Conservation ranger volunteer experience

Join this four hour nature experience to become a conservation volunteer and learn all about the wildlife of the woods and riverbank of the Scottish Borders. 

We meet in the car park at Selkirk Leisure Centre where an experienced ranger will lead you off for a walk along the banks of the Ettrick Water.

We’ll be looking out for herons and dippers and maybe even a glimpse of the elusive otters that live along this stretch of the river.

After a stop to give everyone a chance to purchase refreshments at the cafe and make use of the facilities, you’ll visit the Golden Eagle information centre there to learn about the release programme for these magnificent birds. 

Depending on the time of year, we’ll also look for salmon leaping up the cauld or moving up the fish ladder to the next level of the river.

We return along an old mill lade, hoping to catch a glimpse of the kingfishers that are regularly spotted there, before crossing the river and entering Mauldsheugh Wood, our own community wildlife project. 

Here you’ll be led on a nature walk, keeping an eye out for the seasonal bird life and hoping to catch a glimpse of the more elusive residents of the wood, such as the roe deer. Your ranger will use thermal imaging to try to spot wildlife that you might otherwise miss.

You’ll also help top up the bird feeders and then spend a bit of time watching the birds that come to them and visit the nature pond and the riverbank viewing area to see what's going on there. Lucky visitors have seen otter and kingfisher from the shore.

Then we’ll get you involved in a conservation activity - maybe planting a tree or a shrub, or helping with the important habitat work we do to attract wildlife.

We finish off with a citizen science activity, monitoring butterflies or bird life to contribute to a research project.

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!

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 Mauldsheugh Wood, along with nature clubs, school visits and collaborations with other community groups.