Yesterday’s Bird Trail, run in conjunction with Hampshire Ornithological Society was a huge success, with approximately 80 children and young people aged 6 to 18 and 16 adults taking part in the newly resurrected event here at Blashford Lakes.
Eight teams, including Wildlife Watch and Wildlife Explorer groups, our Young Naturalists, a Beaver Colony, Wellow School and a group headed by Christchurch Harbour Ornithologial Group took up the challenge, following a set route around the reserve, visiting a number of hides and spotting as many different bird species as they could.
To make sure there was enough to keep everyone busy and we weren’t all trying to visit the same hides at the same time, we were joined by a static display of birds of prey courtesy of Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre, a bird ringing demonstration by BTO ringers Brenda, Kevin and Jack from the Christchurch Harbour Ornitholigical Group and pond and river dipping, owl pellet dissection, moth trap “rummaging” and a tree fact and identification trail run by our very lovely Trust staff and volunteers.
Each team was joined by an expert HOS volunteer birder, with more stationed in the hides ready to point eager eyes in the direction of some great sightings. The final scores were incredibly close, with first place going to Bartley Water (Stanley’s Own) Beaver Colony for spotting a whopping 56 species, second to the Titchfield Haven Wildlife Explorers and third to the Havant Wildlife Watch Group, followed closely by our very own Young Naturalists and Blashford Wildlife Watch groups, with 51 and 49 species recorded respectively. A fun filled bird spotting time was had by all!
Here are a few photos I took whilst out with our Young Naturalists and our very knowledgeable HOS volunteer Mike:
Poppy bird spotting from the Woodland Hide
Our Young Naturalists watching a Kingfisher on Ivy Silt Pond
Kestrel, one of the many birds of prey in the static display provided by Liberty’s, a definite hit with everyone
We were joined by HOS President Chris Packham, who very kindly gave up his time to speak to the children at the end of the event, award prizes and join in with team photos:
Our Young Naturalists ‘Great Grey Shrike’ Team, with volunteer Nigel, HOS volunteer Mike and Chris Packham, taken by Amanda Boss
We would just like to say a huge thank you to Dr. Patricia Brown (HOS volunteer), Dawn O’Malley (HIWWT Education Officer) and of course Jim (Education Officer at Blashford Lakes) for all the hard work they put in to organising the event and making it happen, along with all the Wildlife Trust and HOS volunteers who joined us on the day, running some of the activities, accompanying groups on the trail and staking out the bird hides to make sure we all saw as many species as we could!
Thank you to Chris Packham, HOS President, for giving up his afternoon and joining everyone involved for a finishing ceremony, prize giving and photos.
Thanks also to BTO ringers Brenda, Kevin and Jack, Liberty’s Owl, Raptor and Reptile Centre for their static display and the following sponsors for supporting the event:
In Focus, Christchurch Harbour Ornitholigical Group, Pearsons Estate Agents and Hampshire Swifts.
We’re already looking forward to Bird Trail 2017!!
Blashford Lakes Nature Reserve 