Author: Cumbernauld LL

Natural Connections – Meeting newborn deer

, by Cumbernauld LL
With a week of relative heat and sunshine, it finally feels like summer has arrived! When you’re out and about enjoying the sunshine, it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for wildlife. Last week, whilst out walking my dogs, I caught site of a roe deer in the woodland close to St Maurice’s Pond. On closer inspection I saw that the deer wasn’t alone; twin fawns reminiscent of Bambi were alongside the doe. These tiny deer were probably only a day or two old and the fact that there were twins suggests that last year must have been a bountiful year, with plenty of food around for the mother to eat.

Why St Maurice's pond is a special place!

, by Cumbernauld LL
My family moved to Cumbernauld in 1979 and for as long as I can remember St Maurice’s pond has always had a special place in my heart.  Growing up in such a green town was an incredible experience for a child from the East end of Glasgow. Imagine the wonder at finding burns, woods and ponds full of wildlife, being able to explore for miles in open grasslands, jump streams and occasionally fall in! I have, and always will be a regular visitor to St Maurice’s Pond, it is my haven.  Before the digital age of cameras I would gleefully take picture after picture on film, sadly only a few snaps remain but they spark very fond memories.  I continue to snap away on my digital camera now and no longer have that agonising wait until the film is developed; as a result I have hundreds if not thousands of shots from this beautiful oasis of calm.

How To Make A Pooter

, by Cumbernauld LL
This summer, get out into your garden or local greenspace and get your Sherlock Holmes inspired natural investigation on!  We’ve got a “how to” make pooters here – a great little tool you can make from a recycled materials in no time at all.  Use it to suck up minibeasts for an up close and personal inspection!

TCV trainees explore Cumbernauld's greenspaces

, by Cumbernauld LL
I count myself as being very lucky to be a Conservation Volunteers Natural Networks trainee.  Day to day you’ll find me working in the Cumbernauld Living Landscape but I’ve got the support and expertise of TCV guiding my work too.  One thing I am particularly glad to have are the other trainees.  We were pleased to host the first Scottish trainees site visit in the Cumbernauld office this week, and showcased Cumbernauld in all its glory – by visiting the town centre.  Maybe not what you would have expected for a bunch of environmental folk?  Hear me out ...

Reflections of a Natural Communities Trainee

, by Cumbernauld LL
I want to share my last blog with you as a Natural Community Trainee. As a resident of Cumbernauld I have seen areas become overgrown and been angry that I saw nothing being done to tidy the place up, or make it feel safer… I didn’t have the skills and to be honest I wasn’t looking under the surface, it was too easy to blame others.  The economy at present is pretty bleak with huge cuts to Local Authority spending.  The area that has less impact on us and appears to be the easiest to take the hit is the environment.  As the Community Engagement Officer for the Cumbernauld Living Landscape I have seen first-hand, the difficulties of trying to maintain one of the largest landscaped towns in Europe.  But I have also seen the look of satisfaction on a volunteers face during an event or even when clearing a woodland of rubbish.  If we, as a community don’t improve our surroundings, why should we expect others to do it for us? 

Job opportunity and search for new talent

, by Cumbernauld LL
It has been a very successful year and the team is expanding. We are currently recruiting a full time community engagement officer and two summer volunteer interns. These posts, based in Cumbernauld, will share our pride in the town's greenspaces and be on the front line of efforts to make them better. 

Re-booting Ravenswood Marsh Conservation Group

, by Cumbernauld LL
Ravenswood Marsh is a beautiful area of Cumbernauld that used to have an active ‘Friends of Group’ that enjoyed, protected and promoted it.  However, after the recent folding of Seafar and Ravenswood Community Council, interest in the group has fallen away.  Luckily, local Carrick Crawford is regenerating interest in this superb place and explains his plans for this year in the following blog.

Natural Connections II – Habitat Workshops

, by Cumbernauld LL
You may remember in my last blog I was telling you about the Pine marten workshops, when we first piloted this out in Condorrat Primary School in June 2014 we realised that we were missing the point of reconnecting habitats for the benefit of wildlife and that we weren’t getting that vital message out to the community.  The solution was a second workshop which linked the wildlife to the urban environment and looked at reconnecting green areas such as woodlands and parks to create a mosaic of varied habitats.

Otters caught on camera II

, by Cumbernauld LL
  The North Lanarkshire Council, Countryside Rangers Service have been monitoring a current otter holt within North Lanarkshire with the aid of a fantastic high tec camera. As a partner of the Cumbernauld Living Landscape they have graciously shared their images with us, as a tantalising teaser of what we could achieve as Rangers have build another holt here in Cumbernauld!

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