Sunday 18 May 2014

The Grand Finale!


THE BOG BLOGGERS! (plus my dog Boo who snuck in!)
Last week we had our very last Bog Blog session of 2014. While we have seriously lucked out with the weather each week, we were super lucky on our last day to have a gloriously sunny and warm summer's day to see the Bog Blog out.

As it was the last session we had a more informal session to celebrate our last Bog Blog. All of the brilliant Bog-Bloggers have been a pleasure to "teach" and explore the marsh with. Miss Amos and the school have also been very helpful and Miss Amos great to have along for fox poo sniffing and mealworm tasting (see previous blogs).

In previous blog sessions we have always followed the dedicated path for the general public. However, today the mini wildlife rangers had been given permission by Devon Wildlife Trust to go on the normally out of bounds path which leads to the sluice gate so that they might get a chance to see what makes the marsh...well marshy!

Surprisingly the path wasn't quite as dry as we expected. In the muddy pools along the path a very eagle-eyed wildlife ranger noticed tadpoles and also a little newt! Unfortunately, I had missed an opportunity to slip in one of my favourite amphibian jokes...I should have introduced my pet newt "Tiny" to the group called Tiny because he's my newt...



Anyway, we progressed on to the sluice gate which was a great chance to reinforce to the group that this was a developing habitat. That the sluice gate had only recently been put in place to allow water (from the estuary's incoming tide) into the marsh to develop more saltmarsh habitats. That the children were here to see what wildlife could be found here in 2014 but that perhaps in years to come it will have developed in other ways and might look very different with a variety of new wildlife and plants. Hopefully, the school and other groups might come and use the site for further investgations!

We headed towards our (we have now made claim to it!) bird hide  and again these wildlife rangers who were not going to miss a thing spotted a lizard scurrying across the dry and cracked mud - a Common Lizard.


A Common Lizard found close to the South Efford Marsh Sluice Gate
Despite it being an informal and fun last session we still managed to find 2 new species! There were signs of new life too with both Pigeon and Mallard Duck egg shells. Indeed, today (Sunday 18/05) while I was kayaking further down the estuary I saw a mother with 11 chicks - perhaps one that had hatched from the egg shell that was found!

After stopping for a mini picnic and seeing a formation of Canada Geese fly over and 4 Swans making their charachteristic thwacking noise when in flight I asked the children what had been the best part of the Bog Blog to which they replied, "EVERYTHING!"


During our celebratory picnic we saw hundreds of birds enjoying a snack too!

On our walk we used a sweep net over the long grass and saw lots of different flies, spiders and midges. Sadly, we haven't had time to fully look at them for identification but it gave a sense of all the mini bugs that were living all around South Efford Marsh.


A wonderful sight to see the children at home in the great outdoors!

The children certainly seem to have developed an affinity with South Efford Marsh. Some of the girls independently decided to do a litter clean which just went to show how much they had grown to treasure this wildlife haven.
The Bog Blog Litter Pickers!
Next week we will prepare for our guided tour. This will take place on Thursday 5th June between 1430 - 1530 for members of the local community and 1530-1630 for primary school parents and children. We would love to see you there. The children will give their own guided tour to South Efford Marsh so that you can see what an "epic" place it really is.

I'd just like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the Aune Conservation Association and it's members for funding this project. I think the children's enthusiasm for South Efford Marsh shows just what a valuable experience it's been for all involved.

Monday 12 May 2014

Wild Flowers - dyed oinkers....

The penultimate session was held last week...sniff sniff. As we are reaching the end of our time on the 2014 Bog Blog we see that the marsh is exploding with colour and life thanks to the wild flowers, plants and trees.

Plants from South Efford Marsh are busy pressing!
This week we were to collect some plants to show just what a wonderful variety of plants support the wildlife at South Efford Marsh.

I had managed to collect a flower press from a car boot sale for the pricely sum of £1. Before the session I opened it up to discover an impressive collection of garden plants! However, we were going to show just how beautiful wild plants are. We started looking through the banks and hedgerows and realised just what variety of plants could be found. Each child chose a plant and they are, as we speak, pressing. We collected plants such as Nettle, Red Campion, Buttercups, Goosegrass and an oak leaf from a sapling. We also chatted briefly about Latin names and how, sometimes, it's good to remember them with funny connections. I explained that at university we had to learn all the Latin names and why it's useful to know the names. It can even be fun! The grass Poa annua, for example, I remembered it by thinking of a poo-y annual. When I asked if they remembered the name at the end of the walk the children almost got it right!

Silene dioica (Red Campion) was a dyed pink pig - died oinker...it made sense to me!
One of the children shows her chosen plant.


 As we were reaching the end of the sessions I decided to lay a little surprise of laying 3 mammal traps. As we reached the bird hide we discovered that 2 of the traps were triggered. The first was an adult Field Mouse who was definitely not Helena. This mouse had darker colouring we decided. This mouse had to be named...Marianna.  When it comes to connecting children with wildlife I have no hesitation about anthropomorphism!
Marianna the Mouse!

The final trap was hiding under the bird hide. As we carefully let the creature out of the trap out popped a young Field Mouse. I have never heard such a loud and unified, "Awwwww...." from adults and children alike. After naming Sameya the baby mouse we released it back into the wild to go on to forage another day.

Walking towards the bird hide it was fantastic to see that the marsh was busy with feeding Swifts, Swallows and House Martins. We chatted about our summer visitors and how they are feeding low to the ground to catch flying insects from the marsh. The children were able to identify a Swift from a Swallow by the end of the trip!

For our final session next week we will be looking at some of these insects with a sweep net and heading towards the sluice gate to see what structure was put in place to help re-establish this wonderful wetland. It will be sad to visit South Efford for the last time. However, on the walk back to the entrance I was talking to a couple of children who I was reassured to hear loved the marsh - thought it was "epic" and planned on coming back again through the summer! Mission accomplished...

Tuesday 6 May 2014

A sensory exploration by more than "average human beings".





Feeling the delicate seeds of the Dandelion clock.

Last week we had another lucky escape from very heavy down pours. We left school in dark clouds but arrived in sunshine! We hadn't visited the marsh in 3 weeks so it was great to see the trees really filling out with vibrant green leaves.

The aim of this weeks session was to become extraordinary human beings. The session stems form Leonardo Da Vinci's famous quote,

The "average human looks without seeing, listens without feeling, eats without tasting, moves without physical awareness, inhales without awareness of odour or fragrance, and talks without thinking."

We chatted about how we often walk along a path without really looking about us to see the smaller pieces of the big and beautiful jigsaw that is life. We might not really listen to our surroundings and how what we hear (but not necessarily see) effects that place. Similarly,  how often do we take a moment to smell objects around us to get another sensory understanding of what it is and what it's influenced by. As a result of having a better understanding of all that we can see, hear, touch and taste we get a much better sense of all that is going on in one space and time.

So we were to focus on each sense and show what extraordinary human beings the children are. Showing that they have the ability to really get to know an environment through their senses and even inspire some writing.

We "stealth walked" around the perimeter of South Efford Marsh concentrating on one sense at a time. We went through some exercises to help us focus on our ability to see, hear, touch, smell and taste. As we completed each sense we then had a chance to write our thoughts or words that came to mind about those senses.

Children stealth walking and focusing on all they can hear around them at South Efford Marsh


As we were working on our sense of smell one of the children spotted a nice pile of poo. As this isn't a dog walking area and from its texture we decided it must be fox. I stuck a piece on a rush and some brave children breathed in the strong aroma! Miss Amos happily set a great example! We chatted about how naturalists would use their nose to identify where a fox may have been by knowing what a badger, fox or otter poo might smell like. Chris Packham was (naturally) mentioned as a keen fan of not overlooking the things naturalists can learn from a nice piece of poo.

Miss Amos happily smelling the rich aroma of fox POO!

Taste was obviously a tricky one in today's age of health and safety so we sat on the bank overlooking the marsh closed our eyes and stuck our tongue out. Trying to see if we could taste different things on different parts of our tongue. For experimental purposes (!) the children were each given a sweet. The children first looked at the sweet, felt the sugary coating and then placed it on their tongue to see what aromas and tastes they could sense. This seemed to go down very well!!


Children sticking their tongues out to taste their air.

Finally, we took a moment to complete a short piece of creative writing. The children's writing showed that they had now a full sense of South Efford Marsh as an environment and a full working ecosystem effected by all they could see, hear, touch and smell. The writing also demonstrated that by using all our senses and describing them we can create a very clear picture of our surroundings for the reader. 


Children writing their creative pieces inspired by all they can see, hear, touch and taste at South Efford Marsh.
Here are a couple of examples of their BRILLIANT writing:

"Hearing all sounds nice,
Being as quiet as Field Mice,
Wet and dry smells around.
Some coming from the ground.

Walking around the meadow, 
Seeing how the flowers have gone bright yellow,
At the end a little treat,
Really was quite sweet."
Sam, aged 10

"Strong, demanding cold air,
Is tracing on my face, 
Nearby refreshing green grass,
is flickering on my nose.

Sticky, hooky duck leaves,
Are sticking to my finger,
Blinding hot yellow sun in my eyes
And the blue sky is disappearing
From all the grey clouds."
Maddie, aged 9

"Splish splash I see the muddy water,
Raining down into the sea,
This is Efford Marsh with the fresh, green grass
Efford Marsh is a wonderful place to be.

Tip tap rain on my face,
Wonderful to me,
Cold air blowing at me like a flying bee,
This is the best place to be.

Fluttery soft flowers all around
Fluffy feeling to me
What is this cold feeling in April
Well this is the most amazing place to be."
Elizabeth, aged 9

The temperature in the creek now reads 14.7 deg C