Woodland Ranger (half day)

Woodland Ranger experience for two (half day)

Get into nature as a ranger in a community woodland in the Scottish Borders

Make the most of your time in nature with a hands-on session as a woodland ranger.

You’ll learn all about the tress and plants and the creatures that inhabit our community woodland.

Better still, you’ll get the chance to get involved, topping up the bird feeders, checking the pond and helping to record what you see on the day.

For those who want to do a bit more, there’s even a chance to do a spot of conservation volunteering such as tree planting to help improve the habitat in the wood.

By booking this experience, the profit will help support our local school sessions and community nature education programmes.

You start with a guided walk accompanied by one of our wildlife rangers.

The walk is on wheelchair accessible paths suitable for all ages.

The wood features a mixture of conifers and native hardwood species – including more than a thousand young trees planted in the last couple of years.

It’s home to a wide range of wildlife including a resident roe deer herd, which can often be glimpsed moving through the trees, along with badger, fox, stoat and bird, insect and amphibian life.

Along the way you’ll stop at the bird feeding stations, helping to top them up to attract some of the 40+ bird species recorded so far in this young community project.

Great spotted woodpecker, nuthatch, tree creeper and long tailed tits are just a few of the species you’ll have a chance to see. We also have sparrowhawk, kestrel and tawny owl, along with kingfisher, dipper, heron and little egret on the river.

Your ranger will lead you on a conservation activity of your choice, which could involve checking birds boxes, building new habitat areas or helping with our new woodland hub area for local children and community groups to use.

Along the way, we’ll take a break for refreshments at our outdoor seating area.

At your session, you will have the opportunity to document the species observed on the day. You can also request your very own nature journal to take home for a small additional cost. We can give you a lesson on how best to record your observations should you wish.

There’s also an option to add on an extra hour to build your own nest box and put it up in the wood or take it home.

And for anyone keen to take home a souvenir of their visit, we have lovely Wildlife Ranger T-shirts and hoodies to order online.

Tickets cost £97 for two people for the half day experience. Recommended age of 8+. Additional people can be added for £47 per person. We can guarantee private sessions when group bookings of 5-6 people are made.

We run our nature experiences to give more people a chance to enjoy the wildlife in the South of 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 and businesses.