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05.06.18 - Exploring - Ranger Greig read us part of a story today about John Muir walking over glaciers in Alaska with a dog called Stickeen. It sounded like a seriously dangerous but very exciting adventure. After the story we continued with our bioblitz and found tortoise shell caterpillars on nettle leaves. Ranger Greig told us that the nettles are food for the larve when they hatch out so that's why the catterpillars lay their eggs there.

05.06.18 - Conservation - Today we worked with Ranger Greig again and those of us who had done the bioblitz last time did the planting today. We planted native wild flowers to help the bees. It was really hard work digging the holes because there are so many stones in the ground. We even bent a really strong trowel trying to prize a stone out. Charlie's favourite job was watering the plants afterwards. We couldn't believe how much water they needed because it's been sunny for so long.

01.06.18 - Conservation & Exploration. Today we spent some more time clearing the rosebay willow herb. While we were picking we spotting lots of different and new things, flowers, leaves and insects. There is now cuckoo spit eveywhere and we kept getting it on our hands. Our teacher knew that something lived in it but couldn't remember what so luckily Murray knew and told us all. It's a little green insect called a frog hopper. We took some back to class and used a magnifying glass to examine it. The spit keeps it moist but when it grows it won't need it any more. That's when it starts hopping like a frog! Don't worry we returned it to it's habitat when we'd all had a good look.

31.05.18 - Conservation through writing. Yesterday we spent time researching bees and why they are important to us. It was really interesting and quite sad too. Today we wrote letters to our local councillors, MSPs and MPs to tell them what we're doing to help bees and to ask them what they're doing because it's really important to us. We really hope we get a response and they understand how important this is to us all.

A week's holiday...but when you work on a national network, it's never far away and some of the holiday was spent on bike rides that criss-crossed Northumberland's National Cycle Network. Lots to explore and discover....the many hay meadows the line the roads are a haven for pollinators, and the verges of cow parsley and pig nut attracted insects like this Chimney Sweeper moth. At one country road junction, there were dozens of black-and-red froghoppers....I knew that froghoppers are the ones whose larvae produce cuckoo spit, but I hadn't seen this colour before. A bit of Googling, and apparently when they mate, "male and female stay side by side with an angle of less than 45°"...maybe this is what I found here?

Day 12.

Thanks to Paddlesport Instructors Isla, Ian & Hanne the Cubs were able to have an evening of canoeing at Musselburgh Lagoons. After some games they went on a short trip to explore and circumnavigate the lagoon.

Excellent team work and perseverance to clear the debris from the path.