On Tuesday the 31st of May at 8.45 pm we will have a bat walk in Rushmore Park, part of the Cranborne Chase AONB, with Jon Hayter, Estate Operations Manager and Roland Hughes, Chase & Chalke Ranger and Volunteer Coordinator. Sunset on that day will be at 9.10 pm so bring a torch! We will finish at about 10.45, it's a bit late for young people but most will be on half term so we hope you can make it!

We will slowly walk in and around Larmer Tree gardens and the woodland that surrounds them, stopping and listening. Jon will throw in a bit of history about the gardens, Pitt Rivers and the management of the estate as well as lots of bat facts.

As usual, we will have limited numbers to guarantee that everybody can listen to the guides. Young people <21 years old or small groups comprising young people <21 years old will be given priority but we will fill in the spaces with young-at-heart of any age if there are gaps.

Also as usual, all people under 21 years old and our members come free to our normal events; if you are above 21 years old and not a member, you can become one by paying £10 per year. If you would like to attend but are unsure about becoming a member, please pay £2 per event per person above 21 years old. 

We had a fantastic visit to UWNR last Saturday, you can have a look at our pictures and review on our Instagram.

If you missed this, you can get the book on the UWNR website. You can also find additional reading in this recently published piece that includes references to UWNR: Creating a New Eden — The Beautiful Truth. You may also want to watch this webinar
Rewilding Network Webinar - Smaller Scale Rewilding at Underhill Wood NR (vimeo.com). And if you want to keep up to date with the news from UWNR, get in touch with Jonathan to follow his blog.

This month, on the Saturday the 16th of April, starting at 10 am, we will have a guided visit to Underhill Wood Nature Reserve.

This is a private reserve in East Knoyle, owned by a very enthusiastic nature lover, Jonathan Thomson. He takes part in a fantastic programme of nature education, the John Muir Conservation Award, but also has a group of home education students coming to learn about nature at his reserve.

The reserve is worth a visit for its lake, barn owl boxes, woodlands, bird of prey feeding stations, beehives and a lovely education building full of animal tracks and signs. But also, you will perhaps find an opportunity to get (or your young people) involved. Also, you will get a discounted copy of Jonathan's book, "How to rewild" with lots of useful tips! Don't miss this rare opportunity!

We are already fully booked but we have a reserve list; if you are not already on our mailing list, get in touch to subscribe and find out about our events before they are published on our website. If you cannot make to this event, worry not as there are other interesting things nearby also happening this month (some of us will be there too!), such as the Wiltshire Bird Open Day on the 24th at Langford Lakes.

We had a fantastic hare walk in March. Come and have a look at some of the pictures on our social media! 

Thanks to all who braved the very cold wind and came to our walk to learn about the countryside walk, rights of way, and ways to be right!

You can have a look at some of the pictures on our social media.

Do you know the difference between a Footpath and a Bridleway, what Open Access Land is and how to find it, and what to do with gates you encounter on a walk? 

We are very grateful to the attendants of the hedge laying demonstration last Saturday, particularly to those who got stuck into it and gave us a hand! We will eventually lay all the hedge around the community orchard, creating a shorter but thicker and denser hedgerow, an ideal habitat for little animals. You can see some pictures of the event in our Facebook album.

We would like to invite all Young Nature Watchers to a hedge laying demonstration in Tisbury's community meadow on Saturday the 22nd of January at 2 pm.

Do you know what is hedge laying? Ok. No, hedge laying is not laying by a hedge (it's not the right time of the year for that!)

You will learn how hedge laying is an ancient technique that works both for creating natural boundaries (instead of fences) and for creating habitats for a diversity of wildlife (particularly useful for corridors for endangered species such as dormice and harvest mice); you may even have a chance at trying it yourself!

If you would like to attend, or think you might like to attend, contact us for more information.

Happy new year to all Young Nature Watchers!

We had a fantastic nut hunt last December, see our Facebook post (link) and one of the participants pictures on Instagram (link) to find out more about how it went.

Nut hunts are a superb way of helping wildlife charities and researchers tracking the presence/absence in specific areas of endangered species such as dormice. As it is a completely unintrusive survey method, you can be sure that you won't disturb any little critter and you won't need a license to look for nuts in the forest floor (most other ways of dormice surveying require a license). Find out more about nut hunts in the PTES website.

​We hope our nutty participants will put their new knowledge into practice in woodlands of their choice!

In December, we will have a nut hunt. We will be walking on a woodland owned by the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust looking for hazelnuts with teeth marks from wood mice, bank voles and dormice! These marks are visible with the naked eye but you are welcome to bring small magnifying lenses if you have any.