Minibeast Safari

On Wednesdays during the summer holidays we hold activity mornings for any children that fancy coming along. Today’s event was a Minibeast Safari. Seven children and their parents and carers came along and we headed out into the sunshine to see what we could find. We overturned logs to reveal Snails, Slugs, Woodlice, Ground Beetles and Millipedes. The highlight was a large Leopard Slug.  Afterwards we placed sheets under the trees and shook the branches to reveal tiny green Spiders and Caterpillars. We finished the morning playing a camouflage game in the woods.

Last night we put the moth trap out so the children were able to see some of the species we find on the reserve.

Also today we had a wildflower walk, in conjunction with “Flowers of the Dales” where visitors were able to learn about the flowers on the reserve and help create a list of all the species found.

John, one of our volunteers conducts regular butterfly surveys on site. Today he found a record number of 13 different species.

A big thank you to everyone who helped out today.