Our 9th August Big Wild Sleepout saw 14 participants join the team for our last Sleepout of the year, and what a way to finish it up!
We started the evening like every other camping trip, battling with tents and poles until they resembled a tent – a home away from home if you will. Once we were all set up and had our ‘homes’ built, we went to the Visitor Centre for a bit of light arts and crafting, drawing was the main pull and we had some real talent on show! Once we had gone through all the exciting health and safety it was time for everyone’s favourite, Pond Dipping.
The pond was providing in abundance with several newts, a Water Scorpion, Dragonfly Larvae and more Backswimmers than you could possibly count all being found. By the end of the pond dipping it wasn’t just the kids that were screaming with joy at what they found, the adults were too (and a few of the team), and all that screaming and jumping for joy really brought on the hunger… it was time for dinner.
Dinner was courtesy of Seaways fish and chips in Cheshunt and, as always, it delivered delicious food just when we all needed it. We all sat together and enjoyed our dinner sitting on the picnic benches outside, enjoying the warm summer evening, sharing conversations about what we were hoping to see on the bat walk.
Once we were fed, it was time to hit the reserve and go looking for bats. Mel (who also runs our monthly Wednesday Wander) led everyone out on to the reserve after giving a quick talk about what we would hopefully see, stopping at various places to spot the wildlife. The bat detectors were on and everyone was listening carefully with eyes fixed on the skies, hoping to see the night flyers. We had a brief stop at the Gadwall hide as we talked about Rye Meads including a bit of a history lesson and how the seasons change what species we get on the reserve and why. After a crash course in identifying birds, we carried on to where our bat walk had been successful last time and it didn’t disappoint this time either. We had several Noctules and Soprano Pipistrelle’s darting around, making their presence known through our bat detectors and it was one of the best bat walks we’ve had for a long time due to the amount of them. We then started making our way back and we heard an unmistakable sound, potentially from the other side of the river… A sound which is very rarely heard on the reserve, a Tawny Owl! We all stood there in awe and wonder as we listened to that familiar call, before heading back to the Visitor Centre for hot chocolate and marshmallows, setting up trail cameras on the way back.
Back at the Visitor Centre we all indulged in some hot chocolate and marshmallows (with dipping chocolate for good measure) and talked about all the bats and the owl that we saw and heard, excitement beaming off everyone. After having our fill of hot chocolate, marshmallows and dipping chocolate (one participant taking it to the next level and dipping the marshmallow in white chocolate and then putting them in the hot chocolate!) it was time for a well earned sleep, not before setting the moth trap up.
Waking early to a light breakfast of fruit, croissants and brioche we collected the trail cameras and moth trap and looked through the fruits of our labour whilst everyone was free to head out on to the reserve and do a spot of birding. The moth trap really delivered with 3 Elephant Hawk Moths, several Jersey Tiger moths, a dusky Thorn, a Tree Lichen and a stunning Ruby Tiger (pictures of the Elephant Hawk moth, Jersey Tiger and Dusky Thorn attached). The camera trap also delivered with videos of a pair of Foxes playing quite happily near the carved otter bench and a Water Rail under the Kingfisher boardwalk, much better than the stick we got last time.
Once everyone had had their fill of looking at the moths and camera traps, we all packed our tents up and it was time to leave, bringing our last Big Wild Sleepout of 2024 to a close. We hope all who attended had a fantastic time, as we most certainly did, and we look forward to seeing you again next year.
In the meantime, keep an eye on our website and social media pages for our events as we’re adding more all the time.
Dusky Thorn
Elephant Hawk Moth
Jersey Tiger moth