Visitor Centre Open Easter Monday

Islay Natural History Trust is Springing into Nature

We are very pleased to be able to open the Islay Natural History Trusts Visitor Centre in April this year, with the doors opening from Easter Monday with a new, simpler name - the Islay Nature Centre. It is true we have changed the name of the centre a few times over the years, with some still calling it the Field Centre, and from there it has merged into a few formats in an effort to summarise in a title what we offer, as so many are often put off by our little door which unbeknownst to them, leads into a vast area of wildlife exploration and information.  So come Easter Monday all will be go, with tanks and creatures, tadpoles and bugs, and a plethora of information boards and displays. Please come and visit over the Easter holidays and throughout the summer for information, excitement and activities for all ages.

We will need some help collecting creatures to fill the tanks, so if you fancy giving us a hand we will be down at Port Mor on Monday (2pm) rockpooling, with some of our catch making its way to the centre tanks - all welcome.  

I am always keen to pay the beaches back for what they provide and so on Sunday 8th April we will be undertaking a beach clean with the help of what was 'Rejig' on Kilchoman Beach (Machir Bay) at 2pm. Everyone is invited to come along and help out, for as long as you can manage or if you are just going for a walk come back with just 3 items of rubbish!  Every little helps and with so many of you enjoying a walk on a beach a few items removed each time makes a big difference.

Let us know what wildlife you are seeing around the island and we will put it up on our boards and record it in our sightings.  The skylarks are singing, the curlews are 'cerlewing' over the moor, and lapwings are combat dancing in the air and peewitting for a mate, scraping a nest in a damp corner of a field.  We await the first of the summer migrants and the departing of the winter visitors.  A few warmer days and the frogs are out on the roads heading for a pond, and the cold wet chill of winter will hopefully be a distant memory. We look forward to seeing you all at some point through the season, either in the centre or on the many activities over the summer.

Fiona MacG