Join us for the launch of our new bird hide
On Sunday 15th March we are holding an event to launch our new bird hide at the moorland feeding station at Broomholmshiels, Langholm Moor. The hide is the culmination of months of work by volunteers and will be a fantastic resource for the local community and visitors a like.
Join us for this free event on
Sunday 15th March
Moorland Bird Feeding Station
South-western end of the moor on the Broomholmshiels to Cronksbank Road. NY385 823
There is parking onsite for those with limited mobility, and more parking available at Broomholmshiels Farm (signs will be in place). A free minibus will be leaving Langholm Town square at 10.45 if anyone would like to use that service. Join us for hot drinks and cake.. chat to our volunteers and see what they have been up to.
The story of the Moorland Bird hide
When
the Moorland Education Project began in April 2009, we were keenly aware that
the project needed a focus for activities during the quieter Autumn and Winter
months when the majority of moorland birds move away from the moor. A bird
feeding station seemed like the answer and since its humble beginnings in
November 2009 has grown into a great educational and wildlife resource. There
have been fifty six different species of bird recorded seen or heard at the
site and over 2000 birds ringed with the help of several project volunteers.
Since
2009, there have been several hundred activities linked directly to the feeding
station and countless visitors to watch the birds. It has been an excellent
resource for the Making the Most of Moorlands Project and is used regularly for
school, youth group, volunteer and public activities.
The
feeding station has been the focus of various practical conservation activities
with youth groups, schools and even a group training event with Scottish
Natural Heritage.
Several
project volunteers regularly visit the site and photograph the wildlife, Tom
Hutton and Sandy Gill in particular have been fantastic in allowing us to use
their photographs for publicity, recording activities, sharing on Facebook, the
project blog and local press.
For
several years we have been thinking about building a more permanent
weatherproof shelter at the feeding station to improve the visitor experience
and allow people to get closer to the birds without causing disturbance. It has
been quite a challenge to secure the funding, planning permission and materials
for the hide but it is very satisfying to finally be able to welcome visitors
to the hide.
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| Brambling |
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| Great Spotted Woodpecker |
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| mixed finch flock |
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| The feeding station has been a useful ringing site allowing us to learn a little more about the avian visitors to the site |
When
local man, professional cabinet maker and project volunteer, Daniel Lacey,
offered to be involved in the project, we knew we were in for a top quality
bird hide. Daniel has not only helped design and build the hide, he has gone
above and beyond, welcoming us into his workshop, allowing us to use tools and
machinery and sharing his wood working skills with our younger volunteers.
Daniel has given an incredible amount of time and effort and we can’t thank him
enough.
Thanks
to help from staff at Buccleuch Estates we managed to secure planning
permission for the project to go ahead and back in October we began the hard
work of preparing the wood. Keen to get volunteers involved with every stage of
the hide building process, our team joined us from the very beginning. The work
began on a very wet day in October milling the wood from the felled Larch trees.
The group learned how to move the massive logs onto the saw mill and how to use
the machinery safely to create the planks that would become the cladding for
the walls of the hide. Working with a small group allowed us to get our young
volunteers to get one to one guidance on technically difficult and potentially
dangerous tasks. One of the project aims is to help young people to gain
tangible skills and experience that would benefit them in their future careers.
The young volunteers were able to learn directly from skilled professionals how
to use the saw mill to cut the wood, how to move the wood safely and how to use
the workshop machinery to prepare the wood for construction.
Our
young volunteers have been working towards John Muir and Saltire awards
–putting in around 30 – 40 hours each of volunteering time. They have volunteered
after school and in the holidays, working around exams and their other
commitments. I’ve been so impressed by their dedication and enthusiasm.
Once
the wood had been given time to ‘settle’ it was time to get the hide in place.
On site build began in January which presented its own challenges. The team has
worked safely and sensibly in icy, windy and wet conditions. I can’t thank our
volunteers enough for putting in hours and hours of hard work in challenging
conditions, many hot cups of tea and a few packets of biscuits were consumed!
This
bird hide project would not have been possible without the incredible community
support that we have received, we hope that the local communities around the
moor will make use of the hide and help to take care of it. I’d like to thank
everyone who has been involved especially all our volunteers, we couldn’t have
done it without you. Many thanks to Buccleuch Estates for donations of
materials and help with the planning process.
Thank
you to our funders for making our work possible – Scottish Natural Heritage,
the Holywood Trust, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and NGO Educational Trust.
See November 4th Post for details of the first phase of construction, milling the wood and the workshop indoor work...
http://langholmmoorland.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=45
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| The raw materials donated by Buccleuch Estates October 2014 |
At the end of January we began the on site construction, our volunteers have been amazing braving freezing temperatures, ice, snow and 35mph winds.. a Health and safety challenge to say the least!
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Volunteers measuring out the post holes and beginning to dig
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| Our volunteers worked in snow and ice to complete the project |
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| Midway through construction we knew the views form the hide would be something special |
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| Adam and Alasdair preparing the floor of the hide |
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| Work experience student William learning some woodworking skills from Daniel |
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| Bug Hotel |
As well as building the hide, volunteers have moved and rebuilt the bug hotel. The local Barn Owls have adopted the feeding station - using the hide and fence posts as a perch and leaving their pellets behind each morning for us to find.
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| Barn owl pellets |
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| Not quite our target species for the bird feeding station but you have to admire her flexibility |
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| Our moorland efforts were rewarded with lovely views a skein of 'pinkies' (Pink footed Geese) |
Over the last six years we have run over 400 activities and engaged with over 12,500 participants. So proud of this phenomenal effort – wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of our volunteers and support of the local community.
We hope that the bird hide will be a valuable asset for the communities surrounding the moor and act as a focal point for visitors to the moor. We hope to run several events in the coming months and years to help people identify the different species and photograph the local wildlife.
We are very proud of what the project has achieved over the last six years and would like to continue that work into the future. Securing funding for community / education work like ours is becoming increasing difficult and local donations however large or small can be really valuable in helping us achieve…. If you would like to help by donating, please find a donations form on our website www.langholmmoorland.co.uk or at the Langholm Initiative Office.
Nothing new from Hattie, Grainne or Annie, all safe and well.
