If you go down to the woods today.....

.............You might meet Carol from the Co-operative in a slightly worrying bunny suit and lots of wildlife rangers with furry animal puppets (what is the collective noun for wildlife rangers?).
Whats going on? Well without breaking the official secrets act I can tell you that Brodick Ranger service have called in mainland reinforcements to help them prepare for the primary schools workshops during the festival, so Lucy from FCS and Linda from Eglington joined Kate Corinna and Liz for some seriously creative sessions at Shore Lodge last week.
The workshops will be sponsored by th Co-op, who are becoming one of our key partners. The picture is of Carol presenting the rangers with a cheque for £655 at an Arran Banner photocall! Look out for the article in this week's Banner: www.arranbanner.co.uk
Thank you!

Press Release: Fungus Foray to Launch the Arran Wildlife Festival

The Arran Wildlife Festival will be putting the “fun” in to Fungus with a special Fungus Foray on Saturday 12^th September.

Prepare to be amazed when you join Graeme Walker from Scottish Natural Heritage for a free guided walk at North Sannox to find out about incredible fungi and the astonishing hidden world beneath the soil. The two hour woodland stroll will start at North Sannox Carpark (NS015465) at 1pm.

Graeme said “The Arran Wildlife Festival takes place in May each year which is great for most local wildlife but not the ideal time for spotting fungi so we thought we would do something Autumnal to launch the next festival with a Fungus Foray. On this walk we will prove just what a rotten place Arran really is!”

Arran Wildlife Festival Chairman James Cassels is pleased to be launching the dates for next year’s festival. “We are already excited about plans for next year and are keen to get started. The 2010 festival will take place from the 12^th-19^th May and we will be celebrating our fifth year,” he says, “next Saturday’s Fungus Foray is a taste of what the festival offers so put these dates in your diary now and expect something really special in May.”

Last May the 2009 Wildlife Festival attracted hundreds of visitors to over 70 guided walks, talks and unusual events. Over the coming months the organisers are looking forward to presenting the highlights of the festival to meetings around the island. For more information please see the website www.arranwildlife.co.uk or email info@arranwildlife.co.uk. The festival co-ordinator Lucy Wallace can be contacted on 07825 644161.

Image credit: Amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) Graeme Walker