A School Visit and Ringing

This morning Leyburn Prinary School visited again.  When pond dipping, they found some 'huge' diving beetle larvae and an adult diving beetle.   Caddis larvae with their protective coats made from leaves, twigs or sand were also caught.  At the outdoor classroom, we recorded midges by the hundreds!  Slugs, Ground Beetles and spiders were also seen.  Last year, a new species was found there, a Cardinal Beetle.  It, or its offspring, was there again today.

The habitat walk along Risedale Beck covered many topics, including photosynthesis, seed dispersal, coniferous and deciduous trees, erosion, coppicing and the work of the volunteers.  A question and answer session before walking back to the bus was just as varied, with one question being asked that we did not know the answer to - our homework over the weekend.

Work is always varied at Foxglove, so tidying the Activity Room, checking and putting away the equipment from the school activities, some preparation for the Cape Wrath visit  and bird ringing were all on the agenda.

The birds to be ringed were Willow Warblers.  It is often assumed that birds will build their nests in quiet, peacful places, away from noise, people and disturbance.  As this photograph below shows, this pair decided the best place to build their nest was next to the perimiter fence.  Not quiet and not peaceful!

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The chicks were ringed carefully and quickly and returned to the nest.  They were nearly ready to fledge.  This one looked really attractive with its two little tufts of down!  Within a couple of minutes the parents were back feeding the young.