Dunnet forest day out offers hands-on fun
Highland Council countryside rangers teamed up with Science O3 to organise an educational day on topics such as basket-making, bats, whales, bushcraft, straw houses and the animals and birds of the northern Highlands.
Caithness east ranger Dieter Tuerlinckx demonstrated basket-making and gave a talk on straw house construction, while fellow ranger Marina Swanson ran an interactive workshop about bats.
Families had the opportunity to become nature detectives in Dunnet Forest with Sutherland senior ranger Andy Summers as they searched animal crime scenes to find clues about the forest’s inhabitants.
Donald Mitchell, north-west Sutherland ranger, demonstrated the wonderful diversity of bird calls and helped children identify birds by their calls.
Mid and east Sutherland ranger Ian Patterson, with the assistance of ranger Ross Williamson, introduced people to shelter and fire building, followed by a challenge to build a stretcher to transport a casualty, using timber poles and a range of knots.
North Sutherland and north Caithness ranger Paul Castle presented a talk and slide show on whales and dolphins found along the coast, followed by a quiz on cetaceans which was won by Ben Hampson (10), of Auckengill, and Jordan Kennedy (12), of South Keiss.
Helen Ellis, secretary for Science O3, said: “The day was a fantastic success and a great programme of workshops for all ages was put together.”
The next event to be hosted by Science O3 will be an evening of talks at the Wick Heritage Centre on November 20 at 7.30pm entitled Communication in Caithness: From Wick Radio to Magic Walls.
Harry Gray of the Wick Society will be presenting a history of Wick radio and Chris Aitken, computing science teacher from Wick High, will demonstrate how modern technology is transforming schools and homes.
