Month: April 2018

As a new ranger, I recently had my first experience of teaching school pupils. My previous teaching experience includes assisting with zookeeper talks and interacting visitors to nature reserves, where my audience consisted mostly of adults. When I learned that I would be required to plan my own lesson and help the Education Team with school visits, I was apprehensive. Our first outreach visit was to Teanassie Primary School, who are familiar with Aigas Field Centre. The pupils were from different year groups (P2/3 and P4/5), but everyone was enthusiastic and enjoyed learning about food chain interactions. It was great to see how much they already knew and build on this knowledge through puzzles and games. This particular school have been coming to Aigas for many years,
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Every year, a school group from the south coast of England travel north to learn all about the Highlands. Traditionally, we take this group to Assynt to climb Stac Pollaidh, a rocky Corbett of Torridonian sandstone just north of Ullapool. However, due to icy conditions, we had to provide an alternative walk. We landed on the Bone Cave Circuit near Ichnadamph, and it did not disappoint. The walk took us through a limestone valley, past a spring where water seems to flow from nowhere, and into a dried up riverbed. The riverbed provided students (and rangers) with a lot of rock-stacking fun. The path then climbs up to a cliff face, in which the cave system lies. Four large caves are easily accessible and were thoroughly explored.
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“Camp out among the grass of glacier meadows. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. - The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” John Muir Born in Dunbar in 1838, John Muir was a Scotsman at heart and from an early age went out exploring the mountains and hills around him. As a child he and his family emigrated to Wisconsin, USA, where he grew to become an important figure in nature conservation. As an adventurer, climber, botanist, inventor and writer, John Muir was passionate about everyone caring for our world as well as enjoying it. His writing and public voice influenced many decisions in conversation including establishing Yosemite as a
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Back in February, Pete and I decided to hit the hills of Glen Affric armed with warm boots, plenty of layers and ice axes for a day of winter walking. With the Highlands still firmly in the grip of winter’s freezing fingers, we had a limited number of daylight hours to play with. With our alarms set for 4:30am, we aimed to be walking by sunrise. Being woken up at such an early hour always feels a little painful, but once you are outside the sacrifice pays off. I find being surrounded by nature at this time a moving experience, hearing the dark morning silence broken by the song of a robin or the movement of a roe deer in the bushes and seeing the first rays
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It’s easy to think that while there’s snow on the ground, there isn’t much going on in the way of wild food. While an icy blanket conceals the winter fungi and the bitter frosts slow the growth of spring greens, a cascade of meltwater from an overhanging birch tree drips squarely down my neck. For a frozen second, inspiration hits. Downy birch, Betula pubescens, cover much of the hillside around Aigas, and in the Highlands they are one of the first colonizers to freshly felled ground, their tiny windblown seeds finding purchase in tiny nooks and crannies in the earth. All round foraging superstars, they support the chaga mushroom,  Inonotus obliquusa, a secretive and delightful species that yields an amazing array of health benefits. The tender young
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Having experienced the Aigas Ranger Training Scheme (ARTS) once before I was eager to see what new things 2018 would bring. I was most excited for the week of education training with Naturedays, the charity based at Aigas which focuses on environmental education. This week certainly didn’t disappoint and was by far one of my favorites. We took part in a multitude of activities some of which took me right back to being a young child exploring nature again. Games like camouflage and orienteering with an educational twist which Naturedays do with Primary School children proved to be just as fun for us adults. I’d be lying if I said they didn’t bring out my competitive side as well. Team building games like ‘the magic stick’ were
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