“How did you sleep on Saturday night?” I, along with nearly 100 others, slept out on the reserve as part of Big Wild Sleepout at the weekend. Woken by geese honking, and some people, peeking from their tents in the morning, glimpsed roe deer grazing amongst dew soaked grasses.
View of the Pickup campsite on the landscape. Thanks to Liberty Monkman for the photo
It all kicked off at 12pm on the Saturday, with families arriving, pitching their tents and getting stuck in with the activities, including advanced shelter building which proved to be very popular once things got going.
Later that afternoon, everyone split up to go on a range of guided walks with staff and volunteers. One of the highlights for a lot of people was the bumble bee nest that had been dug up by a badger!
While all this was going on, preparations were underway for Steve Wright’s workshop on how to make natural dyes and charcoal – which meant it was time to light the fire!
Steve’s workshop was a huge success (it carried on almost an hour longer as everyone enjoyed it so much!). Steve worked his magic, turning purple dyes to blue in front of our eyes, and showing us what we could use for different colours. Soon the trees and fences were covered in funky tie dyed cloth and people were covered with charcoal. One Dad had a very fetching charcoal beard and there were a number of people with cat-like whiskers!
Getting stuck in with natural dying with Steve Wright - Photo thanks to Liberty Monkman
After tea we all gathered round the campfire for a wildlife quiz. We all got stuck in, getting really competitive to see who would come out as the winner- we had some real wildlife experts in our midst! When all the questions were over and all the prizes were handed out to the winners it was time to grab our torches and head out onto the reserve to see what night time wildlife we could spot.
The evening walks were definitely one of the Big Wild Sleepout highlights; seeing the reserve at a time nobody usually does makes you feel really special. We saw loads of tiny frogs and toads littering the paths and even a giant toad make a daring escape from the searching light of our torches. With a bat detector on hand we heard (and saw) tiny pipistrelles hunting overhead and Daubenton’s scooping their prey off the surface of the water. A couple of groups caught a glimpse of barn owls swooping over the fields near Pickup hide.
Out at night - Photo thanks to Joe Seymour
To top off the night we had beautifully clear skies for a spot of stargazing! And what could have been a more perfect end to the day than seeing shooting stars and the International Space Station pass over us? There were many who left a bit emotional as they made their way back to the tent for some much needed z’s.
Sunday dawned bright and early (extra early for some who had been up since 5am!) and promised a day of fun! We opened up the moth trap to see who had been visiting during the night (highlights included a yellow underwing) and cracked on with some crafts. Bug homes, buntings and flapping hen harriers (our nod to Hen Harrier day) kept the kids, and kids at heart, entertained while tents were dismantled, and parachute games were fun for all!
Giving bugs a home and parachute games on the Sunday morning - Photo thanks to Liberty Monkman
Big Wild Sleepout is a fantastic chance to experience nature from a different perspective – one little girl said at the end “I feel much closer to the animals” and another, aged three, said “The adventures were fun. We had a bat adventure and an owl adventure!”
Families spent time together, created memories together, and all in nature’s home.
Blog by Kate and Tallulah