Avon Wildlife Safari Day 10 - Go down to the woods

Weston Big Wood is one of the most wildlife rich woods in the area. It's one of our top ten nature reserves and has wonderful woodland rides that attract the butterflies in summer. Look out for the silver washed fritillary feeding on brambles and other plants along the sunny paths.

photo:Silver Washed Fritillary - Steve Nicholls

The woodland is also full of birds including woodpeckers, tawny owls and nuthatches.

Download the virtual tour to take a look around and print out a guided walk of the nature reserve to take with you on your visit.

Woodlands also provide great places for children to explore and be creative. Why not make a 'Wild art' creation, using found objects on the woodland floor to make a large outdoor collage. Or collect tiny objects of different colour such as a blade of grass, a seed head or a flower petal and make a minute colourful picture using a strip of double sided sticky tape on a small piece of card.

You can play camouflage games, hide and seek or even look for 'tree faces' amongst the natural fissures and textures of the bark.

Be a nut detective and work out who's been eating nuts in the woods - us this sheet to help you interpret the clues or download this summer flower spotter sheet and see if you can identify the plants along the footpaths.

Whatever you do down in the woods remember, leave only footprints and take only memories.

Have fun!