Avon Wildlife Safari Day 46 - The last day of the holidays for some!

If you are still stuck for ideas to make the most of this last day of the holidays then scroll through the blog for some inspiration. You could go ladybird spotting or make a woodland food web mobile., 'meet a tree' or build a sandcastle, identify butterflies or make some 'wild art'. There is so much you can do if you go outdoors and explore, you don't need a big garden or fields and woodlands (though they are nice), all you need is a bit of imagination and some space.

You could even make some 'creature features' to help the wildlife in your local area. Don't worry if you don't have a garden, you could always take them into schools and make your school grounds a great place for wildlife to live. If it's pouring with rain and blowing a gale and you really, really don't want to go outside then you could make a wildlife garden in your bedroom by creating lots of lovely pictures of your favourite animals. If you need some help then print out these colouring in sheets from Buglife to get you started.

Finally, I just wanted to finish this year's Avon Wildlife Safari with a heads up for the fantastic Feed Bristol Wild harvest free event on September 7th. This will be an opportunity to discover more about wildlife friendly food growing, with lots of family friendly activities and workshops, and a chance to enjoy the bumper harvest produced at this extremely popular community food growing project.

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 45 - Explore the night sky.

Today I'm giving another quick plug for the fabulous At Bristol but this time I would encourage you to visit the Planetarium and see the Summer Night Sky Planetarium Show. I've lost count of the times I've been camping and marveled at the night sky but beyond 'The Plough' I'm pretty lost.

'The Plough' constellation http://my.execpc.com

This is a chance to discover how to navigate around the cosmos, explore far-off planets and identify some colourful stars at this presenter-led show. If you enjoy the show and fancy doing some 'real-life' star-gazing then take a look on the Bristol Astronomical Society's website as they host a variety of 'observing events' throughout the year in the local area and have a wealth of information to help you explore the skies above.
Meanwhile study the chart below and take a look out of your bedroom window to see what you can identify - you might find a compass helpful to find the correct constellations.

A lot of nocturnal wildlife also use the sky to help them navigate around the land. It is thought the moths use the moon as an aid to help them find their way around. With the fairly recent introduction of electrical light this could explain why they are so attracted to the bright lights in our houses. This must be not only a hazard due to the heat of the bulbs but also a real disruption to their nightly journeys looking for food.