News just in ….”Community spirit is alive and well in Cumbernauld”
Litter picking day @ Northside Wood
Health/wildlife guides walks
I had though that March was busy, boy was I wrong! Looks like we (the Natural Communities Trainees) are all in the same predicament of being rushed off our feet by the Busy-bee Fairy.Any way back to the matter at hand April has been the month of health and guided walks. I have led a couple of walks at Northside Wood Wildlife Reserve and participated in a load more around Abronhill with the ladies of the Abronhill Learning Trust. Northside is a Scottish Wildlife Trust woodland adjacent to the M80 and Seafar, Cumbernauld. Planted in the 50’s it has developed into a lovely woodland where deer, fox, buzzards and badgers can be seen. On one of our walks we spotted deer and a fox and the ladies learned of native plants and fungi and enjoyed the Field Studies Council guides that I took along for the day. I will continue building on this relationship with future walks and some citizen science activities.The Abronhill Learning Trust is a local group who deliver health walks, dancing, badminton, tai chi and indoor curling at Abronhill Community Centre. You can contact them here abronhilllearningtrust@hotmail.com to find out more. The second walk was conducted for the residents of Cumbernauld a lovely couple Derek and Cathy Corner came and heard all about the history of the woodland, the animals that frequent the area and the next stage to maintain the woodlands vitality, all finished off with a good cuppa!
Looking for goldcrests
Health/wildlife walk
Litter Pick
Prior to the health walk I had conducted a run through to make sure the woodlands were safe and clean, unsurprisingly they were not 🙁 I love my woodlands, they are amazing places where you can go to relax and just stop for a while, taking in the sights and smells of spring, as you can guess I was not having a littered health walk. A few days later a litter pick was advertised and conducted, with 2 local residents , 2 Trust staff, a Capacity Team Officer and myself.
Clearing the site
Filling the truck
6 volunteers giving their time for the community
40 odd bags of rubbish cleared in four hours
639 skeletal muscles x 6 that are going to be aching the next day
Seeing a roe deer gamboling through a spotless woodland
Roe doe and her twins, in Cumbernauld
PRICELESS!
Scottish Wildlife Trust Staff Conference
The staff of the Scottish Wildlife Trust
A two day conference was held in Edinburgh for the staff of the Trust. It was an amazing two days learning about other projects the Trust carried out and meeting the people involved from;
Osprey tracking: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/things-to-do/osprey/
The Scottish Beaver Trail: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/scottish-beaver-trial/
Saving Red Squirrels: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/scotlands-red-squirrels/ t
Cumbernauld Living Landscape: http://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk/what-we-do/cumbernauld-living-landscape/
We also had a fun day at the zoo learning about the incredible conservation projects the Royal Zoological Society for Scotland have been conducting in Scotland and around the world followed by a wander around the zoo, needless to say I fell in love with the meerkats, SIMPLES!
UPDATES
You may remember the New College Lanarkshire students working on their wildlife garden, well they are well on their way to gaining the John Muir Discover award, well done one and all, I am looking forward to seeing how there garden is getting on.
I have been out and about with the Scottish Spina Bifida Association’s Super Hero’s club again conducting a litter pick around their facility, everyone had a great time designing and decorating their Litter Bug posters and are all proud as punch to have them displayed on the lamp-posts in the Cumbernauld Community Park. We have a sneaky feeling that the Cleaning Fairy was out and about before us as it was looking lovely and tidy but the group still managed to pick up after some untidy people 🙂
Our event with I Am Bikes is due on the 8th of June 12pm – 4pm at Cumbernauld Glen with fun activities such as… can you guess – Seed bombs!, guided mountain bike cycle loops of the Glen mile, wildlife walk, badge making, bird feeder making and refreshments. Come along and join in the fun and contribute to the Cycle to the Moon challenge. For more information see our event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/511526755640198/
‘Till next time take care 🙂