Wildlife Day a resounding success
“I like hearing all your interesting facts” a young boy said to Alan Archer, Naturalist with Talk: Wildlife, as we walked back from his natural history walk; BWMG had achieved its aim of bringing nature to our community at the fourth annual Wildlife day held last month in the Abbey Gardens. So many people arrived of all ages, including families, that we couldn’t count, many spent hours enjoying the walks, bug hunt safaris, environmental stalls, talks and art activities.
Every half hour people gathered at the central point and joined a walk or went into the Talk tent for an engaging look at our natural world. The first walk was birdwatching, a loud chiffchaff serenaded them all the way. Next up was a wildflower walk with Anna. Would they find the 7 bee orchid rosettes which were showing well in the early spring? Not flowering yet they concluded but a dip down to the water vole ditch found some proper wetland plants to observe – brooklime, water mint and celery-leaved buttercup. Another large group joined Cambridge based Roger who knows a thing about the trees in the Abbey gardens as he’s been studying the black poplars growing by the river for some time.
The sun shone warmly for the early spring dragonflies walk led by county recorder Adrian Parr and the participants were not disappointed. 8 large red damselflies recently emerged were busy mating or feeding on the River Lark’s edge. Hairy dragonfly which is uncommon in Suffolk was a first for our formal records of the area’s wildlife. 3 mini-beast safaris trekked to the four corners of the Abbey gardens, the children finding nearly 50 different species of bug, beetle, spider, butterfly, hoverfly and snail.
Over 250 wildlife bunting art pieces were created, some made when children from St Edmundsbury and Sebert schools came for a few hours to immerse themselves in the wildlife. They were sewn together on site and hung up in a glorious display. Children & parents used their own observations and wildlife foldout guides supplies by the Field Studies Council, to create images of their choice. They all took great care to show the unique details of each species. A teacher returned on the second day, eager to film the children’s artwork for them. She said, “it was their best day out, they’ve been absolutely buzzing about their experience, excuse the pun!”
To encourage people to vote for their favourite species, BWMG highlighted 10 different fascinating neighbours we share our local green spaces with. The water vole, with its cute brown face, rounded ears and small black eyes, won the honour. Rather appropriate since BWMG’s flagship conservation project, aided by Suffolk Wildlife Trust, was the habitat creation for water voles and other aquatic creatures in No Man’s Meadow.
The day came to a close with an exclusive showing of the world premiere of the first feature film, albeit only 8 minutes long at this stage, about the work and achievements of the Bury Water Meadows Group. One of the creators said “There’s nothing like a challenge and a deadline for learning something new. It was an enjoyable experience, very much aided by another member with previous BBC production experience.”
We hope to see you at next year’s Nature festival to find out more about the wonderful web of life.
Jillian Macready
