July started wet and breezy, but despite security alerts and severe weather warnings we rolled on with a great stall at London Pride in Trafalgar Square and our Wild in the Parks team, supported by volunteers, created a giant earth sculpture, using twenty tonnes of soil!
The earth sculpture was designed by members of the Chinese National Healthy Living Centre who opted to create a giant newt five metres long! It will be a permanent fixture in the wildlife garden in Regent's Park. The sculpture was made by cutting the design into the turf, creating the profile with straw and clay and then filling and laying bags of soil to form the three dimensional shape ready for turfing.
Meanwhile, the RSPB talked to hundreds of people who gathered in Central London to take part in, or watch, the annual Gay Pride march. The discovery 24 hours earlier of two car bombs near Piccadilly Circus was forgotten by most.
We've also been celebrating an award to one of our fantastic volunteers. Nathalie Schorbon regularly turns out to help us enthuse others about birds and wildlife and her efforts have now been recognised by her employers, the City of London Corporation. They said she'd learnt new skills which were transferable to her day job and had made a positive impact on local communities. The Corporation presented her with some champagne, a certificate and a cheque for £500, which Nathalie wants to split between the Save the Albatross campiagn and more resources for recruitment in London.
Thank you Nat!
Right now we're girding our loins to take a two metre tall inflatable puffin to Westminster as part of the National campaign to get a Marine Bill - see the campaign website for more information on this vital project and to find out what you can do to help.