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Whale of a time...

Today, with the Merkinch Green gym, we headed off to North Kessock for a dolphin-hunting expedition. Fear not Greenpeace, it was simply a walk along the Moray firth shoreline to see if we could spot any members of the local Dolphin school (or more ambitioustly, pod of whales). Nothing was obvious until we reached the Kessock bridge and saw our first glimpse of a dolphin's fin rising out of the briny. The Dolphin cruise boat seemed like a magnet to the creature so we were able to observe it for several minutes as first it swam in the boat's wake before swapping places and leading the vessel up the firth in the general direction of the North sea.
Once the dolphin had given us its time, we headed off for a general nature ramble through the village of North Kessock. Climbing up the road out towards the A9, we discovered the most charming garden filled with wooden statues. As we had several children in the party, we decided to make this an impromtu rest point. The owners of the garden and house, 'Rover Cottage'-Helen and John-very kindly invited us to explore their garden more fully and to take photos of their wooden menagerie. From here, we set off into the forest where things got a little spooky and we lost the plot. All's well that ends well however,and we all got back safe and sound if somewhat frayed. Ah well, there's always next time...

As you were...

I'm back from my sojourn in Dumfries and Galloway. What a fabulous place Galloway House gardens is; I'd recommend it to anyone. Thanks to Ali for having me as his co-leader despite my running away up north. So it's back to business as usual.
Today we headed off to Maryburgh ditch which turns out to be far more lovely than its name suggests. As ever, we were searching for the dreaded Himalyan balsam. We found some but not the amount we were expecting. We were also lucky enough to find raspberries, gooseberries and cherries growing wild and free. Very tasty they were too. As we searched for any stragglers of balsam we may have missed, I decided to sit down on the verge whilst we waited for Karen to pick us up in the van. Wish I'd noticed the ants' nest before I chose that particular spot. Think the ants were more upset than I was at the realization. They certainly showed their displeasure by biting me.
We we're off to Merkinch tomorrow, taking in the Whale and Dolphin conservancy tour along the way. Hope the weather stays fine. Still, if not, I'd rather be out and about anyday.

Open Day

We spent today at the Isobel Rhind centre in Invergordon. The centre was holding its annual fundraiser and BTCV went along. We had a stall promoting our work with Green Gym groups in the hope of enticing new volunteers to join up. I think, given the positioning of our stall (round the back opposite the centre's own gardening stand) and the craftsman making chainsaw creatures who was drawing a large and very interested crowd, we still did very well in achieving our aims. Karen and Emily had worked on the preparation for the day more than I had but in the end it was me and Karen, accompanied by one of our Dingwall volunteers Bruce, who attended.
Having been a Support Worker in a former incarnation, I was delighted to see and persuade the old faces to take our fliers and several other people also seemed keen to come and check out what the three of us had to say about the weird and wonderful world of Green Gymmery. It was a good launch pad for our stall at The Black Isle Show (Wednesday 5th August, at the showground Muir of Ord); it gave us all a chance to test out our patter and powers of persuasion-all of which will be paramount for the show. Hopefully we'll see lots more faces there.
Having no sooner arrived in Munlochy, I'm off on an Action break to Galloway House gardens. Ten glorious days of rhodi-bashing await. Give me a bow-saw and I'm happy as Larry. Till then, be inspired. Check out Green gym opportunities (or Mid-week group if you prefer a longer lasting challenge in your day) and take the plunge. It's great fun...

Long time, no word so here goes. It's been all change up here in Munlochy over the last few weks. Out have gone John, Jenny and Owen and in have come me Lindsay, and Emily as VOs with Will as Northern area Action Break leader. Ullie is, as my Nana's generation would say, awaiting a happy event so she too will be leaving soon and in her place we have the very capable Karen, who apart from one unfortunate incident with a large Rhodi log and my head, has fitted in perfectly. Dave, fortunately, has remained in situ to keep it all ticking over on a daily basis. Jenny remains firmly at the helm.
We have been involved in several projects with the Green Gyms. The Inverness GG has been working in and around Merkinch and with the REAL project based at Inverness High School. For those of you who don't know, the REAL project grows its own fruit and vegetables and sells the produce to various outlets throughout the city and beyond, raising funds as it does so.
The Dingwall GG has been kept busy almost wholly thanks to the eradication of Himalayan Balsam. An escapee from gardens (deliberately so in some cases), this is a tenacious and invasive plant which will exploit any chance to take root in the wild. We took a slight detour from its uprooting on Tuesday when we joined Simon McElvey, of Cromarty Firth Fisheries' Trust, to do some 'electro-fishing' at Dunglass island on the River Conon. I had no idea what this would involve and, of course, the usual speculation was made about dropping a live charge into the water and electrocuting its inhabitants etc.
Simon explained that the procedure allowed the Fishery's staff to keep an eye on what was thriving or otherwise in the river at a given point. He was equipped with a large backpack and a long pole with a hoop at the end of it. He explained all about the cathode and anode and what they do to create the 'force field' to which the fish are drawn once the hoop is submerged. Electro-fishing stuns the fish temporarily making it easier for them to be gathered up in a net (or suitable container); they can then be examined more closely. In order to allow the fish to remain out of water longer than the electro-fishing stunning does, they are anaethsetised briefly before being returned unharmed to their home. We saw Lampreys,Eels, Trout and Salmon with several Minnows and a couple of Sticklebacks. The Minnows, it transpires, are present thanks to the 'efforts' of our Glaswegian angler friends (of whom I have none!). They come to the Highlands on fishing trips, have a swally, fish all day then 'deposit' their bait live into the rivers. Minnows have therefore made the journey from the south of England to the north of Scotland without really trying. As we were clearly feeling withdrawal symptoms, on the way home, we began clearing HB from the margins of Dunglass Island.

Torridon

Six of us spent four days at Torridon on the west coast, working on rhododendron control for the National Trust for Scotland. Some of the low, younger plants were sprayed with herbicide, but windy weather prevented spraying later in the week. The majority of the work involved clearing a route through a rocky gully using loppers and bowsaws, to allow access, and then injecting the rhododendrons with glyphosate (Roundup). This was done by drilling holes into the main stems of each individual plant, close to ground level, and then filling the hole with glyphosate solution. The solution is then taken up and translocated around the entire plant.

The project is part of a National Trust for Scotland scheme to assess the efficacy of this method. The sun shone for most of the week and we enjoyed some beautiful spring weather, working in a stunning location.

Moray Art Centre, Findhorn

Volunteers from BTCV Inverness have recently spent two weeks working at the Moray Art Centre, Findhorn. This included one residential week and another week commuting out to the work site each day.

The work was to help create a landscaped garden, funded by People’s Millions, which will include water features, a small pond and wildlife area. We were very kindly put up in the Rainbow Lodge bed & breakfast on the Findhorn Park eco village. The work included path creation, building and edging flower beds, fencing, installing posts, building seating, erection of bamboo screens, digging-in a mountain of compost, and barrowing several tonnes of pebbles to lay on pebbled flowerbeds. Hard work, but rewarding too. Photos of the completed garden will be posted on the blog in the near future.