April already? Time flies when you’re having fun. The hills are (nearly) alive with the sound of spring (especially when you get up at 5am to catch the dawn chorus). We’ve had a busy wee time at Laggan Forest Trust and the arrival of the good weather has brought flocks of mountain bikers to the trails. Whilst the bikers have been whizzing past the office we have been busy organising events and planning projects with local schools.
7th March was World Book Day which brought the children from Gergask Primary School into the forest, to not only carry out some extreme reading, but to also meet the Gruffalo. The children meandered round the forest as the mouse from the story hunting for riddles and puzzles where they eventually stumbled upon the elusive Gruffolo. The weather may not have been the best, but this did not dampen the children’s spirits. We also popped into the school for a morning to make some newspaper pots, plant some seeds and chat about the importance of wildflower meadows.
For Easter Laggan Forest Trust, in conjunction with the opening of the new Billy Can Café, had an Easter Eggstravaganza.
This fun filled morning consisted of face painting, Easter treats and a treasure hunt which lead the families around the forest pointing out interesting fact about it’s flora and fauna along the way.
Along with the events I have started monitoring Golden Eye nest boxes, getting up at 4am to view Black Grouse Leks and assisting The Highland Council Rangers with site work and school nature clubs. The past couple of months have also been filled with all sorts of training courses from John Muir Award training to Forest Schools training.
In the pipeline, I am joining forces with The Highland Council to run weekly environmental classes with the local school, Gergask Primary. The sessions will be looking at the water cycle and migrating birds. Alongside this Laggan Forest Trust hope to be closely involved with Kingussie High, to help them develop a number of outdoor classroom spaces.
As the warmer weather approaches my diary is filling up with even more exciting events, workshops, projects and training. Bring on the fun!