WILDLIFE watchers from a Greenock nursery were given food for thought as they built bird feeders with the help of local rangers.

Boys and girls at Gibshill Children’s Centre were paid a visit by Mike Holcombe and John Maclean from Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park as part of a project about the environment.

The rangers helped the wee ones build their own bird feeders stuffed with cereal and lard.

Craig Scott, Gibshill depute head of centre, said: “We’ve been doing a big bird watch as part of our eco project and the rangers kindly came down to help the children make their own bird feeders and put them out in the garden.

“We get a lot of different species here — robins, magpies and finches — and hopefully these attract some more for the boys and girls to see.

“The children loved making the bird feeders, they like getting involved and getting messy.”

Members of the Clyde Muirshiel team were impressed by the enthusiasm from the children.

Countryside ranger John said: “We’ve been here to Gibshill Children’s Centre on numerous occasions in the past.

“The children really enjoyed it and they get right into it.
“A project like this teaches them to respect wildlife.”

Nursery staff hope the visit will inspire the children to take an interest in the environment.

Mr Scott said: “They’ve been learning about local wildlife, caring for animals and how to look after them by providing some food.

“Hopefully we can get some more species of bird in our garden and learn about them too.”