Feed

Today we conducted a litter pick around the blue trail of the nature reserve, using thick, protective gloves. We were heartened to see only small amounts of litter around the reserve. The worst culprit was cigarette ends. We found more litter near the car park and pedestrian entrances.

'The sun shines not on us but in us' - John Muir. A rather fitting quote as we reflect on our first day with the Vale of Leven Academy Junior Rangers. It was a soggy day but that didn't stop everyone having a great time Discovering the native woodland wonders around Cashel on east Loch Lomond. Loads of autumnal berries on the trees, we spotted Rowan, Elder and Hawthorn as well as loads of signs of animals who share the woodland with us.

We visited the nature reserve to see how it had changed over the summer and to perform a tree shake. The ranger requested that we enter any interesting finds into Black Countty Ecorecord website. We found a winter moth caterpillar in an oak tree which we entered onto the Ecorecord. We also found ladybird, spiders, mites and caterpillars

Thank you to everyone for their commitment to the natural world, to the John Muir Trust, to our HE Adventurers and their parents, to De Koffie Pot for hosting our final gathering but, above all, to the woodlands themselves for being such awesome places and to all the life within these generous habitats.

Once again, we took our shoes off and got stuck in the mud! Mixing sand, clay and straw, we created a natural building material with which to sculpt. Creativity, teamwork and resourcefulness sum up the nature of this venture.

PIC 1: Conserving and sharing: Eco Warrior James, PBO workers Robert and Susan measure up for the placement of a recycled plastic sculpture of an owl , to be designed and made with Susan and Eco Warrior, Lorraine. PIC 2: Conservation work: The Eco Warriors talk rubbish! as the group explore types of pollution, how our waste contributes to pollution and how long materials take to disintegrate once thrown away. PICS 3 and 4: Exploring and Sharing: The beginnings of another lovely Pebble Poem. Started by the Eco-warriors and left for anyone passing at Parklea Branching Out to add their own words on discovering what makes Parklea special to them.