The highlight of our camping trip was the 'hedgerow safari' at Beechenhill Farm, near Ilam, where we were joined by some more HE families.
Madi is not, by nature, a naturalist, but had a wonderful day from start to finish. Although normally nervous around dogs, not today...
The safari leader from OMSCo (Organic Milk Suppliers) was superb. He had arrived at the farm the night before, and set small mammal traps. Unfortunately it appears the small mammals at Beechenhill had grown wise to this and we didn't catch anything, but he showed the children skins of the voles and shrews we might have caught, as well as larger and better known animals such as red and grey squirrels, a hedgehog and even a badger...
We were then shown around the farm, and introduced to the various animals...
...and were given guides to help us identify many of the hedgerow plants.
Then, armed with our nets and pooters (plus some very large sheets of white card to help us spot the little critters) we went on our bug hunt.
We were invited in to the farmhouse gardens for our picnic lunch, with organic milk of course...
and they were pretty special gardens, with plenty to keep the children busy...
...then a nice long walk after lunch to spot Roman remains, and burn off those calories! 
No comments:
Post a Comment