Katie Prewett looks at all the wonderful wildlife that you may get a glimpse in the garden during the 2015 Big Wild Sleepout weekend.
It’s that time of year again when you swap the bedroom for a tent and your duvet for a sleeping bag; and with the temperatures set to rise this weekend, there’s no excuses.
Our Big Wild Sleepout event is back for the third year running and with promises of a warm weekend across most of the UK, there’ll be an abundance of wonderful wildlife making appearances as they take over the night shift.
So what visitors can you expect to encounter whilst sleeping out this weekend?
As you sit toasting marshmallows, keep a close eye out for moths and bats, especially in gardens with established trees and hedges or around woodland edges in the wider countryside.
Moths are regular garden guests and torch-lit safaris and bug-hunting among flowering plants after dark can often reveal a variety of fluttery friends, such as the Silver Y.
Ground dwelling mammals will be quite active on warm evenings so listen out for the snuffling of hedgehogs and other night-time visitors such as mice and badgers. Hedgehogs will be searching harder for food in dry spells so why not try putting out some cat food to tempt a local hog in.
Birds will be quiet at this time but if you’re lucky you might hear the too-wit too-woo of tawny owls if there are mature trees nearby. Warm and still evenings are perfect hunting conditions for a barn owl and if you’re stargazing in open country at twilight you might get a glimpse of this much-loved countryside bird.
What about the weather?
In true British style, there’s no guarantee of the weather holding up as predicted. But don’t worry; even if it rains there’s still fun to be had.
Huddle in your tent whilst you listen to the sound of raindrops falling around you and find out which creatures have emerged to enjoy the damp conditions.
Rain always brings out frogs at night as they hunt for a slug supper. This years’ froglets will use wet nights to move away from the ponds where they grew up so it pays to tread carefully if going on a frog hunt after dark. Watch out for snails as well.
Organised events
As not everyone has a garden of their own, we’ve organised BWSO events all over the country for you to get involved in. Some people will be camping out at a living museum in Northern Ireland whilst others will be nodding off to the sound of the sea on Flat Holm Island or sleeping under the trees at Thetford Forest in Suffolk.
Some of our best loved garden creatures are among those shown to be in serious trouble, and by getting together with family and friends and spending an evening outdoors, we hope you’ll discover the wonders of nocturnal nature and be inspired to help save it.
By sleeping under the stars you’ll rediscover the excitement of your childhood and help bring children closer to nature. Let the littluns be amazed as dusk falls and they discover sights and sounds of a new night-time world.
Adventures could include outdoor cooking, fireside fun with stories round the campfire and night time strolls as well as den building, torchlight safaris and bug hunting.
Listen to celebrities such as Miranda Krestovnikoff, Bill Oddie and Naomi Wilkinson reading wildlife bedtime stories and download your free BWSO information pack by visiting www.rspb.org.uk/sleepout.
For more on our science, check out the RSPB Centre for Conservation Science web pages.