Last time you heard from us Flyback was in France. Now he has returned to Scotland! He left France on the 16th of April and by the 17th he was recorded flying over the south of England and in to Wales. By the 18th he was back in Scotland in Little Cumbrae, where we believe his nest was last year! It took him only 9 days from leaving Morocco to arriving in Little Cumbrae. He left for his migration on the 29th of July meaning he has been away for over 9 months. Overall Flyback have travelled over 7548km and through 5 countries. It won’t be long before he has found his lifelong mate and they start to build a nest. If you would like to keep up to date with Flyback’s migration over the next month you can access Movebank at www.movebank.org. Simply go to the website, click on ‘Tracking Data Map’ and type in Clyde Muirshiel in to the search bar. From there you can select Flyback (and our other 10 gulls) to see what they are up to. The Tag-n-Track project is now featured on an app called ‘Animal Tracker’. It is free to download and has all our gulls on there. It is quite interesting as you get to see an animation of the gull’s movements.
Wednesday, 23 May 2018
Tag-n-Track Lesser Black-backed Gull Update-Flyback
Last time you heard from us Flyback was in France. Now he has returned to Scotland! He left France on the 16th of April and by the 17th he was recorded flying over the south of England and in to Wales. By the 18th he was back in Scotland in Little Cumbrae, where we believe his nest was last year! It took him only 9 days from leaving Morocco to arriving in Little Cumbrae. He left for his migration on the 29th of July meaning he has been away for over 9 months. Overall Flyback have travelled over 7548km and through 5 countries. It won’t be long before he has found his lifelong mate and they start to build a nest. If you would like to keep up to date with Flyback’s migration over the next month you can access Movebank at www.movebank.org. Simply go to the website, click on ‘Tracking Data Map’ and type in Clyde Muirshiel in to the search bar. From there you can select Flyback (and our other 10 gulls) to see what they are up to. The Tag-n-Track project is now featured on an app called ‘Animal Tracker’. It is free to download and has all our gulls on there. It is quite interesting as you get to see an animation of the gull’s movements.
May ECO News
Our poly tunnel has arrived thanks to the grant obtained from AVIVA and Mrs Morrison, our wonderful 'Gardening Granny'! We have decided on the perfect location and Darren Gilmour of WH Malcolm has kindly agreed to level the designated plot of land. We look forward to growing tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers in our new greenhouse in the Houston sun!
Last term the pupils planted spring bulbs in the planters, supported by Miss Adam. The planters are looking splendid and the children are very proud of their efforts.
April ECO News
Bee Happy
Marion Greig from Bee Happy joined us for Assembly to share all the interesting work that the Bee Happy group get up to in our village. The pupils learned about the importance of encouraging bees to our gardens and green spaces, as well as a number of interesting facts.
· Bees have 5 eyes and 6 legs.
· Honey bees harvest nectar and pollen from flowering plants.
· Male bees in the hive are called drones and they do not have a stinger.
· Honey bees live in large groups called colonies.
· An average beehive can hold around 50,000 bees.
Underpass Partnership
The Primary 7 pupils from Houston Primary School and St. Fillan's Primary are working in partnership to design and paint the underpasses in Houston. This was done a number of years ago, but sadly the vandals have spoiled the previous artwork. This project will cheer the underpasses up, while the pupils get to know each other in preparation for secondary.
Monday, 16 April 2018
Raised Beds
The raised beds have been extended thanks to some very kind
members of the community. Stephen Adams donated and made the beds; Adam
McCartney gave us 4 tonnes of top soil; Francis Kinloch lent us his trailer;
Eilidh, Fraser, Ian, Graeme, Bill and three Gardening Club dads shovelled the
earth onto the trailer and off at the school, filling up the beds. Many thanks
to all of these donors and ‘volunteers’ – we hope our crops will be even better
this year!
Wednesday, 14 February 2018
Outdoor Learning
Primary 5 have been outside calculating the age of the trees in the playground. They were surprised to discover that many of the trees were over 70 years old. They used a mathematical formula to calculate the age of each tree.
Step 1 Measure 1m from the ground against the tree trunk using a metre stick.
Step 2 Then, measure the circumference of the trunk (measuring to the nearest cm!)
Step 3 Divide the circumference by 2.5
Roughly, every 2.5cm of the circumference of the tree represents about one year’s growth.
Try it in your garden!
Step 1 Measure 1m from the ground against the tree trunk using a metre stick.
Step 2 Then, measure the circumference of the trunk (measuring to the nearest cm!)
Step 3 Divide the circumference by 2.5
Roughly, every 2.5cm of the circumference of the tree represents about one year’s growth.
So to estimate the age of a living tree,
divide the circumference by 2.5.
For example a tree with a circumference of
40cm will be sixteen years old.
40cm ÷ 2.5
= 16 years old.
February News
Battery Hunt
The Big Battery Hunt
is on! We've almost filled our first battery bin already so keep bringing in
your unused batteries (AA, AAA C and D) so we can make sure they are disposed
of safely. The challenge is on until the end of term.
Clear Out Your Closet
We're looking for donations of
mens, ladies and children's clothes in wearable condition, pairs of shoes,
handbags and belts for our next Rag bag collection. All of the funds raised go
towards Eco projects.
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