This weekend is the RSPB’s Big Wild Sleep Out, an amazing opportunity to experience our reserves after dark. Due to a prior booking, we held ours at Minsmere last weekend and despite a mixed weather forecast we were extremely lucky to have only a couple of showers.
After arriving and pitching their tents, our adventurous campers began with investigating the creatures in our pond, with the adults as excited as the children!
They found lots of smooth newts (which for some reason the children began to name after characters from the Lion King), damselfly larvae and tiny transparent phantom midge larvae. We then found saucer bugs, fearsome dragonfly larvae and something I’ve not seen before – screech beetles, so named for the noise they make when handled.
After a break for our campers to have a drink and an evening meal, we started our dusk expedition led by our survival expert Anna. In the woodland we found ourselves surrounded by emerging moths and as we crossed the heath we were surrounded by curious rabbits and buzzing grasshoppers.
On the ramp to Island Mere we looked down at the moorhen nest as she tucked her three tiny chicks under her cosy downy feathers for the night. From the hide a young family of marsh harriers were playfighting over the mere, flying very close so you could see the copper heads of the young birds.
An egret appeared flying low over the reeds, and was correctly identified by the campers as a great white egret with its big yellow beak and long snake-like neck – a rare bird to see in Suffolk still although their numbers are increasing across the UK. A barn owl was a welcome treat to see hunting over the levels, as were six hobbies catching insects over the woodland behind us.
We headed over to Bittern Hide as the sun dropped below the horizon, and found two red deer hinds with their little spotted calves grazing along the track. It was here the first bat appeared – a little pipistrelle – chasing moths in the tree canopy. Anna found the right frequency on the bat detector so we could listen to the clicks of the bat’s sonar.
Seeing (and hearing ) having had us thinking of our own stomachs and the hot chocolate and marshmallows waiting for us back at the Discovery Centre, so we made our way back, stopping to look at the badger latrine to see if there had been any ‘fresh’ activity – sadly not.
With the stars appearing some of the campers got ready for bed as they wanted be up early to see dawn, as Clive set up the moth traps ready for inspecting in the morning. We began our second walk into the darkness, armed with torches casting light into the gloom. We quickly became aware of glowing green eyes in the darkness, and the further we walked the more eyes appeared, but all belonged to muntjac deer, nine in fact by the end of the walk!
A tawny owl called out above us as we found a good spot for more bats – more pipistrelles flying along the footpaths under the tree canopy. With an infectious yawn passing around the group we called it a night.
At 5:00am the next morning we were woken by the best alarm clock ever – four calling turtle doves! I’ve never seen one on the reserve before, and they were right next to the camp! Enjoying the soft purring of the doves, we almost missed the rustle of the bramble leaves as two bounding stoats appeared carrying their breakfast of voles! A heavy shower of rain had tested the canvas of the tents in the night, and not helped the moth traps – or so we thought. As luck would have it, Clive discovered something very, very special – a light crimson underwing – a moth not seen in Suffolk since the 1800s! We also the wonderfully name true lover’s knot moth, a ruby tiger and garden tiger moths.
With stomachs growling we headed to the cafe for a great breakfast provided by Aris, David and Emily, and then met Derek and Phil our expert walk leaders.
Armed with our ’70 species to spot’ quizzes, Derek and Phil soon pointed out alder trees and marsh mallow (the plant this time) on the way to Wildlife Lookout. From the hide itself we watched avocets with a chick, various sandpipers, a ruff and some very cute mallard ducklings, whilst behind he hide we were treated to more aerobatics by the marsh harriers.
Our guides then took us to see more specialties – purple hairstreak butterflies. Though a few fluttered high in the canopy they were difficult to see, until one of our families found one resting on the grass at their feet! These beautiful creatures have a stroke of iridescent purple along their top wings.
To end on a high Derek pointed out an area good for basking reptiles – and found not only a grass snake but an adder too!
The whole experience has been great, our campers had a good time, saw lots of wildlife and hopefully didn’t get bitten by the insects too much. This weekend more people will be camping out on reserves up and down the country, and you can do the same in your garden at home, to find out more, and to download activities see https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/kids-and-schools/kids-and-families/big-wild-sleepout/