Although I am sorry that it may be that we are unable to accommodate everyone who wished to join us for pond dipping this Easter I am pleased to update this blog post with the news that all 13 of the sessions offered have now been booked.
The number of events and places were limited by necessity so when they are gone, they are gone, but I can’t emphasise enough how great it is to be able to offer guided events again and engage directly with our visitors to facilitate their connection with nature again. No further events are planned for this holiday but keep your eyes and ears open for more pond dipping sessions and other activities to follow over the weekends of the coming next few weeks and months.
An “adult only” pond dipping event a couple of years ago
Readers of this blog will be aware that we recommenced some limited face to face education delivery last month with the introduction of “socially distant family pond dipping” with great success and fantastic feedback.
Most children are of course now back at school but I have just updated our Eventbrite listings with more pond dipping event sessions to take place over the next couple of months and they are “re-branded” to encourage our older (& wiser?!) visitors to take part.
“Pond dipping & wildlife identification” events/sessions, follow an identical format to those of the family pond dips: one hour duration, including an introduction to, & demonstration of, the equipment provided, before we leave you to discover the wealth of freshwater wildlife hiding beneath the surface of the pond. We will of course remain on hand and available to help you with the identification and/or answer any questions you might have about your catch or ponds generally, although always from a safe social distance.
Suitable for an individual or small group of adults interested in wildlife as well as being a lovely way to spend time as a family, bookings are for one bubble at a time to enable social distancing (now up to a maximum of 6 people in line with the recently revised instruction from Government).
Clean disinfected, equipment is provided for each session, in between each of which the bench tops are also cleaned down with disinfectant.
Although the Centre remains closed we do of course now have portaloo’s available for visitor use and you will also be able to use our “tippy-tap” hand washing station adjacent to the pond to wash your hands during and after the activity 😉
Bookings must be made by Eventbrite using the links below:
Depending upon how much take up there is, more dates will be added, details of which will be added to Eventbrite as well as the Trusts Event pages on the website.
Every year I am asked why we just do events for children and, in particular, why we don’t do pond dipping for adults, and every year I explain that we do – so I will particularly draw your attention to “Pond and River Dipping for Adults” on April Saturday 8th , 2pm – 4pm and July Wednesday 18th, 7pm – 9pm, as well as Bob’s “Mid-Summer Bugs“, guided walk with an invertebrate focus on June Thursday 21st, 2-4pm!
Most events, including these three, require booking in advance – email blashfordlakes@hiwwt.org.uk or call 01425 472760 and leave your name, contact details (a mobile number is always handy for last minute hiccups if you do book by email) and how many places you require.
See you soon!
Pond dipping – not just for children! Images by Rex Waygood
Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve 