Flying Bats Friday 8-9-17

Viv Booth looks after bats that are weak or have been injured.

She invited Louth Watch children to visit her house to see her bats flying. We met as it was beginning to get dark.

She took the  children into a separate room to show them the bats. She held a bat in her hand so that they could see it close up. She told them about how and where bats live. She then allowed the bat to fly in the room.

Then we all walked through to her outside bat enclosure.. She showed us the CCTV she had set up to watch the bats on the screen. She held another bat in her hand so that we could all see it closely. She told us all lots of interesting facts about bats.

The meeting was set up at the last minute as Viv needed to let the bats free. She released them into the wild the same weekend. 

Wildflower Project with Spout Yard Trustees 17-9-17

18 children wanted to plant cowslip seeds at Spout Yard on Sunday 17th September as part of the Wild Flower project.

Firstly we looked at part of the proposed site by the river for the wild flower area. We asked the children to produce drawings and plans that they would like to see for the site. These drawings were passed on to the Spout Yard Trustees who will decide how much of the area will be planted.

We also measured the length (approx 20m) and the width (approx 4 m) of the site in order to be able to calculate the area and how much seed might be needed.

The children then planted cowslip seeds in compost in 20 cell trays and in pots. Each child put a named marker on his/her tray. They also took some pots and seeds home. The seeds had been collected at Red Hill.

All the trays have been left in or near the greenhouse at Spout Yard.  Gemma Jackson, a Trustee, agreed to keep an eye on them.(Access to the greenhouse is through a locked gate.) Hopefully the seeds will germinate and we will be able to grow them on next year.

Report on Louth Watch Meeting in Muckton Wood 10-9-17

We had a good meeting at Muckton on Sunday. The weather was cold and wet around 1.30pm, so we were pleased when three children arrived.

Louise talked about how animals might survive in the woods in winter.

The children then collected slips of paper, laid out along the first ride, showing  possible conditions that animals might have to deal with in the winter. These were then discussed.  Louise brought grapes, some in ice cubes, to illustrate how the smell and taste of food can be affected by icy weather.

The children enjoyed the hibernation game where they  had to collect food, water and shelter tokens, that had already been hidden in the wood.

We then walked through the wood looking to identify trees and to find nuts and berries.

We finished the meeting with the children enthusiastically building small houses from twigs etc for animals to shelter in during the winter. 

LOUTH AREA GROUP CHAIRMAN’S JOTTINGS SEPTEMBER 2017

Good evening,

SEPTEMBER MEETING

It will be an early start at 0800 hrs on Sunday 24 September when we meet at the main car park at Gibraltar Point. Bring your binoculars and cameras to enhance your enjoyment of the bird activity to be seen at an autumn high spring tide under the expert guidance of LWT wardens.

Judith John was there earlier this week and caught this wonderful shot of Knot and Oystercatchers in flight.

UPDATES.

In August we had two sessions of seed collecting at Red Hill. On each ocassion a dozen members turned up to help at short notice. Warden Harry Turner was very pleased by the amount of Cowslip and Small scabiuos seeds that we collected and we were delighted to see many Red Admiral butterflies on the Devil’s bit scabious.

A further group of LAG members have been busy working at Rigsby Wood, Mill Hill and Muckton Wood whilst the Watch group had fun meetings at Rimac and at Anderby Creek.

GOOD NEWS

I am pleased to report that two members responded to the request I made in the Summer Newsletter for assistance with editing the newsletter and with organising the refreshments at our indoor meetings.

Thanks Chris Henderson and Jan Croft and welcome to the LAG committee.

Best wishes

Ray Woodcock Chiarman LAG

Watch Group

Hello

I hope everybody has had a happy school holiday.

We are starting our autumn programme on Sunday September 10th at 2pm in Muckton Woods. MR TF 382810

With the new season we will be looking to see what is changing in the woods.

We will also be thinking about hibernation and how animals cope with winter in the woods.

Please park on the verge and walk along the track into the wood

The event is free. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 

We would love children to bring and show us anything interesting they have found over the summer.

The Spout Yard Trustees have invited us to take part in a project to create some wild flower areas in the park area.

We would like the children to be involved. 

We would like to start with the children planting some cowslip seeds in the greenhouse at Spout Yard. We hope that we would eventually be able to plant them out as plugs. We are hoping to do this on Sunday 17th September at 2pm.

On the same day they can help decide which areas to plant, measure and work out the size of the area so we will know how much seed to buy. We will possibly prepare the ground and plant a wildflower mixture next spring. 

Please let me know if your children would be interested in this project. We would prefer to know how many trays and quantity of compost we need!

Best Wishes

Avril

SEED COLLECTING AT RED HILL

On a couple of mornings this Summer we  helped Harry Turner collect seeds at Coronation Meadow Red Hill where we collected a couple of kilos of Cowslip seeds and a lesser amount of Small Scabious seeds. Last week, the second occasion, we saw clouds of Red Admiral butterflies on the Devil's bit scabious and marvelled at the golden seed heads of the Greater knapweed plants.

Harry was delighted and most effusive in his thanks. In turn, we were pleased to offer him some support in the hard work that he carries out at this spectacular LWT site. Because of the weather we had very little notice of the call for assistance. However, the turnout of volunteers was excellent – a dozen of us on each occasion. RW