I survived!! After my web of wonder and other aforementioned events, I thought I had best get y’all up to speed with my latest adventures. And well … to bring myself up to speed too, because time’s just gone so fast!
After taking a few days holiday following the Robroyston C in the Park event, I dived straight back into the deep end on my return; helping my colleague Amanda with her community event in Falkirk, where I brought along a ‘butterfles on sticks’ game and Amanda taught me all about minibeasts!
I organised an event for just over 200 school children from Wester Common Primary, now known as High Park Primary since they moved into a new joint campus beside Ruchill Park. The full day comprised pond-dipping, planting wildflowers, a minibeast hunt and an art’s activity. I split the day into three with the morning reserved for primary 1, 2 and 3; late morning for primary 4 and 5 and the afternoon for primary 6 and 7. The park has two great ponds (which until now had never been knowingly dipped in since their creation), a wildflower meadow and lots of great habitat for wildlife.
I think it’s fantastic that the school have this park on their doorstep. I even managed to rope the countryside rangers in to help, and I am sure the school will be continuing to use the park like this in the future. The kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.
We found some great records for the site including an Azure Damsel fly, a Palmate newt and a Dragon fly larva.
During this year’s Glasgow Science Festival, I secured a spot for a TCV station at the Science Safari weekend in Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery (Sat 16th & Sun 17th July). There was an ‘explorers’ theme, and members of the public were given a map as they entered the museum, giving them opportunity to navigate the museum whilst taking part in activities such as making masks, kites, a bee hotel, and looking at Glasgow’s minibeasts. Other organisations such a RSPB, Amazonia and Glasgow Life were involved too. At each activity stall the public could collect a stamp, and after collecting 5 stamps they were able to collect a prize; an awesome Glasgow Science Festival badge! I invited my colleagues Amanda and Lucy, and thank goodness I had; I could not have done it without their help, thank you guys! On Saturday alone there were 1100 people and around 600 on the Sunday! One of the tables encouraged people to get involved in recording wildlife in Glasgow and to show people what lives in Glasgow’s parks and green spaces; the other hosted an art activity called “Name That Species” which involved children and adults looking at a specimen, drawing it, describing it and giving it a scientific name, just like explorers would have done in the victorian era. I helped them along the way by asking questions, such as; did they think it moved fast or slow? What did they think it ate? Where did they think it lived? The names they came up with were hilarious, but I it certainly had them thinking like scientists. Just to name a few; the ‘colourful beast’, the ‘green headed beetle’, the ‘leopard butterfly’, the ‘mosquito eater’, the ‘fast red beetle’, the ‘mut bug’ and what has to be my favourite ‘the skeleton beetle’. Lucy and I were both happy to let the minibeast stars free after their weekend in the spotlight.
If you want to get involved next year then check out their page at the following link;
I visited Byshot path with CHIP (the Children’s Inclusion Partnership) recently, and the difference in appearance in just a few weeks is amazing; it seems the yogurt painting is working, as Lichen and bits of Moss have started to grow. One of the children who regularly comes along took some picures with our cameras; it seems she is quite the budding photographer. Myself and CHIP have some great things planned for this space, and another brownfield site which CHIP have named Possil Meadow … keep your eyes peeled.
Before I go, have a wee look at my article published in the latest ‘biodiversity news’ in JNCC by defra. Yip it’s all about me 🙂
Defra – Glasgow City Council puts Conservation in the Community
Stay tuned!!
