Big Schools Birdwatch - the visit!

I can't believe that I was nervous about going to volunteer for the RSPB Bird Friendly Schools "Big Schools Birdwatch" as I had the time of my life! Two boys from the Year 3 class greeted me at reception and took me to the class room, for a morning of bird fun and bird watching!

All the children were so keen to tell me which birds they already knew, and what they had seen from the window. I was impressed to see the bird feeder and the bird box hanging on a tree near the class room, and the children had already begun recording which birds they had seen outside.

I began with a quick introduction, explaining I was from the RSPB and that we would be learning about birds, and going outside to look for them. To warm up I asked each table to name 2 birds: most of them knew some garden birds already such as magpie, robin, blackbird. Others knew more unusual birds like raven. I cannot tell you how keen they were, it was wonderful to think that all these children are taking an interest in the natural world!

Then I asked who wanted to be detectives - hands shot up in the air! We could be detectives by looking at different birds, to find out which birds they were. I explained that different birds look different: we can tell what they are by looking at colour, size, where a bird is, what sound it makes, and also by what they are eating.  There were 6 birds to show the children, and I had a beautiful big colour picture of each, together with a silhouette to show the actual size, and their favourite, the RSPB soft toy bird that makes a bird sound!  So I looked at each bird in turn, pointing out the colour, the shape, what they eat, and any interesting fact about them. I was delighted that children were saying other colours, and making comments about their sharp beaks, or their skinny legs, or their long tails. And once they got the idea, they started asking me, "what noise does this one make?" and so for each bird I would produce the soft toy bird, and the children could press the bird and listen to the noise. These went down very well and everyone wanted a go, so each table had one bird to share.  The children were amazed to learn that blue tits can take their chicks 600 caterpillars a day, and that starlings mimic sounds such as mobile phones. I was really impressed that a quick question on each bird at the end showed that they had been listening and picked up main facts such as Mrs (female) Blackbird is actually brown!

Next, I explained that we would be looking at the birds outside in groups, and counting what we saw. Over 2000 schools are taking part in the Big Schools Birdwatch and the RSPB uses the information to see which birds need help and which birds are doing okay. For their survey, you have to count the highest number of birds you see at any one time, rather than counting the same birds over and over again. So there was a game to show this, but in the event of going outside, I decided it didn't really matter if the children didn't get this - it was most important to encourage them to look for birds. (It would be easier to explain the counting technique to older children. The Birdwatch is available to 7-11 year olds).  Each child was given a card showing one of the six garden birds (blue tit; robin; starling; thrush; blackbird; house sparrow). I stood at the front holding a picture of a seed feeder. When I called out one bird, children with that bird card would come to the front, to the feeder. I encouraged them to walk like that bird, or to sing like that bird.  They were very good and pretended to feed at the feeder. Miss Wilson counted them for us and put it up on the board. Finally one bird type came up twice, and we counted 8 of them in total. But in fact there were only 4 in the room - so one bright child said we'd counted them twice.  And that's what we were supposed to realise... But as I say, outside, there was too much excitement to care about counting!

So after break the children went outside in groups of 5 or 6, with clipboards and pictures of birds they might see. They were very excited to be going outside, so there was little chance of keeping them nice and quiet for birds to show up - however, they have perfect birdwatching grounds and a lovely garden area where there is the feeder and nest box, plus a bird table. Next to that was a playing field with trees at the back. And the playground was also surrounded by trees, which were good places to spot birds.  The children thought most birds were blackbirds - probably because they looked black against the sky! - so in some cases I let them think they were, if I could not see what it was, and in others I would say, it's a crow, or it's a seagull, because these are much bigger. There were 2 crows making a noise on the nearby church, so they could hear the distinctive cawing sound; then there were lots of magpies in the trees, so they could see they were black and white. One group were lucky to see a blue tit come into the tree. It was hoping to get to the seed feeder, but in our excitement we scared him off - but at least he came! We also saw some pigeons in the sky, one group thought they saw a robin, and one group saw 2 little birds on top of the school - I could not get a good look but thought they were wagtails - and explained that they wag their tails!

It was so lovely to see them all looking and all excited and they were all desperate to tell me what birds they'd seen and how they'd fed this bird at home, or seen this bird somewhere else. One boy said he'd seen a red kite, one boy must have had parents from Africa as he knew all about African birds and said how they eat them. One boy asked me if birds were poor! So I explained they didn't use money but had to find enough food each day. They were all so keen it was hard to keep up with all the hands in air, (when they remembered to do this) and I hope I gave enough encouragement to them all.

Luckily Miss Wilson was very good at keeping their attention and getting them to be quiet when they got over-excited. At times it was a bit chaotic: we were waiting for the second teacher/assistant to come back in, before we could go out bird watching and everyone was colouring in and cutting out, and having fun. Whilst the bird watching group went outside, those left inside had a bird "snapper" to make (a bird's head with snapping beak) and some birds to colour in and put on their wrists, and others were drawing pictures. (These are available on the website). Neither Miss Wilson nor I could figure out the bird snappers, which was a bit poor, but luckily the other teacher could! (I should have prepared this at home). I was really touched when one girl presented me with her picture of a blue tit, and one boy gave me his snapper to take home. One girl even said "hello bird lady!" to me at break, which was great!

To finish off, I told them I would be back after Easter, and gave each child a "hide" poster, which they could stick to the window and look through a gap in the middle at the birds; and on one side they had lots of pictures of birds to identify. One boy helped me to hand out the posters, which was really kind!

Miss Wilson was apologising that they were quite a handful and said that there were 24 boys in the class (I'd not realised until she said!) but I thought they were wonderful. It was so fantastic to see such enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and tell us about things they knew, and to have fun. When do we forget to be this excited about life!? It was actually a lesson for me as well as them! And I learnt how lovely children are and how full of life. Imagine having as much fun every day as I had today, it would transform your life! Never mind about being nervous, I can't wait to go back and see them after Easter. I thought that if I made a difference to just one child, it would be worth it, but I can see that all of them were interested in looking at birds, and were constantly telling us when they saw a bird out of the window, and I hope that they will keep doing this!

Peregrines in the city!

A flash of yellow caught my eye this morning as I saw a peregrine falcon up close and swoop by! Wow!

We are lucky enough to have a pair of peregrines on the clock tower at the University and as I was looking out from an office window on the first floor, a magnificent peregrine swooped low past the window - its bright feet made me look twice and I saw its beautiful striped body (bluey grey and white) and hooked beak. What an amazing bird! 

It then went and sat on the 12 storey Muirhead Tower, no doubt using its incredible vision to look for pigeons in this cold weather... It then swooped back past the window a couple of times. It was wonderful to see this beautiful and large falcon so clearly and so close by! My manager was with me and it provided an enjoyable excuse to talk about birds instead of work.

Falcons such as these are now nesting in cities on tall buildings and you can see them now on the BT Tower in Birmingham and at the Tate Modern in London - the RSPB runs a date with nature so you can observe these birds through telescopes.

Find out more at the RSPB website where you can see a picture of the bird and hear its cry, which I often hear from my office as it flies round the clock tower.

Nothing beats an unexpected encounter with nature like this, and I've been happy all day as a result! 

Birds friendly schools!

Although I am no longer working at the Nature Centre, I have taken on a new volunteering role with the RSPB. I will be a volunteer for the Birds Friendly Schools project in the West Midlands. This project is to tell schoolchildren all about garden birds - what they are called, what they look like, and how to help by feeding them. It involves three visits to a primary school, and works with one class of children who are between 7 and 11.

The first visit is to the school teacher, to explain how the project works and how the second and third visits will go. During the first visit, you give the teacher a nest box and a bird feeder, and some seed, so that the class can begin to start feeding the birds over winter. My first visit should be taking place over the next couple of weeks.

The second visit is in January, by which time you hope that some birds have been coming regularly to the feeder, which will be hanging somewhere in the school grounds so that the kids can see birds coming to it. The nest box should also have been put up, and birds may use it for roosting (sleeping overnight). Did you know that wrens like to roost together and you can get many wrens sleeping in one box! 

During the second visit the children do the Big Schools Birdwatch - similar to the Big Garden Birdwatch which has been going 30 years. You count the birds coming to your playground or garden for one hour, and these results help the RSPB see the population of birds nationwide; which are increasing or dropping in number. The results vary according to your local environment.

The results of your survey and the national survey form the basis of your third visit and so you can explain to the children how different birds live in different areas, and how they have different features (beaks, legs etc) according to what they eat, where they live etc.

I have attended training by the RSPB and I am very impressed by the quality and amount of resources given to me to give to the school and to use on my visits, to help make it interesting and exciting for the children. I was feeling nervous about it, but I am confident that I know a lot about the birds we are focussing on (six main ones) - and other garden birds. I have been feeding the birds in my garden, which is important in this snowy weather.  I am sure I can be enthusiastic, as I love birds, and I hope I can inspire at least one child to enjoy them too.

I am currently trying to contact the teacher at the school (in Smethwick) and arrange a time to visit. I will keep you posted with how each stage of it goes!

Time to say goodbye

It is with sadness that I report I have decided to end my volunteering at the Nature Centre. After six months I felt I have experienced a good range of tasks, and had reached a point where I was ready to move on to other things.
I really enjoyed my experience there, particularly knowing that the people I worked with were of like minds. It makes such a difference to be able to share your views and passions with people and not feel like you have to explain yourself. In the last couple of weeks, I met Sian, who is doing the Animalcare course, and who was completely on the same wavelength. She was vegetarian and against all animal cruelty, and I hope that she enjoys her experience at the Centre and gets lots out of it.

There are many volunteers now on a Sunday! I will miss the staff, as they are a great team and work very hard to look after the animals. I saw that there were lots of events on over half term, such as meet the reptiles, and design some toys for the animal enclosures. If you can get along to the Centre over winter, it is open at weekends from 10-3, and you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Just search for Birmingham Nature Centre. The staff are always working to enrich the animals' lives, and to make it an interesting and informative day out for the public.

Volunteering has taught me many things, including how to think logically and work methodically, and to show common sense when you are working with (the public and) animals. Luckily I never managed to lose a rodent or let the ocelot escape.
I have been privileged to work there and experience close up encounters with the lemurs, squirrels and coatis - all favourites. Not to mention my little mara, and the fast-growing rheas! I am sure I will go along in future and see how they all are.

So ... if you fancy it, why not think about becoming a volunteer in my place! Not because the government want you to, but because you want to. I recommend it.

news of new arrivals!

Wow, I'd been away 3 weeks and everything has moved round! The first thing I saw was that the goats are now where the sheep lived; the sheep are in the wallabies' old pen, and the wallabies are where the goats were.
The guinea pigs have moved into the grassy rabbit pen, and the lovely Mara has moved in with the rabbits. I think he/she is still getting used to them. I didn't realise, but the Mara squeaks just like a guinea pig! I think it is my new favourite...
We have some new arrivals! 8 rhea chicks are now where the guinea pigs used to be. They are of various sizes but will all grow to be 5 foot tall. From South America, the rhea americana eats fruit, seeds, small insects. It is a flightless bird, like an emu or ostrich, and has no tail feathers, and 3 toes on each foot. I had the enjoyable task of cleaning out their bedding, replacing the sawdust, and then spot-cleaning the enclosure. The rheas can run really fast and they were very amusing. One would pick up a stick and run really fast to the other end of the pen. Then another one would chase after it and grab the stick off it. Then I was cleaning outside the pen, sweeping the whole area, and cleaning the glass. When I was taking the soap suds off with the squeegee, the rheas were really interested, and were standing behind the glass looking at me, following the squeegee along with their heads!

In addition to that, I checked the hoofed mammals' water and replenished their hay, with Charlotte and Rosie. It is a shame, but hay and straw really do make me sneeze. In the afternoon Cath, Kate and I did the squirrels enclosure, (food, water, cleaning) and all four squirrels were darting around. They really are very appealing and such a nice colour.
We also did the pheasant and parrot enclosure - food, water and spot-cleaning. Kate was on pheasant duty with a broom, as they can attack you if you're not looking. Cath had an enviable spot next to the parrot dish - some beautiful coloured parrots were flying very close to her and picking the nuts out, to crunch. They also have a mixture of fresh fruit, seed etc.
Cath and I spot-cleaned the tortoise enclosure (they didn't seem to mind), and swept round the monkeys and the mammal house (the monkeys were very interested. I had aching shoulders the next day: you can tell I am getting some exercise).
There are 2 baby meerkats! It is nice to see the animals breeding as it means they must be happy with their environment. The baby meerkats are tiny and have little squashed faces. There was also a new sugar glider waiting to have a companion to live with; it had been donated by one of the public.

Big Excitement!
Cath and I were going to put the rabbits and mara to bed, and it was just about 5pm, so everyone had left. We were walking past the beaver, saying it was hardly ever out, when lo and behold, I realised that the beaver was in the corner of the enclosure, near us! He/she is quite a large mammal, like a small dog, with an  appealing face, and sleek brown fur. The tail is large and thick and dark, and you could see a scaly pattern on it. We were very excited. The beaver turned round, ambled over to the water, and dived in. It then had a leisurely swim up and down, and looked quite content. It was really lovely to see it swimming, and we realised it must prefer to be out of the public eye. It shares the enclosure with a ne ne (hawaiian goose), many of which you can see at Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetland trust.

I was very pleased to be back, and although there seemed to be lots of volunteers this weekend, it was still very nice to see some familiar faces (human and animal).
Photos to follow.

monkey magic

1st August - after a happy chat to Colin about the delights of camper vans, he said I could accompany him on the monkey round. We started at the new tamarins house, and Colin explained that he had to check the temperature daily; it is kept in the twenties. He emptied a bowl of water over the leaves to keep the air humid. I had to keep next to him, to make sure the monkeys were not disturbed by an extra person being in there. There were four monkeys, one behind us up on the ledge above the window, which is his favourite place.

The next stop was the Goeldi's which are two parents and two babies: apparently baby Goeldis are hard to breed in captivity, so Colin was very pleased that these had survived. He seemed particularly fond of them. I had to stick by him again, and I gave the monkeys a bit of banana. The female also enjoys the special gum that is part of their diet.
It was very nice to go in to see them, as I have not done this before. Colin asked me to clean out their indoor quarters; they were shut in the outside enclosure while I did this, and as soon as I'd finished I was to tell Colin, so that he could open their hatch again. The monkeys would not survive if they were left out in the cold at night. To clean their enclosure, I had to scoop up their sawdust from the floor and any shelf area, and then wipe down all the walls with a mild disinfectant. It was quite warm in there, so with the door shut for safety, I was quite hot by the end of it.
I went along to the small mammals house to help Rosie and Joe, two new volunteers. We were giving the rodents a spot clean, then swept and vacuumed the floor, as sawdust goes everywhere. The afternoon was quite easy, with all three of us weeding the ecology garden. It did not need much weeding but was nice and easy, and Rosie, Joe and I had a nice chat about what it is like being a volunteer. Joe was there all week on work experience.
The day ended with us putting the animals away - I delegated to Rosie and Joe, and then we attempted to put Sid away but he was hissing as usual and we did not have any protection. On crying to Colin that it was too hard, he laughed at us and said, put him away! take a broom, so with a broom in hand, Joe did a great job of steering the hissing bird towards his shed. It was quite a result.


8th August - it was a really hot, muggy day, so luckily I was not asked to do anything too physical. I started in the small mammal house: Kate apologised that it was boring, but the rodents need doing, and I am quite used to them. I made the effort this time to work a bit faster, but it still took all morning. There are a lot of rodents. I did an almost full clean of the off-shows, and talked a bit more to the rats, for stimulation. I also became brave and stroked one, and it did not mind at all.  The lemmings are funny: they can be nestling quietly in a corner and when I reach in to disturb their sub-strate (bedding), they all rush to the front, and try to escape. I had to make sure the main door is shut while I do this, in case any leap out. One mouse nearly tricked me by leaping on top of another mouse's back and making a bid for freedom.  The baby rats had grown and were now like mini adults; very sweet.

I also cleared out the off-show degus, the chinchillas and the tenrecs (who bite, but were fast asleep). I did the on-show waters. Pippa, the ground squirrel, had been gnawing at her hatch and pushing the bedding out each day, so Kate had moved her off-show and explained that she was hoping to get a larger enclosure, with a friend or two for Pippa. We are both fond of her: she is very appealing.
In the afternoon I filled the bird feeders with bird seed, and learnt of Colin's new plans for a "walk through" section in the new Mouse Lemurs section. (They were hiding so well during the week that they had to be looked for). It sounds good. He explained that he did most of the maintenance at the Centre, and I have seen the staff creating fencing, sawing, hammering etc, as well as taking care of the animals. 
I topped up the soay sheep water (managing not to let the ram see, and avoiding being butted) and then it was time to put the animals away. I met Kate coming away from Sid's pen, and kindly she'd done him for me... Perhaps spending so much time with the rodents has its advantages :-)

Moth count and Bat Walk!

Moth Count

On Saturday, various groups in the West Midlands had got together to organise a Moth Count and a Bat Walk round Cannon Hill Park and the surrounding area. There was a magnificent turnout of about 50 people, including lots of ultra keen children, who were really excited by seeing the moths and bats.

It was an all-night event, although you could leave when you wanted, and unfortunately this time I was not able to stay late, but I am looking forward to hearing about future events.

A national expert on moths, Dave Grundy, began by talking to us about moths and butterflies and passing round moths to look at. There were some enormous ones (an old (dead) death's head hawk moth) and a tiny one, no bigger than a pinhead! There were moths that looked like twig ends and bits of bark. In the Victorian era, people pinned out all the butterflies and moths they found; now we trap and study them and release them back into the wild again. Many moths were named by well-off Victorians, who named them after things around them. Hence you have moths with names such as footman, carpet moth, tapestry, and pistol-case bearer moths.

Dave traps moths every Friday night in his back garden, or further afield, and studies them. He talked about the perceived differences between moths and butterflies: that people like butterflies because they are pretty, but don't like moths because they are brown and boring and come out at night. But apparently some butterflies are out at night and some moths are out during the day. Not all butterflies are bright, but some moths are colourful. Moths hide away in trees, bushes, and so on during the day to avoid predators (birds, bats etc). People think moths eat their clothes, but with the increased use of synthetic fibres, this is increasingly unlikely, and any moths you do find in your house might be quite rare. He encouraged us not to keep sheds ultra clean and tidy, and then we might find some moths living there.

Moths and butterflies are lepidoptera - the tera part meaning they have wings. The wings have scales on them. There are thousands of species of moths in the UK and around 60 species of butterfly. Basically, Dave tried to make us see that moths and butterflies are the same: there was no one characteristic that you could use to distinguish something as a moth and another as a butterfly.

Moth trapping and counting can give us a good idea of what species there are, and how many there are of them. Dave was going to set up the moth traps and then return to them later in the evening: he was going to be there literally all night. You too can study the moths in your own garden, and the more rural area you live in, the more you are likely to see. Moth traps have a light which attracts the moths; they fly in and then you can have a look at them, before releasing them again. You can also attract moths by leaving your bathroom light on and the window open and they will fly in.  I asked Dave why moths are attracted to the light - he said, surprisingly, that scientists are not sure about the answer to this question. It could be something to do with moths navigating by using the moon!

To find out more about moths visit www.opalwestmidlands.org or http://ukmoths.org.uk
Garden moths scheme: http://gms.staffs-ecology.org.uk/

Big Butterfly Count http://bigbutterflycount.org/

Click here to see the results of the moth count!   193 sighted!