Binoculars, Backpacks and Bug Hunts
Ranger Patti updates us on what some of the new Library Nature Clubs have been up to in Highland
In recent months I have had the great pleasure to work alongside Wick library as part of the Growing Greener Communities Libraries project. As part of this initiative funded by CILIPs we have launched several new nature clubs aimed at engaging children with the natural world.
Our Wick monthly kids nature club has been a lot of fun, we have learned about our local birds, watching them through binoculars and telescopes, using reference books to identify them, and making feeders to hang up in the garden. The children particularly enjoyed learning the differences between local gull species, many of which are red-listed and we revisited this at our most recent nature club which was a nature walk to Wick Riverside where we observed black-headed gulls, herring gulls, and a greater black-backed gull amongst the waders and ducks.
We’ve also had fun searching for minibeasts such as millipedes, worms, bumblebees and other pollinators with the new kiddy focused nature backpacks which should soon be available to borrow from participating High Life Highland Green Libraries.
Over in Ardnamurchan Library Nature Club, Ranger Eilidh-Ann has focused this year on exploring the ways the children can help their local wildlife thrive. The children spent time mapping out their local area, coming up with a host of creative ideas - ponds, wildflowers, trees, nest boxes, bird feeders, and more. With so many lovely plans in place, they then rolled up their sleeves and got to work, beginning to turn some of these nature-friendly ideas into reality.
Here in Wick we’ve been taking action too - we planted up some salad and flower seeds in one of the early sessions for visiting pollinators (and a tasty snack for ourselves!), and this linked nicely into one of our other ranger projects this year aptly named “Food for Nature, Food for Life”, funded by the Highland Council, which granted the Caithness Ranger area 25 orchard trees.
The Wick Library Nature Club children (and parent helpers) planted over half of these in the grounds of the neighbouring primary school. These trees, a mix of apple, pear and plum of various varieties, will provide habitat, food, shelter and beauty to the school grounds.
In the west Ullapool Library Nature Club - run by Ranger Jenny, has also been enjoying some well attended sessions this year. One particularly busy session saw 22 children taking part, learning all about otters and even becoming otters themselves through imaginative games and activities. The youngest visitors also got involved through an otter-themed Nature Tots session, with songs, stories, and creative play all centred around these charismatic local mammals.
The most memorable day for me at the Wick nature club was “Under the Seaweed”, this was a whole day of education in the library with the ‘indoor rockpool’. My colleague, Paul and I were up bright and early on a sunny morning searching the rockpools at beautiful Keiss harbour for interesting critters. We had a tank on display for the very young ‘bookbug’ attendees in the morning, then moved upstairs for anyone in the library to come and see - before the Nature Club kids joined us in the afternoon. This proved to be a hugely enjoyable and interactive day, with a hermit crab, some shore crabs, periwinkles, whelks, chitons sand hoppers, beadlet anenomes, limpets, and several seaweed species to admire in our tank asd well as other interesting artefacts from the beach. We also had the reference books for people to use for reseach and and actity which was to design and sculpt your very own ‘sea creature’ (thinking about what charactoristics it might need for ocean survival).
Over in Dingwall Library the theme stayed with marine survival. The library team and Ranger Marcia hosted a vibrant event that welcomed around 500 visitors who came to learn more about whales and how we can help them thrive in our oceans. Organised in collaboration with Whale and Dolphin Conservation, and British Divers Marine Life Rescue, the event featured Hope - a life-size inflatable whale-as its awe-inspiring centrepiece. Visitors of all ages were invited to step inside the whale to discover more about whale anatomy and understand the threats sea mammals face, and the actions we ourselves can take to protect them.
Overall we now have five nature clubs established in libraries at Coal, Ardmurchan, Dingwall, Ullapool and Wick, with some activities also taking place at Bettyhill. It has personally been a great privilege to share the Wick library space to host nature and climate awareness activities for everyone, and it was all made possible through funding from CILIPs green libraries fund.
Patti Bremner, the Countryside Ranger for East Caithness, is passionate about the natural world and has a unique ability to engage and inspire others with her locally aquired knowledge. With a deep-rooted desire to educate and cultivate communities that care for their environment, Patti brings a compelling and accessible approach to conservation. Her work is driven by a commitment to helping people to learn more about native highlands wildlife, ensuring that the beauty and diversity of East Caithness are preserved for future generations.