Out & About July 2017

Get outdoors and play Make the most of the summer sun and get close to nature, says WENDY TOBITT from the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust

Sand martins perch on sandy banks at the entrances to their burrows

Pond-dipping at the Nature Discovery Centre

S ummer’s here and now’s the time to let loose your little and not-so-little ones into the fresh air of the West Berkshire countryside. If you’re looking for family trips and days out, then head to the Nature Discovery Centre in Lower Way, Thatcham. Their amazing team creates something new every week for Fantastic Wildlife Fridays, from July 28 to September 1. Just turn up for a session at 10.30am, 12noon or 3pm and you’ll find wildlife adventures. You could become a wildlife detective – like BBOWT’s president Steve Backshall – make a bug hotel for your garden to attract lots of pollinating insects, or step inside one of the bird hides with a pair of binoculars and see how many birds you can spot. One of the favourite activities is pond-dipping, so they’ll be doing that at least once. If you’re busy on Fridays, there are other events in July and August such as Let’s Go Batty, Crocodiles of the World, Reptiles and mini-beasts, and Fur & Feathers. There’s a photography workshop on August 29, for children to learn how to make the most of their cameras. This one might book up soon, so don’t delay.

The Nature Discovery Centre really is a great place to discover nature. This summer’s visitors include families of sand martins whizzing across the lakes into their sandbank burrows, where they’ve nested and are raising their chicks. Sand martins are relatives of swallows and house martins, members of the hirundine family, and like their cousins they spend the summer in Europe and the winter south of the Sahara in Africa. They like nesting close to each other, which is why the Wildlife Trust has made a special home for several birds to nest close together in sandy burrows. Sand martins are incredibly agile as they skim across the surface of lakes and old gravel pits, catching flies, so keep watching carefully to spot them. In August BBOWT is running Wildlife Craft Days and Safaris at Shaw House gardens in Newbury. Visitors can craft beautiful creatures and hunt out the garden’s bizarre bugs and mini-beasts. This event is part of Linking the Landscape in West Berkshire, a project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Discover how you can stay wild this summer with BBOWT.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT LOCAL WILDLIFE EVENTS www.bbowt.org.uk/whats-on for events throughout July and August. July and August includes training events for people interested in learning more about small mammals, butterfly identification and ecology, and the delightful dragonflies and damselflies of West Berkshire’s heathland ponds.

Pond-dipping in bright sunshine at the Nature Discovery Centre

Pictures: Margaret Holland, Pam Cruise, BBOWT

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