CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch

More documents

Recommendations

Info

THE STIRRUP CUP Forthcoming Events Zumbathon Charity Event WEST BANKSIDE FARM, GEIRSTON RD, KILBIRNIE, We specialise in vintage & modern jewellery, antiques, curios, art and local crafts Great for Gifts or treat yourself www.thestirrupcup.co.uk On Sunday 17th April in Johnstone Town Hall 1pm – 4pm. Join us for our first ever three hour Zumba Party lead by local instructors. This will be a fantastic fun filled afternoon workout to a mix of energetic tunes from Latin to Hip Hop to Pop. It is an exhilarating, effective and very easy to follow, Latin inspired calorieburning, dance party! So come along and join the fun! Entry fee is £10 with optional sponsorship forms to raise additional funds. For more information and to get an information pack please contact the fundraising department on 01505 7 0 5 6 3 5 o r e m a i l Lorraine.valentine@svh.co.uk or download the form via our website www.stvincentshospice.co.uk. April Door to Door Collections Can you help with our Door to Door collections in Bishopton, Johnstone, Howwood or Linwood in April? All this involves is posting a collection envelope through the doors and returning at the end of the week to collect them in and send back to the Hospice. So can you, your family or friends help St Vincent’s Hospice with the collections either in your street or surrounding streets on the dates below? Bishopton – Mon 25th to Sat 30th Johnstone – Mon 25th to Sat 30th Howwood – Mon 25th to Sat 30th Linwood – Mon 25th to Sat 30th If you can help please contact either Lorraine or Ashley in the Fundraising Dept on 01505 705635. Braehead Bucket Collection St Vincent’s Hospice are doing a Bucket Collection at Braehead Shopping Centre on Sunday 3rd April from 11am to 4pm. If anyone can spare a couple of hours or the full afternoon to help out with collecting, please contact either Lorraine or Ashley in the Fundraising dept on 01505 705635 or email Lorraine.valentine@svh.co.uk. Finnieston Crane Abseil This is one for all you adrenaline junkies out there looking for a challenge that is just a little bit different and the best part, you can help raise funds for charity at the same time! On Saturday 23rd April St Vincent’s Hospice will be watching their valued supporters take a jump of faith and abseil off the Finnieston Crane all in the name of charity. If you are interested in booking a place for the event please contact Ashley in the Fundraising dept on 01505 705635 or email Ashley.moran@svh.co.uk. You can also download an information pack via our website www.stvincentshospice.co.uk. RSPB Lochwinnoch Reserve ��Wildlife viewing all year round ��Nature trails and hides ��Visitor centre open 10am – 5pm daily ��Superb RSPB shop 14 Antiques, Curios and Crafts A dynamic selection of oils, watercolours and Limited Edition prints Bespoke crafts by local artisans, vintage and contemporary jewellery Well worth discovering for yourself The Barn on the farm, open 10am till late every day Contact Greta Logan on Tel: 01505 683338 Email: greta@thestirrupcup.com www.thestirrupcup.co.uk West Bankside Farm, Geirston Rd, Kilbirnie, KA25 7LQ Just opposite the Golf Course on the Largs Rd ��Bird feeding station and tree-top tower ��Daily activities for everyone, especially families ��Drinks and snacks ��Join in with our monthly ‘Wildlife Challenge’ ��An ideal day out for everyone from beginners to experts! The past month has been full of unusual and spectacular sightings on the reserve, here are just a few of the highlights. Firstly, a stunning male SMEW has been present for several weeks, with his striking white and black plumage – some of you may remember that we had one last year. He was seen pretty regularly throughout late Feb/Early March and he has continued to 'hang around' with the goldeneyes and display to them. We were then even more surprised to find a juvenile 1st winter male smew, initially mistaken for a female, again, present in with the goldeneyes. This is a duck worth seeing and they may well stay around for a bit longer. There have been quite a few large flocks of greylag and Canada geese passing overhead, stopping on the Aird Meadow and in the field across the road, and landing on the Barr Loch. Up to 233 greylags and 50 Canadas. We were lucky enough that in amongst these was a rather rare type of goose and a first for Renfrewshire, the TAIGA BEAN GOOSE. Once a bird that had a stronghold in Scotland, this goose has declined in numbers and is now considered a rarity. On the 11th March, whilst being driven through Johnstone, I got a phone call from Zul (the reserve manager) telling me that we'd just had a WHITE TAILED EAGLE on the reserve! I think my exact words were "What! You are kidding!" before we quickly turned the car around and darted along the A737 to attempt to catch a glimpse. Zul informed us that it had been hunting
over the Aird Meadow and seen by several of our visitors. It had two yellow wing tags, which suggested it was one of the birds released in Fife last year. We carried on driving and suddenly saw this humongous bird flying above us along the roadside, by the Howwood cut-off. It was being mobbed by crows, which, in comparison to the eagle, looked like sparrows. What a magnificent bird and an amazing thing to see in Renfrewshire. There had been several reports of a tagged bird in Millport, (which is not that far away when you're as big as a sea eagle), so we suspect it is the same young bird. This bird was a first for the reserve (which is the second first in two weeks, after the Taiga bean goose last week) and we hope not the last! LAPWINGS have been roosting and displaying on the Aird Meadow, taking advantage of the pools that had built up during the wet weather. Up to 20 along with teal, mallards and a grey heron. Other highlights have included our first warbler sighting/sounding. A CHIFFCHAFF was heard singing very briefly along the Aird Meadow trail on 1st March, probably an overwintering bird rather than a returning migrant as chiffchaffs and blackcaps do overwinter in Scotland so it may just be claiming its territory early before the others arrive. We'll be keeping our eyes open over the next few weeks for sand martins and shortly after that, the others should follow. We have had good numbers of male REED BUNTINGS at the feeding station, up to 5 at a time, which is quite unusual. They are all in their breeding plumage and looking very dapper too! We've continued to have BRAMBLING at the feeders, up to 4 along with large numbers of chaffinches. We've also had redpolls (including another possible mealy redpoll as opposed to the normal lesser redpolls), siskins, goldfinches, bullfinches, curlew, oystercatchers, tufted ducks (up to 124), 16 whooper swans, long tailed tits, lots of sightings of a great spotted woodpecker and plenty of the regular stuff too! RSPB April Events Saturday 2nd April, 11am – 4pm Mothers Day Craft Making Show Mum how much you love her by making her an extra special wildlife themed gift just in time for Mothers Day. Cost: £2, half price for members Saturday 9th April, 11am – 4pm Young Volunteers Group Join us for the monthly Young Volunteers club, with activities including bird surveying, outdoor work, finding out more about RSPB campaigns and much more. Booking essential and places are limited, so please enquire beforehand. Young persons aged between 12 and 18 can participate. Participants will be registered as RSPB volunteers. Friday 8th April & Friday 15th April, 11am – 2pm Lochwinnoch Holiday Club On Fridays during the Easter, summer and October school holidays, join us to take part in a wide variety of activities which could range from mini -beast safaris, pond/river dipping, survival skills, wildlife gardening or indoor activities if the weather is poor. To receive an update on what the activities will be, please email Lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk. Please bring a packed lunch and be sure to book in advance. £4 Wildlife Explorer members. £6 non-members. Adults must accompany children aged 8 and under. Mon 11th April, 12noon – 3pm Scavenger Hunt Join us for the reserve’s biggest ever scavenger hunt! Visit unknown places on the reserve with the assistance of the RSPB team and join the chance to win a prize! Cost: £4. Half price for Wildlife Explorer members, adults go free! Sat 16 April, 11am – 12noon and 1pm – 2pm ‘How to Make a Heron Happy’ book reading for 3 -6 year olds Lari Don, author of How to Make a Heron Happy, will be coming to the reserve to do a special book reading for 3-6 year olds. Afterwards, we will learn all about herons and play some heron games. Please book in advance. Cost: £2 or half price for RSPB members. Saturday 23rd April, 11am – 3pm A Quacking Good Easter. Are you an egg-cellent egg painter? We 15 have plenty of wildlife-themed Easter activities for children of all ages, including egg decorating, a treasure hunt and face painting. Cost: £2, half price for Wildlife Explorer members, adults go free. Where to meet: Events start from the RSPB Lochwinnoch visitor centre unless o t h e r w i s e s t a t e d . Booking, prices and enquiries: It is often necessary to book onto our events in advance as certain events may have limited space. If this is the case, the phrase ‘booking essential’ will appear in the event information. To book a place or to find out more information, phone 01505842663, email Lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk or visit us at the visitor centre. Keep up to date Although most of our events are listed in this programme, we often run new, exciting activities throughout the year such as pond dipping and bug hunting, and the best way to keep up to date with these is by joining our ‘Events by Email’ mailing list. You will be sent an update on reserve activities once a month. To subscribe, please email Lochwinnoch@rspb.org.uk. Follow RSPB Lochwinnoch online: RSPB website: www.rspb.org.uk/ lochwinnoch for information and recent sightings. Facebook: www.facebook.com search for RSPB Lochwinnoch and become a fan! Twitter: http://twitter.com/ RSPBLochwinnoch & follow our tweets! Lochwinnoch Blog: http:// www.rspb.org.uk/community/ blogs/lochwinnoch/default.aspx weekly Lochwinnoch updates.
Page 1 and 2: Nuisance Helpline Anti-Social Behav
Page 3 and 4: Golden Wedding Celebration The Gold
Page 5 and 6: LCBG and the Library Members of Loc
Page 8 and 9: Lochwinnoch Community Library Libra
Page 10 and 11: What’s On Regular clubs, classes
Page 12 and 13: Councillor Arthur’s Report The re
Page 16: Lochwinnoch Group Needs Volunteers
Page 19 and 20: From the Parish Church Are you sear

CHATTERBOX - Lochwinnoch

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?