On Friday 31 January 2025, FOAF member Bart welcomed children from St Marty’s and St Benedict’s schools to Abbey Fields for the first Nature Day of 2025. This followed a week of heavy rain and blustery weather.
Bart said, “We had drizzling rain on the Friday morning before the event in the afternoon. However, I know there’s no point in asking if the children are still coming. Mrs Macdonald’s comment would be, ‘There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes!’”
The children arrived on the dot at 1:15, all waving from the minivan with great excitement and expectations. They had all heard about this special visit to Abbey Fields and wanted to experience it for themselves. Tabards on and instructions shared, the party started its trail.
While trees had previously been the focus of attention, the theme for this visit was ‘the first signs of Spring’. Although some trees were certainly recognisable by their twigs.
What did we discover?
- Lots of snowdrops particularly in the church yard.
- The green shoots of daffodils. Small number only.
- One or two crocuses, again in the churchyard .
- Fresh reeds on the lake side.
Identifiable twigs included Oak, Ash, Copper Beech and Lime.
The moles had been very active again as evidenced by the number of molehills.
Two large oaks had been felled recently and their ages were assessed as 99 and 166 from the number of ‘rings’ counted.
The children discussed how important the bulrush has been over the centuries, not only in protecting baby Moses, but in all the different ways the plant has been used as a food or for practical purposes.
The highlights of the trip were bird feeding and the play area! Predominantly Mallards and seagulls with only one moorhen sighted and our resident, majestic pair of swans. And, of course, how could we forget ‘Pooh sticks’?
A great time was had by all!