FSC Millport Week 20-25

The last few weeks have been pretty busy here at the centre! As we've moved into July tourists are allowed back on the island and we have been getting ready for opening up the centre as a B&B for the duration of the summer holidays. 

Luke and I have carried on weeding the carparks and I have written a few more blog posts for the FSC Millport Blog on the Importance of Outdoor Educaiton and Jellyfish around the Isle of Cumbrae. 

Luke and I also went snorkelling again under the pier opposite the centre and we saw lots of Jellyfish, Anemones, Starfish and Sea Urchins! It was still very cold though! I've also been doing lots more baking, making a selection of Nutella brownies, triple choc cookies and oat breakfast bars. 

  

The last couple of weeks I have been assiting Christina with a  new education project in partnership with Barnardos called B-Wild. It's going to be a live event next week with a live intro, pre recorded middle session and a live outro afterwards. We spent a week filming the sessions which will be outdoor educator/teacher training sessions on leading outdoor activities on Rockyshore, Mammals, Mini Beasts, Map reading and Orienteering & Bushcraft and firelighting. 

Woodmouse we caught in our Mammal Trap

We've also carried out the Wetland Bird Surveys on the Island and cleaned all the kit used for the filming. 

This weekend was my first trip away from Millport and Largs since the beginning of March! 

On Saturday Adam and I went to Conic Hill in Balmaha which was a great hill walk with a few ridges we could walk along once we were at the top, it took us about an hour and a half in total. Conic Hill is 350m Ascent and 4km Right on the Highland Boundary Fault. The weather started off lovely and sunny but it rained quite a lot on the way down. There were some great views across Loch Lomond. In the afternoon we went to RSPB Loch Lomond to have our packed lunch and walk around the woodlands and nature reserve. 

Sunday the weather was a bit nicer and we spent the day at RSPB Barons Haugh near Glasgow. There were some really lovely walks along the River Clyde, through the woodlands and around wetland areas with bird hides. I was really hoping to see some Kingfishers and we waited for a long time by the riverside where people had reported seeing them. We think we could hear them and I waited by some holes in the banks which looked like Kingfisher holes after seeing something fly out of one, so I'm not sure if I did see one or not but I might have. 

Sadly we saw 9 face masks on the floor next to the river whilst on our walk! And lots of other plastic littering the riverbanks which was sad to see. 

On Monday Luke, Adam and I went to Ben A'an in the morning which was quite a steep incline walk but had amazing views from the top of the  Trossach's, Ben Venue and Loch Katrine. We ate our lunch at the summit before returning to the base. Ben A'an  ascent is 340m and 2.25 miles. We then went to the RSPB Lochwinnoch reserve for a walk along the Loch, along the woodland and the reserve. 

Tuesday Adam and I did our longest hill walk so far and went to The Cobbler (Ben Arthur), Arrochar. The ascent is 920m and 6.75 miles. The wide main path ascends the hillside through the trees in a series of  wide zig-zags with improving views over Loch Long before coming to great views of Loch Long below. Once the path lead up further right upstream we passed a small hydro dam and could see the 3 peaks of the Cobbler much clearer. When we reached the fork in the path we decided to take the slightly longer but easier route up which was still steep but less scrambling to the top. We made it up in about 2 hours and 15 minutes which we were quite proud of. We visited the highest peak first to the right and ate our lunch at the top before walking to the 2nd peak which required some scrambling to make it right to the edge. The views from the top were amazing! From the right side we could even see the firth of Clyde and make out Cumbrae in the distance! We decided to take the harder, steeper path down the front of the Cobbler for a different route down and made the total walk in about 4 and a half hours. 

We then returned to Largs and had fish and chips on the sea front for dinner. 

It was a lovely few days finally being able to explore some of Scotland around us and do some hillwalking. This weekend we're hoping to hike our first Munro, Ben Lomond!