298 JULY 19 - Gryffe Advertizer

Next deadline - Friday 19th July
Gryffe Advertizer | www.advertizer.co.uk
Welcome to Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
Environmental Education
The last month has been busy for the Ranger teams
across the Park as many schools have chosen Muirshiel
and Greenock Cut for their school trips. We have been
delivering activities geared towards the Curriculum
which have included biological sampling, pond dipping,
nature walks and nest box building. The weather has
been in our favour but the midges have started to bite.
But never fear, we are armed with midge nets and the
pupils have had a ball chasing butterflies and identifying
what lives in our ponds. Similar family friendly events
are planned over the summer holiday months – look on
our website event page for details or equally the Semple
Trail ‘Kids Passport’ trail is free and can be done at any
time – it’s on the downloads page or pick up a booklet
from Castle Semple.
Volunteers
With the help of our Thursday volunteer group we have
installed three new picnic benches at Muirshiel and
they are already proving popular with our visitors who
are enjoying seeing all the fledgling birds coming to our
feeders. In July, the Thursday and Saturday volunteers
will be helping us remove Himalayan Balsam, repair
drainage ditches and take part in the beach clean at
Lunderston Bay. Check out our website to find out how
to get involved.
Events and Activities
The Clyde Muirshiel Walking Festival took place at the
end of May – the longer walks were certainly the most
popular, similar lengths of walk run monthly throughout
the year – details online. A Festival of Cycling takes
place in July – look online or facebook for details.
Ranger Pat ran a couple of events celebrating bees and
visitors were able to make bee boxes and learn how to
identify different bee species. Ranger Hayley has also
been running her bird ringing demos both at Muirshiel
and at Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue’s annual open day.
There was a bit of excitement when a Cuckoo flew into
the net at Muirshiel but it managed to get out and fly
away. However, it was exciting to retrap a female Great
Spotted Woodpecker at Hessilhead that was originally
ringed there in 2016. Seven
nestling Nuthatches chicks
have been ringed, their
parents have been keeping
us entertained over the last
couple of months as they
defend their nest box.
Responsible Access
As the weather has started to get warmer we have
noticed an increase in fires being lit in the Park,
particularly at Muirshiel. We ask visitors not to do this
as, during periods of extended dryness, there is a huge
risk of fires getting out of control, especially as much
of the ground has peat underneath. The fires can then
travel under the ground and pop up elsewhere even
days after the initial fire. Remember you can use our
BBQ hut at Muirshiel if you want to do some outdoor
cooking. Just phone us to book.
Gull Tagging Project Update
It’s time for the monthly roundup from Countryside
Ranger Hayley Douglas
- the tagging of gulls in
2019 is a legacy of the
2 year grant funded
Tag-n-Track Project.
Project News
Well our guys, I mean
gulls, certainly like to
keep us guessing. All
but two with working
tags have returned
back to Scotland. For
some reason Kingpin, our gull that liked to eat a dish of
cat food in a local resident’s house everyday has stayed
in Portugal and is currently hanging about near Lisbon.
Is he getting better pickings there? Luke Skysquawker
has also decided to stay overseas and is still hanging
out around the fish market in Isla Cristina in Spain.
Stuart’s, whose tag has started working again, and
Gary, our 2017 birds, are behaving exactly the same as
they have over the previous two breeding seasons with
Stuart nesting on Little Cumbrae and making regular
trips to Mount Stuart on Bute (can you see how he got
his name?). Gary is nesting on the Police Station in
Greenock again and it will soon be time to go and see
how his chicks are doing.
Happy Gullmore is also nesting on Little Cumbrae and
makes regular trips to Castle Semple and Eric Flapton is
back nesting on Pladda. Hopefully this breeding season
will be better for our gulls. Last year the extended heat
wave caused alot of gull chicks to die in the nest from
dehydration and many of our gulls left early for their
autumn migration.
Finally José and Ollie,
our two young birds,
have been travelling
around looking for
a mate. José has
been trying his luck in
around Bellshill and
East Kilbride and Ollie
has been hanging
around Shotts and
near Bathgate, the
furthest east we have tracked one of our birds. We
thought Ollie would head back to Pladda and South
Ayrshire but again, we never know what is going on in
their heads.
We were really pleased to be invited to talk about the
gulls at the Isle of Colonsay Spring Festival. We were
also able to share the project with all 8 pupils at the
local primary school who learnt how to use the Animal
Tracker app and shared stories about the wildlife that
they encounter regularly on Colonsay.
Remember you can keep up to date with our gull
movements in a number of ways. You can check out
their web pages, follow us on Facebook or download the
free “Animal Tracker” app on your tablet or phone.
Details can be found on the Park’s website www.clydemuirshiel.co.uk/tag-n-track or by emailing rangers.
castlesemple@clydemuirshiel.co.uk or facebook.com/ClydeMuirshielRegionalPark
or Twitter @Clydemuirshiel pages and Instagram pages.
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