Sounds like a children’s book doesn’t it? Well we were delighted that over half the participants on last weekend’s RSPB Big Wild Sleepout at Frampton Marsh were children. This fantastic, family-focused event on Saturday night provided visitors with the unique chance to sleep out on the nature reserve under vast, star-spangled, Fenland skies. People came from far and wide to take advantage of this opportunity and to take part in the activities.
With tents pitched and the adults adding the finishing touches, our younger nature detectives made dreamcatchers to help them have sweet dreams when they finally turned in for the night – most tents were adorned with one! Volunteers busied themselves with the all-important fish and chip run into nearby Kirton for those that were “taking the easier option”.
Fed and watered, we set off on our dusk walk, witnessing the geese and other wildfowl flying in to roost on the freshwater scrapes and listening to the whinnying of little grebes and the desolate cries of waders out on the Wash itself – whimbrels, godwits, lapwings and the rasping calls of snipe. I hope to learn something new each day (or night!) and I wasn’t disappointed as Pete Dale, one of our stalwart and regular weekend volunteers, explained the strange and beautiful celestial phenomenon of a noctilucent cloud. These are the highest clouds in the Earth’s atmosphere and are made up of ice crystals. They are most commonly observed in the summer months and can only be seen when the sun is below the horizon. Even today, they are not fully understood and there is no record of their observation before 1885!
By using a fire tray and following a few safety precautions, we had been able to camp on the reserve’s grassland, so it was back to the fire, skilfully prepared by Karl, another of our indispensable volunteers, for toasted marshmallows, great sounds from Joe’s ukulele, great views of the International Space Station and a few shooting stars – forerunners of the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on around 12th. We even made a telephone call to the Big Wild Sleepout campers at The Lodge, the RSPB's headquarters in Bedfordshire, to wish them well and compare notes.
Most campers were up again early for the dawn walk and a few birds were still in full song as males continue to stake out territories for a second or even third brood. We were treated to the “little bit of bread and no cheese” from yellowhammers, the jangling of a corn bunting and the tinkling of goldfinches which seemed to be everywhere as they flitted between bushes and among the thistledown. Walkers were able to brush up on their duck identification with shovelers, gadwalls, teals and mallards all giving good views together with our resident pairs of mute swans, proudly showing off their increasingly large cygnets. Waders performed well too with dunlins, ruffs and common and green sandpipers showing well. There were grey herons and little egrets, yellow wagtails, and brown hares lolloping over the scrapes and out in the arable fields. Participants also had the chance to sort out their swallows, martins and swifts as these insectivorous aerial masters zoomed about their business in the morning sunshine.
The finale was being able to see the insects that had been attracted to the light of our moth trap, set the previous night, before they were safely released. With two sparrowhawks and a kestrel overhead, children and parents admired stunners such as the ruby tiger and interesting bugs like the rather pungent sexton beetle, the undertaker of the bug world!
Tired but happy, our campers departed. Even Emma and Michael had surfaced by the time the visitor centre opened at ten for our daytime visitors! See you next year!
Murray Brown
Visitor Experience Intern
noctilucent cloud by Pete Dale, other images by Murray Brown