Wood pile-waiting in the dark!
The vole and me
October has brought a palette of colours to our landscape that I was fortunate to enjoy during the 3 days I spent at Kindrogan attending a small mammals’ course (FSC). The course was so incredible that I don’t know where to begin…
Imagine a group of strangers sitting in a van in the darkness on a Saturday night. Complete silence inside, the windows open to try to listen to any signs of wild activity happening outside. All of us staring at a pile of wood where peanuts had already been set up to attract one of the most amazing mammals I’ve ever seen before when, a voice breaks the silence: “who wants a shot of whisky?” My first thought “what?” and then I realize one of the attendees had brought a bottle of whisky to keep us warm in that October night. Although I am not the biggest fan of whisky (am I allowed to say that in Scotland?), my second thought was “I really love this country!” By that moment we had already spent more than an hour and a half looking at the pile of wood so those who did not fancy such a good offer, went to the bar to grab a beer to make the wait more bearable. We had less than 30 minutes to be back as Jeff (the trainer) was pretty sure that we would see the expected creature at 21:30. As I was approaching the van to continue waiting, I saw something moving on the top of the pile, there it was: a PINE MARTEN (Martes martes). I couldn’t believe I was seeing such a stunning creature, eyeing us up in a wary manner, but at the same time wanting to eat as many peanuts as possible! That was what I call a fantastic Saturday night. 🙂
The rest of the course included a wide range of outdoor sessions in which we saw other incredible mammals such as the mountain hare (Lepus timidus), the red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris), the hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) or the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus). However, I must admit that one of the things I enjoyed the most was learning how to set up traps for monitoring small mammals, handleling and marking some of the species found. Field voles (Microtus agrestis), Bank voles (Myodes glareolus) and Pygmy shrews (Sorex minutus) were some of the visitors attracted by the chocolate biscuits and other delicacies that we included in the traps. After this unique experience, I am already looking for groups close to Stirling to become more involved mammal monitoring.
Mountain hare-so cute!
Someone chewed his way out!
Owl pellets can tell you loads of what owls feed on
This month I’ve also been very focused on developing my personal project. I am carrying out a consultation with organizations that work with BME communities, asylum seekers and other minority groups in Glasgow. The main aim is to make sure that the future outdoor sessions/ projects that we deliver with these audiences meet their needs and are accessible to them.
Moreover, I am participating in outdoor play sessions with families in Glasgow as part of the Discover Me project that Julie Grant (Education Development Officer, TCV) has been coordinating. I am carrying out the evaluation and consultation part of the sessions. We have had some positive responses so far and hope to keep improving and having lots of fun outdoors in the coming months!