​On Saturday 1 May, Debbie Carter will be leading a water vole survey on the banks of the River Nadder.

Of course this will be COVID-safe.  

Young people under 21 have priority for YNW events but adults are also welcome if numbers allow.   If you'd like to join, email youngtnhs@gmail.com

 Some of you may have already seen the announcement on Facebook, that at the invitation of Gareth Harris, Ines wrote a piece for the Wiltshire Mammal Group newsletter, which can be read here

​You'll find the article on page 9 - if you get there, because there are lots of lovely articles in the newsletter on your way there. Ines writes about the YNW Harvest Mouse Nest Survey and the Owl Pellet day.

You can view and download this year's programme of activities here.

 - and don't we need those!  

YNH celebrates the first day of Spring on Sunday, 21 March by getting down to earth with a Toad Patrol on Swallowcliffe Down.

I love my toads!  Very much welcome in my garden, seeing off slugs both great and small as in this photo.  I realised why that excellent dish Toad in the Hole was so named, when I found one hunkered down in his hole at the base of a rose.

For details of that event and all the rest up to February 2022! the full programme is here.  Don't forget that adults are also very welcome, although numbers can be limited and Young Nature Watchers will therefore have priority.  But contact Ines on youngtnhs@gmail.com - nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Have a great year!

January is famously catch-up time for sins of omission the previous year and I can only apologise and indeed regret, that I didn't publish these lovely photos that were entered for the photography competition in November.  

Above are Izzy's winning photo on the left, and Shona's runner-up on the right.  Below are two more entries, from Reuben on the left, and Lydia on the right.

I don't envy the judges their task, I think they're all lovely!

For a little more detail of each stage, see next post below.

​We wish you a happy new year and we would like to invite you to our first activity this year, which will be a partly guided, partly self-guided, twig ID competition during the second half of the month. Please note that you can participate in different ways and you can attend only some of the numbered steps below if you wish so.

#1. Training session: Online (Zoom), Saturday 16th January 10-10.30 am. We will teach you how to identify key tree or shrub species in winter. We will have a handout to complement the session and for those who are interested but cannot make it. We will set up a challenge for you to complete for #2.

#2. Self-guided twig hunt: With the help of the resources we will provide you with, you are welcome to undertake a twig hunt at a location of your choice (remember, if you are going out of your garden, this needs to be part of your daily time out for exercise) anytime between the 16th and the 31st of January (before #3).

#3. ID verification session: Once you have collected your twigs for the challenge, join us on another online (Zoom) session on the 31st Sunday 4-5 pm to have your twigs verified. We will select a winner for the competition.
​
If you are interested in this, please email youngtnhs@gmail.com so that Ines can send you the relevant information, and don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

Our Owl Pellet Dissection workshop on 13 December was a great success - go to our Facebook page for more details and photos of that.

As you can imagine, we had to transform our events into something appropriate to the new government regulations. However, this didn't mean we cancelled them! 

Our Autumn leaves and fungi walk, was transformed it into a self-guided walk. The plan was to take lots of pictures of fungi and share them with us afterwards! 

​For photos of winning entries go to our Facebook page.

As always, contact Ines at youngtnhs@gmail.com if you need help.