It’s been a busy few weeks here at Loch of the Lowes with the new Ranger Team settling in and getting to know the other Perthshire Reserves.

Assistant Volunteer Rangers Katie Horton, Lynsey MacGregor and Paul Anderson, joined by the new Ranger Sara ‘Raz’ Rasmussen have been out and about visiting Balnaguard, Keltneyburn, Brerachan and the Tummel Shingle Islands. The team will be working to contribute to the management of these reserves over the next few months.

Follow the blog to see what they get up to and to catch up on any interesting reports and projects from their time out and about on the reserves.

Lynsey, Paul, Raz and Katie

Here’s a few introductory words from each of the team.

Hi, my name is Lynsey and I was previously a Species Protection Officer looking after our resident ospreys. I studied English and literature but used to volunteer with animals and since I enjoyed working with the ospreys so much I chose to stay on as a ranger intern. I’m hoping to learn both practical outdoor skills and further my nature identification and habitat knowledge. I’ve already learned a lot and I’m looking forward to learning more. My best moment with wildlife was seeing my first wild beaver here at Lowes – I’m still not tired of seeing them! My wildlife goal is to see a humpback whale.

Greetings from Paul, ex-SPO, reformed businessman and now Assistant Ranger till the end of the summer season. Looking forward to learning lots from the team at Lowes and beating the bracken at Balnaguard into submission. My favourite wildlife moment to-date would have to be seeing southern right whales in their calving grounds off the coast of Australia and my fantasy moment for the future would be to see a Saola (a critically-endangered mammal from Laos/Vietnam, so never going to happen).

Hi, I’m Katie, I recently graduated from Aberdeen University and am excited to be a member of the Lowes seasonal ranger team to learn more about conservation and reserve management. My favourite wildlife moment was when I came to face to face with a squirrel that scampered down the tree and stared into my eyes from a few inches away. I would love to see a clouded leopard in the wild.

Hello, I’m Sara (known to everyone as Raz). I’m delighted to have started working in this beautiful part of the world as the Ranger responsible for Loch of the Lowes and the Perthshire reserves.  I have worked in the field of outdoor learning and youth conservation work for the past 20 years, and have just finished working for the RSPB, engaging schools with the reintroduction of the white-tailed eagles to east Scotland.

I’m really looking forward to contributing to the conservation work of the Scottish Wildlife Trust and working with the wide variety of volunteers that share a passion for nature.

An encounter with wildlife that really sticks in my mind is sea kayaking with basking sharks off the coast of Barra.  On my bucket list is snorkelling with gannets as they dive on mass for fish near the Bass Rock.