Going Wild about Scotland through July 2017

15/08/2017 in RZSS

July has been an amazing month for the team, taking part in events across Scotland (after a well-deserved break once we completed the school year!).

(Brodie enjoying a spot of mini-beast hunting!)

The month started with a busy weekend attending events at Scottish Wildlife Trust Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre and Scone Game Fair with the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust. It was a great weekend with nearly 500 visitors aboard the bus over the two days. It was our first visit to the Scone Game Fair and we were pleased the sun stayed out for everyone to visit us as well as all the other stalls they had there for the day.

The bus then spent the day at the Scottish Deer Centre for their Native Species Day. The weather wasn’t great to begin with but that didn’t dampen our spirits. The weather picked up, and we really enjoyed our visit and we hope the people that came on board did too. 

(The bus parked outside Perth Museum.)

The following week involved a few visits to summer school programmes which was nice as it allowed us to do some minibeast sessions. It was good to get a refresher on the sessions during the summer holidays. We also teamed up with South Lanarkshire Council Countryside Ranger Service for the Friends of the Calder Day which was a great success. The event was well attended thanks to the publicity surrounding it and it was a great day for the families there who also enjoyed some river dipping and minibeast hunts (which Brodie enjoyed too!) as well as coming on the bus. We would recommend a visit to the area around the Calder river. We also went to the GO WILD event held at the Perth Museum and Art Gallery. This was another great event to be part of with lots of activities set up in the Museum celebrating in the native species we have here in Scotland.

The team always love a trip to RZSS Highland Wildlife Park which we usually do in the October holidays but this year we got the chance to spend 3 days there during the summer holidays. We loved having people come on board whilst we were there and it was amazing getting to see all the pups and kittens, especially the Scottish Wildcat kittens! On the way back from the Highland Wildlife Park we took a slight detour via Aberdeen to attend the James Hutton Initiative BioBlitz. Again, this was another great event to be part of with different organisations all coming together to engage the general public in biological recording and raising the awareness of biodiversity, which we think was definitely achieved. It also allowed us to catch up with Emma Rawling, a project officer for Scottish Wildcat Action, meaning we got to hear updates on the fieldwork they are carrying out this year.

(Parked under the Forth Rail bridge.)

The last day of the month involved a trip across the Forth Road Bridge, admiring the new one as we went, stopping at Deep Sea World for the day (and the first few days in August).  They have an exhibit on during the summer all about wild native species so it was a nice link to take the bus to complement their exhibit.

We would also like to say a big thank you to the volunteers that have helped us this month, they have been fantastic and we hope they have enjoyed getting out and about on the bus.

August is another busy month mixed with events and getting back to schools, including returning to the TechFest in Aberdeen.

Events for August to look out for:

• 19^th: West Calder Community Family Fun Day 

See you next month,

Kirsty and Rosie

Wild about Scotland Education Officers

 

Top comments from events this month…

“Very happy to have the chance to come aboard. Son has raved about the bus since it visited his school.”

“Brilliant, friendly and informative, both staff lovely.”

“Great fun, very educational.”

“I learned things that I didn’t know. It is fun and I loved it.”

 

 Top tweets from this month:

Brodie's been making some new friends today #SGF2017 @scotgamefair pic.twitter.com/oC7LEGawIP

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) July 2, 2017

 

Great day at the @tsdccupar Native Day event! Thanks for having us! #wildcat #deer #Scottish pic.twitter.com/9Kpb9SjETW

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) July 15, 2017

 

It's always a good day when it starts with wolves 🐺!
It's our last at the Highland Wildlife Park till 2pm- come say hello if you are too 😁 pic.twitter.com/7sf3Q7KHlM

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) July 27, 2017

 

We are really excited to be at the @JamesHuttonInst Bio Blitz! Make sure to come and see us if you are in #Aberdeen today 😁 pic.twitter.com/sKTW5NRyG7

— Wild about Scotland (@WildaboutScot) July 28, 2017