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Spring at last

At long last the growing season is in full swing at jupiter. The hedges will soon be more green than brown, a nice reprieve from the apparent lifelessness of the past few months. I'm sure there are many who would say that spring is the nicest time to be here, and so far I agree, although I'm still awaiting getting drenched by the april showers. Of course the advent of spring also brings its challenges, the foremost of which is keeping the display beds out of reach of these folks.
Rabbit proofing these areas has been an ongoing activity, but it looks as though we've succeeded in deterring our floppy-eared foe for now. At least we hope so, occasionally it seems they are still getting in. Perhaps we'll break out the binoculars and go rabbit watching on a particularly rainy day. The Green Gym is as fun as ever, enjoying the sunshine we've been having just recently. With the turn of the seasons there a lot work to be done, and nice weather while we work is wonderful.

Winter at Jupiter

   

  The only remedy to the knee-knockingly cold temperature of winter here is keeping active, and that is certainly what the Green Gymers enjoy most.  As well as path work, we have been cutting up trees, felled by the SWT team, creating habitats.  These will provide shelter from weather, predators and provide temporary cover for ground-nesting birds, hedgehogs and other small creatures.  To encourage and support a diverse bird population we have also been making bird feeders, and loading them with a fat, seed and oat mixture; as part of working towards the John Muir award.

  STV paid Jupiter a visit, interviewing Stephen Owen the SWT ranger and featured some fat feeders made by the Green Gym!!  Stephen explains the importance of helping wildlife through the winter and shows one of the hedgehog habitats he has constructed.  You can see the television spot here (I do not know how long the video will remain online, so hurry!).

  And finally, next week is my last at Jupiter, it has been a great three months and I plan to return now and then to see Jupiter in different seasons, and of course visit Nancy and Stephen.  This will also mean my last encounter with the Green Gymers next week who have been great fun, friendly and a highlight of volunteering here.

 

“Another glorious day, the air as delicious to the lungs as nectar to the tongue.”

The Path Continues

  To contribute towards the John Muir Award the Green Gym folk continued working on the new path at Jupiter and some enjoyed the work immensely, others came close to starting a mutiny at the suggestion of some activities.  There is a strange mix of people at the Green Gym and there is interesting stuff to learn from each of them, even if they want to relentlessly explain to you the importance of correct electrical wiring and the dangers of saving someone being electrocuted.

More photos.

 

A Little Gem on YouTube

 

Willow Sculpting with the SWT

  As well as BTCV activities the Scottish Wildlife Trust hosts many activity days at Jupiter.  On the first weekend of November, Stephen Owen the SWT Jupiter ranger had a day of willow sculpting.  Again more photos can be found on Flickr by searching for “Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre” or from simply clicking on of the photos.

 

“Day’s never ending, master got me working”

Green Gym

Tuesday (28^th) saw the continuation of a new path that snakes its way into the uncharted woodland zone at Jupiter. Green Gym volunteers braved the saturated soils and bitter temperatures to tackle the job, despite the reluctance of nearby trees who were fairly unwilling to loosen their hold upon soil. After a two week hiatus the Green Gym will reconvene on the 11^th of November to once again take up the challenge.

Bluebell and Primrose Planting

Ten charming children from a local school joined us at Jupiter on Thursday, each accepting the alter-egos of animals to aid Nancy (BTCV), Stephen (SWT) and I in the planting of Bluebells and Primroses. They have promised to return in the spring to see the fruits of their labour.

Contribute

If you have been to Jupiter and taken some cool photos, or even decidedly uncool ones, why not share them with everyone else? If you upload any photos of Jupiter you have to Flickr and tag them with “Jupiter Urban Wildlife Centre” including the quotation marks, they will, in theory, appear on the shiny new Jupiter Slideshow somewhere on the right hand side of this page.

Fungi at Jupiter, it's everywhere!!

Hi folks,
Roy Watling ( the very stately looking gentleman with the beard) from the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh was accompanied by two of BTCV's Natural Talent Apprentices on a fungi foray in Jupiter. The place is hooching with magnificent specimens and Stephen, the SWT Ranger was suitable impressed, as was Roy, Nev ( to Roy's right), Sam( purpley looking fleece) and the rest of the gang.

Even as you peruse this BLOG, Roy and Nev are tallying up their impressive haul of fungi and a species list will be sent to Stephen to add to his already impressive list of species within Jupiter. Nancy, pictured below, our nursery manager at Jupiter, now has fungi to add to her list of things to look our for at Jupiter, as if she hasn't enough to do!!

More fun stuff can be done throughout the year and we hope to see more Natural Talent training opportunities at Jupiter.
Well done to all those who attended.

Butterflies @ Jupiter

The weekend butterfly transect walking workshop was a success with over 2o people attending over the weekend.

A big thanks to Nancy and Steve at Jupiter for their help in making this happen.

Look out for more fun stuff throughout the year!!