A day later than usual, it is time for the weekly letter from Lauren, our summer residential volunteer.
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Hello again
A fourth enjoyable week here at Frampton Marsh!
As usual, raft building took place on Tuesday, but this time we had some added excitement in the form of a pink furby: a little mascot to sit on the completed rafts. Despite some great creations during both sessions, once or twice it fell overboard into the bucket of water, and so is currently hanging from the whirligig in the office garden in preparation for next week.
Unfortunately Thursday’s bug hunting sessions were cancelled due to the rain, but pond dipping on Wednesday produced some awesome creatures, including damselfly larva, water scorpion and two newts.
In addition, I’ve had my best views of muntjac recently, all whilst cycling between Kirton and the reserve. The people of Lincolnshire shouldn’t take for granted the fact that they have lovely flat roads to ride bikes along - something I’ll be missing when return to Glasgow (I can assure you, it’s not like this in Scotland)!
On Sunday I was lucky enough to visit Rutland Water for my first Birdfair - an event I’ve always been keen to get to but has been too far away from home. With several marquees packed with camouflage clothing, optics, books, leaflets, charities and organisations (everything from Butterfly Conservation to the British Decoy Wildfowl Carvers Association), I was in my element!
The British Arachnological Society’s stand, quite rightly, was awarded not only the first prize for conservation, but also ‘best in show’ at the event. I’m sure I could quite easily have spent the whole day at this stall, admiring the various arachnids they had brought along to show the public, which included – wait for it – a female wasp spider! This is my favourite spider and one I’ve always wanted to see! Isn’t she stunning?
Eventually I did manage to drag myself away from my new eight-legged friends to attend ‘Ask The Experts’ hosted by Bill Oddie, and talks by Nick Baker and Simon King – three of my wildlife heroes!
I also entered a competition run by the Welsh Wildlife Trusts, the prize being a day out watching wildlife with Iolo Williams. Maths has never been my strong point, so having to count how many birds there were in an image of a flock of knot in order to win means I’m not hopeful, but my fingers are crossed anyway!
Hoping for some better weather for our events next week at Frampton Marsh!
Lauren