Can you spot this amazing creature featured on the Woodland Trust site as one of ten strange creatures?
Known as a Water Bear or Moss Piglet this eight-legged creature can survive in outer space! They feed on small insects and can grow up to 1.5mm in length. Amazingly they always have the same number of cells in their bodies meaning that their cells just get bigger as they grow rather than dividing to increase in size.
Look for them in damp places, stone walls where there are mosses and lichens.
This week is National Insect Week so perhaps we should get outside and start looking for some insects.
There is absolutely loads of information at THIS site including videos, discovery pages, free booklet/magazine and so much more so why not take a look?
How about seeing how many ladybirds you can find? This sheet will help.
And finally why not make an insect home?
These are a few in my garden but THIS * site has some great instructions on how you can make your own.
Today's random act of wildness is a creative one. Make a fairy plate. Find lots of natural and colourful items and present them as a wonderful plate of food, just like Ready, Steady Cook.
Here are some made by children in the autumn so it would be wonderful to see some summer examples.
If you would like to find out more about the magical and mysterious wild world then this is a great book to get you started.
With chapters on Elves and Fairies, Monsters,Mythical Beasts, Mermaids and Giants it will even tell you how to make your own bottle of dragon's blood there are 100's of activities to keep you entertained in the outdoors in a wonderfully colourful book. Find out more at @goingwildnet on Twitter and www.goingwild.net
So how did yesterday go? Did you manage to identify a wildflower?
Here are some buttercups, always a favourite sight to see a field full of yellow while out walking.
Today's random act of wildness challenge is to begin a wild treasure collection. Some people like to collect and press wildflowers, others bones, feathers, fossils, fir cones but what will you find to collect?
For me it has to be going to the beach scouring the shore for an interesting shell or a hag stone. Here are a few objects I've found. The black one is an egg case of a fish called a skate.
Today's random act of wildness is to identify a wildflower. You may have some in your garden or you may spot some on a walk. Collect as much information about it as you can. Look at the leaves and the flowers, its height. Make a sketch or take a few photos then search a spotter guide or look online.
My favourite guide is the one below. It asks questions and you follow the trail through the book to find the flower. Some guides work by using the colour of the flower. It only cost a few pence second hand from an online seller.
If you can't find a guide here is a limited spotting sheet to help out.
Today down by the pond a lively mouse and a pigeon.
How did you do yesterday with identifying wild sounds? I think I managed a pigeon, a magpie and a robin.
If you didn't get a chance watch and listen to the video below and see what you can hear.
And how about this for a noisy character. Usually so quiet in the garden but definitely was not happy with me on this occasion.
Today's challenge for a random act of wildness is to see how many bees you can identify. Even though it's not so sunny they are still about. To help you out download the identification sheet you can see below. The link is HERE.
Have fun 😀
Update: Down by the pond some activity the other night. Can you spot the little fellow?
Yesterday's random act of wildness was to watch the clouds and use your imagination.
Here's my attempt at putting drawings to the clouds:-
I've mentioned in a previous post about having a pond in the garden to attract wildlife. This video is from the first day keeping watch on the wildlife that made it to the pond area in the garden.
The Wildlife Trusts and RHS also have a super free booklet about making a small pond in your garden so if you are interested you can read about it HERE and download a free booklet.
Today's random act of wildness challenge is to listen for wild sounds. How many can you hear? If you get the chance to hear some bird calls try to identify the bird and its song. Just learning one builds your connection to nature.
They existed on this plant before the times of the dinosaurs and have merged into human folklore and mysticism over time.
Science now tells us that trees are sociable, live in families and have ways to communicate and protect each other.
They can be ancient living for over a thousand years. They change with the seasons, provide food, are homes for many creatures and are one of our most valuable industrial resources.
They are critical to the planet, they take carbon dioxide and give out oxygen keeping the planet healthy.
The Forest School and wider grounds have many trees connecting us with past uses of the site. The oldest trees are about 200 years old and remind us of the time they stood in the grounds of Gilbertstone House which stretched all the way down to where Birmingham International Airport currently can be found. Others tell of when the school was opened or the school eco days and more recently planting of saplings from the Woodland Trust.
So why not begin to find out about the history of the trees in your garden or local street or park.
To find out how old a tree is you can count the rings but this has the problem of having to cut the tree down.
There is an easier way fortunately. All you need is a long piece of string and a tape measure or if you have one a flexible tape measure.
Measure around the tree trunk about 1.4m above the ground. Next decide where your tree is. If in a wooded area divide your number by 1.25. If it is in open space divide by 2.5. the answer gives you an approximate age for the tree. So if you find a tree in open space and the measurement round the trunk is 350 cm 350÷2.5=140 years old. See here for help sheet Why not make a timeline for your tree can you find key historical events that have happened during the life of your tree. Was it in your garden when your house was built? Did it see the first person walk on the moon? Was it alive in the time of Queen Victoria? If you want help to identify what type of tree you are looking at see this sheet or this poster. Please note this activity is for deciduous trees - those that lose their leaves in winter. Acknowledgements: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben, Tree from seed to mighty forest David Burnie, Photos from Walking in Paradise Photography.
