Community Fund – Scottish Waterways Trust – June Update

Buzzing along the Canal:

On Sunday 19th June we had a great start to our summer survey season with our first BeeScene Bumblebee survey, through which we provide important monitoring data for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. A team of eight volunteers trouped out along the Union Canal in Edinburgh from Slateford to Calders, taking in the lush canalside vegetation in its full summer glory, and were expertly led by Stephen and Willie to identify the bees spotted along the way – male and female common carders, red-tail, buff-tail and white-tailed bumblebees, garden bumblebees and the occasional solitary… It gets quite addictive! Among the merry band was enthusiastic two-year-old Leo, who warmed everyone’s hearts with his excited response to the bees. We have four more dates for the bumblebee surveys, and six dates for wildflower surveys, all in Edinburgh. Anyone who’d like to join us as a volunteer for any of these will be most welcome – all dates are listed in our events calendar on our website here: Scottish Waterways Trust Events

Calendar Canal Clean-Up:

Our Cultural Heritage Officer Gemma has been busy with schools in Edinburgh again this month. She took Balgreen Primary School P6/7s onto the canal towpath adjacent to Harrison Park on Tues 7th and Weds 8th June to do a litter survey and activity survey. Although this stretch of the canal is well looked after, the kids were determined to do their bit for the area and still managed to collect lots of different types of litter to mark down on their survey charts. The pupils also designed their own activity surveys to explore how the canals are used today. They spotted cyclists, boaters, joggers, dog walkers, picnickers and all sorts of other activities – proving how much the usage of the canals has changed since their industrial heyday. We also enjoyed some beautiful sunshine and a bit of thunder!