On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th July, the RSPB joined forces with the Creswell Heritage Trust to hold the ‘RSPB Big Wildlife Weekender’ at Creswell Crags. The was the third successful partnership event held on site this year, and coincided with the launch of the RSPB’s new campaign, all about ‘Giving Nature a Home’. The event inspired and educated local people about the amazing biodiversity right on their doorstep, whilst highlighting the bigger picture - wildlife is in decline and that we all need to take responsibility for our local environment. Such findings have only since been re-enforced by the recent release of the ‘State of Nature’ report, which showed a 60% decline in Britain’s wild plants, insects and animals in the space of 50 years!
Tom, one of my volunteers engaging with two young nature lovers at the RSPB stand on how to 'Give Nature a Home'
The event was led by me, Futurescapes Community Engagement Officer, with the invaluable help of other wildlife groups and organisations - The Bat Conservation Trust, Verdant Wildlife, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Limestone Journeys, Eakring Birds, Sorby Breck Ringing Group, DACES and the Creswell Heritage Trust to name a few. Funding was kindly donated by the Sherwood Forest Trust.
And what a great weekend it was! With temperatures soaring and the sun shining, people ventured out from all over equipped with binoculars, picnic baskets, armed with sun lotion, and enthusiastic children keen to investigate the activities on offer and to explore the site in more detail. The weekend had an array of activities on offer in an attempt to give individuals of all ages the special opportunity to come up close and personal with some of the rare and wonderful wildlife that calls the crags home.
Me helping a young enthusiast with the nest guessing challenge
Activities included butterfly sweep netting, with ringlet, peacock and brimstone butterflies found; mini-beast hunts and trails around the site with the help of local invertebrate specialists Trevor and Dilys Pendleton; water vole field craft and spotting; bat conservation and advice; tree arts and crafts; ice age handling displays; wildlife games and face painting. Not forgetting an RSPB wildlife shop providing information and resources to help encourage wildlife on site and advice on how to ‘Give Nature a Home’, complete with habitat building workshops, making mini-beast hotels and bird feeders. There was something to accommodate everyone and plenty to keep the kids busy.
One of the highlights of the weekend had to be Sorby Brecks’ bird ringing demonstration. Despite high temperatures throughout, the group were still able to ring good numbers of blue and great tits, nuthatches, chiffchaffs and chaffinches. Despite the birds’ lack of interest in the stall, the display did attract a large number of visitors throughout who were keen to participate in the nest and feather guessing challenges and to find out more about the group’s work and wider work of the BTO.
Marys feather challenge was a huge success with the little ones
Chaffinch in the hand (photo courtesy of Creswell Crags)
A huge thank you to everyone that supported and made the weekend such a success, especially our 900 visitors.. I hope that many will now have a fresh take on nature conservation and a longing to do more to ‘Give Nature a Home’ as a result!
If you’d like to hear more about up-coming RSPB events in your local area do check out http://www.rspb.org.uk/nearyou/ or follow RSPBSherwood and RSPBRoseanna on Twitter for regular news, sightings and events.
Looking for something to do this weekend? why not take a trip to Wollaton Hall, Nottingham for the second round of my 'Wildlife Weekender', 11-4 pm a weekend full of experiencing nature hands on in the grounds of batman!