Another splendid event down in Tawd Valley Park this weekend. This event saw FoTV, the WLBC Ranger Service and members of the local community come together to discover what wild animals, birds and insects call the valley their home.
The group began their adventure near to the Tawd Vale Allotment site and were given a brief introduction by WLBC Ranger Chris Horsfall. Chris explained what wildlife we were likely to see and what habitat the wildlife could be found in.
Everyone then headed down to the community fruit orchard and newly finished community meeting place to explore what insects live in the wild flowers and grasses that blanket the area.
The younger members of our group had a try at catching some creepy crawlies in the bug nets that Ranger Chris had provided for the day. Chris showed them the most affective technique used in getting the best results and then the children went off and practiced it for themselves. They got some fantastic results. Two buzzards circled overhead before being chased off by a solitary crow.
After finishing up at the orchard, the gang headed down towards the valley bottom and into the woods. Here Ranger Chris talked about the various plants that inhabited the woodland floor, the trees that grew above them and the bird life that flew and chatted amongst them.
The heavens started to open and rain began to fall, but we tried to not let it dampen our spirits as the troop plodded on into the Summer Street Wildflower Meadow. Here the children conducted more bug netting exercises, while Chris very knowledgably identified the insects that the children were bringing over in their nets.
This brought us to the end of the guided walk and the group circled back passed the new MTB trail, up Summer Street and to where we started the event.
FoTV would like to thank you to everyone who came to support the event and making it a success and give a massive thank you to Ranger Chris for providing us with an thoroughly entertaining and educational guided walk. We really hope you had a great afternoon with us.
