Kickstart Your Big Wild Summer At RSPB Scotland Nature Reserves

Join the RSPB’s Big Wild Summer for fun days out with the whole family! Throughout the whole summer holidays, eight RSPB Scotland nature reserves, including Mersehead and Mull of Galloway, will be offering exclusive activity packs with self-led trails, animal masks, and themed recipe cards for kids to bring the wildlife inspiration home with you. Various reserves will also be doing pond-dipping and mini bug safaris!

Participating nature reserves will be running activities from 1 July until the end of August.

Summer is a fantastic time to explore the great outdoors. Migratory birds such as swifts and swallows dart through the air, filling the skies with their songs. Bats and dragonflies are also on the wing – bats using their echolocation to pinpoint prey in the dark while dragonflies use their nearly 360-degree vision to hunt other insects. Lizards have their babies at this time of year so you can keep an eye out for young common lizards and slow worms, while baby toads, or ‘toadlets’, are taking their first steps on land.

Rachel Dee, RSPB Visitor Experience Area Consultant, said: “We can’t wait to see you at our Big Wild Summer events. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a regular visitor or you’ve never been on a nature reserve in your life! Pond dipping and mini-beast hunting are always a particular hit, offering the chance to explore the intriguing world of smaller creatures on the reserve. Whatever activity you decide to take part in you’re bound to have a great time exploring the outdoors together”. To start your adventure and get full details on RSPB Big Wild Summer events, including locations, prices and times, head to www.rspb.org.uk/bigwildsummer

Please note that not all events and activities will be available at every nature reserve, so RSPB Scotland recommend contacting them in advance if you’re interested in a particular activity.