Win a day as a ranger in the wilds of Scotland

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Lindsay Warner is a countryside ranger at the National Trust for Scotland's Glencoe National Nature Reserve (NNR), and for her it’s the dream job.“I’ve always been fascinated with nature – every part of it, from plants to wee beasties; from fish to mammals and birds,” she says.“I always knew I wanted what I called a ‘welly-boot job’, but wasn’t sure what that would be until I read the job description for a ranger position.

It was like a lightbulb going on and I knew that was what I’d been looking for all along.”Lindsay, who grew up on the Isle of Mull, studied marine biology and zoo conservation.

She moved to Glencoe 11 years ago and spent a year volunteering with the ranger team.“Every ranger I know has spent time volunteering with various organisations before becoming a member of staff,” she says.

Eventually, a position at Glencoe NNR came up and that dream job became a reality.The National Trust for Scotland cares for eight NNRs, including Glencoe, Ben Lawers, Corrieshalloch, Mar Lodge Estate, Torridon, St Abb’s Head, Staffa and St Kilda, all supported by a team of dedicated conservation experts, Lindsay among them.Funding raised by players of People’s Postcode Lottery has supported nine ranger posts at the Trust’s NNRs and enabled a wide variety of important conservation projects across the reserves and wild places in its care since 2014.“My role is made possible thanks to the support of People’s Postcode Lottery players, through the Trust’s Love our Nature project,” Lindsay says.It might be a cliché, but there’s no typical day as a NNR ranger. “Some days I’ll be out digging a ditch and getting caked in mud; others I’ll be removing invasive non-native plants such as rhododendron ponticum or sitka spruce, again