Figure 1.--There are all kinds of spots at school where wildlife can be found. The natural history clun also organize trips off school grounds.
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Figure 1.--There are all kinds of spots at school where wildlife can be found. The natural history clun also organize trips off school grounds. |
The children tend to be very interested in nature, especially animals. The younger children in particular are fascinated by animals. There is also an interest in plant life, but it is the animals tht really intrague the children. Thus many schools have some kind of natural history activity or club. Some are more specialized such as bird watching clubs.
Bird watching has continued at Cley and locally this term, and our visits to the former have given us the opportunith od studying the continuous process of erosion on the shingle bank. This continues to move inland at about one metre a year, but there are plenty of marshes left behind it whichm with the careful management attention they are receiving from the Norfolk Naturalists Trust, continue to attract a magnificent variety of birds. This autumn has seen the return of the large numbers of Brent and Pink-Footed Geesr, and one Bewick's Swan was in evidence on a recent visit. Once gain the Eye is speckled with Golden Plover among the seemingly fearless wild rabbit population. All the usual varieties of duck abound, with the lovely Pintails much in evidence -- the pools and scrapes are teeming with birdlife and visitors are noticeably absent, now the darker and colder days are upon us.
WRNG, Surge (Beeston Hall), Autumn 1988.
It is obviously impossible to record all the plants and animals seen at Great Walstead over the last year in a short article, but here are a few of the most interesting observations. A grass snake was seen in September, 1986, and in October there was the first of several sightings of an albino cock pheasant. This year's records include: billfinch, tawny owl, greater spotted woodpecker, green wood pecker, nuthatch, treecreeper, and nightingale. The first swallow was seen on April 17 and the cuckoo was first heard on April 23. First sightings for butterflies are as follows:
April 2 brimstone and small tottoiseshell
April 18 comma
April 27 orange tip
May 5 speckled wood
May 7 small white
July 6 red admiral and white admiral
A fox was also seen on July 2. 33.53 inches of rain fll at Great Walstead in 1986: February was the driestmonth (0.37in.) and January was the wettest month (5.37in.). The minimum temperature was 20 degrees F in February and the maximum was 86degrees F in June.
JRW, Great Walstead Magazine 1987.
In th winter terms Mr. Austin Richardson took several group of boys to the Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge. In the summer term the group turned its attention to lepidoptera and Mr. Austin led several expeditions in search of butterflies and moths as well as supplying some of the keenest moth collectors with specimens from his trap at Orchard Cottage.
Beaudesert Park Magazine, Autumn 1978.
