College Lake (BBOWT Flagship Reserve)

Whilst in Hertfordshire visiting my grandparents, I was pleased to be able to visit College Lake and go on a guided walk with warden Owain and volunteer Graeme.  We saw pochard, dunnock, reed bunting, jay, kestrel, black headed gulls, peregrine falcon, tufted duck, widgeon, heron, gold finch, great tit, robin, green finch, long tailed tit, gadwall, snipe and more.  I learnt about the Robin's Pincushion and how the larvae of a tiny wasp lives inside.  

Badger latrine

Spindle tree

Owain, Graeme and me bird watching (photo taken by Mum)

Robin's Pincushion

A Focus On Nature

I'm excited to have joined A Focus On Nature and am listed as a young conservationist on their website.

Check out my biography here.

Tom Moorhouse water vole talk

Really enjoyed going to the talk about water voles by Tom Moorhouse at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.  Thank you to the Oxon Mammal Group for organising it.  I learnt that Pringles tubes are good for handling water voles.  Water voles are prey for foxes, herons, owls, stouts, weasels and pike.  Sadly their numbers are decreasing because of habitat loss and the American mink.  I have been lucky to see water voles before and hope to see them again next year.

This is not my photo

Signing my books

Radley Lakes on a sunny afternoon

I met friends at Radley Lakes for a walk on Sunday.  I enjoyed photographing fungi, autumn leaves and birds.

Harvest Mouse Training

This was my first visit to Chimney Meadows nature reserve.  I attended a harvest mouse training session organised by the Oxon Mammals Group.  Derek Crawley from the Mammal Society taught us how to find the nests and then we searched in the margins of a field.  I was pleased to find a nest (with a little help!).  Altogether 60 nests were found on that day.  I look forward to finding more in the future.