This week I was faced with a familiar problem – what to do with my midweek day off when everyone else on site is working? The problem was solved for me though, when Holly and Simon suggested that I come with them on the morning’s target bird survey. Despite the slight downside of a 7:00am start, I soon forgot about being tired when we began our walk down into the valley, and our lovely and talented warden interns were immediately pointing out bird calls for me to note down on the map!
The ease with which they could pick out the different species was amazing, especially when the woodland was alive with birdsong all around. Being the Visitor Officer intern, I don’t get out on the reserve as regularly as Simon and Holly do, so my natural history skills are somewhat lacking at the moment. However, they seem to think there is hope for me yet, and I have definitely been inspired to make more of my spare time whilst I’m living on the edge of this beautiful woodland.
That wasn’t all the excitement for the day though – whilst we were making our way through the valley, they were pointing out different wildflower species left right and centre – a habit which has become more noticeable since Jarrod, our site manager, set them the task of being able to identify at least 100 of the plant species that grow here! Although this sounds very challenging, those two are both well on their way, and I have picked up a few to add to my own (admittedly rather short) list, including Cuckooflower, Bitter Vetch, Wavy Bitter Cress and Ground Ivy!
Bitter Vetch (photo by Lizzie Ingram)
Ground Ivy (photo by Lizzie Ingram)
If the day wasn’t full enough already, I later went out with Simon to do a butterfly survey in the sunshine, where we spotted several green-veined whites, orange-tips, a small white and a peacock! There was also a bank vole we heard scuffling around, and eventually we saw him staring out at us from the undergrowth, nibbling on plants as calm as can be!
Small White butterfly (photo by Simon Gray)
I admit I caught the identification bug yesterday, and set out later that afternoon to draw wildflowers so that the new ones I had learned would better stick in my memory. What’s more, once I had started, I couldn’t seem to stop spotting different species, so now you know what I’ll be doing with my spare time!