Children like to engage with nature. Whether it is climbing trees and rolling down grassy knolls or looking for beetles under rotting logs, children do enjoy that outdoor experience. Children are also fascinated by wildlife, usually the bigger the better. I recently gave a presentation to local schools as part of the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch campaign. One of the questions I asked the children was about the wildlife they could see in their own green spaces. The responses were slightly unexpected. Llamas, tigers and rhinos are apparently residing in the gardens of west Norfolk; one small boy had even seen a pterodactyl!
The enthusiasm for spotting wildlife continued as children participated in the RSPB’s annual survey. Hundreds of school children warmly wrapped up in hats, gloves and scarves ventured outdoors to monitor the birds on school playgrounds, fields and car parks. As teachers and classroom assistants steeled themselves against the cold January air the children seemed to relish being outside and having an encounter with nature.
The Big Schools’ Birdwatch isn’t just about counting birds each year, a core strategy of the RSPB is inspiring people to find homes for wildlife in their own back gardens. Many of the schools involved this year have taken this to heart. On a scale similar to a Blue Peter extravaganza, school children have also been recycling plastic bottles and milk cartons to make bird feeders, gathering wool scraps for nests and creating minibeast habitats from leaf debris and twigs.
Recently RSPB Titchwell Marsh took delivery of a number of bird boxes from Cemex Kings Lynn employees Colin Callaby and Paul Skinner. Cemex, a global leader in the buildings industry, donated the materials and labour for the construction of the next boxes as part of their ‘lend a hand day’. Paul Roney, Operations Manager at RSPB Titchwell Marsh said “The natural progression was to offer the bird boxes to local schools. I am really pleased that Cemex’s generous offer is going to benefit the children who have been involved in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch and Big Garden Birdwatch this year”.
Regional Manager for Cemex, Matthew Yaxley, together with Colin and Paul presented two of the bird boxes to St Germans Primary School on Thursday March 19 where they have been erected in the children’s play area. The next few months should see birds nesting in the boxes giving the children an even better chance to experience nature up close. It is likely that families of blue tits will make their homes here, but I’m not sure that there’s much chance of seeing a pterodactyl?