Feed

........We loaded up the bike and trailer and took the boxes down to our patch. We took a ladder and drill etc with us and a compass to check that we faced the boxes the right way. The bird box had to be 2-4m off the ground and face North East and the bat box needed to be as high as possible (4m ideally - but we couldn't reach that high) and face South/South East. We found suitable trees, worked out the right direction for the box (and whether some sunlight could get through to the bat box to keep it warm while not being near electric street lighting - phew!) Then we put the boxes up!!

........We found some instructions on how to make suitable boxes for bats and birds......

We spent the afternoon researching bird and bat boxes - how to make them and where the best place was to put them up.....

Our team member AL is lucky to live in a rural area and has been able to break the lockdown blues by looking for wild places to explore near home. During the recent snow, he managed to capture two beautiful swans with his camera. More recently, he has been able to find a Robin and a Blackbird sharing the same space - we think maybe they are busy looking for a mate...

Last week, our lecturer did a "live" class to let us explore the history of Kinghorn Loch. We learned a lot about how different groups use the loch and the area around it for activities like farming, fishing, canoeing, bird-spotting, walking, gardening, art and outdoor learning. We also learned about the history of the Loch. Craigencalt Mill has stood on that site since the 1500s and is still used for Hydro Power today. The legend of the Muckle Man is marked by a giant piece of sculpture that shows people have been living in and conserving wild places for centuries. Finally, we learned that geese and swans make good watchbirds! :)

Our lecturer took us for a "live" scavenger hunt to Kinghorn Beach in Late February where we discovered signs of spring in sea life like the fresh seaweed growth in the second photo. We also used a local land mark rock to measure the tides. In our photo it is clearly visible but when the tide is right in, you can't see it at all. On our Scavenger Hunt, we found: Empty crab, oyster, mussel and razor clam shells as well as other things that are not pictured, like sea glass, whelks, driftwood and sadly, some dead seabirds that had struggled with the recent storms. The last photo is the view from Kinghorn in Fife of Arthur's Seat and parts of the Edinburgh and East Lothian Coast to show how we are connected by our wild waters as well as by the land.

We took some time to listen outside with our eyes closed to pick out the different sounds that could be heard. Some of us chose pictures to represent those sounds. We also played a word association game where I gave the students a word and they found/took photos of things in nature that could represent that word. This was a challenging but fun activity.