Guest Blog – A day in the life of an Aberdeenshire Council ranger

This guest blog is brought to you by Sarah Gosden, the Buchan Ranger and Ranger Service Co-ordinator in which she shares a ‘day in the life’ experience within her role.

The last week of term was an interesting week for me so I thought I would share it. On the Wednesday (my first working day of the week) I had a whole school visiting Aden. I took four of the classes on minibeast hunts – looking at the diversity of invertebrates and discussing their importance to the environment, and to us. There was much squealing during all four sessions – of delight from the children and more nervous noises from the adults!

Whilst a lot of our work with schools and children’s groups is to raise awareness of Aberdeenshire’s wonderful wildlife to the children, it is also a great opportunity to educate the adults too. I got back to the office, exhausted, to find a lovely thank you letter from a school I had worked with the previous week. They wanted to clean their local beach, which was covered in rubbish. I went into their classroom and showed them my treasure chest of weird and wonderful things I had found on Aberdeenshire’s beaches over the years, from crab shells to whale bones. We then discussed the hazards of litter and marine debris to humans and wildlife. A few days later we did cleaned the beach and recorded all the different types of litter we found. The children collected an astonishing 20 bags of rubbish, two wheels and some lobster pots in just over an hour, all kindly later removed by our colleagues in Landscape Services. The children worked so hard doing a not very nice job – I should be thanking them!

Thursday was a big day for me. I had been invited to the Infrastructure Services Committee meeting as I had written a report proposing Aberdeenshire Council prohibit intentional balloon and lantern releases on council land and property and at council supported events. Balloon and lantern releases are on the increase but can cause hazards to wildlife, livestock, crops, buildings and even humans. The policy was approved with no debate or questions so I was delighted, Aberdeenshire Council can now join 24 other local authorities in promoting awareness of the issues, setting a good example and being a good neighbour.

Friday arrived wet and windy and I had to check out the coastal path from Cruden Bay to Longhaven in preparation for a guided walk I had planned the next week. This is a fantastic walk – showcasing Aberdeenshire’s wonderful coastline. We scuttled along in the wind, fighting the now lushly overgrown nettles (need to stomp them down for the walk!) but were rewarded with the site of puffins at the Bullers of Buchan, far more sensible than us, sheltering from the wind. No matter what the weather, puffins always make you smile.