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Todays nature ramble was a minibeasts hunt around the ponds in the Dean country park.

Loch Chon campsite currently boasts a carpet of bluebells set amidst the birch trees where we camped. Just amazing to wake up to!

Well, all four fledgling blackbirds have left the safety of the shed and ventured out into the big wide world. We are still seeing the parents with mouths full of worms, but only occasionally see the babies now. They are very good at staying really still, tucked in a hidden corner of the garden somewhere, unless Mrs blackbird gives a warning call. Hopefully they will soon be a bit braver and we'll see them out feeding themselves.

This was the final part of our Discovery journey when our group leader Michelle came down to present them the awards they achieved since starting way back in Feb. This is our final post on our Discovery journey . We have learnt loads about our wild places along the way while having fun and doing positive things for these areas . Now going forward we will maintain things we have already done like the Bird/Bat boxes etc and move on the next award the Explorer and start a new journey . This has really been a positive award for both us and the wild places and we look forward to starting our next step in the John Muir Award.

Had a cracking evening leading a nature ramble along the Kilmarnock water and through the Kay park.

The sun was shining at lunchtime, so I went out to do my BeeWalk and UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme surveys - not many bumblebees or butterflies about...perhaps the queen bees are making their workers, and the butterflies are still hiding from last night's cold snap....but there's always loads to see and hear on the path. The first perennial cornflowers have appeared, along with lots of cow parsley, wild garlic and mountains of hawthorn flowers. The bullfinches, blackbirds, wrens and woodpigeons were all calling. And I found a ladybird with two spots too...but was it a 2-spot with two spots, or a 10-spot with two spots?!

Enjoyed a fantastic spectacle on a soggy evening at Loch arklet in the Trossachs. When we arrived the grouse were not in the lekking area and were scattered around the surrounding heather moorland area. After a long wait a large black grouse landed in the middle of the area. Immediately around 12 others swooped in out of nowhere and the ceremonies began! Lots of noise and many scirmishes around the edges, but the big guy in the middle stood unchallenged. It was really dramatic to see such a sudden flurry of lek activity after a bit of a wait.