WITH FIFE CONSERVATION TASK FORCE
Those of you who've visited Kilminning will know that the adjacent public areas can be extremely messy - although the orchids were flowering beautifully - so when I arrived to take part in litter-picking I was in some trepidation as to how much rubbish there would be on the Reserve. But it wasn't nearly as bad as I'd feared. First of all we went along the top of the Reserve, finding such gems as an old video player, the springs of a mattress and a sack half-full of whelk shells! The view down the slope of the bluebells was quite breath-taking. We went through to the east end of the reserve and worked our way back clearing the beaches and the salt marsh to the sound of eider courtship displays - the beaches were definitely the worst for rubbish, with endless plastic bottles - not to mention fishing debris and the occasional bit of boat. After three hours we'd stuffed enough biodegradeable black bags to fill a trailer, and the shore looked much better - very satisfying to do, and the exercise we got carrying bags up the slope was good too! I thoroughly enjoyed my stint as part of the team. Like many people, I don't get round to visiting the reserves as often as I'd like, and this got me there, with a good job done and plenty of time to admire the bluebells.