Episode 5 Green Balloon Club Goes on Holiday

# Gather round, one and all

# You gotta answer the call

# Listen up, look around you

# There's a magical world to explore

# There's a

# Nature adventure

# Coming your way soon

# So come and join us

# In this Green Balloon

# And when we fly

# We're higher than the moon

# So join us

# Ah, ah

# In our Green Balloon. #

Hello, we're going on holiday to the Isle of Arran in our balloon.

Look, there, just down below. We're coming in to land.

# Let's go together

# Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Let's go together Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Oh, it's such a lovely morning out It's good to get away

# Now the Green Balloon is boarding

# It's so good to get away. #

ALL: Hi!

I'm Ash,

and welcome to Arran.

Hi, I'm Catherine.

Hi, I'm Lily-Rose.

-Hi, I'm Ant.

-I'm Cat, and this is my dog, Skipper.

Hi.

And I'm Nature Chris. Well, it looks beautiful here.

-What are you gonna show us?

-The glen.

-What's the glen?

-It's a valley. It's called Glen Rosa.

-Why is it called Glen Rosa?

-Cos that burn is called the Rosa Burn.

-Isn't the burn a river?

-Yes.

-What else are we going to see?

-I want to show Lily-Rose the flowers.

I'm going to show Ant the anthill.

I'm really looking forward to that.

Shouldn't we do the club chant?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Let's do it.

ALL: We love animals, plants and birds.

We love snails and slugs.

Large and small, we love them all, and we never, ever step on bugs.

Cos we are the Green Balloon Club!

Fantastic. I see you've brought ranger friends along to help.

-Hi, guys!

-BOTH: Hi, everybody.

Come on then, let's go!

Wow, look at those mountains!

-What's that up there?

-A golden eagle!

ALL: Wow!

And another one. There's two.

This is the first time I've ever seen a golden eagle.

-What colour do you think they are, Lily-Rose?

-Are they golden

cos it's in their name?

Good guess. They have got some golden on them, actually.

But the bit we see,

we usually only see the under bit when they're flying -

is kind of brown and white and speckled.

Have you seen them flap at all?

No.

So why is that then?

-Cos they're gliding.

-That's right.

They use those massive wings, don't they?

-Like this.

-That's it.

-They rock like that.

-Like a boat on the sea.

-Yeah.

They just use the air currents and they can just glide like that

for hours. Amazing.

That's why we're in the mountains - that's where air blows up

-and they can glide on that.

-Absolutely right.

-How big are they?

As big as Skipper.

Its body is probably about the same size as Skipper.

-What about the wings?

-About the size of me.

Each wing might be about your size, actually.

Probably both its wings are further than even I can stretch.

-So like... this far?

-Something like that.

What's that bird doing to the eagle?

-It's a crow mobbing the eagle.

-What does mobbing mean?

It means it's trying to chase it away -

it's probably got a nest up there.

Maybe with chicks, so it doesn't want the eagle near it.

-Why isn't the eagle attacking?

-The crow can't do him harm.

The difference in size between them - the crow is much smaller.

It'll not harm him. It'll just annoy the eagle.

So how can you tell the difference between them, and, say,

another bird of prey, like a buzzard?

The golden eagle is bigger, and they have a bit of gold on them.

They circle round and round lots more, and their dive is faster.

Oh, it's a shame Jay isn't here.

He would have loved seeing these golden eagles.

I wonder what he's been up to?

Oh, wow, that was great to spot two golden eagles!

I'm at the WWT London Wetlands Centre today,

-and this is my friend Hannah.

-Hello!

You can't spot any eagles,

but the centre is a great place for bird spotting.

My favourite place for spotting birds is the tower!

Come on, let's get spotting!

Ssshhh.

We've got to be quiet so we don't scare the birds.

-This is Wendy.

-Hello.

-She's got special equipment.

Telescope, binoculars -

you can see the birds really well with those.

Let's get spotting!

-What's that blackish bird down there?

-It's a moorhen.

-Why doesn't it have a red beak?

-Cos it's a young bird.

They don't get red bills until later.

-There's lots of black ducks!

-You mean the ones with the white beaks?

They're coots.

How are they walking on the water?

They just wade through. Seen their feet? They have huge feet.

Look at the swans and babies.

There's three cygnets - see them? Aren't they lovely?

Yeah.

-They're really busy, aren't they?

-Yeah.

I've just seen some sand martins coming out of the bank.

Oh, yeah, I've just seen one!

They're so quick. What are they doing in those holes?

-Is that where they live?

-They have a nest, that's where they breed.

They lay their eggs in there.

They fly up from Africa to breed at the wetlands centre.

-Wow, look, there's a redshank!

-What's a redshank?

It's a little bird

that's got a very long red beak and little red legs.

You can often see it pecking about in the mud for insects

-for its dinner.

-Look at those duckling mucking about!

They're all mucking about.

-Are they washing their faces?

-I guess so.

-Herons!

-Where?

-There!

They've got really long beaks.

And really long necks and legs too!

Look, they're cleaning themselves.

Wow, a lapwing. I've never seen a lapwing before.

They're resting their heads on their wings.

Look at the feathers, they look a bit grey-greeny.

They've got orange legs.

I really loved bird spotting today. My favourite was the lapwing.

-What was yours, Hannah?

-The redshank.

-I loved my day.

I hope you enjoyed it too.

-Why not try spotting some birds near you? Bye!

-Bye!

Look, there's a little stream!

Nature Chris, come and see what I've found!

What have you got, Lily-Rose?

-I've got some yellow flowers.

-They're actually not flowers.

-Where are they coming out of?

-Moss?

-Right.

These are the fruiting bodies, we call them, of the moss.

-What about these blue ones?

-Ah, well spotted, Lily-Rose.

-They're called milkwort.

-Milkwort?

Funny name, isn't it? Why do you think they might be called that?

-I don't know.

-Because people used to think they had magical properties.

They weaved them into circles and put them round their milk

to protect it from fairies.

-Look carefully...

-Wow!

-..inside is the real flower. See that?

Oh, wow.

All the flowers are tiny - why do you think that might be?

-Is it because how big the moss is?

-It might be that. But why else?

-What's the weather like?

-Rainy, wet and windy.

You get little flowers in wet and windy places -

if they had big flowers, then they'd get damaged.

They'd get blown and battered.

-What are these yellow ones?

-Well spotted.

-That's another lovely flower. That's called tormentil.

-Tormentil?

-Right. It's another funny name. I like these funny names.

-So do I.

-They're pretty flowers.

-They're in the shape of a heart,

dark yellow at the bottom.

-Gorgeous, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Shall we keep going?

See what else we can find? Come on.

-Wow! Nature Chris, look what I've found!

-What is it, Ant?

I don't know - it's some kind of insect.

Oh, wow. That looks to me like an oil beetle.

An oil beetle?

That's right. If you look very carefully,

that blue-blacky colour looks like oil.

Look at the size of it! I've never seen one that big.

-Do you think this oil beetle might be a bit fat?

-Think it might be!

But I think it might be fat for a reason.

I think this might be a female that's just about to lay some eggs.

-Wow.

-That's absolutely gorgeous, isn't it?

-Yes.

-I tell you what,

-let's leave her alone, cos we don't wanna disturb her.

-No.

-She's probably looking for somewhere to lay. Let's keep going.

-OK.

What can you find, Skipper?

Oh!

-Corina! Skipper's found something!

-What have you got, Cat?

Oooh.

Well spotted. Let's have a look at that. What do you think that is?

-Is it an animal skin or something?

-You're right.

It's actually a snake skin. Can you see the scales on it there?

I can tell you it's the skin of an adder,

which is the only snake we get on Arran.

It's got patterns on it.

It has, yeah. This is the top side here.

See where there's bits which are lighter

and bits that are slightly darker?

That's the zigzag pattern on the adder's back.

This is the belly here.

-Is this the tail bit?

-Yes.

You can see there's the top of the tail there.

-Well spotted, Skipper.

-Why do they shed their skin?

They cast their skin when they grow,

because their skin gets too small for them.

What they'll do is rub their head against a rock,

or just some rushes, vegetation,

and then cast off their old skin.

There'll be a nice new shiny skin underneath.

-It's a sign adders are here. We best be careful.

-Wow, it's really great.

It is a fantastic find. We better be careful when walk on.

-Shall we go away from here then, just in case?

-Yes. Back to the path.

-BIRD CALLS

-I think I can hear a cuckoo.

Sounds like it's right at the top by the ridge,

so I don't think we'll get to see it.

Charity - she's got loads of birds in her garden.

-BOTH: Hello!

-I'm Charity.

-And I'm Kirsty.

We'll see what birds we can spot in my garden.

Come and see too!

-How often do you put food out?

-Once a week.

Maybe twice. Depends how hungry the birds are.

Hopefully, the birds are hungry so we'll spot lots.

Let's see what garden birds we can spot.

We have to be really patient

and wait for the birds to come to the feeder.

There's one!

Ssssh! You have to be really quiet!

-BIRDS CHIRP

-Look, there's a chaffinch.

There's a baby chaffinch. Isn't it sweet?

That one's really pretty.

See? That one's feeding on the nuts. That one's called a siskin.

That's my favourite bird - the siskin.

Oh, I love its yellow colour.

That one was really cheeky.

Look, there's a great tit.

The great tit has a black cap,

and a black stripe going down its breast.

-There's a blue tit.

-How can you tell?

See how it has got a blue cap?

The blue tit has a blue cap, wings and tail.

The great tit is larger than the blue tit.

There's robin redbreast!

I think robin redbreast has more of an orange-coloured breast.

I love bird spotting.

-Look at the pigeons over there.

-One of them's having a rest.

There are two.

That one's really hungry!

Oh! He's come down.

I never knew pigeons had such pretty colours on them.

It's a pretty pink-purpley, greeny-blue colour, isn't it?

That's a sparrow.

-They sure do love the seeds.

-Yup.

-Thanks for showing me your garden birds.

-That's OK.

I hope you enjoyed them too.

BOTH: Bye!

I've just come across an adder.

I'm asking the rangers to keep the kids away -

these are dangerous - it's a poisonous snake.

They can go for you from a metre away,

so I want to keep well back.

It's the more rare black adder we've got here.

You can just see his markings.

It's absolutely beautiful. It's about 50 centimetres long,

and a lovely black colour.

This is the only snake you get on Arran,

so this is really lucky I've seen him.

I'm gonna leave him be for now,

get back to the others, but that's been fantastic.

Nature Chris, Nature Chris, what's this?

What have you found? Let's have a look. There's a few of them around.

-Shall we have a closer look?

-What's that? Is that an ant?

Ah, very good spot. That's a clue.

Cos what we've got here is an anthill.

-It looks like a mountain.

-It is, it's like a mini mountain, isn't it?

If you do this, and you get a bit of grass like this,

and just poke it in, and wiggle it around a bit,

you should be able to get some of the ants to come out.

They're coming out now.

-They're called yellow meadow ants.

-A lot are coming out.

That's a good name, isn't it? They are yellow.

-Look how fast they scurry!

-What else do you know about ants?

They've got six legs, and they're insects.

You can get a lot of different kinds of them.

This is just the top of the nest.

This nest goes down, probably a few metres underground.

Isn't that amazing?

-Wow.

-These tiny little things can build such a massive nest.

-And they do all that just by working together as a team.

-Wow.

Hard being an ant sometimes.

-How about you, Ant? Is it hard work?

-Sometimes.

-Not as hard as being a proper ant, is it?

-No.

BOTH: Sssh.

-My name's Abbie.

-I'm Finley. We're looking for red squirrels.

-We have to be very quiet.

-BOTH: Ssssh.

This is where we put the nuts.

-Abbie, let's go inside.

-Yes, we will.

We'll have to be quiet.

I saw one just climbing down the tree.

There's one, there's two. One's gone.

Once upon a time,

all the squirrels in Britain were red.

Now red squirrels can only be found in a few special places.

But on the Isle of Arran, there are loads of red squirrels.

It reminds me of a monkey when they hang upside down.

They have a white fluffy tummy.

Squirrels use their tails to balance.

Look, they're hanging upside down.

Stay still, we don't want to frighten them away.

I'm really happy to see the squirrels.

I haven't seen very many before.

How did the squirrel lift up the lid?

Squirrels eat nuts.

-They have big bushy tails.

-That's Nutty.

That's Nutty Squirrel.

When it's raining, a squirrel's tail works like an umbrella.

The same one.

-It's Nutty again.

-One is really wet.

Yeah, it's the one in front of us

with sticky-up hair.

He has really big ears.

I'm trying to look like a squirrel.

We've been very lucky today...

Cos we've seen lots of red squirrels.

BOTH: Bye.

I loved the squirrels with pointy ears and how they hang upside down.

- Thanks for bringing us to Glen Rosa. I loved the eagles.

I loved seeing the anthills.

-It's amazing what you can see when you visit a new place.

-Yeah.

Go up the glen, we'll see frog pools.

-ALL: Yeah!

-Sounds amazing.

But I don't think we've time. We've to get back.

ALL GROAN

OK, well, maybe, maybe...there's time for just one more thing.

ALL: Time for a song!

# Let's go together

# Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Oh, it's such a lovely morning out It's good to get away

# Here on the Isle of Arran Surrounded by the sea

# We can dive for nature's treasures Hear the oystercatchers shriek

# And in the height of summer We'll watch the seals sunbathe

# Lying on the rocks What a life they've got

# Splashed by the waves

# From the cloud-covered mountains To the floating volcano

# There's waterfalls and stepping stones

# And streams so clean and pure

# But be careful of the anthills when you're walking through the glen

# Gonna have such fun I know we'll want to come back again

# Let's go together

# Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Oh, it's such a lovely morning And it's good to get away

# See the red deer by the castle As squirrels jump and pose

# And highland cows put their tongues right out

-# And stick them up their nose

-On the beach

# The crabs and starfish Are hiding in the sand

# And the ducks and gulls

# Spread their wings as they're coming in to land

# It's such a lovely island So full of wondrous things

# It makes me feel so happy Wanna dance and smile and sing

# So next time you feel grumpy And things don't go your way

# Don't feel sad Just pack your bags

# It's time to get away

# Let's go together

# Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Let's go together Somewhere we haven't been

# Making friends and doing things In places never seen

# Oh, it might be for a week Or just one day

# Let's go now, the sun is out It's good to get away

# Oh, it's such a lovely morning out It's good to get away

# Now the Green Balloon is boarding

# It was good to get away. #