North and South part one

It didn't take me long to head back north. At the end of June, A Rocha were asked to help at an event in Glasgow. A Rocha has been working with Clay Community Church in Possil who have been focusing on community engagement and education at the Clay Pits site. I went along to assist with bug hunting safaris and flower walks. These proved very popular with the local people, who hadn't realised what was on their doorstep. We caught some spiders, butterflies and the occasional damselfly. On one of our walks we disturbed a browsing roe deer. I hope to help with something similar next year. The advantage of having a senior citizens rail card means I can often travel to Glasgow and return for £13.00

In July, I travelled to Southall to help with the first of two week long summer play schemes on Minet Country Park. We had a combination of exploring the park and also indoor craft sessions. A little rain failed to dampen the children's enthusiasm. We had a good pond dipping session finding tadpoles, damselfly nymphs, water beetles, a ramshorn snail, a stickleback, some water mites and three water scorpions. One day we had set some small mammal traps earlier in the morning but didn't catch anything. We did find various samples of poo but only I examined them closely. On our return to the Lodge we made models of different mammals. There were bats, hedgehogs, squirrels and for some reason an elephant, even though we never saw one on Minet.

One day after the session with the children I completed a butterfly survey. I recorded commas, gatekeepers, small whites, large whites, common blues, loads of meadow browns and some six spot burnets. I did get somewhat distracted watching an emperor dragonfly being harassed by two broad bodied chasers. 

It was a very enjoyable week for me and also the kids ( so they said). I returned home looking forward to my next visit later in August