Isla and her Nature Ranger Award
My name is Isla and I am 11 years old. My love of nature has grown since lockdown in 2020, when I became a member of Sussex Wildlife Trust. I completed the Kestrel Award in 2021.
I have now decided to do the Nature Ranger Award as part of the Guides Aspirations badge. For part 1 of the Guides Aspiration badge we have to choose a goal to achieve, this was my Nature Ranger Award. Part 2 was to find out about role models that will help achieve my goal: my role models were Michael Blencowe from Sussex Wildlife Trust and the Springwatch team, who have inspired me to learn more about nature. Part 3 was to make my goal happen. I started by thinking of what animal to study. I chose one of my favourites which are Red Squirrels. I really like their cute, furry ears. We went to the British Wildlife Centre and the Isle of Wight to look at them. One even came right up to me! On my Isle of Wight trip, I got to hold and fly a Harris Hawk called Eddie and a melanistic (black) Barn Owl called Shadow!
I enjoy taking part in citizen science projects like the Big Butterfly Count, Big Garden Birdwatch and 30 Days Wild. I regularly go looking for butterflies in Sussex; so far this year, I have seen 30 species including Green Hairstreaks and Small Skippers. I also like to visit Woods Mill and see the friendly Robin.