November Session at the Wetlands

We missed October as the boys' tutor wasn't available which means the award will now finish in February. I have to confess they've not done much in the way of ongoing work for the award in between!

Both boys were in a major sulk about going today and I had to drag them to Arundel in silence this time round, the 2 month gap between sessions not helping. I've told them quitting at this late stage is not an option - I can be quite stubborn like that. We've talked about finding the positives of what they are doing and to realise that it's not exactly difficult, I just hope we arrive at future sessions in a better mood!

Today the boys learnt about the history of the WWT and the construction and make up of the Arundel Wetlands. The second part of the session was a tour of the reed bed area which was formally a large watercress farm. A large area of the reed bed has been cut right back and so it's now possible to see the natural trenches of the original watercress beds.

The last part of the session was for the group to create a video on the history of the WWT in the style of an interview. Considering how little time they had they did a great job. Sadly we'd overrun by half an hour and didn't have time to watch the bloopers; which I'm reliably informed were mostly down to Nath!

Of course by the end of it all they were chatty and full of smiles, yet both reluctant to admit they'd enjoyed it...hey ho!

Bird House for Tawny Owls

Monica showing us the watercress trenches

September Session at the Wetlands

Today's session was all about pond life and sampling various waterways at Arundel's Wetlands.

We arrived late because today's session clashed with Connor's rock-climbing so the boys missed one of their friends carry out their presentation but they arrived just in time to go out and take part in some scientific monitoring and recording of 3 different water ways which included the main entrance waters, the discovery hides and the reed beds. 

The kids worked as a team to record and share air temperature, water depth and temperature, weather and surrounding conditions, pond life spotted, ph balance and nitrates present. At each area a bucket of water was selected and the same measurements were taken. It was an interesting task which Connor threw himself in to but as usual it took Nath a lot longer to get into it!

Thankfully it was a beautiful day and warm too, one of the air temperatures recorded was 24 degrees centigrade...much more preferable to last session's rain.

It took time to gather all the data but we managed to squeeze in a very short pond dipping session and the team, working mostly in pairs, discovered a variety of pond life including a blood worm, mayfly nymph, pea mussel, alderfly lava, pond skater (which jumped out of the collecting tray), lesser waterboatman, ramshorn snail, great pond snail and water fleas.

One of the 3 waterways we sampled

Measuring water depth and temperature

Measuring water temperature

Identifying pond life

Hoglouse found only in the Discovery boat safari waters

Pond Skater

Alderfly Lava

Lesser Waterboatman

August Session at the Wetlands

We had by far the worst weather of all our sessions at Arundel today...IN AUGUST, it poured and the boys didn't have coats! They were prepared in as much as they took gardening gloves and wore long trousers but were soaked to the skin by the time they had finished their outdoor task which was to weed around and monitor the hedgerow saplings they planted back in April.

Armed with secateurs they worked as a single file team to chop away nettles, thistles, bramble, cow parsley, willow herb and dock. Connor stayed the other side of the hedgerow to pile the thrown weeds into tidy piles, he was regularly attacked by flying brambles and nettles!

They noticed that the thistle was thicker away from tree coverage suggesting they grow stronger in more sunlight and through discussion they observed that it was mostly 75/80% thistle followed by cow parsley and dock growing in the area. The weeds had grown exponentially in comparison to the saplings, taking over and strangling their progress.

Monica and the team decided to leave a controlled area at one end of the hedge to let the weeds grow freely to see what impact it has on the growth of the saplings.

During this mission, the younger group were bug hunting and one child enthusiastically came over with a tiny newt inside a spotting jar; a welcome and exciting distraction. Unfortunately I was too slow to get a photo as Monica was keen it was returned to its home as soon as possible being such a young juvenile.

When the weeding was complete, the braver of the group wanted to stay outside for their turn to bug hunt and successfully spotted wood louse, spiders, a millipede and empty snail shells. The rest of the group headed indoors to dry off and took a snack break which for Nath and Connor involved hot chocolate...yes IN AUGUST!!!

Fortunately the remainder of the session was indoors and the team got to handle some captured moths in spotting jars which had been sedated in the fridge, before creating and assembling their own bug hotels to take home and position in the garden. The Wetlands provided dried reeds, tubes, cups, straw, shredded paper etc and of course each child came up with their own unique and individual designs.

Ribboned Wave?

Oak Eggar?

Getting creative

A selection of our posters in the Wetlands cafe area

The boys poster

Overcoming Hurdles

Arundel Wetlands for another session today and the boys finally got to test themselves and make their presentation about their experience of the John Muir Award so far.

We are a much smaller group again as some of their peers have decided to leave and to be honest although it's a shame, the intimacy of the group, suits the boys better...they are shy and self conscious when it comes to a study situation.

However, they both blew me away with their composure this afternoon. They stood in front of their friends and took it in turns to overview the sessions so far, talking about their highs and lows and giving snippets of what they have learnt. I value that they were honest and real. I've copied their presentations on each of their pages on this blog.

It would be unfair if I left out the fact that they were all BRILLIANT. Each one of them was apprehensive about having to perform in front of their friends and us Mums were quietly nervous for them too; but overcoming these hurdles brings a huge sense of achievement for them and will instil confidence for them in the future.

The second part of the session was to create some posters about the award to be displayed in the Wetlands Centre over the summer holidays. Time was very restricted but Nath and Connor worked together - with me poking my nose in every now and then - and put together a humorous collage! I'm not sure it really gets across the message of what the Wetlands wanted them to convey but they liked it.

During the session, Monica flicked through their folders to check their ongoing monitoring work and gave them some more ideas of how to collate their information. I've listed their additional individual work on each of their pages but they worked together on hedgerow weeding and monitoring notes and their nature reserve in the wild garden.

The biggest buzz of the day was seeing Nath get involved. He stood up and talked in front of everyone when just a few short weeks ago he was adamant it was something he couldn't do. He actually wanted to make the poster and remained cheerful and confident throughout. During his presentation he mentioned how difficult he has found some of the sessions because he's been unwell but I felt today he turned a big corner.

Their little sister (the confident one) performed at our local theatre in her end of year 6 production "Hoodwinked" this evening, so they've all had a big day...I'm one proud mumma this evening.

Poster work

We spotted Ratty happily chomping away on our way out

Bat Boxes and Bat Walk

This afternoon we had our monthly session at Arundel Wetlands. It was a shorter than usual session as we returned for a guided bat walk later in the evening.

First off we caught up on everyone's reed seed progress and hedgerow surveying; but today's main task was to set about building a bat box. The Wetlands provided the instructions, wooden sections and screws etc. The boys had a good idea of what to do but unfortunately the sections they'd been given didn't have all the pre-drilled holes and there was a lack of long screws so we came away with a partially complete box for them to finish with the help of Dad...and a drill!

With their little sister away on her school residential it was possible for the boys' dad to come along to the evening session. Thankfully the fine weather stayed and it was a mild and very clear night.

The bat walk was under the supervision of the boys' tutors, their boss and an expert who firstly gave us all a talk about how bats communicate, feed and where and when to expect to see them.

There are 18 known British species of bats, of which 10 can be found at the Wetlands. Tonight we were fortunate enough to spot 2 species; the Common Pipistrelle and the Daubenton. We stopped at several points around the reserve, some more successful than others, but the best was saved for last when we stopped at the Arun riverlife water area. Admittedly it was alot darker by then so more bats had come out to feed, but with the help of the red filtered torches and bat detectors we saw plenty of pipistrelles and daubentons.

It was such a privilege to be guided around the Wetlands when it was closed to the rest of the public and get close to the wildlife and learn in this unique way. It just so happens we also spotted a heron when we nipped into one of the hides and saw a barn owl flying low over the Discovery water area.

The Bat Conservation Trust has a great and informative website for further information and learning.

So wonderful to be at the Wetlands in the milder weather and sunshine!

The boys built their bat boxes in this thatched Outlook-in - better than a classroom!

The bat box instructions

A little team work

In the garage with a drill it became a 5 minute job to redo

TaDah!!!

Re-potting of the Reed Seeds - 8 weeks on

The growing and monitoring of the reed seeds has been intermittent to say the least! One minute they are drowing in water, the next they are crying out for it! But with a little nagging from me, the boys agreed to re-pot their seeds into pots with drainage holes and a base of shingle to see if it would make any difference. 

Connor went first...

He was very careful taking the reed seeds out of their original coffee cup and inserting them and their original earth into the new pot.

Nath chose a much larger second home since he's had slightly more success so far.

He was surprised to see how much root growth there was coiling round the base of the earth when it came out of the cup.

He finished off watering thoroughly with filtered water!

Both lots of seeds enjoying some fresh air and sunshine. Nath's pot is on the left of the picture...we're assuming those long grass like stems are in fact reeds!

Afterwards we discussed how they could share the reed seed success/failure with the group and talked drawings, limericks, parodies. There are lots of ideas floating around but they're having difficulty getting them down and Nath in particular is resistant to the idea of standing up and presenting to the group, his lack of self confidence getting the better of him.

Eyes Like a Hawk

After 3 days of cancelled plans either by ourselves or others we finally made it outside...for a whole day!

And because nothing was booked in we decided to make a day of it at Arundel Wetlands. Despite visiting once a month for the last few months, we're always on a tight schedule and rarely get to wonder at our own pace. The forecast was brightening late morning and sure enough it was bang on.

We headed straight for the Wetland Discovery boat safari and low and behold, Monica, the boys' tutor was at the helm. With only one other family onboard we learnt more from Monica as we enjoyed a gentle breeze through the reeds in search of water voles and toads. Nath must have eyes like a hawk because he spotted some mating toads tucked inside the reeds; even when he pointed them out I still couldn't see them, but slowly more and more pairs and toad spawn became evident.

We chatted with Monica briefly after the trip and asked her about our missing information on the Bewick's swans and discovered that we hadn't missed the willow weaving at the first session because they'd run out of time. She asked how the reed seeds were coming along and we had to confess to only one success story...so far.

Just before we left we had the opportunity to watch a member of staff feed the diving ducks in the Icelandic pen and listened to her talk about the various breeds and how endangered birds', like the Scaly-sided Merganser, eggs are taken to Slimbridge for incubating.

Connor took his camcorder along and filmed the Scoters dancing and displays, full of the joys of spring; I anticipate a funny video as a result!

Otherwise it was a general wander round, with a few pit stops in the hides and of course a play on the equipment for the boys to blast out some of their energy. It was a relaxing and enjoyable day - the sun helped!

Summer Snowflake and a pair of Mandarin ducks

The Scaly-sided Merganser, Long Tailed Duck and Eurasian Common Scoter

Blue Tits, Coal Tits and a Robin