Pheasants and Grouse

Nothing to do with game birds on the reserve, these are the names of the Year 4 classes from Wavell Community Junior School who visited the Covert this week! The pupils were extremely lucky with the weather; the fine sunny spells provided the perfect conditions for sweep netting in the corner of the wildflower meadow.

One budding Entomologist was keen not to let his precious haul escape from the net!

His determination paid off and he was able to get a closer look at a grasshopper! 

Various crab spiders, froghoppers, grass bugs and Soldier Beetles were all caught in the sweep nets along with a Small Skipper, a Wall Brown and many Ringlet butterflies. The children were careful to handle the animals gently before returning them to their habitat.

Earlier, a minibeast safari around the outdoor classroom was made memorable by the finding of a Smooth Newt. The groups also spent time studying the pondlife in the Scrapes (a highlight was finding a Water Scorpion) and of course no visit is complete without saying hello to Lark and Taurus! Our thanks to the school for their support. This is the final school visit for the summer but there are plenty of family activities lined up for the next few weeks. See the events page for more details. Talking of events, tomorrow is the Coffee Morning in Richmond Town Hall (from 9am - 12 noon) so please come along and support the reserve if you can. It isn't too late to donate tombola prizes and cakes which can be taken along to the Town Hall in the morning. Many thanks to Team Wednesday who not only identified moths from the traps but also managed to get everything ready (from displays, shop stock, biscuits and cakes to raffle tickets and tea towels) and loaded into cars for an early morning start!