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Strange times. I am taking advantage of the fact that we are still allowed to go out, and getting as much solo fresh air as I can. Last week I spotted my first bumblebee of the year nest-hunting in a neighbour's garden, so the next day I headed out to do my first BeeWalk of the year on Route 1 in Edinburgh. It was deserted. Not only free of bumblebees, but largely free of people. Not free of birds though - was it my imagination, or was the birdsong louder? Or is it that they are still singing at the volume they usually need to announce their intentions over all the traffic and people noise, but the human world has quietened down? I passed a thrush in the cutting - I am v. bad at telling my song thrush from my mistle thrush, but took this quiet moment to look a bit closer. Dark buff tones, arrowhead markings, scuttling about the floor. Song thrush - according to my books, these things distinguish it from a mistle thrush, as well as having a shorter tail and a less upright stance. How will I remember that? I like associations...so what 'song' do I know with 'arrow' in? Oh no. If you hear someone humming ABC out and about, it's probably going to be me... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a70yJwgQtzo)

The Primary 5 Pupils at Murrayburn Primary School are thrilled to start their John Muir Scoot Award Adventure! The sessions will be running during February and March 2020. What makes this ADVENTURE so unique is that it is being developed through not only the John Muir Trust but also Sustrans. The aim is to encourage the children to learn vital life skills of being healthy, engage with nature develop a PASSION to look after themselves and their world. The children will be scooting (yep you read that right!) along the Union Canal Towpath to Quarry Park (Edinburgh) to embark on their Discovery, Explore and Conserve of the area. So watch this space to see the next part of the ADVENTURE!

Today we researched about one way to combat climate change. We discovered that our planet needs 1 trillion more trees to help absorb our carbon emissions. We collected Alder tree cones, each cone had about 10 seedlings. We made 100 ‘bombs’ =1000 seedlings! We mixed carbon with clay, the carbon helps protect the seedlings from insects. The clay protects the seeds and allows us to throw the bombs much further. We had great fun bombing our local area! Fingers crossed for our trees!

9/2/19 This is us practicing to use hand signalling we were also practicing steering

19 Feb 2020. Enjoyed a good day with the family learning about the migrating birds that winter on the solway coast. Excellent to get close up in the bird hides and learn more about the wetlands birds, including geese, whooper swans and ducks. A cool fact is that 11,000 whooper swans will migrate to winter in the UK from Iceland. They make the journey in family groups, with cygnets only being a few months old. They head back to Iceland in March so watch out and listen overhead for the distinctive honking which sounds like an old car horn. In the photos you can see the yellow billed whooper swans and the orange bills of the mute swans.

I'm training for a half marathon and needed to do a 90 minute run. My friend dropped me off a distance away and I ran along the cycle track from Seaton to Lowca. I got back to my start point after only 75 mins so had to keep running. I ended up on the sandy beach at Parton exactly 14km and 90 minutes later. What a lovely experience leaving the cover and shelter of the cycle tracks and emerge on the open coastland as the sun was setting. I've been reconsidering how I should do my half marathon, rather than enrol on the event I'd planned on the North Wales coast I'm now thinking of just doing my own run and maybe head up to finish at Dunbar, John Muir's birthplace.

The students were looking towards collecting the litter that had accumulated around the Ponds at Chester le Street. All students were engaged and collected numerous bags of litter/ rubbish . . . excellent stuff!!