The Black Glen

The children enjoyed their field trip to the Black Glen on Wednesday 15th May

THE BLACK GLEN

On Wednesday the school went on a walk to the Black glen .The children went in twos and got a sheet which you could put a tick on when you saw the item on the list. We saw lots of birds and flowers. As we splashed through the puddles Lydia found lots of big black slugs.

As we came through the forest we came across some soil, mud and rocks and we had play time there. Mrs Lindsay had brought some Skips for the children`s play piece . At playtime Mrs Lindsay pointed out a buzzard's nest. After playtime we walked past a skull and it had orange fungi growing beside it. As we walked we saw all different kinds of trees and flowers like Violets and dandelions. The river on our left was swirling round and round and was flowing very fast. In the forest a tree had fallen down and there was white fungi growing out of it. As we came out of the forest we went across a wooden bridge across the now quiet river.

 When we got over the bridge we had lunch. After lunch we had a game  of chase and it was really good. When we all were going back to the bus we all were very tired .When we were coming along to the bridge there was a puddle and there were pond skaters in it.

  In the forest we saw a green tiger beetle it had two spots on its back. We came down the hill and when we got back to the bus we had a rest. Mrs Lindsay took a photo of the children standing at the bus before we went back to school.  

Kerry

WALKING THROUGH MIDGES.     

At first it was ok but when we walked on, it was like standing in a cloud, but a biting cloud of midges. Everyone was getting very annoyed but it started to calm down by the time we got half way. We had some lunch and then we had to go back to the bus and that meant we had to go back through the midges.

Kyle

Our Walk

On the 15^th of May everyone from Lochaline Primary School went on a walk with Mr. Hardy up the Black Glen. We left at 10:00am and arrived back at 2:30pm. In between those times we saw and heard many interesting things.

  The minibus arrived, Mr Hardy was there waiting and soon Mrs Lindsay had divided us into pairs and then Mrs Lindsay, Mrs Russell, Mrs Upstone and Mrs Mowat chose 3 pairs each . Mrs Mowat chose Annie and I. She also chose Kyle and Colin and Darren and Flora . Just before Flora was given to Darren Mrs Lindsay said to her , “you can look after Darren for me “ I’m sure she managed it very well. (Flora is six, Darren is 11)

  As we walked up the path we heard a Wren, a Tree Pipit, a Tree Creeper and a Chaffinch. Tree Creepers can walk upside down up trees and stick their long beaks under the bark to look for insects to eat. Later on we also heard the Willow and Wood Warbler, both Warblers have an interesting call. The other birds we heard include the Buzzard, the Hooded Crow, the Blue Tit, the Thrush and the Robin.

  On the way we also spotted an amazing array of fantastic waterfalls rushing down in the river. It was near there that we stopped for playtime. Mrs Lindsay had Skips for everyone and we were soon munching happily. Gordon found a small flicky thing and didn’t stop playing with it until he lost it right at the end! By that time a mountain of midges had found us so they too were munching away, not to our liking as nobody had thought of midge repellent. Just before we left Mr Hardy showed us an incredible nest big enough for a small extension! The nest belonged to a buzzard and was built with large branches. As we walked on we found a sheep skull near an orangey fungi, midges, a drinker moth caterpillar, some large black slugs, an amazing bog that when you jump on it bubbles, more midges, two beetles, one green tiger beetle and an unidentified, as yet ,beetle. Some flowers like violets, wood anemones and primroses. Last and certainly least more MIDGES! In trees we saw mainly Oak but a few Birches, Willows and Rowans occasionally popped up. Another tree we saw was the Wytch Elm it has very bright leaves that stand out.

At one point in our walk we passed a cairn and some of us put stones on it. Just after that we passed over a bridge redolent with the stench of rotting deer carcasses.

Not long after we crossed the bridge it was time for lunch and everyone sat thankfully on a rock above the path and ate hungrily. After lunch we all played chase and I worked out how many seconds there are in a year(31,146,000)-I think! The midges had gone by the time we walked back and we enjoyed a peaceful uneventful walk back to the bus.

The walk was fantastic in a good area. The bad point was the MIDGES! Thank you to all the adults especially Mr. Hardy.

Isla

BACK TO SCHOOL

Craig

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Click here to see some of the things we found

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