Avon Wildlife Safari Day 20 - Wild Works of Art

If you're quick you might still be able to book onto the Avon Gorge and Down's 'Wild Works of Art' holiday event. Suitable for 8 - 12 year olds, this activity starts at 10am on Thursday 8th August and costs £8.50 per child. Children will have the opportunity to make super cool sculptures and 3D pictures out of wild things, then craft their own paper from natural materials like petals and leaves. 

photo: http://7kidsonadime.wordpress.com

If you are too late to book onto this you can still go and get creative outdoors.Gather some friends together and have your own outdoor art party. You can create your own challenges - make a mud animal or a face out of sticks, build a sculpture out of woodland treasures or make a leaf crown. You could even make little people using clay, leaves, seeds and grass, tying  it all together with a ribbon or string. Check out our Day 10 blog for more ideas.

Andy Goldsworthy is an artist who uses natural materials in his work, he even manages to make beautiful leaf hangings by connecting the leaves with thorns. he uses colour and shape to make bold images in the landscape. You may want to have a look at some of his work before you head out and get creative yourself.

Whatever you do, be creative, be happy, be inspired and be yourself.

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 19 - Become a palaeontologist for the day!

Ever wanted to dig for dinosaur bones? If you go along to the museum in Weston Super Mare this summer you can get involved in their Big Dig and find out more about palaeontology. Take a look at their displays which range from the archaeology of the earliest inhabitants to the wildlife that you can see today. The museum is on Burlington Street, BS23 1PR and has a cafe and a shop selling specialist publications about the area.

Once you've learnt all about the fossils and bones of days gone by you might want to follow up this visit with a trip to Bristol museum where you can meet the best preserved dinosaur in Britain, the Bristol Dinosaur and visit the dinosaur resource area.
The Bristol Project is enabling palaeontologists (fossil scientists) at the University of Bristol to help people discover and learn about Bristol's very own dinosaur which lived on tropical islands in the area 210 million years ago.

You could also visit the Dinozoo at Bristol Zoo Gardens where you can meet animatronics of 13 different dinosaurs or go online and play some of their dino games to get learn more about the wildlife of the past.

photo: welovebristol.com

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 18 - Go on a family nature trail and plan an outdoor theatre trip

Dyrham Park, just off the A46 near Bath, is a wonderful 17th Century mansion, garden and deer park set in 270 acres of ancient parkland owned by the National Trust. 

photo:www.nationaltrust.org.uk

On some Tuesdays and Thursdays during the school holidays you can go on a guided family nature trail. This is a chance to get up close to nature, go pond dipping or bug hunting, track wild animals and explore some of the wildlife that lives on the estate. This is a free event (once you have paid the general entrance fee) and you don't need to book - just check the website for dates or phone the property office on  0117 9372501 or email dyrhampark@nationaltrust.org.uk

Alternatively you can go on your own nature trail. With wonderful wildflower meadows attracting the butterflies and bees, two big badger setts, great crested newts in the ponds, rabbits, hares and foxes enjoying the open grassland and, of course, the deer, there's plenty to see. You could even see if you can tick off a few things from the '50 things to before you're 11¾' challenge.

photo:drystone-walling.co.uk

If you like a bit of Shakespeare you may want to return to Dyrham Park on 9 or 10 August to watch an outdoor performance of 'As You Like It' or you could learn how to build a dry stone wall on a 2 day course on 10/11 August. In fact there's lots of activities going on throughout the summer, so check out the website and get planning!

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 17 - Visit an iron age hill fort

Dolebury Warren is owned by the National Trust and managed by Avon Wildlife Trust. Situated on the site of an iron age hill fort, it has spectacular views across North Somerset and the Mendips. To find it you need to follow the A38 southwards from Churchill village and take first left turn after traffic lights into Dolebury Bottom. Drive slowly along lane and park in small car park. There is a circular walk from here that takes you to the summit, along the top of the iron hill fort remains, through woodland and across the fields. So great for picnic stops along the way.

Dolebury Warren is a very good example of a medieval/post medieval rabbit warren which was used to breed rabbits, providing valuable meat and fur. The warren is completely enclosed by the substantial ramparts of the Iron Age hillfort, Dolebury Camp. Many warrens were surrounded by banks or walls to prevent the rabbits from escaping; escaped rabbits caused damage to nearby farmland and meant a loss in profit. Reusing the hillforts defences as a boundary provided an ideal location in which to breed rabbits.

It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to it's mix of wildflowers in limestone grassland that covers the summit and slopes. Here 'lime-loving' plants like rockrose flourish alongside such 'acid-loving' plants as bell heather, which survive on patches of acidic sand blown onto the site during the ice age. The rich diversity of species such as eyebright, early purple orchid, lady's bedstraw and small scabious make it an attractive site for bees and butterflies.

See if you can spot any of the summer flowers on our spotter sheet while you're there.

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 16 - It's all about otters...

Otters are fun. Their playful and inquisitive nature, diving down in the water or sliding across muddy banks and their adorable faces makes them seem almost child-like. But don't be fooled, these incredibly strong and fast swimmers are intelligent carnivores and great hunters of fish. 

Their conservation status is classified as near threatened and although the European otter was in decline during the second half of the 20th century, primarily due to pollution from pesticides such as organochlorine (OCs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), more recently there has been a steady return in numbers. In August, 2011, the Environment Agency announced that otters had returned to every county in England since vanishing from every county except the West Country and parts of Northern England. In the last few years otters have even been seen in Bristol's floating harbour, which is fantastic news and an indication of the improving quality of the water.

photo:http://www.wwt.org.uk/visit/slimbridge

If you would like to see an otter and find out more about their characteristics and behaviour then visit the WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre and listen to one of their otter talks. You'll also get a chance to see Mother Flo and twins Minnie and Ha Ha as they tuck into one of their fish suppers. I wonder if they ever get bored of eating the same thing?

The Wildlife Trusts have produced a booklet which share some examples of Wildlife Trust nature reserves where your chances of glimpsing this secretive mammal might be better than
usual. Many of these sites report regular otter sightings or even recorded footage. While we cannot guarantee a visit will result in a sighting, these reserves are worth exploring all the same! 


Please remember that otters are highly sensitive animals  and disturbing otters or their habitat is an offence under the Wildlife & Countryside Act so tread carefully and quietly.

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 15 - Go Wild in the Country (well almost)

Ever wondered what to do with all those courgettes or cabbages? Fancy making jams and preserves? Love wildlife and being outdoors? Then pop down to Feed Bristol this weekend and learn how to make the most out of those gluts from the allotment at their Storing and Preserving workshop

Feed Bristol is run by Avon Wildlife Trust and supports a range of people with different needs and abilities to access food growing while promoting health, well-being, outdoor education and access to nature.It has regular drop in days on Saturdays between 11-1 where anyone can pop down and see the site. It really is an inspirational and delightful little spot, with a woodland trail, wildlife pond, wildflower meadow as well as growing plots and polytunnels. There's always someone around who will be willing to chat to you about the food grown there and the wildlife that inhabits the area.

If you're keen to learn more there are also regular communal work days on Mondays,Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9.30 - 4 so just turn up and learn some tricks of the trade whist enjoying a beautiful natural environment just minutes from the centre of town.

Avon Wildlife Safari Day 14 - An urban river valley walk

Willsbridge Mill is one of my favourite Avon Wildlife Trust nature reserves. Tucked away behind the houses this beautiful mill and spectacular river valley is a fantastic refuge from city life. With ponds that are rich with dragonfly nymphs, water boatmen, pond skaters, diving beetles, frogs and newts, trees full of singing birds and scampering squirrels and a river that provides a wildlife corridor through the area, this really is a living landscape.


At this time of year you may just be lucky enough to see a dragonfly crawl out of it's skin on a tall flag iris or other pond plants at Willsbridge Mill, as it changes from nymph to adult. Watch the adults swoop around in the air, they are amazing flyers, hovering and even flying backwards at times. Their two sets of wings enable them to change direction quickly and hunt down their prey and they will eat pretty much any insect they can capture in flight, particularly mosquitos.

Southern Hawker dragonfly with larval case at Willsbridge Mill

Look out also for the dipper, a small bird with a distinctive white chest, that feeds on insect larvae along the river. It's well worth spending a few minutes just listening too. The diversity of the bird species in this little wildlife oasis is fantastic and if you stop anywhere along the circular walk that takes you around the valley you'll be able to hear and see a variety of woodland birds. Use this guide to help you identify some more common species or download an app for your phone so that you can use it when you are out and about. Please be sensible when using apps on nature reserves though as there is evidence to suggest that repeatedly 'calling' for birds using pre-recorded song on apps can disrupt the birds natural behaviour so it's best to just use it quietly. Try using these garden bird, river bird and male & female bird spotter sheets to also help you identify the birds that you might see.

There's also picnic benches, toilets and information boards around the site to give you more information so jump on a bike (it's near to the Bristol/Bath cycle path), hop on a bus (it's on a bus route from Bristol) or even go by car (there's a free car park). However you get there, this is a great place to spend a few hours.