Ettrick Explorer

Join a wildlife ranger on an expedition to explore the ecosystem of the Scottish borders woods and riverbank.

We’ll be wandering the woods, listening to the birdsong and looking out for the creatures that live there, before heading out along the banks of the Ettrick Water as it flows east towards the River Tweed and on to the North Sea.

Along the way we’ll be looking out for birds such as great spotted woodpecker, kingfisher, sparrowhawk - and hoping that we might get lucky and catch sight of the elusive otters.

We meet in the car park at Selkirk Leisure Centre and head off along the riverside path for a guided stroll around Mauldsheugh Wood.

Mauldsheugh is our own community wildlife project, where we have been improving the habitat to make it home to a wider range of wildlife. We were pretty happy when we spotted our first pine marten this year!

You might catch sight of the roe deer that live in and around the wood and won’t be able to miss the birdsong. 

The wood is home to a great variety of species including great spotted woodpecker (we’ve seen green woodpecker too), tawny owl, sparrowhawk, nuthatch, buzzard, moorhen, blackcap, treecreeper, chiff chaff and all manner of finches and tits.

From Mauldsheugh we’ll head over the river to stroll along the banks of the Ettrick Water, keeping an eye out for herons, dippers, salmon and maybe even a glimpse of osprey.

At the Golden Eagle information centre we learn about the release programme for these magnificent birds. Depending on the time of year, we’ll also look for salmon moving up the fish ladder to the next level of the river.

After a stop to give everyone a chance to purchase refreshments at the cafe and make use of the facilities we’ll return along an old mill lade, hoping to catch a glimpse of the kingfishers that are regularly spotted there.

After that you are free to spend as much time as you want revisiting some of the places you’ve seen, armed with all your new knowledge! 

Nearest toilets: Selkirk Leisure Centre (at start) and Selkirk town centre 900m; Waterwheel cafe (1.5km from start)

We run our nature walks to give more people a chance to enjoy the wildlife of southern Scotland and to help cover the cost of our community nature and wildlife projects. All profits go back into the community interest company to enable us to continue to operate our Mauldsheugh Wood community wildlife project, along with nature clubs, school visits and collaborations with other community groups.