Now summer has ended and we are heading into the colder months, the heath is beginning to look more autumnal. The trees are starting to lose their leaves and the heather and gorse are no longer in flower.
Following on from the Sand Lizard eggs being collected in August, we had 10 juveniles returned to us in September. These have been added to our enclosure by the Visitors’ Centre. Sand Lizards hibernate from October until March so our little ones will be burrowed down under the sand until next year.
Many of our migrant birds have flown to warmer climates so the rangers can now get back to doing conservation work on the heath. We are going to have a busy few months clearing pine and bracken before spring begins again.
During September we started up our volunteer sessions again. We were also joined by several corporate groups to help us clear invasive species such as Scots pine and rhododendron. Employees of Nationwide Building Society helped us clear an area of small pine behind the Visitor Centre.
We had a really successful Wildlife Day at the end of September, we had lots of families join us for what will hopefully become a yearly event. We had pond dips, bug hunts, animal tracking, crafts and our ever popular wildlife table.
At the start of October, we had the first session of a bonsai workshop course led by local bonsai enthusiasts. The course will have a total of 3 sessions at the end of which the students will have a bonsai pine to take home with them.
Looking forward to October half term, we have plenty of activities for families to enjoy and perhaps a scare or two along the way.
Don’t be surprised if you see the rangers on their hands and knees on the heath taking photos of all the emerging mushrooms. We are having a great time photographing and identifying these autumn beauties. Take a look yourself, you can’t mistake the fly agarics which are red and white looking like mushrooms from a fairy tale. You will find these all over the park especially in the more wooded areas.