Summer is here at Minsmere, and regardless of the intermittent drizzle and occasional torrential downpours (where has the sunshine gone?!) we are starting our busy holiday programme of fun-filled family events.
The week kick started with owl pellet dissection. For the people, like myself who spent many rainy days playing the board game ‘Operation’ as a child, but with this time with actual bones and no flashing red nose to distract us!
It’s a great chance for children and parents to get hands on and find out what the local barn owls have been having for dinner.
We discovered many vole and shrew skulls – often two or three per pellet. And those with a really keen eye were able to identify each individual rib and even miniscule ear capsules!
Dissecting Owl Pellets by Oscar Dewhurst
Owl Pellet Bones by Oscar Dewhurst
On Tuesday it was the ever-popular family pond dipping. As well as the usual suspects of newts various water beetles, insect larvae, caddisfly, dragonfly & damselfly nymphs, we found a couple of newbies including a screech beetle and a potential cranefly larvae (see below - suggestions please!).
Mystery Creature by Anna John
Pond Life by Anna John
A new event for Wednesdays this summer is Bee Surprised! Making mini bee houses for families to take home and having a closer look at some of the inhabitants of digger alley (home of the famous bee wolves and pantaloon bees), as well as the leaf-cutters and red mason bees that have nested in the box in front of the Discovery Centre.
Pantaloon Bee by Ian Barthorpe
We also made some woolly bees for the occasion, and I quickly realised that trying to stick googly eyes onto a pine cone is not as easy as it looks!
The Waveney Bird Club will be here every Thursday throughout the holidays, giving bird ringing demonstrations where children can get up close and personal with some of their favourite species. Once the data has been collected, onlookers are then given the chance to carefully release the birds back into the woods which is always exciting. So far today we’ve seen chaffinch, greenfinch, dunnock, reed warbler and most impressively a juvenile green woodpecker!
Bird Ringing by Christine Hall
I’ll be spending the rest of my afternoon preparing for the Wild Woods holiday club, which begins tomorrow and continues every Friday throughout the summer. Why not join us? Details of all upcoming events can be found at the Minsmere website.
Whoever said the holidays were a time to relax?!