News from the North
It has been a pretty busy month getting out and about around the island, the good weather has helped.
I had a session with George Watson’s School from Edinburgh who were working towards their John Muir Award. We did a bit of path clearance so that geocaches could be accessed a bit easier.
A big pleasure and great fun was having Tobermory Primary School’s P1 and 2 in Aros Park, we played lots of running around games, built hedgehog houses and to end they all got involved in putting up small tents and then eating their hotdogs inside.
One very pleasant Thursday evening I accompanied the Scouts to Langamull Bay to do a beach clean and have a BBQ. Thank you for inviting me. Luckily Langamull had very little rubbish so less to carry back to the cars.
After being created locally the directional signage has now gone in on the Lighthouse Path, Tobermory and benches and picnic tables are starting to appear along the way.
Our events programme and what we have been up to can be followed on our blog page: www.mullionarangerservice.com and we regularly post to Facebook at Mull and Iona Ranger
Jan Dunlop,
Countryside Ranger Manager,
Tel: 01680300640 or Mob: 07765898600. jan.dunlop@forestry.gsi.gov.uk;
News from Cian Burke-Brown, our Seasonal Ranger
As the sunshine continued throughout the island, the good weather also contributed towards some cracking events! We put on a real mix this month from boat trips with basking sharks to a less fruitful Fishnish walk. I took a group out on a walk through Fishnish hoping to find crossbills and wood warblers. We found neither but did get a close look at redpoll and a very friendly chaffinch.
The group stayed in good spirits, despite the lack of species, we instead turned our attention to the invertebrate life along the path and were graced with a variety of both damsel and dragon flies. I also joined Emily on the joint event with the Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust. It was an amazing evening filled with lots of marine life, seabird surveys and a gorgeous sunset, what more could you want?
We also helped out at Treshnish’s farm open day. An interesting event learning all about the farm and the wildflowers it holds within. A lot of this was new to me, learning about the hybridising nature of orchid species. There were only a couple of buzzards and a flock of linnet on the walk, many of the other birds may have been put off by the size of our group.
Once we sat down for our delicious picnic, prepared by the wonderful Janette of Ballygown, we spotted a few harbour porpoise off the coast so set up the scope for everyone to have a look. A lovely end to a truly enjoyable day.
For further more information on the Mull and Iona Ranger Service visit mullionarangerservice.com.
