Local wildlife & local children!

During the last few weeks of the school term I've been involved in a couple of local schools. At one school I set up the moth trap overnight and spent time with a Reception Class seeing what had turned up before going for a nature walk around the school grounds.

At another school, I spent a morning showing some of the local moths - including 6 species of Hawkmoth - to each class in turn. The following week I spent a few hours with a Year 5 class on an environmental walk, the highlights being the Woodmouse & Bank Vole. I had also left a Trailcam at a local sett overnight and we took the card back to the classroom to see what animals had visited - 4 Badgers, a Red Fox and a Brown Rat.

It's great to see the children really getting excited and I wanted to share some of their responses:

First an overall report by two of the class:

                                                          Year 5 Nature Walk.
On Tuesday 16th the class year fives went on a nature walk led by Steven Plummer. When we went up to the church we saw a wood mouse and some butterflies which were the marbled whites and some meadow browns. Then we walked along the course-way to see what else we could find. Steven went to get a trap and we found a lovely coloured bank vole. It was a brownie red. As we walked along the Afton Marsh we saw some more beautiful butterflies which were large whites and a red admiral. Then we walked back.

Thank you so much - that was so fun, my favourite part of the day was when Steven cached that moues the wood mouse and it ran a way. That was funny and then when we came back we watched the little clips of the badger, the fox and the rat.

I enjoyed the nature and I learned so much. It was interesting and  I learned a bit of history. Thanks again!

I like the part when you held the vole.

Thank you very much for the day trip! My favioute thing about today was when we saw the wood mouse and I liked all the flowers and trees.

I enjoyed walking round Freshwater because I saw a wood mouse, two swans, a baby swan, ducks and loads more. I really liked seeing the small videos of Baggers, Foxes and Rats. But the best part is when I saw loads of butterflies. I also saw special types of plants.

I like the mouse. It looked soft and cuddly. It made me happy.

Thank you very much for the nature walk. It was really fun. I would love to do that every day in my life! Hope you come back again. We liked the assembly about the moths. Hope you come back again soon!

I liked the vole, it was so soft and cute, I could stroke it all day long!

Thank you Steve! Your nature walk. It really inspired me to go outside and love nature! I loved all ov the things you showed us like the cheeky mouse! Thanks for spending $120 instead of $60 with the Bug Trap! You gave me a great time I will never forget this moment.

The money refers to the 2 Longworth Mammal Traps that I had finally taken the plunge to purchase a few days previously. I think that I was inspired as much as the children, which is always the case whenever I do one of these events. There are great opportunities for amateur naturalists all over the UK to get involved with their local schools and help the children to begin to really appreciate their local countryside, inspiring the next generation of recorders and conservationists!