Good morning. There are now only two weeks to go until the RSPB's annual Big Wild Sleepout, which takes place this year 28-30 July. This annual event not only encourages families to camp out under the stars in their own gardens, it also offers people the rare opportunity to camp out at some of our nature reserves.
We have a two night event planned 28-30 July so if you are interested in coming to camp out under the stars here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen, then read on:
Campers can either camp out for one night or two nights and all tent pitches are close to the visitor centre:
The toilets will be open throughout the event and RSPB staff will be available throughout the event. The price includes all of the activities on offer and breakfast the morning (s) after you camp out.
Our event begins on the Friday evening and the theme is moths. Here are some images of the moths that we found during our event a couple of years ago:
Garden tiger moth:
Privet hawkmoth:
Poplar hawkmoth on a child's nose:
Goat moth:
Although we cannot guarantee seeing all of the species photographed above, we are likely to find a good selection of moths on the Saturday morning that have been trapped the night before.
To find out more about Friday's event, please follow this link for more information.
After a bit of a rest on the Saturday morning, activities will begin again at lunchtime. There will be a guided walk, some mini beast hunting and pond dipping. Hopefully, we will find some weird and wonderful creatures like this dragonfly exuvia:
The theme for the Saturday night is a "Family Fun Night". We will go for a walk around the reserve to look for nocturnal animals such as deer and owls. We will then use special bat detectors to listen to the weird and wonderful echolocation calls of some of the species of bats that call the reserve home. We will then toast marshmallows over the campfire near the reserve car park.
Here is a photograph of the campfire from last year:
Image credit: Emma Cuthbertson
The following morning, there will be another opportunity to find out which moths were caught on the reserve the night before. Weather permitting, there may also be a bird ringing demonstration to see some of the birds on the reserve up close and personal. If you are lucky, you may even get a chance to hold and release a bird yourself!
Please follow this link to find out more about our event. If you have any questions or queries about the event, please ring 01842 863400 or e-mail: lakenheath@rspb.org.uk;
We hope to see you there!