community Forest.

Thank you to all volunteers, parents, colleagues and teachers – it’s always a pleasure to collaborate!

It’s Outdoor Classroom Day on May 23rd: https://outdoorclassroomday.com/

Seasonal ranger posts

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Exciting news! National Trust for Scotland are recruiting for 3 seasonal ranger posts across our islands this year. Please indicate at the top of the application form which is your preferred location. (Currently only the Staffa job description is on the website, but the Lunga and Staffa/Lunga/Iona roles should appear there next week and are very similar.) https://www.nts.org.uk/volunteering-jobs/job-search/highlands-islands-region

Positive Imaginings

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At the end of September the ranger service teamed up with Rowanbank Environmental Arts and Education to bring their Positive Imaginings Climate Circus to the woodlands of Mull!

Undaunted by the (at times challenging) weather, the team began to set up and rehearse at Aros Park and Tiroran Community Forest.

We worked with children and staff from all 6 Mull primary schools on interactive workshops about climate change. Sadly Iona school were unable to join in due to weather cancelling ferries.

A series of games and demonstrations helped to explain the science and causes of global warming, how it links to climate change, then we heard about situations around the world where many people had been inspired to become involved in solutions when just one person voiced their idea and started taking action in their own small way. People such as Wangari Maathai planting trees in Africa, or Afroz Shah cleaning beaches in India – their individual actions have built into global environmental movements.

The children used natural materials to make pictures of the positive futures they would like to see, featuring water-powered cars, solar panels, communities that grow their own food, and lots of trees.

Later in the week everyone had a chance to experience a colourful and exciting outdoor performance through the joy and wonder of storytelling, circus and connecting with nature. As the audience arrive at the forest, they are met by Flow, the forest dreamer, and Jay, the planter of oak trees, who introduce them to all the plants and animals living there.

However, as the story unfolds, Flow starts finding black bags in the forest, which represent real environmental problems, and becomes weighed down with anxiety and despair. Jay and the audience must seek help from Anam the Dreamweaver.

Anam empowers people to make their dreams a reality, and weaves the children’s dreams into a bright cloth representing collective action.

At first Flow cannot see the colours, but Anam helps Flow understand that what is needed is a new perspective, to use our imagination to find new ways of thinking and doing. Flow learns how to live with her climate worries and manage these complex emotions: by working with others to take climate action; and by remembering to notice the natural beauty that exists all around us.

The performance ends with a ceremony in which everyone has a chance for their dreams to be heard, the first step towards living in a kinder way for all who share this planet. 

Thanks to our fundraising efforts, the work with schools and an additional public performance were supported by The Waterfall Fund, Argyll and Bute Council Supporting Communities Fund, The National Lottery Community Fund and partners An Tobar and Mull Theatre, Forestry and Land Scotland, Mull & Iona Community Trust and South West Mull & Iona Development. 

We need to change the pattern, to see things from a different perspective.  How do you imagine a positive future here on our islands?  What one action could you start taking for our shared environment and communities?

Photos by Ranger Service and Rowanbank staff and volunteers

Riverfly Partnership

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What is it?

Back at the end of April, Rebecca Lewis from Buglife joined us on Mull to lead a Riverfly training session on the River Aros.

Cased Caddis

The Riverfly Partnership (RP) was formed in 2004 and brings together anglers, conservationists, entomologists, scientists, watercourse managers and government agencies to increase our knowledge of riverfly populations and actively conserve their habitats.

One of the RP’s leading projects, launched in 2007, is the ‘Anglers Monitoring Initiative (AMI)’. The AMI enables trained volunteer groups to apply a simple monitoring technique to record the presence and absence of 8 invertebrate groups, 7 of which are riverflies. This allows us to monitor the biological water quality of our rivers. The volunteer groups monitor their local rivers on a regular, often monthly, basis and if severe changes are detected a rapid response by the statutory bodies is ensured.

“Empowering citizens to protect their rivers“

The Riverfly Partnership

Training on the River Aros

We now have a small group of trained volunteers on the island who undertook an online training session, followed by spending a few hours with Rebecca on the banks of the Aros to put into practice the sampling and monitoring skills.

The sample collection itself takes only four minutes in total, with three minutes of kick sampling and a further one minute of rock sampling, then the fun part begins!

We spent a significant amount of time pouring over our trays that were filled with a veritable smorgasbord of aquatic invertebrates. We were able to separate individuals into eight groups with the help of a fantastic sorting mat (we can’t wait to use this with adults and schools). This included Stoneflies, Mayflies, Cased Caddis and Freshwater Shrimps. We were pleased to find a great mixture of species and some that aren’t included within the eight groups like Freshwater Limpets, snails and worms. We counted and scored our sample, which will be used as our baseline for future surveys here.

Volunteers Wanted!

We plan to have three sample sites along the River Aros which will be surveyed by volunteers roughly every six weeks. We have a small group of volunteers who attended both the online training and the practical session but we’d love to welcome others to join and develop their skills. We hope to be able to provide more training in the future with Buglife and this will be an opportunity open to those those who join us.

We’re keen to develop a core group which can share out the survey sites along the river and share out each of the survey dates to lighten the load and make sure it’s a fun and friendly experience. The minimum would be at least two people running a survey but the more the merrier and we can always bring along a hot drink and slice of cake to enjoy together on the river bank!

We’re also hoping to start surveying the River Lussa which runs adjacent to Ardura Community Forest. This will help us to keep track of any changes in the river system as the community forest begins to implement it’s long term biodiversity action plan – hopefully we’ll see positive changes in the riverfly populations as native trees are re-established.

How to get involved…

Come along and join us for our next survey on the River Aros on Sunday 11th June.

Jan and I will be there to support those volunteering and we’ll continue to learn together.

Buglife also provided us with specialist equipment including a few sizes of waders and buoyancy aids but it is not necessary to enter the water if you don’t want to. The actual sample collection time in the river is small and the identifying and counting is where we really need support.

If you think you’d like to get involved, do contact either Jan (jdunlop@mict.co.uk) or Rachel (rfrench@mict.co.uk) and we can answer any of your questions.

Staffa happenings

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Staffa is one of the islands we look after here at the ranger service, it’s part of our partnership with the National Trust for Scotland.

Plenty of activity on this little island recently! Louise King, the new NTS seasonal ranger has arrived and is enjoying getting to know the place and enhancing our visitor experience with plenty of information, often to be found at the puffin colony where birds are returning and have just started coming on land to sort out their burrows for egg laying. Louise brings a lot of knowledge about rockpool creatures and marine mammals, here she is investigating the intertidal zone.

Sadly the birds that are not returning are our fulmars. Cliff faces that were dotted with nest sites a few years ago are now eerily quiet. Fulmar populations are declining nationally, with marine plastic and climate change affecting food supplies, but ours gave up their breeding attempt mid-season last year and have not returned. We don’t know if they were spooked by something or whether it’s just part of the general decline for this species, but it’s sad to lose a breeding species from the island. Hopefully they will try and re-establish a colony in the future.

Empty cliff face this year compared to last year’s studded with the white dots of nesting fulmars (photo by Rachel Bonnici).

More positively, Louise and Emily spent a night on Staffa with volunteer bird-enthusiast Igua, to enable a dawn black guillemot count which revealed numbers of this auk species are healthy. Birds nest in hidden cracks in the cliffs, but fly down before sunrise ready to head out to sea to fish, displaying their big red clown feet as they perch on the edge of the rocks ready to dive in!

Black guillemot (photo by Terry Ward) and sunset light over Staffa with views to neighbouring islands

In other wildife news, we are keeping a close eye on the colony of shags breeding in Clamshell Cave this year. As they are so close to the landing jetty we need to ensure they have fledged all of their chicks before we start improvement works there in late summer/autumn. This means Staffa will be closed to all landings for a couple of months from mid-late August onwards.

Landing jetty, and shags getting ready to breed area in nearby Clamshell Cave, can you spot any nests?

On the maintenance side of things, we hosted NTS Footpath Manager Bob Brown last week to help us plan future repair work. We love welcoming visitors to explore this National Nature Reserve, but tens of thousands of human feet every year do take their toll on the ground surface, so we are gradually making paths more durable and less muddy. We also completed a spring beach clean and good to see there wasn’t too much rubbish needing taken away.

Bob checking the condition of recent footpath repair work

As avian influenza (bird flu) continues to be a threat to seabird colonies, we will be installing a disinfectant mat and roping off some areas to reduce disturbance to our seabirds, please watch out for signage on the island and play your part in protecting our wildlife.

More frequent updates can be found on the Staffa Twitter account.