Big Wild Sleepout 2018

Big Wild Sleepout 2018 by Matt Parrott

 

This weekend we joined RSPB nature reserves across the UK in hosting the Big Wild Sleepout – a rare opportunity to experience our amazing wildlife overnight. Luckily the violent storms on Friday night had cleared away by the time we came to setup camp, helping to soften the ground for tent pegs and a 'fresher' atmosphere than the stifling heat we've been experiencing over this summer.

 

We started the evening with a visit to the pond to investigate what lives beneath the surface – a treat for our adult campers as much as the children! It's surprising just how much life you can capture in a single swish of a net: young newts (or 'efts' as we learned), whirligig beetles, damselfly and dragonfly nymphs (including one monster who demonstrated it's prowess at launching itself across the tray) and a mass of phantom midge larvae.

 

After a quick refreshment stop we headed out on our dusk walk exploring the woodland and heathland of the reserve. We had a fleeting view of a pair of red deer leaping through the bracken at the edge of the woodland, and the first of many, many rabbits, but whether the previous nights' storm or the gusting winds we struggled to hear a single hooting tawny owl, a foraging badger or a patrolling bat. Even using a high-tech thermal imaging scope all we managed to see were grazing bunnies and a sleeping magpie! What we did see was something on a much more galactic scale, as the clear skies helped to show the planets Jupiter and Venus, as well as a brief pass of the International Space Station. A stunning view of the moon bathed in golden light just over our campsite brought the evening to a close for our younger campers.

 

Rabbits are a very important animal here at Minsmere (you can read more here about our furry friends …) but let's be honest they aren't as exciting as some of our other nocturnal residents, so we headed out for a brief midnight stroll to hopefully find more species. A rustling in the bushes ahead revealed a muntjac deer, while our bat detectors began resonating with the wet clicks of hunting pipistrelle bats as they swooped around us. By far the best find was a glowworm, the first one I've ever seen! Glowworms are beetles rather than worms, and it's the females that emit the green bioluminescent glow to attract a mate.

 

The following morning, after a hearty breakfast in the café and grabbing a waterproof in preparation for the incoming rainfall, we me with volunteer guides Derek and Phil. Aside from being knowledgeable and engaging, Derek and Phil are also our top butterfly surveyors and have found more than 1000 butterflies on their recent surveys of the Minsmere woodlands. They started by pointing out the mass of swifts which were picking off flies overhead, we lost count after 50, and looked like they were starting to make their way back to Africa. We then looked at the different galls that had grown on trees in the den-building area, before heading down to the Wildlife Lookout Hide.

 

The scrape has been brilliant for seeing a variety of waders recently, as many species are passing through on their way from breeding grounds or showing their young how to feed in the shallow water. Spotted redshanks strutted between black tailed godwits as they probed the mud for food, while a little grebe showed it’s prowess at diving underwater. But the strangest sight was the leucistic sand martin – a colour mutation where instead of dark brown plumage this bird was bright white. For some of our campers it was their first time at Minsmere, so a good opportunity to share the story of the importance of the scrape here and how the reserve has changed from a wartime defence site to supporting rare birds, plants and insects. With the rain clouds now passed we could get the tents down, said goodbye to our campers and just maybe we’ll see them again for Big Wild Sleepout next year!