When I posted my last blog on Wednesday, the snow had just started to fall...and then it didn’t stop for the next three days! It was more a duvet than a blanket of snow that covered the reserve; it was even up to my knees in places.
Abernethy in the snow
It was the perfect festive weather for our annual ‘Log Day’ which we held last Thursday. Every year the Abernethy staff and volunteers all come together to split and bag logs of firewood which we then distribute to the senior citizens of the neighboring villages, Nethybridge and Boat of Garten, as a festive gesture. With 300 sacks to fill, it is a mammoth task that would otherwise take days to complete but thanks to the many devoted volunteers who braved the snowy roads and turned up to help, we managed it in 3 hours.
It was a great display of team work as we split the roles and formed a production line. A team of ‘wheelbarrowers’ delivered logs to the ‘axmen/women’...
...who then split the logs...
...and then another team of ‘wheelbarrowers’ took the split wood to the ‘baggers’...
who then filled the sacks. The sacks were then loaded onto the trailer.
It wasn’t all work and no play, there were plenty of snow ball fights between chopping and bagging and a welcomed break of coffee and mince pies at the midway point.
We worked and played so hard that we barely noticed the below freezing temperatures...quite a contrast to last year’s log day which was warm enough to carry out in t-shirts!
Having all our volunteers together like this makes it a great opportunity to have a ‘thank you’ event for them - to say thank you for not just their help on the day, but thank you for all their year round help and hard work. And so, just as the last sack was filled, the lunch bell rang and it was time to go inside for a Christmas feast complete with mulled wine and mince pies...prepared by another team of hard working volunteers! A fantastic day! Thank you to everyone who turned up to help, to Alice for organising it all and for those who worked hard in the kitchen to prepare an outstanding lunch.
Yesterday we had a festive deer themed nature trail for the kiddies, which was also a lot of fun. Paddy Smyth, a local from Tulloch, kindly jigsawed some wood into the shape of deer bottoms for us. We then painted them to look like roe and red deer bottoms with the exception of one, which we painted as a reindeer bottom, or more specifically, Rudolph’s bottom.
These were then placed throughout the forest, along with red, roe and reindeer antlers and a red nose. The kids were given an activity sheet and were challenged to find and count as many red and roe bottoms and antlers as possible, and then to find Rudolph.
There was mulled wine (and hot blackcurrant juice!) and mince pies as a reward for completing the challenge.
Christmas is fast approaching and if you’re stuck for a present idea for someone, then why not give an RSPB gift membership?
There are memberships available for adults, families and children and the membership money goes directly to our conservation work. And the best thing about it is that the gift lasts all year! The new member will get a membership card that allows them free access to over 100 RSPB reserves, a quarterly nature magazine (6 times a year for children) and a choice of joining gift.
If you want to inspire a loved one and help save nature, then sign them up now! For every member made at Loch Garten/Abernethy, part of the membership donation goes directly to our reserve so if you do want to give a gift membership but also want to directly help our work here, then why not give us a call and we can sort it out for you. Call us here at the reserve office on 01479 821409 and ask for me (Jen) or Richard. We look forward to hearing from you. Many thanks.
And now to Mike for his latest on Breagha and Millicent...
Breagha seems to have been the most active over the last week. Between 17.00 GMT on 11 December and 17.00 GMT on 12 December he did at least a 13 km round trip NW of his adopted territory. This took him to a large tributary of and near the mouth of the mighty Casamance River where he may well have roosted overnight.
Millicent on the other hand has continued to travel around her adopted area of the small lake and rivers just inside Mauritania and N of Richard Toll in Senegal. Her range appears to be no more than about 4 km.
The next download is scheduled for 20th December.