In the second of our posts looking at the important role volunteers play here at Frampton Marsh, we'd like to introduce Marie. During the May half-term and summer holidays Marie helps run our very popular pond dipping sessions for families.
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About a year ago, I told some of the staff at Frampton Marsh that I rescue frogs, toads and newts that have fallen into the drains (gullypots) in the road. By sliding a small net through the metal grate I can scoop out the amphibians and put them somewhere safer. One year I rescued 431 amphibians from three sites around Boston! After hearing this, the staff at the reserve asked me if I would help with the guided pond dipping sessions and I was happy to volunteer. I am 26 and as I have been working with children for the past 8 years it is a wonderful experience to help children discover the wildlife that lives near them.
I had never been pond dipping before I began volunteering at Frampton Marsh. There is another world underneath the surface of the pond: whirligig beetles swirling in circles and dark red bloodworms and waterboatmen paddling with legs like oars. We listen to the coot calling out from the reeds and watch the dragonflies flit through the grass. One child shouted to us that he had found something amazing—a water scorpion! It looked like an autumn leaf with two thick pincers at the front and a tail at its back. Another child gave a name to every stickleback that she put into the water tray and a parent found a huge shrimp with a translucent body that looked like glass.
It is lovely to see parents and carers enjoying the activity with their children and I am always on-hand if they need any help. When someone asks me what a pond creature is and I am unsure or cannot remember, I just find the ID sheet and together we learn what the creature is. At the end of the session the children proudly tell us what they have discovered —no sharks, piranhas or sea snakes yet! I leave every session feeling thankful to have been a part of the time that children and adults spend together immersed in nature.
Reedbed, freshwater scrapes, saltmarsh and wet meadow. Frampton Marsh has it all! Come and pay us a visit soon.