Yesterday was our last ‘Big Wild’ event of the year with our Big Wild Pyjama Party, and we made sure we went out with a metaphorical bang!
Starting at 6.30pm, everyone was present and ready to go promptly, which was great because we had a lot to pack in. We started with a few crafts in the classroom, with drawing being very popular, while we waited for everyone to get here and get prepared. Then after a quick welcome talk from the team, we headed out to do some pond dipping. As is always the case with pond dipping, Newts were what everyone was looking for but once some Damselfly larvae and Backswimmers were found, every net that was dipped was met with excitement. At first it didn’t look like we were going to get any Newts as they were doing a good job of hiding from our nets but then, finally, a call of ‘I’VE GOT A NEWT!!’ went up and it was like the floodgates opened. In total we found over 20 Newts, with everyone managing to find at least 2.
Once we had finished with the pond beasts, we headed to the minibeast area for some land beasts, and again we weren’t disappointed. There were Slugs galore, Devils Coach Horse beetles and one or two Centipedes. We also did some sweep netting around the same area and found a few caterpillars and lots of Grasshoppers. After putting all the minibeasts back and replacing the logs, it was time to go back to the Visitor Centre and have something to eat, all this pond dipping and minibeasting is hard work!
Coming back to the Visitor Centre we were greeted by a Fox out the back that was spotted by one of our sharp eyed participants. It was a quick break in which we all sat down at the back of the Visitor Centre (the fox long gone by now) and had something to eat to fuel us for our bat walk that was still to come. Whilst we sat there, there was a call of ‘BAT’ and there was one flying around us as we ate. This was hopefully a good omen for the walk as we all prepared by putting on our walking boots, warmer clothes and mosquito spray and then it was time to head out on our intrepid travels to go searching for bats.
As was the case with both of the Big Wild Sleepouts, the search for bats was slow to start but unlike the Big Wild Sleepouts, we were more successful with finding them near the Ashby hide. We stopped at the stairs going down towards the Ashby hide for a while and watched and listened as they flew over the top of us, feeling like they were skimming the top of our heads because they were flying so low. The bat detectors were picking them up and we could tell they were Soprano Pipistrelle’s from the frequency and the sound they made. We then carried on towards the end of the Kingfisher loop as that was where we had seen so many on previous evenings (as well as a Tawny Owl on the last sleepout) but this time they decided not to show up. After searching and hoping we would see some, we decided to head back for some hot chocolate and marshmallows. On the way back we went past the Kingfisher hide and stopped at the Ashby stairs again to see if we could see anymore bats, which we did but not in the numbers as on the way. So back to the Visitor Centre for our hot chocolate.
After drinking our drinks it was time to say goodbye to everyone and head on home to sleep, but not before one final surprise. As everyone was heading to their cars there were at least 2 Tawny Owls that were shouting from the direction of the Lapwing hide but due to the darkness we felt it was probably a bit pointless going in to try and see them, so we stood and listened instead. The perfect end to an already brilliant night.
We hope everyone who joined us had a great time, we most certainly did and this was a great way to see out our ‘Big Wild’ events for the year. We do have one event left in our summer schedule, which is our Guided Insect Walk that will take place tomorrow (1st September) from 1pm. If you’re interested in joining a local expert as you head out on the reserve and look for insects including Dragonflies and Damselflies, head to our events page to buy your tickets now, which can be found here.
Keep an eye on our social media and website for more events as we add more for Autumn and Winter.
The Rye Meads team.
Header Image: Rahul Thanki (rspb-images.com)