There’s a wildlife watch group near you!
12 May 2011
It’s amazing at Wildlife Watch due to all the superb leaders, the interesting activities and the fantastic learning opportunities.....
Did you know that a blue tit can live for 21 years? Or that bats will use their tail membrane or wings to scoop up insects and trap them in a sort of “bug net”?
Why don’t you come along to the Hawthorns Centre on the second Saturday of every month? In the past we have done an astounding diversity of gripping things. Previously, we have constructed bird boxes and feeders, created hedgehog homes and made Christmas decorations using seasonal foliage.
Each time we meet we start by having the opportunity to do some craft related to the theme of the day. I have enjoyed making a sundial, clay bat and hedgehogs and a robot made of waste materials. We end by having a drink, biscuits and fruit.
One of the many extraordinary activities we do is pond dipping. There are many creatures in the pond just below the surface waiting to be discovered. The most exciting thing I have ever witnessed was a foot long, inch thick eel (No we didn’t attempt a capture!). We don’t see something like that every day, but we do get lots of larva, water boatmen and woodlice in our trays.
The highlight of the watch year is always an overnight stay at our old venue, Wood mill: bat camp. Bat camp is an occasion when all the family can spend the night at wildlife watch. Everyone receives a bat detector so we can easily hear the bats high pitched clicking while we walk around the woods in the evening. Another year we made our own hot chocolate without gas. To do this we collected sticks to make a tiny fire inside a Kelly kettle to boil water. Fun and efficient!
By Daniel Collett©
