tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7350728407881654312024-03-23T12:04:24.771+00:00A year of my nature huntingA North Yorkshire nature addict. I'm always looking for new things and love learning about the world around us. This is my account of my explorations and experiences. Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.comBlogger501125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-64414811898120370932019-07-14T22:11:00.003+01:002019-07-15T09:32:57.986+01:00Post 499 - Promoting positive parks at Parliament & Pollinator PapparazziHey everyone,<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7Dx-i2hQOGCZG2IXpApWMjyuazhiujtRlE7tOodd-ZmZeBtA8QF2DnTRnch_G-TtWb_dKgumlXlseGp6J2TxUwjFjxdtdoaCsnEebRW0m1Fzbp9cn1NnG_lkhqlny8CLE_ubhv32TTE/s1600/IMG_6030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7Dx-i2hQOGCZG2IXpApWMjyuazhiujtRlE7tOodd-ZmZeBtA8QF2DnTRnch_G-TtWb_dKgumlXlseGp6J2TxUwjFjxdtdoaCsnEebRW0m1Fzbp9cn1NnG_lkhqlny8CLE_ubhv32TTE/s320/IMG_6030.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An historic reformer <br />
acknowledged outside<br />
Parliament</td></tr>
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Been a while since I did a blog, for lots of reasons, but thought I ought to do a post as I had an amazing opportunity this week and have some events coming up that I'm really looking forward to.<br />
<br />
I'm lucky enough to be a part of the #iwill campaign as an #iwill ambassador. It's particularly good to be part of it this year as it is also the #Yearof GreenAction. One of the many partners this year is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2019/02/post-495-iwill4nature-epic-launch.html">I was proud to be a part of the #yearofgreenaction launch earlier in the year</a>.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Gardiner of Kimble and me</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DG2cVP1EATDtcoiayo9-n3W5t_KRHI9UvSuBViqqrxcJ1YuV6Yn6RG85Xu1bqZM8ru2laqRNy-PLXNKVUMM2Rb0HMuMwBECZAm3DD2qFxQN5fhlVp9V9mbWUfGlPj45WuTGGcGlxe3k/s1600/IMG_6006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DG2cVP1EATDtcoiayo9-n3W5t_KRHI9UvSuBViqqrxcJ1YuV6Yn6RG85Xu1bqZM8ru2laqRNy-PLXNKVUMM2Rb0HMuMwBECZAm3DD2qFxQN5fhlVp9V9mbWUfGlPj45WuTGGcGlxe3k/s320/IMG_6006.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A modern day reformer - I was really <br />
struck by the silent determination<br />
of this guy protesting outside<br />
Parliament.</td></tr>
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The <a href="https://www.iwill.org.uk/">#iwill campaign</a> promotes youth social action and provides the ambassadors with lots of opportunities to promote what young people are doing and encourage more to take social action and get involved in issues that matter. This week I had one of those opportunities and I was invited to speak at the Campaign For National Parks - Park Protector Awards (see <a href="https://www.cnp.org.uk/news/people-making-our-glorious-countryside-better-place-celebrated-national-awards">here</a> and <a href="https://www.cnp.org.uk/news/outstanding-achievement-national-park-projects-celebrated-time-crisis-our-countryside">here</a>) which was held at the House of Commons. It was great to get involved and to hear about some amazing projects that are happening in some of our most special and treasured landscapes. It was great to meet up with lots of people, some new faces and some I'd only connected with on twitter (Hi Jo, Jeff!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord Gardiner presenting the People<br />
& the Dales project with their award.</td></tr>
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I didn't have a lot of time (and rather went over my scheduled two minutes - sorry :-), but I was able to make the point that while it is brilliant that our National Parks are incredible assets, and that they have had a massive role in connecting many people, including me, to nature and our countryside, there is a lot more still to be done. You can see the speech below which Dad recorded. One sound bite picked up on from my speech is that I think they need to do more to be open to everyone and every species. This is something that is a bit controversial but my home county is one of the worst for raptor persecution and even as I was giving this speech news was breaking of River, a Hen Harrier who's body was found on a Nidderdale moor part of a shooting estate - all the indications are it was illegally shot.<br />
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<br />
This is just one area where more could be done and we have so much space I find it hard to believe we can't make room for raptors and other species. I also mention Beavers, and I'm really pleased that they are back in North Yorkshire and doing what they do, slowing the flow of water from our uplands to villages and communities that have suffered flooding.<br />
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It was great to have the chance to speak so a big thank you to #iwill, Defra, and the Campaign for National Parks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhp9se1d8kUpZLKWDksB8XeRd1cQUGpm2nb7A6VelCX4z-8rqrEALy8cMrPEpDs99NpPnWyZpknkhN4CVCzZKCLKn3br50iHoS87PImrtB-m_IGWkRpwy5EXrtLQLFxrMJ2qikwg0uatM/s1600/image4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhp9se1d8kUpZLKWDksB8XeRd1cQUGpm2nb7A6VelCX4z-8rqrEALy8cMrPEpDs99NpPnWyZpknkhN4CVCzZKCLKn3br50iHoS87PImrtB-m_IGWkRpwy5EXrtLQLFxrMJ2qikwg0uatM/s200/image4.jpeg" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkV6pIn2Xv3z3u7agcwdQ9X85xbtjeQ__FaiOiHupvzICnspOeOJoXuDGFR846cDTaabI9G0xsfZ0aPxaO09HGz-vqx86jx6Moz_geCNTcj37Gd7o0Qe5u5Wj_m2hdBW7vulVEyJfdHk/s1600/image3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghkV6pIn2Xv3z3u7agcwdQ9X85xbtjeQ__FaiOiHupvzICnspOeOJoXuDGFR846cDTaabI9G0xsfZ0aPxaO09HGz-vqx86jx6Moz_geCNTcj37Gd7o0Qe5u5Wj_m2hdBW7vulVEyJfdHk/s200/image3.jpeg" width="150" /></a>In my talk as well I mentioned something I have coming up that I'm looking forward to, and that is the chance to run some smart phone photography workshops in Nidderdale. This is courtesy of<a href="https://www.growwilduk.com/"> Kew's Grow Wild </a>project and supported by another project I'm involved with as a youth patron - <a href="https://nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/about-us/nidderdale-aonb-projects/the-wild-watch/">The Wild Watch.</a> The idea is to get more people appreciating the importance of our wild flowers and it's a great chance to get more young people appreciating our wildlife and the landscapes they live in.<br />
<br />
I decided on a photography workshop as it's something I do quite a bit of! I thought I'd use smartphones as most people (or their parents) have them and it would be good to use phones to connect people to nature. Often they are seen as part of a problem of people being disconnected from the real world with their constant access to email and social media etc. so I wanted people to see how they can be used to help - I will try and squeeze in a bit of phone based citizen science as well if I can :-)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CVKZzJhkEXNAlckAe8BAj6m8hoyTRTM580RT59rpnliWrBIoC7LXrfU8heqLZ1rv43tnkpHtxR-INrh6G9Cm2O62QMdCCLv8A1V_31laUX92548JGX4S3zvd_hkX0lDqy60UEgcs6lU/s1600/image5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6CVKZzJhkEXNAlckAe8BAj6m8hoyTRTM580RT59rpnliWrBIoC7LXrfU8heqLZ1rv43tnkpHtxR-INrh6G9Cm2O62QMdCCLv8A1V_31laUX92548JGX4S3zvd_hkX0lDqy60UEgcs6lU/s200/image5.jpeg" width="150" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jvvl_Si0eqx8xn3c5Pfd9PU0gN95BkylbQBXQECjjqg8oQ4pHjloGUhcrBGB5h0KsGPm9R3mQKJJ7s3NHVftM8yVCB5YciuQ_zdtD0L1_FU2dv92QzGwghj_pU-0igEMxNvxJBZ4EwY/s1600/image2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_jvvl_Si0eqx8xn3c5Pfd9PU0gN95BkylbQBXQECjjqg8oQ4pHjloGUhcrBGB5h0KsGPm9R3mQKJJ7s3NHVftM8yVCB5YciuQ_zdtD0L1_FU2dv92QzGwghj_pU-0igEMxNvxJBZ4EwY/s200/image2.jpeg" width="150" /></a>Any how, I had a little try out of the clip-on macro lenses that will be part of the workshops around my garden - I don't think the results are too bad!<br />
<br />
If you live in the Nidederdale/North Yorkshire area or know some young people (5-11 year olds) that would like to tale part, the events are on the 5th and 12th August and are free. You can book at place at:<br />
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/goog_1057783396"><br /></a>
<a href="https://nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/event/pollinator-paparazzi-1/">https://nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/event/pollinator-paparazzi-1/</a><br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed.<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
<br />
<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-63334631695575117182019-04-28T20:08:00.000+01:002019-04-28T20:08:43.501+01:00Post 498 - A review and a thank youHey everyone, this is one of those posts that is a little overdue, a post where I want to thank someone for lots of support since my very early days of blogging and for a lovely gift.<br />
<br />
There are lots of people I've met through my blog, virtually and some in real life, and it is very hard to say just how much everyone has inspired and supported me over the years. All the little comments on the blog or on twitter, little snippets of encouragement have meant so much to me. Some people have been very generous with their knowledge as I've been growing my own understanding of the natural world.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCojwnF_sA49gIsdPp3jiqvCJymDsOFa2HzOTDfXugmh06R-J0_Zs84gSj4Z4XM8TT4kDsCZu7cKqjGUkq06o_ZfQN6aBjayF_Okf_7ykhbSzNoKQ1ay8zE9zgcllOsX2p-zh2Zq2yD50/s1600/DDL+book+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCojwnF_sA49gIsdPp3jiqvCJymDsOFa2HzOTDfXugmh06R-J0_Zs84gSj4Z4XM8TT4kDsCZu7cKqjGUkq06o_ZfQN6aBjayF_Okf_7ykhbSzNoKQ1ay8zE9zgcllOsX2p-zh2Zq2yD50/s320/DDL+book+%25282%2529.jpg" width="295" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birdwatching London will be in my bag when I<br />
visit the capital!</td></tr>
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One of these people who I've yet to meet is <a href="https://twitter.com/birdbrainuk">David Darrell-Lamber</a>t and today I want to thank him.<br />
<br />
David has been very supportive as long as I can remember. Lots of nice comments and tweets and always willing to help with a bird ID if I've been struggling. We've tried to arrange meets ups a few times but somehow our paths have never quite crossed.<br />
<br />
Recently, well in honestly a little while ago now, I got a DM from David offering to send me a copy of his book - Birdwatching London. Well, I'm from Yorkshire so it's hard to turn down "owt for nowt" so I gladly accepted his generous offer.<br />
<br />
What a lovely book. It's almost pocket sized so it's easy to take on a trip and I'll be making sure I have it whenever I head down to London. In the book David covers 38 sites around the capital where you can do some good bird watching. I don't get to London that often so it's really useful for someone like me to know where I can go to escape the hustle and bustle and get a bit of a nature fix. Through this book I've learnt there's even a little nearby space to visit if I've a bit of time to spare when I'm waiting for a train - though I have to wait until next year now as they're building a new visitor centre at <a href="https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/reserves/camley-street-natural-park">LWT - Camley Street Natural Park</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI9ZOZ1YgAg0p99y96MBSiRnuLrOTRkjtOIJDFZQFja8fJ9QxJdDqxOoNNay-u9Sok-GZAWR-sXis9UipOQ16TkWXh5LkQWIn4K0AOTQiLqgfw0RJkrZnhe8rTpAoALZw4nntWxGmwWo/s1600/kewparakeet.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1195" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqI9ZOZ1YgAg0p99y96MBSiRnuLrOTRkjtOIJDFZQFja8fJ9QxJdDqxOoNNay-u9Sok-GZAWR-sXis9UipOQ16TkWXh5LkQWIn4K0AOTQiLqgfw0RJkrZnhe8rTpAoALZw4nntWxGmwWo/s320/kewparakeet.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the Landmark London Bird for me -<br />
always like to see these exotic beauties when I visit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The main part of the book is a description of 37 different sites across London and one easily accessed coastal site from the capital at Southend-on-sea. It's published in association with the London Wildlife Trust and it's got all the information you need to be able to find the sites. I like that it doesn't provide Grid References and the best places to park like my Yorkshire Wildlife Trust guide does for its reserve, instead it tells you the nearest tube stations. That just underlined a couple of differences between home and London to me, the difference in scale and public transport! David describes each site, a little about its history, and what you can see where at each site covering seasonal changes too.<br />
<br />
In between the site write-ups are features on Landmark London Birds, species such as Peregrine Falcon, King Fisher, Ring Necked Parakeet. These little added inclusions are lovely and tell you a bit about each species, a bit about their history in the capital, sometimes a bit about David's personal experience of that species or how best to find them.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3KwDKcIAZ2o8zfE8VCAerzRwcPr-uFKL6vDNgMFqah0q5_lk_ZHTGneCD-snwHzefce_NRzyACwpkX_YvUfZ3YKhThHpVZt4h2zKoERcYRJcLJDB39Ii_ETdL7ShJp4rlOmqzjCW5Vk/s1600/DDL+book+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1419" data-original-width="1500" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA3KwDKcIAZ2o8zfE8VCAerzRwcPr-uFKL6vDNgMFqah0q5_lk_ZHTGneCD-snwHzefce_NRzyACwpkX_YvUfZ3YKhThHpVZt4h2zKoERcYRJcLJDB39Ii_ETdL7ShJp4rlOmqzjCW5Vk/s320/DDL+book+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks David - and I'm sure I will!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The book has lots of wonderful photos by David too including species I never thought you'd see in London such as Bittern and Avocet.<br />
<br />
So thank you David for all your kind words and support whilst I've been blogging and discovering nature. Thank you too for the wonderful book which I will enjoy and will make sure I use when I visit London.<br />
<br />
If you'd like to do the same you can pick up a copy here - <a href="https://www.nhbs.com/birdwatching-london-book">https://www.nhbs.com/birdwatching-london-book</a><br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-38958695789513379812019-03-31T19:57:00.000+01:002019-03-31T19:57:25.139+01:00Post 497 - More Power to the Young People - Young Forces of NatureHey everyone, as i mentioned <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2019/03/post-496-power-to-young-people.html">in my last post </a>I said I'd post up the content of an article I wrote for New Nature a little while ago now just outlining some of the ways you can help nature when you're not old enough to vote, so here it is...<br />
<br />
<a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/15ec9b_4c696dc4fcd44c5aaad8b0e1a566b828.pdf">Young Forces of Nature - New Nature - Issue 19 - June 2018</a><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5_t7kko-r_dCvpv0xKNuEnUsRvgR50doexduhvZBUbhGfftju6NjczFBXvE_pp-uoQmYRQYgZCuaRcwWvhoKP-YGg3q3P7hfsvpoUW7AOjFPeO_l6Dfwsky0N41rotujhQp995vnnqo/s1600/IMG_0431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL5_t7kko-r_dCvpv0xKNuEnUsRvgR50doexduhvZBUbhGfftju6NjczFBXvE_pp-uoQmYRQYgZCuaRcwWvhoKP-YGg3q3P7hfsvpoUW7AOjFPeO_l6Dfwsky0N41rotujhQp995vnnqo/s320/IMG_0431.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nature is incredible and needs our help!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p>Do you sometimes sit at school frustrated by others in the
class trying to make fun of your love of nature? Ever heard the argument that
young people are only interested in celebrities, computer games or social
media? Do all the reports of wildlife declines and habitat disappearing concern
you?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what do you do when you have to be in school, you’re not
old enough to vote or to work, but you’re passionate about our natural world?
How can we change perceptions of young people? How can young people help
wildlife?</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
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<br /></div>
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Sometimes it takes a little help but I’ve found there are
lots of ways that people my age can get involved and make a difference. All of
the things I’ll talk about here I’ve done since I was about ten, and I only
turned fourteen (fifteen now!) this spring. I think anyone with a passion for nature could do
similar things, and for the sake of our natural world I’d say that they should.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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So what sort of things am I on about? <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Technology.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Well let’s start with technology. Yes, it’s true. Young
people like computers and computer games. Me too. It’s very hard to escape them
unless you’re a hermit. Whilst I like the weeks when I go on holiday and get
away from technology for a while, we have to use it. It is such a powerful
tool. I wouldn’t be communicating with you right now without it. For me tools
such as blogging and twitter opened up contact with a big range of nature loving
people and organisations, just simply through sharing my passion and the things
I would see on my walks. So a really easy thing to do is to use technology to
tell other people all about your passion, share information about the places
and species that you love. The mainstream media is so full of dull, miserable
or worrying news that I found people really liked simple positive stories about
someone young exploring the world. Sharing your stories on social media may
help to inspire your friends too – The Wildlife Trust’s 30 days Wild is a
perfect way to start this type of thing as they suggest lots of easy ways to
get out and connect with nature.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkOo7o3AjuMRDYevHBi3xmoQaRFHNGlk8LxSqhnOPvd5kVT3kubXyvyiLAySzZYhmCXkVqeB-HHLqFB-_PsWvPUU0Nln9VUjxzpEWaiLSKCCk91-gAuDSfKkqjsLFWcgTJpCu7bXc1nU/s1600/b5+-+comma.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1333" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTkOo7o3AjuMRDYevHBi3xmoQaRFHNGlk8LxSqhnOPvd5kVT3kubXyvyiLAySzZYhmCXkVqeB-HHLqFB-_PsWvPUU0Nln9VUjxzpEWaiLSKCCk91-gAuDSfKkqjsLFWcgTJpCu7bXc1nU/s320/b5+-+comma.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taken on a phone - well, I didn't have much choice!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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To make the most of blogging and twitter you probably want
to do a bit of photography too. You don’t need lots of expensive gear unless
you really get into it. Phones on cameras work well for lots of things. I’ve
had some really nice sunset shots from my phone. Flowers and insects are good
subjects for phone cameras too. You can get clip on lenses too which are quite
cheap and can give great macro shots. Photos really help to get nature in front
of people and encourage them to appreciate and protect it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Citizen Science<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a big thing now. It’s important, simple to do and again
most of the time a smart phone is all that you need to use. You can download
apps to take part in projects like the Great British Bee Count and help
scientists understand what is happening to our bee populations. You just use
the app to identify bees and record where you saw them. Froglife have a
Dragonfinder app to record all things reptilian and Butterfly Conservation have
one for their Big Butterfly Count.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apps
like iRecord will let you log anything you find too. Contributing to projects
like these will help us to know what needs most help.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuGCypfDZtJbtbOeegP5LCU-ng4-QjgUu_1kUaK03TNIwQNKjJ6Y2M-V82lV2g0eboAY47Jp9ixapbczV5zOUTIt4m8fm8wzoAMryXOduLeW0GizJkVB4uvB1e_Ndg1b431w-RY2ShOE/s1600/IMG_0842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuGCypfDZtJbtbOeegP5LCU-ng4-QjgUu_1kUaK03TNIwQNKjJ6Y2M-V82lV2g0eboAY47Jp9ixapbczV5zOUTIt4m8fm8wzoAMryXOduLeW0GizJkVB4uvB1e_Ndg1b431w-RY2ShOE/s320/IMG_0842.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Litter picks are one way to volunteer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Volunteering<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you like this sort of thing there are probably projects
near you that you can volunteer to help with more surveying. I’m involved with
one near me called The Wild Watch which is surveying 50 species across the
Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. They’ve laid on training
sessions for volunteers too so that we know what to look out for, where and
when. I’m doing reptile, riverside and invertebrate surveys this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQCOQCyHbR8BVlK9oDbfkwLVhhQ3_beNeY1EbSqJ47ZZ8JrUMAVkRXiQVOspbFaYdCMjWhaxmTB-SQ-DcsMq1xlJPULC2gPGXa0S93A8E-sCPIIukdvVTXvyetwUPzfXaHqQyCNtFqXnw/s1600/IMG_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1434" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQCOQCyHbR8BVlK9oDbfkwLVhhQ3_beNeY1EbSqJ47ZZ8JrUMAVkRXiQVOspbFaYdCMjWhaxmTB-SQ-DcsMq1xlJPULC2gPGXa0S93A8E-sCPIIukdvVTXvyetwUPzfXaHqQyCNtFqXnw/s320/IMG_0005.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And lots of reserves welcome your help</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
Volunteering is a great way to get involved with lots of
nature based projects and I’ve seen lots of places where young people are
welcomed from Local Nature Reserves through to projects and opportunities run
by the Wildlife Trusts. I’ve seen people my age helping out at RSPB Reserves
telling visitors what’s been seen and about the site. There are all sorts of
ways to help, and you learn a lot in the process. I’ve helped clear grass and
saplings from reserves (and got to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (The film is linked on the side bar of my blog ----> )</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p><br />
feed a massive bonfire at the end of the
year), sown wild plants in meadows, helped with moth trapping events and lots
more. All sorts of opportunities can present themselves. Last year I was asked
to be youth patron for the Wild Watch and through that I got to make a film
encouraging the children of Nidderdale to get involved in an Owl survey.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevmTbA7CanIynk84JK7dGFfWdAKZ5bypt5IXn0NewzsrvBrc83V4FP5YMAcWR2AunvUHyM4ITI2o5VBwA55cJxPMJy6Y73WXp-CnhRzJY7Zb3yjkbve2i2HMXV_gdWz6yN4M2JKewwj8/s1600/7k.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="655" data-original-width="742" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevmTbA7CanIynk84JK7dGFfWdAKZ5bypt5IXn0NewzsrvBrc83V4FP5YMAcWR2AunvUHyM4ITI2o5VBwA55cJxPMJy6Y73WXp-CnhRzJY7Zb3yjkbve2i2HMXV_gdWz6yN4M2JKewwj8/s320/7k.jpg" width="320" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Getting political</b>.
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s a couple of things I was surprised you can do. The government has a website where you can start petitions.
I was able to set one up asking the government to keep or improve the laws we
have now as part of Europe when we exit the EU. I was amazed I could do this.
All I needed was an email address and not to be campaigning about something
that there was already a petition about. I got over 7000 signatures which
wasn’t enough to get a response from the Government, but I was pleased with it
for a first attempt and I got lots of people thinking about the same issue.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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It is also quite easy to write to your MP. I’ve written to
mine now a few times, enough that he knows me now and I got a letter from him
congratulating me on an award I had won which he read about in the local paper.
I’ve asked him about issues like subsidies for Grouse Moors and recently as
there is a big housing development quite near me I asked him about building in
wildlife friendly features into new houses and including wildlife corridors in
the developments. It wasn’t something he could answer but he sent my letter to
the right Minister and I got a response from them. It only pointed me at a load
of legislation that I need to read and try to understand, which I will try to
do and write back, but at least they know that people care about these issues.
The more of us that do this the more likely we are to get improvements for
nature.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Speaking up for young
people and starting your own projects</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzKW05sXGcR20ZJe9CQHzrdjOOV-IysAHUN64w5h-cK25Q4s-Ndj8QmXOH6E0jJ5jPvIb1LRSUDRvBFKvnLpyFXohsH43K8A3dOcwSwPcocVrgSz8KHqK0BU5SM5Ij_cS02ehNxQSAu0/s1600/YNU+2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVzKW05sXGcR20ZJe9CQHzrdjOOV-IysAHUN64w5h-cK25Q4s-Ndj8QmXOH6E0jJ5jPvIb1LRSUDRvBFKvnLpyFXohsH43K8A3dOcwSwPcocVrgSz8KHqK0BU5SM5Ij_cS02ehNxQSAu0/s320/YNU+2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the YNU 2017 conference</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It’s great to see a lot of projects for young people but
there are a lot of societies that are more focused on adults. Some want to
change and know that it is important that they make themselves appealing to
young people. I was invited to the Yorkshire Naturalists Union Annual
Conference in 2017 to have a stand and talk about my blog and photography. I
met loads of great people who were really interested in what I was doing. I
also got to take part in several discussions about getting more young people
more involved. One comment I made that seems to have stuck when they were
asking what we thought young people want from a society like this was – “Have
you tried asking young people”. I wrote up an article for their magazine about
the conference and got some nice emails back from some of the senior ‘Grey
beards’. I was the only person there my age, but I think it made a difference.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWfJkhs004xqZAvJX0XgfXwnIx1tfiFq0qMb_JRdsICtk01I8h0benyb_k1B1miJC2hXeWL7tC6nsaf_Jmw3cN6UEOkVwhpRV1vIHklbArHBo8ozoVq2_9VLsXRKI1qiyPCxNjjAvVrw/s1600/ecoexp2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWfJkhs004xqZAvJX0XgfXwnIx1tfiFq0qMb_JRdsICtk01I8h0benyb_k1B1miJC2hXeWL7tC6nsaf_Jmw3cN6UEOkVwhpRV1vIHklbArHBo8ozoVq2_9VLsXRKI1qiyPCxNjjAvVrw/s320/ecoexp2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Haggewoods Eco-explorers project</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Start your own
projects<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Something that did happen as a ripple out of the article
about the YNU conference was I was asked to come and discuss my ideas about
engaging young people in nature through technology and film making. The Hagges
Woods Trust is a great project near me which has turned an old barley field
into a very young wood meadow. It may be young but in a few years the
difference in bio-diversity is amazing. Talking to them they knew a film maker
and have the space to run a project so we talked it over and they then made an
application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. They got the money! Sometime this
June and July different groups of young people (primary, secondary, scouts and
guides) will be coming to the meadow and will be learning about wildlife and
making films about it. As I said at the start sometimes you need a little help
from people but you can still be quite young yet make a big difference.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Fundraising<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJVhup-c0CoPxzE4McLqd6e-sQSb2Vc7FaviXnKG__KrKqlIyh8D1p2reDe4CaLJ0rH5XEeIOiXca_kPQbUd0x7l-3IShskvtqgHWjbrlRglqwYD3ws2xebbg0hGxRrn2XUigkO-TmRk/s1600/lindseyzachcal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFJVhup-c0CoPxzE4McLqd6e-sQSb2Vc7FaviXnKG__KrKqlIyh8D1p2reDe4CaLJ0rH5XEeIOiXca_kPQbUd0x7l-3IShskvtqgHWjbrlRglqwYD3ws2xebbg0hGxRrn2XUigkO-TmRk/s320/lindseyzachcal.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catching up with Lindsay at Potteric Carr after the<br />Yorkshire Wildlife Trust AGM with my 2018 calendar</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I wanted to leave this till last as lots of people do
fundraising for lots of causes so it’s not always easy to do. People can get a
bit tired of other people asking them for money. So I’ve tried a couple of
different things. For the last two years I’ve sold calendars and I’ve split the
proceeds with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. I like doing this for a few
reasons. I get to promote my photography, I get to repay some of the kindness
and support the YWT has offered me, people get something nice for their money
and I use the money I make to invest in more photography equipment. I’ve seen
others make and sell bird boxes and other things to raise money.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjcaFNc5On5aKDi9GUdhGpg6h8zqodcm74WkIII0scz5rwiUJVejnxi7_HgHEtLFLyJWje4cVVBuedFjJ9s-RnD5G3NSeNAQIHbJI0554pXTDvCJO3g-NrbXGvDr7uDDOr3QfGc4JWC0/s1600/Calfront.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1315" data-original-width="1333" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWjcaFNc5On5aKDi9GUdhGpg6h8zqodcm74WkIII0scz5rwiUJVejnxi7_HgHEtLFLyJWje4cVVBuedFjJ9s-RnD5G3NSeNAQIHbJI0554pXTDvCJO3g-NrbXGvDr7uDDOr3QfGc4JWC0/s320/Calfront.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 2018 Calendar.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is always the direct approach too. I’ve done a
sponsored walk before for a local animal rescue centre but that was quite a
while ago. This year not only is The Wild Watch having a year of the Owl but so
is the BTO. Well as the BTO is another charity that has been very supportive
and helpful to me, and since Owls are a family favourite, I thought I’d have another
go. This summer I’m walking the 52 mile Nidderdale way. I’ve set an ambitious
target of raising £2,000. I’ve not pushed this hard yet but at the time of
writing I’m up to £300. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I don’t think I’ve ever written an article this long, but
I’ve sat watching and listening to a lot of people this year that don’t care
much about nature, our planet and its future. I was glad when New Nature liked
the idea of the article so that I could try and inspire other young naturalists
out there to do more, to let them know that there are lots of things they can
do to help. I think it is so important and think what a force for nature we’d
all be if everyone who read this did just one or two of the things I’ve written
about. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re young, but we do have a voice and we can make a
difference.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thanks,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Zach<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-18771192067795735042019-03-24T18:56:00.000+00:002019-03-24T18:56:17.210+00:00Post 496 - Power to the young people!Hey everyone, been a bit of a while since I've posted but after recent events I felt it was time I tried to get busier with some blogs again.<br />
<br />
The 15th March was a day of hope, a day when the ripples of the actions of one amazing young person, Greta Thunberg, reached the around the world and were multiplied by many more. I love Greta's approach and plain speaking which you can see in the video below.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
<div style="text-align: center;">
Some people say that we are not doing enough to fight climate change.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
But that is not true.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Because to ”not do enough” you have to do something.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
And the truth is we are basically not doing anything. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
This film was shown inside the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wef?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#wef</a> today.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FridaysForFuture?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FridaysForFuture</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WhateverItTakes?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WhateverItTakes</a> <a href="https://t.co/VVAa9x8aGI">pic.twitter.com/VVAa9x8aGI</a></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) <a href="https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1087779799639175170?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">22 January 2019</a></div>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<br />
What I saw on the news and social media about the 15th March was amazing, the biggest youth led action for the climate and the natural world I’ve ever seen. In the UK Many young people I know that have been campaigning on these issues for years were are part of it, joined by thousands of others. To see that more and more young people are becoming aware of the issues and are prepared to take action to help our planet is very uplifting and hopeful<br />
<br />
I wasn’t one of them though, I wasn’t there.<br />
<br />
Why not? Because I would have felt I was a fraud.<br />
<br />
I’ve not been able to engage in the school system for a while now. I’m currently home tutored. So how could I strike from something I’m not part of? This has been down to me not being able to cope with a very big and busy high school and was the one thing I’d struggled most with because of my Autism/Aspergers. So had I joined in it wouldn’t really have been striking in honesty.<br />
<br />
But this isn’t about me and my problems. It’s about the world and the problems it’s facing. The fact that more and more young people are willing to take action is amazing. The act of rebellion of not going to school has jarred the system, seems to offend British sensibilities and prompted even the Prime Minister to comment on the movement, though her words ring less true than those of the young people concerned about the plight of the planet. Many negative comments about the strike are centered around you need to get an education to be able to tackle the problem, or that young people are just doing this to skip school. I don’t think it takes a lot of education to realise that the way that generations before us have led their lives has led to the problems we face now. I don’t think it would take long if the politicians and critics engaged properly with young people to realise they do have integrity, that they are passionate and want real change. They are frightened for their future if change doesn’t happen.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Cx-_MpIlOAUmqjgXpx3JMS9h4_WtDhaG_7u_R1RiNN90JIzdYBwS0yi5vj8ktH4WQfiACeGTHeZgBNTeRg7GenfrpK9uWKDrSCZpXDg4qzCJQaTTqqKwpLFENLHg4HHgWb9CVMNZAxI/s1600/beeface.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1201" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Cx-_MpIlOAUmqjgXpx3JMS9h4_WtDhaG_7u_R1RiNN90JIzdYBwS0yi5vj8ktH4WQfiACeGTHeZgBNTeRg7GenfrpK9uWKDrSCZpXDg4qzCJQaTTqqKwpLFENLHg4HHgWb9CVMNZAxI/s320/beeface.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our lifestyles are causing problems for lots of<br />creatures we share the planet with, insects are<br />especially vulnerable and populations are crashing</td></tr>
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Engaging with the traditional systems in the traditional ways isn’t going to bring about change rapidly enough to help our planet. I don’t want to wait until 2022 and the next (scheduled) general election to vote. I’ll be old enough then, but will there be a candidate that will be standing on the issues I’m concerned about? Will they win? And then if they do they will have to battle though Parliament to make changes. Do we have that time?<br />
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I don’t think we do have that time. Our respected model of democracy isn’t designed or geared up to make the fundamental changes we need quickly enough. We need to raise our voices and act in different, more urgent ways.<br />
<br />
On the basis of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/28/mps-debate-climate-after-school-strike-but-only-a-handful-turn-up">shameful attendance by MP’s on the Climate Change debate</a> in parliament recently it still seems they don’t take the issue seriously. Yet more and more reports are emerging about our impact on the world, recently we’ve heard about the collapse of insect populations, the Environment Agency warned about the need to use water more wisely if we don’t want to run out of it.<br />
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"We need water wastage to be as socially unacceptable as blowing smoke in the face of a baby"</div>
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How <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/climatechange?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#climatechange</a> could cause 'water shortages in England in 25 years' 👉 <a href="https://t.co/pEJNRdgbzB">https://t.co/pEJNRdgbzB</a></div>
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[tap to expand] <a href="https://t.co/Kb3OOcj119">pic.twitter.com/Kb3OOcj119</a></div>
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— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1108804165155864576?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">21 March 2019</a></div>
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I hope that many of the young people involved in the strike will continue to take action, continue to raise their voice, continue to be heard. I’ve written before about lots of ways people not old enough to vote can help the planet so I hope that as well as protesting many will take direct positive action too.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6Oeq34FZwaVL1w7F7CGunchno9kaU0tPk4S7qqcjNLZig2bsXJjKTQ219aGUBWQzGNKEYl5o6lC1mKpgKrI0rAMgDWLc6dbxPYECbQE5zMFSOdcM05zbtfEbUnrVkeTdeKWWpTmnmkE/s1600/IMG_1463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6Oeq34FZwaVL1w7F7CGunchno9kaU0tPk4S7qqcjNLZig2bsXJjKTQ219aGUBWQzGNKEYl5o6lC1mKpgKrI0rAMgDWLc6dbxPYECbQE5zMFSOdcM05zbtfEbUnrVkeTdeKWWpTmnmkE/s320/IMG_1463.jpg" width="213" /></a>So as I couldn’t take part I’m going to take my own actions, today that action is that I am writing to Michael Gove. I passed him a copy of the #PeoplesManifestoForWildlife recently and I’m going to ask him what he thought about it, what ideas in it he liked and will act on. This week I’ll dig out the article I wrote for New Nature and post it on my blog highlighting some of the ways young people can help make a difference.<br />
<br />
This isn’t going to have the impact that March 15th had on the world, but it’s my little pebbles dropped into the pool of action. I bet Greta didn’t realise how far the ripples of her action would reach. I think it is amazing what has happened as a result of her actions and I really hope she gets the Nobel Prize that she’s been nominated for.<br />
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I also hope more and more young people take action, add their ripples, and that together they make waves big enough to bring the change our planet so desperately needs.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-55102321544940759132019-02-02T20:00:00.001+00:002019-02-02T21:29:49.007+00:00Post 495 - #Iwill4nature - an epic launchHey everyone!<br />
<br />
It's been a while since my last post, sorry about that, in honesty it's because I've been struggling a bit especially with school. But not to dwell on that too much I know what I'm dealing with since my Autism diagnosis last Autumn and I try not to let it stop me doing the things I love.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg71L5HE8dAiPq0E158M2BcpPlL22xp8ANkgXXQvXnVqacPv-oOB7pIA_38A55e1qXp1fbWJXtbU5tPbl4hE6czxkVAVrgmAmB0_bymWzw-XSG39itt6umZ6AIePhQ7zQm7pR65RlNJ8s/s1600/Gove+and+the+tortoises.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="640" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg71L5HE8dAiPq0E158M2BcpPlL22xp8ANkgXXQvXnVqacPv-oOB7pIA_38A55e1qXp1fbWJXtbU5tPbl4hE6czxkVAVrgmAmB0_bymWzw-XSG39itt6umZ6AIePhQ7zQm7pR65RlNJ8s/s320/Gove+and+the+tortoises.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London Zoo's Galapagos Tortoise enclosure with<br />
Rt Hon Michael Gove MP<br />
Secretary of state for the Environment</td></tr>
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One of the things I was determined to do was to attend the #Iwill4nature launch. <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2018/11/post-493-inspirational-iwill.html">Back in Post 493</a> I covered how I was lucky enough to be made an #Iwill ambassador. Basically #iwill is an initiative to encourage youth social action. This year is especially relevant to me as the focus is on the natural world. The #iwill4nature year coincides with the DEFRA #yearofgreenaction and this week was a joint launch event for them both.<br />
<br />
I had the date in the diary since just before Christmas but it wasn't until the end of last week that I knew that I was going to be speaking. I quite like speaking and I guess as I did some amateur dramatics and performing when I was younger I'm reasonably comfortable in front of crowds. Saying that it was a big subject to cover and I hoped I'd nailed some key messages.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMWtelW2ZNYKhJcvpdpRteNfNXx2-yrh3eM5patZr7Tf25na1Ogkz2go4RaXhX82Tpi4M4bM7qFDQps1xQv-1alU8x2V8WmUXtI3WaGfKwPhm3FxjB3_uUdxTIdYWl1GESiTj6Sah0Sc/s1600/IMG_1454.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1352" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDMWtelW2ZNYKhJcvpdpRteNfNXx2-yrh3eM5patZr7Tf25na1Ogkz2go4RaXhX82Tpi4M4bM7qFDQps1xQv-1alU8x2V8WmUXtI3WaGfKwPhm3FxjB3_uUdxTIdYWl1GESiTj6Sah0Sc/s320/IMG_1454.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">#Iwill ambassaors and Mr Gove feeding Dolly, Polly & Priscilla</td></tr>
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The #iwill team had sent me all the information about the event, hosted by the Zoological Society of London at London Zoo, so I knew there were going to be other speakers there including the Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, and the Director General of the Zoological Society of London Dominic Jermey, and a few other #Iwill Ambassadors. On the train on the way down I learnt that I was to be part of a photo call with Mr Gove, and that I'd be doing that in the tortoise enclosure. Until I'd gone around the Zoo I didn't realise they were Galapagos Tortoises! So we got to the Tortoise enclosure ahead of Michael Gove and had chance to get to know Dolly, Polly and Priscilla. They're all around 28 years old and were bred at Zurich Zoo and are part of a conservation effort to help these creatures. They weigh about 100kgs so we were told to mind we didn't get our feet underneath them in case they sat on them! We saw a fascinating bit of behaviour that these majestic creatures have retained from their evolution on Galapagos. If you stroke their legs they extend their necks and raise themselves up almost on to their tip toes stretching out their legs. This is called 'finching' and stems from a reaction to birds, finches in particular, coming to feed on the parasites that would live on the Tortoises in the wild. They'd stretch up like this to give the birds full access and to provide a handy service for the tortoise, but of course the birds don't mind as they get a feed! Even though they don't have parasites in captivity they still retain this behaviour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyceT2oAJ7CWnv5rky2uITSJj4Gx2kVcnKjpIebUi9VfX5dGFtShTcG5CKK6DANDLlqxEMxsPSM8STDqYi20lL1RkMkCHzp-c6Un-lXyFhJIHKadmPB28auFWCGVQfaOyVwaFoYbi5Uo/s1600/IMG_1463.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1068" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyceT2oAJ7CWnv5rky2uITSJj4Gx2kVcnKjpIebUi9VfX5dGFtShTcG5CKK6DANDLlqxEMxsPSM8STDqYi20lL1RkMkCHzp-c6Un-lXyFhJIHKadmPB28auFWCGVQfaOyVwaFoYbi5Uo/s320/IMG_1463.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Passing on the manifesto to<br />
Mr Gove!</td></tr>
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After this was the launch event and as we were waiting to start there was a bit of time to talk to each other. During this time I had an opportunity. If you remember in the Autumn last year there was a #PeoplesWalkForWildlfie and a few of us got to take the #PeoplesManifestoForWildlife to No 10. Well the hope was to present it to Michael Gove but he was busy that day. So happily I had taken a copy along with me and in a quiet minute ahead of the event I managed to have a quick chat with Mr Gove and pass him a copy!<br />
<br />
Then we got into the event and the speeches. One of the first things was a video address from Prince Charles who is the patron of the #Iwill campaign. Then we had speeches from Michael Gove and Dominic Jermey. It was nice for me that one of the photos I'd taken at the Kew event has been adopted as a campaign poster and that it was the backdrop for the speeches. After Mr Gove and Mr Jermey it was the turn of the #Iwill ambassadors to take the stage. The only disappointing part of the evening was that Michael and Dominic left before the Ambassadors spoke, which was a shame. But, there was a great audience of lots of organisations that want to help young people have a voice and give young people chances to take social action.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQb-8RUJ3vnmg7Dj5Y2NEjT-B3w79LAJRMFkOIiGJmRO65m3sC5zM73oy_WUAkilkHR-7JFD6h9ZCJHg9Ugw9wmKFq8qUDsmsWIiTP4-2Vw_YQTc0siRg9sLyRLzezQ51mdK1uQ4zWJ4g/s1600/IMG_1469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQb-8RUJ3vnmg7Dj5Y2NEjT-B3w79LAJRMFkOIiGJmRO65m3sC5zM73oy_WUAkilkHR-7JFD6h9ZCJHg9Ugw9wmKFq8qUDsmsWIiTP4-2Vw_YQTc0siRg9sLyRLzezQ51mdK1uQ4zWJ4g/s320/IMG_1469.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the background my photo with Yetunde and Princess at<br />
Kew in front of a magnificent Ginko biloba</td></tr>
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Yetunde introduced us all and set the scene. I was next up and my talk was well received, I got a bit of a laugh when I mentioned that I was glad to catch up with Mr Gove and pass him the manifesto after missing him at Downing Street. I was followed by Dara who gave an amazing speech, very articulate and very passionate. Nayha finished the ambassador's speeches with another amazing speech. I think we collectively managed to get across the message that young people are passionate about the natural world and will take action to protect it, if they are given the chance to experience and appreciate it. Many of the organisations there have pledged to help make sure this happens.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXu_MXTGO0PeVCn05FH4K4W8-YyT84fTiQkSiL4lDbO-QWtOep8K4P01ZzidowHk20zdP-0HZ5li-SFKkip2n9SunelQKOcNzakZrvL_5SaJtrwqc23cSQxkyiKgbGNfw2n2ccfOgfHFE/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXu_MXTGO0PeVCn05FH4K4W8-YyT84fTiQkSiL4lDbO-QWtOep8K4P01ZzidowHk20zdP-0HZ5li-SFKkip2n9SunelQKOcNzakZrvL_5SaJtrwqc23cSQxkyiKgbGNfw2n2ccfOgfHFE/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My turn to speak!</td></tr>
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After some more networking and getting some very nice comments about the speeches we made the evening came to a close and I headed off to Kings Cross for the train home. It was a truly amazing evening and I'm so grateful to #Iwill for the opportunity. I came away proud and enthused to make more of a difference, to continue to take the message to other young people that we should care and that we can make a big difference. I look forward to helping out over the #Iwill4nature year and beyond.<br />
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Before I sign off I thought I'd finish on a different, but I think appropriate note. On the way to the event I'd taken the chance to visit a place I love in London, Camden Market. I've been going there for years, it's a family favourite when we are in London. I love the street food, the music, the buzz of the place. I guess as I've been going since I was little I'm comfortable with all the sights, sounds and smells. So as it is close to London Zoo it was a natural place to visit on the way there and to get some lunch. There's a place you can sit once you get your food from the stalls and the Pigeons and Starlings are quite tame, even a bit cheeky. Not everyone likes that but I love it. The little guy in the tweet below hung around most of the time I was eating, even with all the hustle and bustle and with other people eating shoo-ing some birds off. It was one of those lovely moments where you unexpectedly get the opportunity to connect with nature. The Starling stood there chirping, whistling, clicking, going through its repertoire of sounds, serenading Dad and I as we ate, or so it seemed. I got a little video of it which I tweeted. I think it was quite fitting that this little chap singing his heart out was by far my most popular tweet on the launch of an initiative about promoting social action to encourage engagement with and care for nature.Nature does need to take centre stage!<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
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On my way to the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/iwill4nature?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#iwill4nature</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/yearofgreenaction?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#yearofgreenaction</a> launch event - stopped for lunch in <a href="https://twitter.com/CamdenMarket?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CamdenMarket</a> and was serenaded by a starling while I ate <a href="https://twitter.com/WildLondon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WildLondon</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/birdbrainuk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@birdbrainuk</a> <a href="https://t.co/p3d2CoN31P">pic.twitter.com/p3d2CoN31P</a></div>
— Zach Haynes (@NaturallyZach) <a href="https://twitter.com/NaturallyZach/status/1090958880509706240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">31 January 2019</a></blockquote>
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<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-5842081789315125412018-11-15T20:58:00.000+00:002018-11-15T20:59:18.890+00:00Post 494 - Brilliant BTO's Agenda for Change <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFLb7fK5OdDn_R4ik-Ktt1JSfHHnGsyoXHbo1lV4NkwmfsmK0DZrC85T7xwzlrwVD2lIFDsR9Gs0bk2SpiMNVN5JKsPCvsI9ximkwYze0qnaWKW8ZKJtpZcCPdxQw2I8C2k5ywsh5QWQ/s1600/IMG_1189.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsFLb7fK5OdDn_R4ik-Ktt1JSfHHnGsyoXHbo1lV4NkwmfsmK0DZrC85T7xwzlrwVD2lIFDsR9Gs0bk2SpiMNVN5JKsPCvsI9ximkwYze0qnaWKW8ZKJtpZcCPdxQw2I8C2k5ywsh5QWQ/s320/IMG_1189.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two new faces - <br />
Baroness Young of Old Scone &<br />
Kabir Kaul</td></tr>
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Hey everyone.<br />
<br />
Well yesterday I wrote about <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2018/11/post-493-inspirational-iwill.html">Inspirational #IWill</a> and what a great day I'd had. Well my day didn't end when the event at Kew did. I have #IWill to thank in a way for making it possible for me to attend a second event in the evening...<br />
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A little while back Dad and I got an invitation to attend an event with the BTO at the House of Lords! Amazing right, but in London on a school night evening.Would we be able to get down? Would I get permission to be out of school early? But then the penny dropped. "What date was that?" said Mum, "The 13th? Well you're in London anyway!" Brilliant! Solved all the problems thanks to #Iwill. So we gladly accepted the invitations and waited for the big day. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ioqexM_6LPvBQJQzKXjsK-6Jqon0_5-d8UHsHOaGSSLNUCziqEt41rPSQkDR2Y_yZaK3lwixSZ7nmADVt9_JouH5eKRHmYgfaxtsheOPIzMgsVXmX343542F7PljabSSxWfZ8mwKoy0/s1600/IMG_1183.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ioqexM_6LPvBQJQzKXjsK-6Jqon0_5-d8UHsHOaGSSLNUCziqEt41rPSQkDR2Y_yZaK3lwixSZ7nmADVt9_JouH5eKRHmYgfaxtsheOPIzMgsVXmX343542F7PljabSSxWfZ8mwKoy0/s320/IMG_1183.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great to catch up with Natalie Bennett -<br />
thanks for all your support on twitter</td></tr>
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Earlier this year I got to go to Portcullis House, a part of Parliament, but I'd never so far got to go into either of the Houses of Parliament so this was exciting. But so was the event. The BTO are an organisation that our family has been a member of for a number of years. I've got involved with a few of their surveys and of course got to go to one of their brilliant bird camps for young people. If you are a young birder I'd highly recommend getting along to one. Sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka Trust they give you lots of great experiences in a full-on birding weekend and you meet a lot of young birders too.<br />
<br />
The event on Tuesday though was about change. It started with security checks of course before getting to the venue and a bit of networking and catching up with lots of familiar friendly faces from the birding world and meeting up with a few new ones too. Of course we had to stop for a while to hear the speakers and the reason for us being there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9D50bfT1ARj4AwpHO1ipUNT9RYU9G-ESuhawa8Cms9mkdlJqK8bKsXnYkOIPtEO6Vg0KXxrbTKjFRJ-hMjapzPvmTtwUelTLNiV06hFdP-zaaMLzKZpMpKHWJIxFcNFFGLRaB9XnHro/s1600/IMG_1177.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9D50bfT1ARj4AwpHO1ipUNT9RYU9G-ESuhawa8Cms9mkdlJqK8bKsXnYkOIPtEO6Vg0KXxrbTKjFRJ-hMjapzPvmTtwUelTLNiV06hFdP-zaaMLzKZpMpKHWJIxFcNFFGLRaB9XnHro/s320/IMG_1177.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some great speakers with great messages including<br />
Caroline Lucas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There are regular headlines about how the natural world is struggling, really quite scary headlines. Baroness Young of Old Scone kicked off the evening highlighting this but also how the scale of the problems wouldn't be known nor would the effects of conservationist's actions be capable of being tracked without the work of organisations like the BTO. Lots of volunteers (60,000 in fact) like me and others there contribute to their scientific work that makes a real difference. The problem though is that while they engage with lots of people, and have collected really useful data over a long time, people and politicians don't always realise how valuable this data is. The second speaker Caroline Lucas underlined that and like she does on many important green issues is supporting the BTO and trying to raise awareness of the importance of this work continuing.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRlbfGrAikcj7V0h1Rx5B_k4veu1JpBYDzbGWOxbKdkbHDersy4dsmCGcAuNUf0YapmGqsDJ-FTXcmY8NlubDNpB1sKdX9Y5Bvh_1OIGcoWX4Fx5hXxebng-JjwnilIpUBwD-IgkL2M8/s1600/IMG_1200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnRlbfGrAikcj7V0h1Rx5B_k4veu1JpBYDzbGWOxbKdkbHDersy4dsmCGcAuNUf0YapmGqsDJ-FTXcmY8NlubDNpB1sKdX9Y5Bvh_1OIGcoWX4Fx5hXxebng-JjwnilIpUBwD-IgkL2M8/s320/IMG_1200.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great to catch up with other young birders,<br />
Andy & the Bespolkas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The final words of the night were by another great speaker, Andy Clements, the BTO Chief Executive. He covered 10 key actions that make up the BTO Agenda for Change. I'm sure they'll be up on their website soon but they are basically a commitment to keeping on doing what they do well and to do some things they don't do quite as well, better. I think this will be a challenge. They are an amazing organisation, very supportive, very well respected and to set themselves the challenge of being better I think is a tough one.<br />
<br />
One of the 10 actions though I will write out as it was very relevant to the day and to my passions :-<br />
<br />
<i>"We will become much more accessible and relevant to wider society, inspiring a new generation to participate in the understanding of, and engagement with, the natural world."</i><br />
<br />
If you think of any way I can help with that #IWill.<br />
<br />
Thank you so much for the invite Baroness Young of Old Scone, I had a great evening.<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed.<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-84603738808805655192018-11-14T20:07:00.002+00:002018-11-14T21:10:49.366+00:00Post 493 - Inspirational #IWillHey everyone,<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3N2hbVsejTAA9VxKQ9E9olqgdMIoXZOAtnA_tNhUsWhONhZHj2WFQK5ORO33-KwLHcdId89LaQ00rCoNl8N_fV_b95vODHrgyEQnxljLAOY0CaOwup5eDZGStj9rXUncwY0TIKFvXVA/s1600/Iwill2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje3N2hbVsejTAA9VxKQ9E9olqgdMIoXZOAtnA_tNhUsWhONhZHj2WFQK5ORO33-KwLHcdId89LaQ00rCoNl8N_fV_b95vODHrgyEQnxljLAOY0CaOwup5eDZGStj9rXUncwY0TIKFvXVA/s320/Iwill2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Venue for our event - Kew's Nash Conservatory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yesterday I had the privilege to be in London at Kew Gardens. I love Kew and have visited it several times before, but this time it was for a special event.<br />
<br />
Those of you that know me and follow my blog will know that I have a passion for nature and that I try to spread the word and encourage other young people to appreciate and care for it too. I didn't really think of it this way but a lot of what I do is social action, doing something to help make a difference, to improve society in some way, without seeking anything in return.<br />
<br />
Well that is just what a group called Step up to Serve are interested in and they run a campaign called #IWill which is all about encouraging social action in young people. After an article in New Nature on the theme of "I can't vote but I can make a difference" the #IWill team told me about the 2018 Ambassador programme which this year is themed around environmental action. It sounded like a brilliant programme with lots of opportunities so of course I had to apply but didn't expect I'd be chosen as it was bound to be popular.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7mo0SHvacA8BfDNQu1oTCx4lboK476h4jpe_0UI-ZKPtpd0lXRWegq61MQi2w_IVBhtZjyzp8nbAyjy9rZiu3FXzzp6rMwjlyf53PzLy6fgkE0a-CNOPpTVzNJv8DFEdV04k80hgq_s/s1600/iwill7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja7mo0SHvacA8BfDNQu1oTCx4lboK476h4jpe_0UI-ZKPtpd0lXRWegq61MQi2w_IVBhtZjyzp8nbAyjy9rZiu3FXzzp6rMwjlyf53PzLy6fgkE0a-CNOPpTVzNJv8DFEdV04k80hgq_s/s320/iwill7.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A few of us already involved with environmental social<br />
action got to meet and have a photo with Lord Gardiner<br />
of Kimble</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Despite my pessimism I did get selected! And better still, the #IWill event to tell the new ambassadors the news was to be held at Kew Gardens. To say I was pleased, excited, over the moon, chuffed - what ever the words you use it would probably still be an understatement.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfHr7J0HX-ggsTEg6SZFOleR4DBvV3nmDjqI6SYvhGEqtALWodx3MjFSyEPpPwCNRkCZtNEyETfqpCQ3AWdKGAZJKs1tBt0HDId1EEWQRoY5ivJXUyWMUpR78inL_PaTh5Y6OYUqJ3hI/s1600/iwill3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwfHr7J0HX-ggsTEg6SZFOleR4DBvV3nmDjqI6SYvhGEqtALWodx3MjFSyEPpPwCNRkCZtNEyETfqpCQ3AWdKGAZJKs1tBt0HDId1EEWQRoY5ivJXUyWMUpR78inL_PaTh5Y6OYUqJ3hI/s320/iwill3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We made social action pledges on a pledge tree</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'd read up about the campaign and the previous ambassadors but didn't really know what to expect from the day. Dad came with me and we turned up at Kew just as it was starting to get busy. The event was in a lovely building, the Nash Conservatory. I'd taken my camera of course to record the day, and I was able to put it to good use. In fact as the official photographer was late I had a little job to do to try and capture a few informal shots of the event.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJ-MPxFNtG_WhyphenhyphenwkCpdoEaN5rV6m94D50u0Odd4H1gZXQ9DVJuuyWNxX5VZsXN_7NClY9vJ-J8K79M3NDezLmSuLgtqtYYAT4Y0YC7o888FSgZCceU_yXNLI0o-giJRfyNgTMKaNLwHw/s1600/iwill4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOJ-MPxFNtG_WhyphenhyphenwkCpdoEaN5rV6m94D50u0Odd4H1gZXQ9DVJuuyWNxX5VZsXN_7NClY9vJ-J8K79M3NDezLmSuLgtqtYYAT4Y0YC7o888FSgZCceU_yXNLI0o-giJRfyNgTMKaNLwHw/s320/iwill4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We had workshops to help us Raise our Voice -<br />
here I worked with Princess & Yetunde</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There were 50 ambassadors and the day was all about celebrating the things we had done, showing how important social action is and helping us to think about how we can build on what we've done and be role models to encourage more young people to get involved. There were some amazing speakers. The day was hosted by former #IWill Ambassadors <a href="https://twitter.com/ceylonandi">Ceylon Hickman</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TomMcEachan">Tom McEachan</a> and we had some fantastic speakers mixed in with workshops and discussions all designed to help us to promote social action and help inspire others.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5vGKJZDzXQS7071EdzAXtzIKo2a5cKUnNd7oFyFeuD9-FZXZ0l6ytL1ewfWXqrhjAXaUqelivHutbO97pfrpAvyPJrXhpaQCOtAH8F93dcRUsw5YMjSTeQM_SM2wDAPwOWuiyppnXpY/s1600/iwill5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1500" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi5vGKJZDzXQS7071EdzAXtzIKo2a5cKUnNd7oFyFeuD9-FZXZ0l6ytL1ewfWXqrhjAXaUqelivHutbO97pfrpAvyPJrXhpaQCOtAH8F93dcRUsw5YMjSTeQM_SM2wDAPwOWuiyppnXpY/s320/iwill5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got to work with lots of passionate young people <br />
- here's Shahid </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I really enjoyed learning about Kew's <a href="https://twitter.com/GrowWildUK">@GrowWildUk</a> project from Tim Owen, I hope I'll be able to get more involved with this and the things they are trying to achieve. There was an awesome talk by <a href="https://twitter.com/IAmAntBennett">Antony Bennett</a> talking us through his journey. It could have been really sad, he'd had a really tough time with his health when he was young but the story was focused on how he viewed the world differently after his problems and how he started saying yes to opportunities and how from that great things have happened. He has been engaged in some great social action work and helped raised lots of funds for Great Ormond Street Hospital who cared for him when he was really, really ill.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFl5RxnmaREsA0DOvuLFIs7iMShLaJtxfRDZL3g-LU7POy-VwVhxQmK8J5nssOYOmsfo8L7nysCkte-3SWWzyTv1Wi0ML4Sj3gBf_Q-xv8B0jMnjaxcL3rJwDDT1HsF09LwawpD8M0fEs/s1600/iwill6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1500" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFl5RxnmaREsA0DOvuLFIs7iMShLaJtxfRDZL3g-LU7POy-VwVhxQmK8J5nssOYOmsfo8L7nysCkte-3SWWzyTv1Wi0ML4Sj3gBf_Q-xv8B0jMnjaxcL3rJwDDT1HsF09LwawpD8M0fEs/s320/iwill6.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There were a few familiar faces - but being behind the camera I<br />
missed my chance to say hi to Rob McFarlane!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Workshops, networking and discussions filled the rest of the day. Through it I got to meet, talk with and start friendships with a really great bunch of passionate people. The range of things young people are doing is incredible and it just goes to show that as I said at the beginning you don't need a vote to be able to make a difference! It was great to meet up with someone I know as well, I was glad to hear <a href="https://twitter.com/NaturalistDara">Dara McAnulty</a> was a fellow #IWill ambassador. Great to catch up with him and hear him recite a social action poem he'd written, such an incredible talent with words!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQSq2A6bQmVYx70NQV2eGP4SjqCCIh3VEtVpjR-lbEUkUYsYfnULWs4qNjqO02wrGe-avyO7KsCgFHbtbw7zWgT2y2i6CYZRs7-Ze2rN-Itc39tznSURzH6jfnFKgwYoFlrUaAiHN3mk/s1600/iwill1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1500" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQSq2A6bQmVYx70NQV2eGP4SjqCCIh3VEtVpjR-lbEUkUYsYfnULWs4qNjqO02wrGe-avyO7KsCgFHbtbw7zWgT2y2i6CYZRs7-Ze2rN-Itc39tznSURzH6jfnFKgwYoFlrUaAiHN3mk/s320/iwill1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I hope I'm well on the way with this now.</td></tr>
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This is a shot from my workshop which was about "Raising Your Voice" and I had some actions to follow up on. Well, I hope this blog contributes to the first one! The second one, well I had my camera in hand through the day and I hope some of the images here you'll be seeing a lot more of. Of course I'll be doing more on these points but the third point I'll have to work on with a few organisations I know, but if any of you reading this want to help out and enable a twitter take over based on youth social action please let me know.<br />
<br />
All in all what an incredible day. Such a positive, inspiring group of people. I am very proud to be an #IWill Ambassador and look forward to #AYearofGreenAction - #IWill4Nature!!<br />
<br />
Look out for more on this through 2019. I think it's going to be a really interesting year!<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-47752618908035363002018-11-10T21:04:00.000+00:002018-11-10T21:04:33.104+00:00Post 492 - EcoExplorers, Project Wild and Haggewoods - Thank you!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNAtUap4s53-ZkN7UMvMj3UYQZycJDxwg3xUPKtB6k-4IS0VZLVOdsEA-EtfhOkRk2BMMFQ5rt5YPNVuPQB8C9Fefv58zs7Ugd0PIx-GV0UTGBbmVHGB4zFvCrYDfL_Ho4SNdlA56JTM/s1600/Eco-explorers-small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1077" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVNAtUap4s53-ZkN7UMvMj3UYQZycJDxwg3xUPKtB6k-4IS0VZLVOdsEA-EtfhOkRk2BMMFQ5rt5YPNVuPQB8C9Fefv58zs7Ugd0PIx-GV0UTGBbmVHGB4zFvCrYDfL_Ho4SNdlA56JTM/s320/Eco-explorers-small.JPG" width="148" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">EcoExplorers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hey everyone, an overdue post today to update on a project that I got involved with this year. I thought that I had written an update on this before and I really should have done as this has been a great project and the people involved have been really supportive so I wanted to say a big thank you to all the people involved.<br />
<br />
Back in <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2017/10/post-477-happy-return-to-haggewoods.html">Post 477 - A Happy Return to Haggewoods</a> I covered how an article I wrote gave Rosalind at <a href="https://www.haggewoodstrust.org.uk/">Haggewoods Trust</a> an idea and how a group of us shaped up a project idea. Well through hard work by Nick at <a href="https://twitter.com/projectwildcic">Project Wild CIC</a> and Rosalind at Haggewoods the project was made a reality by getting some funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.<br />
<br />
So through this year the EcoExplorers project has been busy engaging lots of young people with nature. They've done lots of talks and workshops in schools and at the Haggewoods Meadow. If you've seen my blogs before you'll know it's one of my big passions trying to encourage other young people to care for nature the way I do so I was really pleased to have been a small part of making the project happen.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8dNhWuN-Ypg9WvT5Lp7Ebq64v88ecwfbGi9FL1VOJ-XxZU-cUeOi6S0pbVBFt0dnM8JGc7i5wUXmmSPQfB4JnzyNCUxe1sYS-ArKFMxDfTfSmtFmi93GpogNS6qOpAYFYFi9bJbO8cU/s1600/ecoexp2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1125" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM8dNhWuN-Ypg9WvT5Lp7Ebq64v88ecwfbGi9FL1VOJ-XxZU-cUeOi6S0pbVBFt0dnM8JGc7i5wUXmmSPQfB4JnzyNCUxe1sYS-ArKFMxDfTfSmtFmi93GpogNS6qOpAYFYFi9bJbO8cU/s320/ecoexp2.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Talking Dragonflies<br />
(I am short but here I'm stood in a ditch - really!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was able to help out at one of the sessions for a group of primary school kids and I really enjoyed it. The young people really enjoyed the day and were amazed at the wildlife they saw. Lots of questions were asked and lots was learnt. I was able to share with the group a lot of information about dragonflies and<a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2016/05/post-410-happily-hanging-about-at.html"> my experience at Haggewoods of watching the adults emerging from the nymphs</a> as I was lucky enough on a visit here to spend ages watching this almost magical transformation. I was also privileged to be able to handle a really calm and incredibly gorgeous grass snake. I've mostly only ever caught glimpses of these incredible creatures before as they slither off into the undergrowth. It's hard to explain well but it really seemed everybody got a lot out of the day, the adults helpers as well as the young people that came along.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-IThKDIxxpVAqLdDuf6VCVBPtBI_em1WsSunAKnkDMjy3saB9Jko7B3SZpwByLWJ2mtKdlFQJK0jIC5KlT74AecddyOla1gZLcddCuC4fvewC-VuY0maabd-ffOoqx8ItiRv9lsmVp4/s1600/IMG_0121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk-IThKDIxxpVAqLdDuf6VCVBPtBI_em1WsSunAKnkDMjy3saB9Jko7B3SZpwByLWJ2mtKdlFQJK0jIC5KlT74AecddyOla1gZLcddCuC4fvewC-VuY0maabd-ffOoqx8ItiRv9lsmVp4/s320/IMG_0121.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An amazing creature!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I didn't get to go along but there was also a weekend dedicated to film making, it was a shame to miss that but I'll bet it was good and the people involved enjoyed it.<br />
<br />
They also had a photography competition, you can see some of the amazing images that were entered into that <a href="https://www.haggewoodstrust.org.uk/get-involved/snap-wild-photography-competition">here on the Haggewoods site</a>. Of course I had to have a go at that! The project made it at really special competition by having a presentation of the photos and films from the project and a prize giving ceremony at Selby Abbey, an impressive place I'd not been to before. Well I knew that I'd been shortlisted for a prize due to being invited there but I never expected to do so well. I did well in two categories and my photo below was the overall winner for my age category. After seeing the other images I was amazed to have done so well. Part of the prize was a canvas print of the wining picture - that is proudly hanging on our hall wall now for everyone to see when they enter the house!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuseeTGYx8Hk0Kd_acKpOe7M5K1bcmlrbe4xA4tD0Rj_uUnuk0rWwhyphenhyphenGpU6zxXJugL2heUas-iWgaO83OwzEnN9JpdKVx2t5McRNWOKS0NXLaTkQDMOlbIgYZPxvrpiqZDTz9dk5AzTPU/s1600/grouseinheathersmall.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1500" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuseeTGYx8Hk0Kd_acKpOe7M5K1bcmlrbe4xA4tD0Rj_uUnuk0rWwhyphenhyphenGpU6zxXJugL2heUas-iWgaO83OwzEnN9JpdKVx2t5McRNWOKS0NXLaTkQDMOlbIgYZPxvrpiqZDTz9dk5AzTPU/s400/grouseinheathersmall.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grouse in Heather.</td></tr>
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So, and I'm very sorry this is overdue, I want to say a very big thank you to Rosalind, Nick and all the other folks at Haggewoods and Project Wild CIC. It was really great to be involved in a project from the start and I really enjoyed helping out.<br />
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Thanks also to the Heritage Lottery Fund. I really hope after the success of the project that there will be more of this sort of thing to come.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed.<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-92092215305279001552018-10-07T19:30:00.000+01:002018-10-07T19:30:07.151+01:00Post 491 - Naturally Zach - a wild life journeyHey everyone,<br />
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A bit of a different blog today about something I've been thinking about for a while but I've finally decided to do. It may not seem like much to some people but it's been something I've thought about a lot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDQ6XZs5W-_GiOlVFk-uaIPIcLlTYVyZtn2Cu7oH0kJQr88iMLyuonuF0tBklSQvr9bGN9sZmSkOze-hUwxz8OE_3HP2chuFKmVEDJbLvWkUn2wHD4ciLNzKFYgZKBCYIct03yMhu36g/s1600/IMG_0845.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDQ6XZs5W-_GiOlVFk-uaIPIcLlTYVyZtn2Cu7oH0kJQr88iMLyuonuF0tBklSQvr9bGN9sZmSkOze-hUwxz8OE_3HP2chuFKmVEDJbLvWkUn2wHD4ciLNzKFYgZKBCYIct03yMhu36g/s320/IMG_0845.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ich bin ein Nerd! - I've always embraced a love of science<br />This was a primary school Easter project :-)</td></tr>
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Most of you reading this will know me from twitter. It's where I post a lot of my wildlife activity. Over on there my handle is @nerboy386. I don't know if I've ever explained why I chose that handle. Well it stemmed from primary school and from being a bit different. Most of my class, in fact most my school, was into football, celebrities and lots of stuff that I didn't care much about, and still don't. As you probably know I've always been more interested in science and nature so I used to get called a scientist, professor and of course a nerd. Being a fan of things like the Big Bang Theory and science fiction that didn't bother me much so I decided to use it, acknowledge it and not let it be a bad thing. So I was a random nerd boy, hence the 386 - some random numbers.<br />
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The nature community has always been very supportive and encouraging. I've suffered very few trolls or unpleasantness at all online, but I do try to stay very positive even when I speak out about stuff I don't like. So it's not mattered what I've called myself and the handle has been fine.<br />
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As I've grown up though people at school seem to be less accepting of people that are different. You have to look like this, you have to like this stuff and not that, it's cool to shoot stuff (lots of farmers and pro-hunt people at my school!). I've been given a hard time for just being me and not liking all of the same stuff other people do.<br />
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Well all that led to me thinking about things. I've always thought that it's good to be different, that it's important that people follow their interests and passions and that we aren't all clones of each other.<br />
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Whilst it's not common in my school I've realised it's important and not strange to love nature. I've also realised there's a need to emphasise this is normal, that it is important that everyone should care for nature. So whilst I'm ok if people want to call me a nerd, I think I need to change my handle to emphasise that I'm not different, that it's not unusual to care for our natural world, that in fact it's probably the most important thing to care about.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCakXu6XpGA9XD9oWhNk_f2APi0Mk1TYZVZEK3rZm88UlZtqG0drr3wulhS63WkvTVchyphenhyphenRXEjePyQn4kqFsKVUVciBhAmLtGp9BE8nxN4fLzPE3eshJ2S1ao86W-nBITGwRHSWsI8klSI/s1600/Zach+kew+2017.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="741" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCakXu6XpGA9XD9oWhNk_f2APi0Mk1TYZVZEK3rZm88UlZtqG0drr3wulhS63WkvTVchyphenhyphenRXEjePyQn4kqFsKVUVciBhAmLtGp9BE8nxN4fLzPE3eshJ2S1ao86W-nBITGwRHSWsI8klSI/s320/Zach+kew+2017.jpg" width="237" /></a></div>
I found out something else recently too that has had me thinking about this. I'm Autistic, I have what used to be diagnosed as Aspergers Syndrome. So on one hand again I could think I'm different to other people, that I'm wired different. But then I started thinking about the term Autism Spectrum and how people with Autism can be very different in how this affects them. Thinking that through further, well everybody is different when you think about it. We're all good at different things, we all have different things we like and don't like, however much the 'clones' at school like to think otherwise and seek to fit in.<br />
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So I am different, but so are you, and so is everybody. I'm proud of following my passions and it has given me some interesting and wonderful opportunities. So I've decided not to single myself out as different any more. <br />
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I'm @NaturallyZach :-)<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-81670782434846765822018-09-23T20:39:00.000+01:002018-09-24T17:51:22.814+01:00Post 490 - What a Wonderful Walk for WildlifeHi everyone.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgog-yNCbRlPp3TE-QS3JJncfDLxMyxue99M0x7gCGfTZ7TcpbabLYwwavmHaP-pKxofdR53Ypmmlei8FO_mW2r5G2IRJ1vsRpqyQhVh32277k11THs-lESIL0YUMoI8kpbD-0J-sHWwtA/s1600/Owl-1200pxx630px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="1199" height="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgog-yNCbRlPp3TE-QS3JJncfDLxMyxue99M0x7gCGfTZ7TcpbabLYwwavmHaP-pKxofdR53Ypmmlei8FO_mW2r5G2IRJ1vsRpqyQhVh32277k11THs-lESIL0YUMoI8kpbD-0J-sHWwtA/s320/Owl-1200pxx630px.jpg" width="320" /></a>Yesterday I had one of my best wildlife related experiences in a long time, probably ever. And it was in the centre of London! It was of course the #PeoplesWalkForWildlife initiated by Chris Packham who also developed a #PeoplesManifestoForWildlife to go along with it. I can't imagine the effort and energy that went into that but I am so grateful that Chris decided to develop both these ideas.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00G_sDMdEBme4BmGNSo8KIcAGF913bXALWd2BfP6YAaXH3JKW8d1w-8L9INL2MC5HW758K_3rSqUIIgxzzqd0NvUrvPF2O_yzLA73b3brjmqOu2epxD5upJXhNpH1uPU01aX7wBTYiJY/s1600/IMG_0833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00G_sDMdEBme4BmGNSo8KIcAGF913bXALWd2BfP6YAaXH3JKW8d1w-8L9INL2MC5HW758K_3rSqUIIgxzzqd0NvUrvPF2O_yzLA73b3brjmqOu2epxD5upJXhNpH1uPU01aX7wBTYiJY/s200/IMG_0833.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dawn on the train.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7j4EoDB35caOSfeZAPG4NL8UjMKeYjiXHaSZVFP2hxmK9gFbZObGwbvqwKP7sBzOzsWmbPTdjQD5lRj_gJyGfXg2apoNqTzdPBAeQ8_Wu3dg-ooYouuOp2TlRqZXox0mkuUHdn-BeTjc/s1600/IMG_0839.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>My experience of the walk started well before the day, helping to spread the word about the walk and the dictionary of wildlife wonders that is yet to come. I did a couple of videos which I hope helped in making people aware of it. It all added to the anticipation of the day and the hope that we could really raise the profile of the plight of our wildlife. It was all about getting people to come together and say we want wildlife!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7j4EoDB35caOSfeZAPG4NL8UjMKeYjiXHaSZVFP2hxmK9gFbZObGwbvqwKP7sBzOzsWmbPTdjQD5lRj_gJyGfXg2apoNqTzdPBAeQ8_Wu3dg-ooYouuOp2TlRqZXox0mkuUHdn-BeTjc/s200/IMG_0839.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="150" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice to catch up with Lindsey</td></tr>
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Well the day came. Dad and I started the day at about 5.15am in order to get the train to London. I love trains so this in itself was a treat. The journey for us was very straight forward, straight down the East Coast Mainline and we were treated to an incredible dawn, signalling to us what was going to be an awesome day. Not visiting London that often we decided to walk from Kings Cross to Hyde Park and arrived just before 10 to find there were already a good few people there! Almost straight away we started bumping into people we knew like Stewart Pike (<a href="https://twitter.com/raptorwatcher">@raptorwatcher</a>), Alex White (<a href="https://twitter.com/Appletonwild">@appletonwild</a>) and Lindsey Chapman (nice to catch up with my fellow <a href="https://nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/about-us/nidderdale-aonb-projects/the-wild-watch/">Wild Watch</a> patron :-) .<br />
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It was pretty much a whirlwind from there on as we just kept bumping into people we knew, catching up and also seeing new faces and admiring some of the awesome costumes and artwork. I got to say hi to people who have been a great support on twitter like Caroline Lucas. One of the things that was great to see was the breadth of passionate people there. Young and old. People passionate about bats, trees, bees, seals, hen harriers, hares, owls, squirrels, butterflies, sparrows and flies (for <a href="https://twitter.com/flygirlNHM">@flygirlNHM</a> :-). That was one of the powerful things about the day, every one there cared and was passionate about our wildlife and you could really feel it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTV6jI4frocIFbyUbI8fqaAZPRWMLfUMAz6_q2IiiRarok-U4fC-wtkiwnhTdBCR7WDrdOoFJHiQ2sWZDFWlQY9rvBNxXMQ5HedhV7PMW1OyKd-dTdupD9dZq4vOVIEB-kge3fp23uSSw/s1600/IMG_0848.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTV6jI4frocIFbyUbI8fqaAZPRWMLfUMAz6_q2IiiRarok-U4fC-wtkiwnhTdBCR7WDrdOoFJHiQ2sWZDFWlQY9rvBNxXMQ5HedhV7PMW1OyKd-dTdupD9dZq4vOVIEB-kge3fp23uSSw/s200/IMG_0848.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovely to meet Caroline</td></tr>
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Then came the infotainment hour and we got to listen to inspiring songs and speeches from a range of people. It was great to see young conservationists alongside the more established campaigners. Mya-Rose Craig, Bella Lack, Georgia Lowcock, Dara McAnulty alongside people like Billy Bragg, Domonic Dyer and Ruth Tingay. We also had spells, words and poems from young people enthused by and passionate about nature. The crowd kept building, and despite it having rained everyone was enjoying the day and hearing from all the Ministers talking about their parts of the Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUDxyos8OiI3lBFHrJj5yDSDrY5BXjp_wSgYfeJvHyK8yt_pyOzJeYWsxkHr4QAXKF03Hz7gbAlHqXAdIlT3xehpu_K_M50OI8x1Bs8gtHPkn34FhOPTGPjG2qdIQq1urI_OLJgX_us8/s1600/IMG_0881.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZUDxyos8OiI3lBFHrJj5yDSDrY5BXjp_wSgYfeJvHyK8yt_pyOzJeYWsxkHr4QAXKF03Hz7gbAlHqXAdIlT3xehpu_K_M50OI8x1Bs8gtHPkn34FhOPTGPjG2qdIQq1urI_OLJgX_us8/s200/IMG_0881.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the walk the<br />
#soddententhousand</td></tr>
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The actual walk started a bit behind schedule and from where I was watching you could see the Police and others wanted to get us moving, but everyone was patient, polite and peaceful - Police and participants. The walk set off and one of the wonderful things about the day was that we'd been asked to download and play birdsong as we walked through the streets. A very poignant message to mark the millions of birds that have gone missing due to habitat loss, changes in farming practices and climate change etc. I wondered how that was going to work but it worked amazingly. The people watching the march looked on in amazement. The birdsong cut through the urban noise just as effectively than if we'd been shouting or chanting. I think it made people take more notice and I saw lots of people engaging the crowds and asking what we were doing. Some even joined in the walk.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJeC36qs0ZxRW5L5Us7oeNIxOE_zj5XGK1xmDYQ7eQARvPsOM6SgqmJD4dz0h9lXFEH0lCCsoaWq0z4XhWOFYvsZF7vYjqddmQ1NlHGSGWIlrTzss9KY-AaZLg8_XSn99WHbG5bRSOwA/s1600/IMG_0929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="780" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYJeC36qs0ZxRW5L5Us7oeNIxOE_zj5XGK1xmDYQ7eQARvPsOM6SgqmJD4dz0h9lXFEH0lCCsoaWq0z4XhWOFYvsZF7vYjqddmQ1NlHGSGWIlrTzss9KY-AaZLg8_XSn99WHbG5bRSOwA/s320/IMG_0929.JPG" width="298" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the gates of Downing Street ready to deliver the<br />
#PeoplesManifestoforWildlife </td></tr>
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The main walk ended at Whitehall where we had a few more speeches by some great people like George Monbiot, Kate Bradbury and Mark Avery. I say the main walk as there was a last leg to do.<br />
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Chris very much wanted young people to attend the walk and to engage in the activities like the Dictionary of Wildlife Wonders. For me this is important as we need more young people to value and cherish nature and the more young people see others taking an interest the better. I think it also sends a message to the politicians that the issues we raise about protecting and caring about nature won't go away. There are fresh generations of passionate, caring, committed conservationists coming forward to continue the fight for our wildlife!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHs9CO23OfnH9iA_jLqzZSPimVWSDcuX9M6KYHDaP0IcWkc4iQACadXMHnVjpvUDaVzJ2CXjt6bp18IEv-jQhd3oYIkQD-zq_O80TyPTF2h0KE0w0D-EFrB3U3oK0dNC7IxLJvEueOEE/s1600/IMG_0927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1142" data-original-width="1600" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCHs9CO23OfnH9iA_jLqzZSPimVWSDcuX9M6KYHDaP0IcWkc4iQACadXMHnVjpvUDaVzJ2CXjt6bp18IEv-jQhd3oYIkQD-zq_O80TyPTF2h0KE0w0D-EFrB3U3oK0dNC7IxLJvEueOEE/s320/IMG_0927.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Number 10!<br />
Photo credit <a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" data-mentioned-user-id="502010876" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/LukeDrayPhoto" style="background: rgb(245, 248, 250); color: #4a913c; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; outline: 0px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">@<span style="text-decoration-line: underline;">LukeDrayPhoto</span></a><span style="background-color: #f5f8fa; color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">/</span><a class="twitter-atreply pretty-link js-nav" data-mentioned-user-id="19396413" dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/WoodlandTrust" style="background: rgb(245, 248, 250); color: #4a913c; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: pre-wrap;">@WoodlandTrust</a></td></tr>
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To push home this point Chris asked a few young people to take the manifesto to Number 10, I'm sure from the other young people I know that care, and from all of the young people I saw on the day we could have filled Downing Street with young conservationists, but only a small party was allowed and I was so honoured to be one of those asked. I proudly went to the steps of Number 10 and presented the manifesto to the PM's environmental advisor, John Randall. We also got to go into parliament and have a good discussion with him about our view on wildlife and what we need to do, especially to get more young people engaged.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszq9RlDpEyxCA8mzoMwMdL_4prUyrNGzvT_i8l548mDsg0K_sNbpSVPHfFqMPm14wZLMMFaeYg4H6qlL8AnI794xGHN_mMVSTmzoekfY3IHkcnUi5CcBA_cJ8vHWc3Cp0iabX3e7t8Eg/s1600/roundtable.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="1600" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgszq9RlDpEyxCA8mzoMwMdL_4prUyrNGzvT_i8l548mDsg0K_sNbpSVPHfFqMPm14wZLMMFaeYg4H6qlL8AnI794xGHN_mMVSTmzoekfY3IHkcnUi5CcBA_cJ8vHWc3Cp0iabX3e7t8Eg/s320/roundtable.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Discussing environmental policy in Portcullis House <br />
as you do - not my usual Saturday afternoon!</td></tr>
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I left the discussion having had a wonderful day, meeting up with old friends and meeting some new ones. It was an inspiring and motivating day, one I shall remember for a very long time to come. It was a day though about saying caring about wildlife isn't enough, that we must do something, it is time to act for our wildlife before it is too late. That's not just a message for the politicians, that is a message for all of us. We can all do our part, in fact we must all do our part if we want to change the awful declines inflicted on so many species. My mind was certainly kept occupied on my train journey home thinking of things I can do to help.<br />
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A beautiful piece of writing that I often think about is by Chief Seattle (<a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2016/04/post-404-for-earthday-this-earth-is.html">see this blog post for it all</a>) which has a haunting end. It's from the nineteenth century but is just as relevant today and it reminds me of the need to keep fighting for our wildlife:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNroeW9MkjIY7cg8vG0__gubgDIFsPnn29Un4903O2VSBOOTtTFqyB1YTTCgA-_YRX0y_013xcvoNbi3Ni6muG_aLPPfzil3qAgI8yS6yovPccGC0jWojRh6xDeYpjHo4C5M1QV4N4bU/s1600/love-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="493" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNroeW9MkjIY7cg8vG0__gubgDIFsPnn29Un4903O2VSBOOTtTFqyB1YTTCgA-_YRX0y_013xcvoNbi3Ni6muG_aLPPfzil3qAgI8yS6yovPccGC0jWojRh6xDeYpjHo4C5M1QV4N4bU/s320/love-life.jpg" width="320" /></a>"Contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. But in your perishing you will shine brightly, fired by the strength of the god who brought you to this land and for some special purpose gave you dominion over this land and over the red man. That destiny is a mystery to us, for we do not understand when the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses are tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by talking wires.<br />
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Where is the thicket? Gone.<br />
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Where is the eagle? Gone.<br />
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The end of living and the beginning of survival."<br />
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Please read the <a href="http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/a-peoples-manifesto-for-wildlife">Peoples Manifesto for Wildlife</a>, be inspired, send it to your MP and do what you can to help our wildlife.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/a-peoples-manifesto-for-wildlife"><img border="0" data-original-height="435" data-original-width="1280" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MFG8KKiBfeScL136tv1CGoVGnKYlbzMwVr7mnLKwpbgpHwPAThMYvNwpqOCXcVfNVpV-CBwd0moKuVTjZAaOQlw9lyaeL7ML5NW8Y2qjbwYrTpK4jtNfDC_pMAqlbxZZVqV7EqVtfUM/s400/Manifesto-1280x435.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/a-peoples-manifesto-for-wildlife">Click to go to the Manifesto page on Chris Packham's website</a></td></tr>
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-45635416145786059082018-08-24T16:54:00.000+01:002018-08-24T16:55:55.932+01:00Post 489 - Nosterfield Bioblitz 2018<div style="text-align: left;">
Hey everyone,</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris telling me what my job for the day was<br />
(thanks for the photo <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LucyWhitePhotography">Lucy White</a>) </td></tr>
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I have had some really great wildlife experiences and some great filming opportunities but this summer I had the best one yet. It was totally unexpected too.<br />
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I knew about Chris Packham's Bioblitz and that it was coming to my local reserve, Nosterfield, so of course I'd made plans to be going along. I was thinking it would be difficult to get along for much of it though as it was on a school day. I can't describe how excited I was when I got a message that the Bioblitz team was trying to find young presenters to introduce the reserves and would I be interested in helping out. Of course I said yes, and then had my fingers crossed school would let me have the day off so I could do it. They did thankfully, they are very good at supporting my wildlife activities, and a chance to work with someone who's inspired me so much wasn't denied. Nosterfield is an incredible place and I've been lucky to be able to go there so often. A lot of the people involved in running the place have been amazingly supportive and encouraging to me so this was a big honour.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXnTHJtPyMCl_INljcY9ojHHtySUM2T5atjNBhxpxvMjad0DUO_A-I3LeoMeplLFP205Prwpeleyo_B0MfsOXNjC8vVsOa9yq6SSq9CnPkM4tmsHS9d7nyl4mhN0lAZLCK1d6qyA253U/s1600/mothtrapping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlXnTHJtPyMCl_INljcY9ojHHtySUM2T5atjNBhxpxvMjad0DUO_A-I3LeoMeplLFP205Prwpeleyo_B0MfsOXNjC8vVsOa9yq6SSq9CnPkM4tmsHS9d7nyl4mhN0lAZLCK1d6qyA253U/s320/mothtrapping.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Opening up the moth traps!</td></tr>
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So Mum, Dad and I were up early to get to the reserve for a 7am start. The Bioblitz had started at 5pm the night before and the place was already a hive of activity. If you don't know what a Bioblitz is it's basically about recording all of the wildlife, every species that you can find in an area on one day. Doing this across 50 sites will give us a really good baseline of data to see how things fare in future. The main area of interest when I got to the Nosterfield Bioblitz hub was around the moth traps being emptied. It had been an incredible night for moths and every tray from every trap that I saw emptied were laden with a massive array of species.<br />
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Shortly after I'd got there Chris and the Bioblitz team came along. I'd got it in my mind that I was just going to be doing a film about a species I liked on the reserve but then Chris came over and gave me my job for the morning. He said I was going to be him for the morning! What do you say to that?! After a couple of deep breaths and listening to the things the team wanted to film I set off with the crew to do the first bit of film. I was still a little awestruck but the crew were so friendly and helpful that I soon got into it. It helped that another conservationist that I admire and inspires me was behind one of the cameras, Ruth Pearcy, so nerves were soon settled.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsCrJ-P7IGQ_RDde_HUEvmPeGrXh6zr9R4qGCJ7zjA-F9dlpxvbjel8IQ6TvHE53mgqYcx1BIVi0gZ7wpCGCKdHbd18uQ9BQj9YeqPeUKdBq4Os6vwxsTufqNdgf8-H-YDVnKfwaDkBk/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLsCrJ-P7IGQ_RDde_HUEvmPeGrXh6zr9R4qGCJ7zjA-F9dlpxvbjel8IQ6TvHE53mgqYcx1BIVi0gZ7wpCGCKdHbd18uQ9BQj9YeqPeUKdBq4Os6vwxsTufqNdgf8-H-YDVnKfwaDkBk/s320/IMG_0400.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Interviewing Darren in the hide</td></tr>
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The first bit of filming I did was with Darren Rees, he was part of the team that Chris was bringing round with him. Darren is an amazing artist, and was tasked with doing an A5 piece based on every single reserve they went to; that's 5 a day! The filming we did together was as simple as he was talking me through his artwork and I was telling him about the reserve and what we could see out of the hide windows. This was definitely the most relaxed shoot we did because we were sat down in the hide and just talking about our passions.<br />
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After that shoot it was straight on to another which would be used as the introduction to the film. We walked across the car park to a place overlooking the first lake so there was a good background and got straight to it. Personally, I love doing this sort of shoot. It gives me a chance to talk about whatever the subject is, and to show my passion as much as I can. I loved doing this one and it only took me 2 takes!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FfyXraQNpXfjSPXnRtZjXT4moMJ20jnAmGoyA5FjkEJeGNAlrLfN4KX1DcTuF7iwz76CGM8fqZsT98rLZaWVnfFKJ_79DcFE48_EMYDXslgE_h8hDzeW-8Q2TvmgPuW39EeE_-A-Iic/s1600/IMG_0406.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FfyXraQNpXfjSPXnRtZjXT4moMJ20jnAmGoyA5FjkEJeGNAlrLfN4KX1DcTuF7iwz76CGM8fqZsT98rLZaWVnfFKJ_79DcFE48_EMYDXslgE_h8hDzeW-8Q2TvmgPuW39EeE_-A-Iic/s320/IMG_0406.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Filming with Lawrie and Pam</td></tr>
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As I said Nosterfield is amazing. It's got lots of great habitats and has some surprising species for an inland site. It's been working for 21 years to transform a former quarry into a wildlife haven, and it's working so well. But not content with that they are expanding the reserve into a new bit of the quarry that the quarry company have now finished working on. This time Nosterfield is taking up the opportunity to do something a little different and trying to re-establish a bit of the habitat that would have been around at the time that the Thornbrough Henges were created - this is a series of three big neolithic henges that are next door to the reserve (told you it was a special place!). Simon Warwick explains it really well in the film, and I then had the job of interviewing Simon and volunteers Lawrie and Pam who are working on this really exciting and novel project.<br />
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That pretty much wrapped up the filming, or so I thought. As they were about to leave Chris remembered that he wanted a short film on his phone to put on twitter so in a corner of the car park I did a little film that you probably saw posted on twitter on the day. This was just a little snippet about the reserve and two of my favourite species (you might know by now I love Bloody Nosed Beetles!)<br />
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At <a href="https://twitter.com/NosterfieldLNR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NosterfieldLNR</a> we’ve been joined by another of our young guest presenters <a href="https://twitter.com/nerdboy386?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nerdboy386</a> giving a voice to young naturalists and conservationists across the UK . <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeWantWildlife?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeWantWildlife</a> <a href="https://t.co/8aLoRMESFn">pic.twitter.com/8aLoRMESFn</a></div>
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— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGPackham/status/1019865959891460096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">19 July 2018</a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aAnH0a4dcadM88fOiAma2boTpbu9bq_yALRbCK8xxYp_CPjcIFtrBmfdHpt8a9aft43D2kcG7SK8TYhPIwyF2ByTnMRTlHeYYfGl1f2O6kpWhwwhd2rHv0Ttk0c3Q_BCkpk8UYf-oIg/s1600/southern+hawker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1600" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8aAnH0a4dcadM88fOiAma2boTpbu9bq_yALRbCK8xxYp_CPjcIFtrBmfdHpt8a9aft43D2kcG7SK8TYhPIwyF2ByTnMRTlHeYYfGl1f2O6kpWhwwhd2rHv0Ttk0c3Q_BCkpk8UYf-oIg/s320/southern+hawker.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Southern Hawker I found.</td></tr>
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Through the day we bumped into another person we knew, Joanita Musisi from Radio York! We talked for a little bit and then she asked me if I wanted to do an interview. Radio York have been very supportive of me so obviously I said yes and we set off over to the main reserve from the working quarry. We looked out over the main lake at the reserve and talked about the types of birds and other wildlife you can see there as well as covering what the Bioblitz was all about. It all came out well and it was nice to listen to it on the iplayer later on.<br />
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So that took up a lot of the morning, and it was great fun, but I still had some actual bioblitzing to do! Dad and I had a good walk around the reserve and we found quite a few nice species. Brimstone butterflies, A Southern Hawker dragonfly and a few birds that hadn't been found yet. Sadly I didn't find any Bloody Nosed beetles that day!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgGc6osSJ27SrhS0VgN5FoyEHmCpbtOqjlrTAtvnn5l0POwSWTO8Xh4RskiKSUEwtd5MV2FJvr52YqwCF1nY_d_FKH-pyc0kJvhVX4nXBqf0zlqVDDYJKv70WuYHeah0bpDYoogWRRIA/s1600/Zach+and+Darren+rees.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1196" data-original-width="1600" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgGc6osSJ27SrhS0VgN5FoyEHmCpbtOqjlrTAtvnn5l0POwSWTO8Xh4RskiKSUEwtd5MV2FJvr52YqwCF1nY_d_FKH-pyc0kJvhVX4nXBqf0zlqVDDYJKv70WuYHeah0bpDYoogWRRIA/s200/Zach+and+Darren+rees.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Catching up with Darren at Birdfair</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5e-sjiAilbCxZTIscWhrucu5LZDdCd0x19ZGE-u50PqZjyf0mXa6ISP3oqCQloRAXkN_3BnjzNtd64aEAvedspGKsfmRW4r380jCU31NGgKs5Cded8i5m3nIinofNGflD14legFD1rzU/s1600/darren+rees+Nosterfield+art+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5e-sjiAilbCxZTIscWhrucu5LZDdCd0x19ZGE-u50PqZjyf0mXa6ISP3oqCQloRAXkN_3BnjzNtd64aEAvedspGKsfmRW4r380jCU31NGgKs5Cded8i5m3nIinofNGflD14legFD1rzU/s200/darren+rees+Nosterfield+art+.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The artwork from Nosterfield</td></tr>
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It was an amazing day, but the story doesn't quite end there. Unexpectedly I caught up with Darren at Birdfair last weekend and got to see the artwork that he'd being doing on the bioblitz, including the bit he was working on when I was interviewing him in the hide. It's a lovely painting showing a variety of waders that were on the lake that morning. It was really nice to see the finished work, Darren is very talented.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo47Z2X7bG_Y6BCZGKJyPE43IF4zYuGEmUYl4TglDgsozmVFj1zfatulz9CXERozrlqNN92M_QbFwG0XuQPPTxYoAm0P9LfIfvsn_uwTS6tCt8n2eP8cEIORupRae2kTwb1YRKdCGNe68/s1600/zachand+megan.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1191" data-original-width="1600" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo47Z2X7bG_Y6BCZGKJyPE43IF4zYuGEmUYl4TglDgsozmVFj1zfatulz9CXERozrlqNN92M_QbFwG0XuQPPTxYoAm0P9LfIfvsn_uwTS6tCt8n2eP8cEIORupRae2kTwb1YRKdCGNe68/s320/zachand+megan.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great to meet up with Megan too!</td></tr>
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Birdfair was great and only a day or so before I got to see the finished piece of filming that had been posted on Chris's youtube channel. I think it came out really well, Ruth and the team did a great job. Chris got to see it too and I got a few hints and tips about presenting so hopefully anything I do in future will be even better. And the last thing that was great about the day was I got to meet Megan McCubbin which was great. It was Megan who first got in touch and asked about me getting involved and doing some presenting for the Bioblitz. On the day the team were at Nosterfield Megan was at her graduation so we didn't meet on the day, so it was really nice to meet up.<br />
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What an amazing experience! I want to give a heartfelt thank you to everyone on the team for making it such a wonderful day, I really enjoyed meeting you all and working with you.<br />
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Here's the film for you to see all about Nosterfield and some of the amazing things that are going on.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yrNLx97dYcg?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>
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The last thing to say is that the Bioblitz was an amazing day. As you heard in the video the reserve was only started 21 years ago before that it was a quarry. So the final total of species was utterly amazing and it really demonstrates that we can make such a positive difference for wildlife if we manage places well.<br />
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Nosterfield 2018 BioBlitz</div>
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1 , 1 1 1 species 🦋🌼🦉</div>
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in 24 hrs. </div>
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An amazing result, thanks to many enthusiastic people, plus a terrific team of naturalists and recorders working behind the scene. Very Many Thanks!<a href="https://t.co/J6TdjBg6dn">https://t.co/J6TdjBg6dn</a> <a href="https://t.co/Efr33kH6ST">pic.twitter.com/Efr33kH6ST</a></div>
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— Nosterfield LNR (@NosterfieldLNR) <a href="https://twitter.com/NosterfieldLNR/status/1031849887611138048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">21 August 2018</a></div>
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
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Z.<br />
<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-23448508424332335032018-07-08T20:49:00.000+01:002018-07-08T20:49:26.034+01:00Post 487 - Eagerly Surveying Species at EavestoneHey everyone, post 487 is about my surveying today for the Wild Watch project.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOU-Qu90VK_s1nr-mKb6Hw_0-5aVdlBDg4usC8BBglLirxvCfl4qReVXScATUYo3sUu6KESl__fG4IwUOKMKr2Q-FYuMahztYKZhNlaxAYIffz8yy6x8R_JhheKwOx3yN9YBkZScDLzM/s1600/survey6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLOU-Qu90VK_s1nr-mKb6Hw_0-5aVdlBDg4usC8BBglLirxvCfl4qReVXScATUYo3sUu6KESl__fG4IwUOKMKr2Q-FYuMahztYKZhNlaxAYIffz8yy6x8R_JhheKwOx3yN9YBkZScDLzM/s320/survey6.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Common Blue Damselfly - not the Azure that I was<br />
looking for but still very pretty.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As most of you will know if you have seen some of my earlier posts (<a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2017/07/post-468-wonderful-wild-watch-project.html">like this one</a>, <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2018/02/post-481-outstandingly-obliging-owls.html">this one</a> or <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2017/09/post-472-wild-watch-river-survey-number.html">this one</a>) I'm lucky enough to be the youth patron of this wonderful project in Nidderdale. It's given me a lot of wonderful opportunities but an important part of the project is the actual surveying that it needs done to be able to find out more about the wildlife of the area. When more is known about where wildlife is doing well and not so well the Wild Watch team will be able to work out how to help it best.<br />
<br />
So today I set out early with Dad to go to our transect at Eavestone Lake. It's a really nice place, very quiet and tranquil so much so that we were there for almost two hours today and we didn't see another person, just lots of wonderful wildlife.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBSDRNajmEAlfcxs7YYFuq97ec30fBPXs1qcJotl0TVIUVdZN5YK_k5y22hGpfttGxCanCCtowwWrACIw4FLZYDwuuelJIwZwfQWKcuicJ4R8W3CQ-z_aD5MMCemi_IyhCzJSxINvyKk/s1600/survey3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="1333" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglBSDRNajmEAlfcxs7YYFuq97ec30fBPXs1qcJotl0TVIUVdZN5YK_k5y22hGpfttGxCanCCtowwWrACIw4FLZYDwuuelJIwZwfQWKcuicJ4R8W3CQ-z_aD5MMCemi_IyhCzJSxINvyKk/s320/survey3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Meadow Brown - bit bigger than the<br />
Small Heath on my survey list</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
It was really warm and there were some massive splashes as we walked around the lake as some big fish jumped for bugs. There were more splashes too as we disturbed the odd Mallard and they paddled away pretty sharpish. Today I was doing three surveys: Invertebrates, a river survey and a reptile survey.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3fVM1hEbuhxD3AcQ3U6JYYpVr4UOfz69uODr8RmqWk-Fvn9tLmjd5nGFGg6dp5D51fKMTmVw9HgzXbCHwkBHVRHXPfmf7rbiprjNc4d_cUwLsX5jIR8hPqUYlLaJdpwxI04vSeDJcfI/s1600/survey2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="1333" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha3fVM1hEbuhxD3AcQ3U6JYYpVr4UOfz69uODr8RmqWk-Fvn9tLmjd5nGFGg6dp5D51fKMTmVw9HgzXbCHwkBHVRHXPfmf7rbiprjNc4d_cUwLsX5jIR8hPqUYlLaJdpwxI04vSeDJcfI/s320/survey2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Volucella pellucens - one of the UK's largest Hoverflies<br />
- impressive but not on the list!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Eavestone Lake is pretty much woodland all the way round, the trees overhang the water along most of the shore with a good crop of Rhododendrons thrown in too. Earlier this year we'd set out some roofing felt squares as refugia for reptiles - they basically should gravitate to these and use them to warm up in the mornings and shelter under them too at night. Well with it being so woody there weren't many places that would get sun and sadly when we checked them today we didn't see any reptiles at all!<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE60QqkfxspV4C2je-gwk1zWK3vUzdlvAi70yGfFK1U1WLmPYzkhKJH0MeMV5jyWVvI7YwfTtI8K6hxMJdaRCLupt46Tzf9srzoI4ONX1nu5ndBnG4IsbFdfS9qABLEvSlVuUHlRxZ-D0/s1600/survey5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="1333" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE60QqkfxspV4C2je-gwk1zWK3vUzdlvAi70yGfFK1U1WLmPYzkhKJH0MeMV5jyWVvI7YwfTtI8K6hxMJdaRCLupt46Tzf9srzoI4ONX1nu5ndBnG4IsbFdfS9qABLEvSlVuUHlRxZ-D0/s320/survey5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Garden Bumble Bee - and it is on the list!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
However we had two other surveys to do. So we looked at the river survey. This was also tricky as it's hard to get to much of the shore but in one spot last year we did see some Otter spraint. We checked today along as much of the shore as we could get to but sadly this time we didn't find any. I also have to look for signs of Water Vole but again didn't see anything. Likewise for the birds on the River survey, no Kingfisher, Dipper of Grey Wagtails today. The good thing was I didn't see any of the plants though. We have to survey for invasive plants. Last year there was one patch of Himalayan Balsam but not so far this year! I wonder if it's late or just doesn't like the hot dry weather.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYouLEAeJJQBvvpS6123j_vHkOEwl5M7u7PoR-PMyCHPf9jDhBnua3ge7cNNmdsXlxXrQsuIkzcClxSzivpsEoyt3XCJjmEvblg37nPWOKKSAaNV4D409W0BLVtzERIvS3Ly9lN8-Zvo/s1600/survey4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1333" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoYouLEAeJJQBvvpS6123j_vHkOEwl5M7u7PoR-PMyCHPf9jDhBnua3ge7cNNmdsXlxXrQsuIkzcClxSzivpsEoyt3XCJjmEvblg37nPWOKKSAaNV4D409W0BLVtzERIvS3Ly9lN8-Zvo/s320/survey4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Helophilus pendulus - also know as Sun Fly or<br />
the Footballer apparently (stripy jersey?) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The last survey was invertebrates and there's quite a few to try and see. There is one spot at the end of the lake that is alive with insects when I've been before so I was quite hopeful. So after trekking through the shade and cool of the tree lined lake before I emerged out of the undergrowth to a clearing at the dammed end of the lake.After my eyes had adjusted sure enough I could see masses of insects.<br />
<br />
Quite quickly I found a Garden Bumblebee, one of the species on the list, at last a record for the survey! I followed a few butterflies, mostly Meadow Browns but not the Small Heaths I was looking for. There were masses of Common Blue Damselflies - I took lots of shots to check these - but no Azure Damselflies which were on the list. There were plenty of insects around not on the list but I was hoping for at least one more that was.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_r5KJlS3o6xOOfNvjd19mzrpIy7_A3AQBBOo6z4tR1sT9IOjZTGPPK0ZAGUriL3NiE-CyrHJIGgVx1hRH10QVC3t5E9UtfmhDh597PIway8txxALMbo96P8uYPMvqQNg9hcI9DUhyphenhyphenNzk/s1600/survey1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_r5KJlS3o6xOOfNvjd19mzrpIy7_A3AQBBOo6z4tR1sT9IOjZTGPPK0ZAGUriL3NiE-CyrHJIGgVx1hRH10QVC3t5E9UtfmhDh597PIway8txxALMbo96P8uYPMvqQNg9hcI9DUhyphenhyphenNzk/s320/survey1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice find for the end of the survey<br />
the Wild Watch logo - Golden-ringed Dragonfly</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
After sitting for a little while I could hear a faint whirring sound. I'd heard it before, the sound of a big Dragonfly. It took a while to find where it was coming from and to then wait for it to get close enough to see what it was. I had to look twice to be sure but was amazed and pleased to see it was a Golden-Ringed Dragonfly, the UK's longest insect, the Wild Watch logo and one of my favourites!<br />
<br />
A really nice find for the end of my survey and a sort of double tick as it's on the invertebrate survey and the river survey. So I set off home hot but happy!<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
<br />
<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-19585218448022236442018-06-24T21:50:00.001+01:002018-06-24T21:50:24.498+01:00Post 486 - Fundraising for Fabulous Owls - Stage 1Hey everyone, today's post is a little update.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqtIJ1yu1WZe7tD0HwPyepls1Oia5BxOe9Ri9X5TrowbyF7wYSsM2_O3WE3lv9h5fKm8mBuSNRcx8shuNlOBWOmfJBbdmf-R7zR8HhAEKdx7qJ-X1lZ_dCRVpGc_7nh5YmRWbkGg9FJg/s1600/niddway1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrqtIJ1yu1WZe7tD0HwPyepls1Oia5BxOe9Ri9X5TrowbyF7wYSsM2_O3WE3lv9h5fKm8mBuSNRcx8shuNlOBWOmfJBbdmf-R7zR8HhAEKdx7qJ-X1lZ_dCRVpGc_7nh5YmRWbkGg9FJg/s320/niddway1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where it all started - the walk and, well, me too really!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A<a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.com/2018/05/post-484-fundraising-for-fabulous-owls.html"> couple of posts ago</a> I mentioned that I was going to do a bit of fundraising to see if I could help the BTO Owl Appeal to raise more money to be able to understand how to help these wonderful but struggling creatures. It's going ok so far. I set a target of £2,000 as I just didn't know what would be a good or realistic target. So far I'm up to £350 or 17% of that target. That's 3 and a half times more than I raised last time I did something like this so I'm pretty happy but hoping to make it much better yet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZSEh6LeQb4lTxXoQ06MCN3j15KsDPufRxNbRN5fihELNJmXJqiue-7ZGQG6VKZpy2GMT9x5KmR9Oo5YiDWrEUS4Q6B-1YcOhNOTe_EeMRgi14J2UTRMgX_l8eiTQOZAKOshh3E5eRko/s1600/niddway2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVZSEh6LeQb4lTxXoQ06MCN3j15KsDPufRxNbRN5fihELNJmXJqiue-7ZGQG6VKZpy2GMT9x5KmR9Oo5YiDWrEUS4Q6B-1YcOhNOTe_EeMRgi14J2UTRMgX_l8eiTQOZAKOshh3E5eRko/s320/niddway2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing countryside and weather.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So my challenge is to walk the Nidderdale Way, 52 miles around some amazing Yorkshire countryside. I'm doing the Nidderdale Way because of my connection with the Wild Watch project, I'm its youth patron, and this year they've been doing a lot of work with Owls, so it all seemed to fit nicely.<br />
<br />
The first challenge though has been trying to find time to fit it in! I'm not set up for backpacking so I'm doing it with Dad when we can get lifts there and back. Happily this weekend, with the weather being so amazing, Mum was able to drop us off and my Grandad picked us up at the end of the stage.<br />
<br />
So late morning we were dropped off by Mum in Ripley. I started with stage 4 as Ripley is a bit special to us, it's where Mum and Dad got married, so I decided to start here. We set off from the castle and headed out into the countryside. The route was lovely, taking in fields, passing through woods, crossing little babbling becks and gently taking us on a meandering route though the AONB. We passed a deserted medieval village which I couldn't make out - I will need to explore better when I have more time, and continued on until we hit our first point for a little break at a lovely village called Shaw Mills.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGpLy0giq_KwosUiFaFBz_P6tSuARFbEKbtGyvw29cf5R345zdkG2hLXkqxk4oYYYcOpzj_gURu1V7FeLyZLsYI_2giQcdb7noehhWeN-lhrt7rzZCkMjNV9PjwwARBmHgu-SlJhbOTQ/s1600/niddway4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivGpLy0giq_KwosUiFaFBz_P6tSuARFbEKbtGyvw29cf5R345zdkG2hLXkqxk4oYYYcOpzj_gURu1V7FeLyZLsYI_2giQcdb7noehhWeN-lhrt7rzZCkMjNV9PjwwARBmHgu-SlJhbOTQ/s320/niddway4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading on to Brimham Moor</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We didn't stop long as we had a timetable to stick to as Grandad was under instructions from Mum to pick us up a set time as we had friends coming for dinner. So we headed off on the next stretch which was just as nice through more fields, woods, along streams and passing some lovely places like Brimham Lodge. We followed the route of a Monks Wall and enjoyed the view.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiQmem83syQbRE6quzbdD9BXT9YKv7QaFwbIhXB1rnlIpwVQpm1xo4-fBKC48oA1ZjzXAKIZybp2PNAlBFzJybKiAj_JN5TjBgnpQgnpFgINJqsF4NEEiUgSKxy0I4DJAmGDslT3j1IU/s1600/niddway3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMiQmem83syQbRE6quzbdD9BXT9YKv7QaFwbIhXB1rnlIpwVQpm1xo4-fBKC48oA1ZjzXAKIZybp2PNAlBFzJybKiAj_JN5TjBgnpQgnpFgINJqsF4NEEiUgSKxy0I4DJAmGDslT3j1IU/s320/niddway3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bit of a surprise find!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Then suddenly as we went through a gate the terrain changed. We were suddenly into the moorland of Brimham Moor. That was the first surprise, the next was quite alarming at first as there was a funny grunting - what was it - well pigs of course! Two of them cuddled up sleeping. Never seen that before!<br />
<br />
We passed through Brimham Moor and we could see a few of the rock formations which Brimham is famous for but we also enjoyed Skylarks flying high and singing and a lovely Fritillary butterfly that was too quick to see exactly what it was.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qo9CbhyHmPPjK6aErqkJvj9s11A_9oFE2htrI77AE8AWP6_yj7j20eZXQ2O3pIoVB-677sQdUvNN78q6ycDv71FrgZMKG8zCjpwsegzBibvCGf6ODBrFBSylNkaLA5TKNbiNtSCiS6k/s1600/niddway5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Qo9CbhyHmPPjK6aErqkJvj9s11A_9oFE2htrI77AE8AWP6_yj7j20eZXQ2O3pIoVB-677sQdUvNN78q6ycDv71FrgZMKG8zCjpwsegzBibvCGf6ODBrFBSylNkaLA5TKNbiNtSCiS6k/s320/niddway5.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some rocks at Brimham.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We'd been enjoying the walk and the scenery a bit too much, taking our time, enjoying the views and the wildlife we saw along the way and time was escaping us a bit so we pressed on and got as far as Glasshouses before we had to get picked up. So I'll have to do the little stretch into Pateley Bridge next time. To be honest though I like stopping, admiring the views and exploring the wildlife so I think it's going to take me longer than I thought!<br />
<br />
Thank you to everyone that has donated so far, I really appreciate it and so will the Owls.<br />
<br />
If you haven't yet but could see your way to helping out then you can donate on my Just giving page:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zach-haynes">https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zach-haynes</a><br />
<br />
I'll keep you updated as I do more!<br />
<br />
Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-36280218446951796702018-06-14T22:24:00.001+01:002018-06-25T12:20:42.921+01:00Post 485 - Lord Lieutenant & Cracking Cairngorms<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hey everyone, I don't know where the time goes these days but glad I've finally found the time to write up a little blog about a recent visit I had to the Cairngorms. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This trip came about because I was lucky enough to be awarded the North York Moors National Park Trust Young Ranger Award. It was the first one they did and I was amazed to win. The prize was some cash to put towards visiting another national park and I had to attend a prize giving ceremony at the Moors Centre at Danby to be presented with my prize by the Lord Lieutentant of North Yorkshire Barry Dodd. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0k-I9iAwxzuixF-2x-AINzFZoYQzLBAXzrtL4mUNil_thSC1EcDrSBd5_MUHC_CBBYJWaRq23-dbmJ7Y-0Abw2Y9oegNl4LxGWw1t8Ss6RHBQ4AOZBIuPG0LtaERie2cRwS-WFMvDiDg/s1600/Barry+thump.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="666" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0k-I9iAwxzuixF-2x-AINzFZoYQzLBAXzrtL4mUNil_thSC1EcDrSBd5_MUHC_CBBYJWaRq23-dbmJ7Y-0Abw2Y9oegNl4LxGWw1t8Ss6RHBQ4AOZBIuPG0LtaERie2cRwS-WFMvDiDg/s320/Barry+thump.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This made us both laugh<br />
- but I really didn't thump the Lord Lieutenant!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I mention this in particular as it was great to meet Barry and he was a really nice man, he wrote me a lovely letter afterwards that I have hung on my wall congratulating me and being very nice about all the things I do for nature. He also laughed at this photo we took at the ceremony where it looks like I'm thumping</span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"> him. I promise I wasn't! That's probably treason! So it was very sad to hear whilst I was in the Cairngorms that Barry had died in a helicopter accident. I didn't know Barry well or for very long but it was a pleasure to have met him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It was a bit of a strange co-incidence to hear the news whilst on the trip that the award made possible but it made me all the more determined to get the most out of the opportunity. So what did I do?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgnMSqdafz3J806uCYeJI_s0AEyNH1dcUcQfHjCep5o8uxyhBBUcK2aDvI78rTT-uv5ZE_a5Y6OJxZ3NApfEnMUuv5JUj3wCHDnd1QP7nR_4fdtqS7vTHPOez2pBf7_LHkHvzslt4jmc/s1600/redstart.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="989" data-original-width="1500" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIgnMSqdafz3J806uCYeJI_s0AEyNH1dcUcQfHjCep5o8uxyhBBUcK2aDvI78rTT-uv5ZE_a5Y6OJxZ3NApfEnMUuv5JUj3wCHDnd1QP7nR_4fdtqS7vTHPOez2pBf7_LHkHvzslt4jmc/s320/redstart.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A random stop and a Redstart!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Well, I had an amazing nature filled week of course. The weather was amazing too, clear skies and warm days all week. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The journey was long but we made the best of it by taking nice quiet routes where we could. That was rewarded by nice views and on one little stop we pulled up right next to this Redstart.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We stayed right next to Craigellachie National Nature Reserve in Aviemore which was amazing in itself. Spotted and Pied Flycatchers, Wood Warblers, Roe Deer, Peregrines, Heron were some of the things I saw on a few walks I had here. On the second night I walked up to the top of the hill with Dad and was rewarded with some fantastic views over the Cairngorms.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznEjQJvXupOJLsn9RtMYAJItbIQ4boLn9NYONQ4KYkK-5lbZ3fwl_1H_u4rDfh2b8IxKbvQGs0egnu1ifNE1Jj4UqYIEhulHHT1fgoIQ22PVYjMSZblcUqXqh5qzJgwHilW12fvAnBKI/s1600/panoview.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="1600" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjznEjQJvXupOJLsn9RtMYAJItbIQ4boLn9NYONQ4KYkK-5lbZ3fwl_1H_u4rDfh2b8IxKbvQGs0egnu1ifNE1Jj4UqYIEhulHHT1fgoIQ22PVYjMSZblcUqXqh5qzJgwHilW12fvAnBKI/s400/panoview.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I had one or two special trips lined up as the North York Moors National Park kindly put me in touch with the folks at Cairngorm National Park so I was able to organise a few things.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBYeDOG8PUjF20OtsG2ZQwfQXRWw-6e2nCqqo5gqT5fuQfhS2nftomD0vs4XJKxj454BjoQrL27J55EN7EXOWDh6TYb1GvW7OZfTFsUdV5ww-ysCPCQR_NypcLXxc_2I2cUv0QYuVl0g/s1600/wheatear.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="981" data-original-width="1500" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBYeDOG8PUjF20OtsG2ZQwfQXRWw-6e2nCqqo5gqT5fuQfhS2nftomD0vs4XJKxj454BjoQrL27J55EN7EXOWDh6TYb1GvW7OZfTFsUdV5ww-ysCPCQR_NypcLXxc_2I2cUv0QYuVl0g/s320/wheatear.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Wheatear at Glen Tanar</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The first was a land rover safari on the <a href="https://www.glentanar.co.uk/">Glen Tanar estate</a>, which is next to the Queen's Balmoral Estate. This was a really interesting visit. Not only did we see some fantastic wildlife, like a Green Hairstreak, Osprey, Ring Ouzel and Wheatear, but we learnt all about the way the estate is managed. Glen Tanar is managing the estate a bit differently to a lot of the estates in Scotland and is very conservation focused. We saw lots of work that they are doing to allow the moorland to revert to woodland. The landscape isn't 'Sheepwrecked' and the only animals that are shot on the estate are deer but only to control their numbers and keep everything in balance. You can pay to go Deer stalking here but it is nice to know that the money is used to help the estate be maintained for forestry and conservation. The land rover safari was a great way to see a lot of the estate and what it is doing. You even get a little picnic half way round and that's where I was able to see the Green Hairstreak and a big Wood Ant nest.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwyUChVaD7jqESMpcVcMDA7giTxjv9dBlfX1IwUBPEggvnaEyrgQmA18Xe_dKSfwmdMYNsaC3vMTOiamWqYbAsTS6oYNIi3a4cz_mfEBzA4_bNeCNABpBsk0zODFW-bZTYakX7-JoXyI/s1600/cairngorm+summit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinwyUChVaD7jqESMpcVcMDA7giTxjv9dBlfX1IwUBPEggvnaEyrgQmA18Xe_dKSfwmdMYNsaC3vMTOiamWqYbAsTS6oYNIi3a4cz_mfEBzA4_bNeCNABpBsk0zODFW-bZTYakX7-JoXyI/s320/cairngorm+summit.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cairngorm Summit</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AhOQn3EBYW4-9MGsr7vxsMi8NB7Lt9dMy2_QWWHMjrnuJQjdEG0h2qVWZ1w-BJwikDuzmBSxFunbPLoNCj7h9895URy-FI-Zar8GZwoHpGHWisZ5p22tMQE09dN77Ea8n_v3jWL21Rc/s1600/Snowbunt1small.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3AhOQn3EBYW4-9MGsr7vxsMi8NB7Lt9dMy2_QWWHMjrnuJQjdEG0h2qVWZ1w-BJwikDuzmBSxFunbPLoNCj7h9895URy-FI-Zar8GZwoHpGHWisZ5p22tMQE09dN77Ea8n_v3jWL21Rc/s320/Snowbunt1small.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowbunting in summer plumage on Cairngorm</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The second trip I'd organised was with <a href="https://www.cairngormmountain.org/">Natural Retreats to have a look around the top of Cairngorm</a>. I was looking forward to this as I was hoping to see a few nice species like Ptarmigan, Dotteral, Mountain Hare and Snow Bunting. We met our guide, Ruari, at the Ranger Station and headed up the hill. A big advantage of a guided tour is that you can use the railway to take you most of the way up the hill. Otherwise if you want to go to the summit you have to walk up. Well with all the walking I was doing that week it was nice to use the railway and Ruari told us lots about it, how it worked and how many people it carried up and down the hill. I found it strange that on a clear sunny very warm day with incredible views ( I could see the five highest peaks in the UK and I was on the sixth highest) that I was there in the off season. Winter and skiing is the busy time.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVSJC4ACVEXDYqFMLKDHmprhVxD0drvzuraM27w8_eYoFCWXsv95D2ALnNXwf7QYxgVD6MoOmC6SvFi8gUhQtb00EWc4EYLYr4_NENY7r50nS2K-aw2OyFLh5fIJ8RvKE5ahtL2jvdI/s1600/dotterel.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="1500" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiVSJC4ACVEXDYqFMLKDHmprhVxD0drvzuraM27w8_eYoFCWXsv95D2ALnNXwf7QYxgVD6MoOmC6SvFi8gUhQtb00EWc4EYLYr4_NENY7r50nS2K-aw2OyFLh5fIJ8RvKE5ahtL2jvdI/s320/dotterel.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dotterel on Cairngorm</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So, off the railway and on to the top of the hill. Looking back down the hill, there were amazing views as the only clouds you could see were clouds of pine pollen blowing off the trees way down in the valley. Rurai told us all about how special and delicate the environment on the top of Cairngorm is, it has lots of national and international designations as it is such a special environment. Ruari was explaining how they maintain it and how easy it is for it to be damaged so they have to manage visitor numbers and routes very carefully. That's why you can't normally use the railway to get up the hill and then go for a walk around.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8CrVujZ6qc7hV34In-N_xefoup3m7SmhHntjDNPh9G1GkyXZ9IPjT38LRhFgMLsLrcWGFLPtS3GQXcI1rKTmluBUePX2XRAGC1wRrejmRhAbQEh6IkoKO2DqzaprAFWH1k6PalZCTtk/s1600/cairngorm+summit+view.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg8CrVujZ6qc7hV34In-N_xefoup3m7SmhHntjDNPh9G1GkyXZ9IPjT38LRhFgMLsLrcWGFLPtS3GQXcI1rKTmluBUePX2XRAGC1wRrejmRhAbQEh6IkoKO2DqzaprAFWH1k6PalZCTtk/s320/cairngorm+summit+view.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing views and sky on Cairngorm</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">What a place though. Amazing views and I got to see Dotterel, Mountain Hare and Snow Bunting on that trip up. Later in the week I went back and got to see a Ptarmigan too. Ruari was a great guide and what a fantastic job he has!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There was more to come of course. Dad had also found out about a <a href="http://www.cairngormwildlife.co.uk/bogwig/badgerhide.html">Badger hide run by a wildlife group at Boat of Garten</a>. We met up with an amazing champion for nature Alan Bantick. He told us so much about what he had done in the area including being one of the lead people for reintroducing Beavers back into Scotland. He'd set up the hide in the 1990's and has had all sorts of people visit it with him like Chris Packham and Nick Baker. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7GAW1TSHiIa6tlWblWTAawle7727zxfT_gPdi0lfKS8v8JLzASyqEknEbW5ILRjKP3dXd2D0la4dn8O1yMlsFbsFqF_mAtuUQqDTYOVgD4l7cCrxWKcpmGvwXRPUQIwtiwOfj_ssQuvY/s1600/Badger2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7GAW1TSHiIa6tlWblWTAawle7727zxfT_gPdi0lfKS8v8JLzASyqEknEbW5ILRjKP3dXd2D0la4dn8O1yMlsFbsFqF_mAtuUQqDTYOVgD4l7cCrxWKcpmGvwXRPUQIwtiwOfj_ssQuvY/s320/Badger2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Badger at dusk</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We met up with Alan just before dusk and he drove us to the hide. Once there he set things up, basically putting a bit of food out for the Badgers and swapping out a memory card in a camera trap. I think we were there about five or ten minutes and then the Badgers started to emerge. I think I have only ever distantly glimpsed a Badger once before as where I live is mostly arable farms. So it was an amazing experience to sit and watch up to six or seven badgers at a time foraging, playing and grooming. It was an amazing experience that will stay with me for a very long time.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K4q9LsbDt6Xy3PAtmcFxmKy2FhifltPn9TYHR9PzBpCZgwslZClgAJVDZ3U-blmIQV7-gQG6kG3_9qXxD11e1X7aucFNeTAjUpAeUSJkqtsvjzozTNBciq3ex3JLOBcEFMXnrcxmjVs/s1600/slavonian+grebe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1500" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7K4q9LsbDt6Xy3PAtmcFxmKy2FhifltPn9TYHR9PzBpCZgwslZClgAJVDZ3U-blmIQV7-gQG6kG3_9qXxD11e1X7aucFNeTAjUpAeUSJkqtsvjzozTNBciq3ex3JLOBcEFMXnrcxmjVs/s320/slavonian+grebe.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No King Eider but I did see a lovely Slavonian Grebe</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Aside from that we spent the week exploring different areas, Lochs, the Coast and different bits of the Cairngorms. I got to see a few Red Squirrels and Seals but I didn't see everything I wanted, King Eider was one species I'd hoped to see, but it didn't matter as I had an amazing time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I'm very grateful to everyone that made this trip possible, the North York Moors National Park Trust for the award that made this possible and to all the people in the Caringorms, especially <a href="https://www.glentanar.co.uk/">The Glen Tanar Estate</a>, <a href="https://www.cairngormmountain.org/">Natural Retreats</a> and Allan Bantick, that helped me to get the most out of the visit. I will definitely be back!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Hope you enjoyed,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Z.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-17449359887543150762018-05-10T21:58:00.000+01:002018-05-10T22:03:46.545+01:00Post 484 - Fundraising for fabulous Owls<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfToq7iTlb8djjh8d7YCL-JqnryiEZcfS5OcuaGbFhV0M2JGJdns9uH1DxseHT4DHQdoGGt0wpJ5cey502vhS7gIIHF0sF6duH-balsKq8LiJfd3AInKhceSGNRq-IQtOSl3izHmOstY/s1600/tawny2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1382" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfToq7iTlb8djjh8d7YCL-JqnryiEZcfS5OcuaGbFhV0M2JGJdns9uH1DxseHT4DHQdoGGt0wpJ5cey502vhS7gIIHF0sF6duH-balsKq8LiJfd3AInKhceSGNRq-IQtOSl3izHmOstY/s320/tawny2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tawny Owl</td></tr>
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Hey everyone! Some of you might have already seen on twitter and my blog that I am having a bit of an Owl year. Well, I'm not the only one.<br />
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It started really with<a href="https://t.co/YQ43hM5F3M"> The Wild Watch,</a> a project that I'm very honoured to be the youth patron for. I try to encourage other young people in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (and anywhere else really) to get more involved with nature, and especially to help out with the Wild Watch project a big citizen science project that is surveying the wildlife of Nidderdale. Well this year they wanted to survey Owls and to get the help of a lot of young people they decided to do a film to show in the schools across the area. I'm really grateful that they asked me to be in the film, I enjoyed doing this and getting the chance to get up close to some fabulous Owls was awesome.<br />
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<iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="320" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5XW04fEErDU?" width="570"></iframe>
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Well shortly after this I found out the <a href="https://www.bto.org./">BTO </a>was having its own year of the Owl and is trying to raise funding to help understand more about Owls and how best to help them. Well Owls are a family favourite and we often say we don't see enough Owls. You can read the details on the<a href="https://www.bto.org./volunteer-surveys/project-owl"> BTO website about why this project is so important </a>but essentially Owls are struggling, so I decided that I ought to do more to help.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowcHb2RAlQIwTFS4z6qL0YPmD9DGXaqZ29K18G1AFx2OTdFH2eQoM9KzCxwCrsTy_YNudKO7H_cieQisP4lR3axRwx5ZsCBGrgrYyjI06dLRUKOSgvyQsZA8TVAEDnO_shUr0UQaC9sM/s1600/site+7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="750" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjowcHb2RAlQIwTFS4z6qL0YPmD9DGXaqZ29K18G1AFx2OTdFH2eQoM9KzCxwCrsTy_YNudKO7H_cieQisP4lR3axRwx5ZsCBGrgrYyjI06dLRUKOSgvyQsZA8TVAEDnO_shUr0UQaC9sM/s320/site+7.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My first sponsored walk - aged 8<br />
I conquered Roseberry Topping! </td></tr>
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I do bits of fundraising now and again. Many of you buy my calendars and half of the profits got to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. The other half I use to buy more camera equipment and you should see some of the results of that in the 2019 calendar!<br />
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My first fundraising challenge though was to help a local wildlife rescue centre that cared for some injured animals we found. They gave me lots of advice too when I found a baby Hedgehog out in our road in the day time. I was able to raise him (Prickles!) to adulthood and set him free in the garden. So to help repay the centre I did a sponsored walk up a local hill. That was back in 2012 when I was eight! I think I raised just over £100 which the rescue centre was very grateful for.<br />
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Well not being able to think of any other more brilliant idea I thought a sponsored walk would be a good idea to do again. Only this time it's a bit longer. I had the idea that I could sort of promote the Wild Watch Owl project and the BTO Owl Appeal by walking the Nidderdale Way.<br />
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This is a 52 mile walk around the Nidderdale AONB. That's a lot further than I've walked before!<br />
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I do go camping now and again but I'm not set up for backpacking so the Nidderdale walk is good as it is near enough to home that I can do the four stages by being dropped off with Dad over four different days. I intend to fit them in as soon as I can but doing it this way means I can pick days that aren't too wet or too hot!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZUAQ0Tp4xlBDF_rB_9sdUR6GGQtKadpEnPALqVohlTe5kbM_jeuN4-vb7NIqS6l9KsnWBnRoA4VxHNzLGpd0WtEk9jyqMyVzZuVTxZuyeZIbR8RWrMhbzs0Izu-qSMbRjBH0wxE5q7M/s1600/zowl4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUZUAQ0Tp4xlBDF_rB_9sdUR6GGQtKadpEnPALqVohlTe5kbM_jeuN4-vb7NIqS6l9KsnWBnRoA4VxHNzLGpd0WtEk9jyqMyVzZuVTxZuyeZIbR8RWrMhbzs0Izu-qSMbRjBH0wxE5q7M/s320/zowl4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tawny Owl up close.</td></tr>
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So I've talked to the BTO, found they are set up on Justgiving and I've made a fundraising page. I've set an ambitious target of £2000 which I'd really like to achieve but it's a lot more money than I've ever managed to raise before.<br />
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I'll be doing my best to reach this target so I'll be tweeting and posting about it quite a bit in the next few weeks which I hope you all don't mind. If you think that helping Owls is a cause you can support I'd appreciate any help you can give. Retweeting, sharing or donating would all be appreciated.<br />
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If you are able to make a contribution to my challenge you can donate here:<br />
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<a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/zach-haynes">Zach's Nidderdale Way Walk for Owls</a><br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-58388441353948581032018-04-30T21:31:00.004+01:002018-04-30T21:31:57.570+01:00Post 483 - Riveting Reptile Surveying with Wonderful Wildwatch<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYTAwYo8VP4BHjtvJeBasoc9Bk9LgwJW5j_rgsYiUtPNVUBQ0xaudv7YdJq6HMDuVkyMQpDDa02rxQr8d0atAozMS7c3lHESeatrzMrHqS8sMOrq_Z-V28s4adK_2ppP3mW3XuO7goLs/s1600/repsurv1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixYTAwYo8VP4BHjtvJeBasoc9Bk9LgwJW5j_rgsYiUtPNVUBQ0xaudv7YdJq6HMDuVkyMQpDDa02rxQr8d0atAozMS7c3lHESeatrzMrHqS8sMOrq_Z-V28s4adK_2ppP3mW3XuO7goLs/s320/repsurv1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Misty moorland survey for reptiles!</td></tr>
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Hey everyone, as many of you will know I’m involved with a wonderful project called the Wild Watch. For those who don’t the Wild Watch is a 3 year long Heritage Lottery funded project that is trying to both survey wildlife in the Nidderdale area, but also spread awareness about how much some species are in need.<br />
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Those of you that see my blogs regularly will know I've done a couple of posts on this before - <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/post-481-outstandingly-obliging-owls.html">Post 481 on a nice Owl video </a>I got to do and <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/post-468-wonderful-wild-watch-project.html">Post 468</a> and <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/post-472-wild-watch-river-survey-number.html">Post 472 </a>on a river survey I did as part of the project last year.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5G7KnkldDGrBrcAyTTnLFX5knZ1RLrd2fPUjdnuZ-o8UBzTgBbDUxnJuphyphenhyphenuVfKWDIX8WIXpY-vNi0qbrUewyKdPdrcSZnpSFd3sBWnD2KJev-nY46VCISbE_OT7cl4PovNGAlsqQ3I/s1600/repsurv2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx5G7KnkldDGrBrcAyTTnLFX5knZ1RLrd2fPUjdnuZ-o8UBzTgBbDUxnJuphyphenhyphenuVfKWDIX8WIXpY-vNi0qbrUewyKdPdrcSZnpSFd3sBWnD2KJev-nY46VCISbE_OT7cl4PovNGAlsqQ3I/s320/repsurv2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A reptile refugia</td></tr>
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Of course, there needs to be quite a lot of people to survey such a huge area, so I, among many others, go to ‘lessons’ held by the Wild Watch which enable us to go out and do some proper surveying!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8H_o0xjLxQU7NfAQ8aqse5KSw6dYY7HoATyuSKHM4s0eOQog-9gHHv_ptO3ahfUL-RvRpuIUQbyivJj6wIrpc4zGVvAXRoV44VRbuSa1M4D19rtN3Ilos8m1lnj4BHK72ZBX83dzLQ6M/s1600/repsurv3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8H_o0xjLxQU7NfAQ8aqse5KSw6dYY7HoATyuSKHM4s0eOQog-9gHHv_ptO3ahfUL-RvRpuIUQbyivJj6wIrpc4zGVvAXRoV44VRbuSa1M4D19rtN3Ilos8m1lnj4BHK72ZBX83dzLQ6M/s320/repsurv3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some of the survey party</td></tr>
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Recently they held one of these days for reptile surveys, so me and my Dad jumped at the opportunity and went to see what we could learn. The day started off with us being told what species we would be looking for, which included grass snakes, adders and slow-worms, all great species that I would love to see more of. Then, we were told how to put out the refuges which would attract the reptiles. They’re essentially just pieces of roofing felt which we’d leave in sunny spots; when the reptiles look for somewhere to warm themselves in the morning they’d find these, which had absorbed the sun’s heat, and just wait on it until they had enough energy to start hunting.<br />
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So, once we were told all of this, we went out to a lovely piece of Nidderdale moor, where we were shown how to do this in action. It was quite an overcast day, so there wasn’t much of an opportunity of us actually seeing anything, it was hard at first even to see the Red Grouse that were about, but it was still good to get out into the field and actually do what we’d been taught. All the transects we’re given are 1km long, so seeing as we have 10 refuges to put down, we have to put them 100m apart, but we also have to make sure we put them in a good spot for the reptiles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVh3nUilQfrhY6Lr7eKlIwlbRgMXIV91sDf_18ahMisv8iz3RARZAvjbO3eiFMFcGFeqcBnq0JvIgdPBJSXsI4ao8LihWz9GjlwHRv9ru77H3bAe9ocarTQuBgreYThTkz0JKKLeNIf0/s1600/retsurv4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1500" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZVh3nUilQfrhY6Lr7eKlIwlbRgMXIV91sDf_18ahMisv8iz3RARZAvjbO3eiFMFcGFeqcBnq0JvIgdPBJSXsI4ao8LihWz9GjlwHRv9ru77H3bAe9ocarTQuBgreYThTkz0JKKLeNIf0/s320/retsurv4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My transect from a little stone arch at the end.</td></tr>
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We were taken to all of the refuges that Gordon, our trainer for the survey, had marked along this transect with a GPS, and then told how to check them to see if there’s anything using them. We have to wear thick, protective gloves that are to help protect our hands if an adder attacks us when we find one. We also have to try and approach with the wind coming from the refuge, so the reptile doesn’t smell us coming and flee. Once we’d been around this patch of moor and seen all 10 of the refuges, we headed back to base camp and headed back home with all our new found knowledge. It was a really great day and I must thank the Wild Watch team for giving me and everyone else that attended this opportunity, and to teach us everything you did!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2MvuFnKcta9Z8gWoQoCQaph6uSfW_3Z_vP_NjWhoAjqGgUCB6F9Cug3qPHvXQ-j1XYtCedoHTlYYzuVvMj-TVo5kKJoc32R1MjWmXfeR9xpKDegmSffvDa-9uCaZFvMPWw457yEIdJ8/s1600/comliz2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1344" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2MvuFnKcta9Z8gWoQoCQaph6uSfW_3Z_vP_NjWhoAjqGgUCB6F9Cug3qPHvXQ-j1XYtCedoHTlYYzuVvMj-TVo5kKJoc32R1MjWmXfeR9xpKDegmSffvDa-9uCaZFvMPWw457yEIdJ8/s320/comliz2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hoping to see some of these amazing creatures!</td></tr>
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I've been out to my transect now, which is the same one I did my river survey on. It's a fabulous place, a quite almost forgotten reservoir with thick wooded banks, so thick in fact that the trees overhang the water edge quite a way in most places. As the leaves weren't all out yet we tried to find spots where we hope the sun will be able to get through on a morning when the tree canopy has thickened up. A bit of guess work but we hope we might see a lizard or two. I have to leave them now for three weeks and give the reptiles time to find them and start to use them for heating up of a morning. It was surprising to see even on our misty moorland training session how even just a little bit of sun soon heats up the felt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78DtdsbFHSD9KdtpoftDFFFGwb_eKhQNIp9FVbc7C-bsCS63hFVH71EruhT7hChVh91tx6nEZYb7Ggb9J6O7zpVV68LDLuNASR9BHJu8taTKdUQBJbFkH-jG_Eq5t6ubw0vEGZQ7fVq0/s1600/sloworm2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1116" data-original-width="1522" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78DtdsbFHSD9KdtpoftDFFFGwb_eKhQNIp9FVbc7C-bsCS63hFVH71EruhT7hChVh91tx6nEZYb7Ggb9J6O7zpVV68LDLuNASR9BHJu8taTKdUQBJbFkH-jG_Eq5t6ubw0vEGZQ7fVq0/s320/sloworm2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And some lovely Slow-worms!</td></tr>
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I've not seen an Adder for a few years, despite trips to places that are known to be really good for them, so I hope that my training now will mean I see lots of them and other reptiles this year.<br />
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I'll let you know how I get on!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-55399999628928511262018-03-04T19:34:00.002+00:002018-03-04T19:48:23.254+00:00Post 482 - A surprising Spring brings beautiful birds.<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfDkKurod8P1U_Ue4VuSQX4A6-mL4XDBIJacNVKAxq27EjPTIv6p_ltxnXW8bVOufDYX_rHmJwOGzU65Keeg_iN0MWRZnl4M75H5wxzYB2fGqCrLfea3l7U88AcgM53kFaSOGrRDY5Jg/s1600/snowdrops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWfDkKurod8P1U_Ue4VuSQX4A6-mL4XDBIJacNVKAxq27EjPTIv6p_ltxnXW8bVOufDYX_rHmJwOGzU65Keeg_iN0MWRZnl4M75H5wxzYB2fGqCrLfea3l7U88AcgM53kFaSOGrRDY5Jg/s320/snowdrops.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snowdrops poking through the snow</td></tr>
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Hey everyone. Post 482 today and I thought I'd write up a few things I've noticed recently. I was quite surprised to hear that it was the first meteorological day of spring on the 1st of March. It was also surprising to see how much snow we had, it feels like mid winter rather than almost Spring! Whilst the bad weather stopped us going very far it was still interesting to see what has been happening around the garden.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYODvyOY7FanUzzkgTB0JSdyRkwvxpOBeoHVlz2U6RP8FL4sBQUyqglh43cIENDsMz-2LX2kiuZC4KXYEwDw9JCCL7uTSbHVbbtEeHW3wgUkQyRC_I17wgnmQYTIjvY9lH8a2X98G9IfY/s1600/witchhazel1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYODvyOY7FanUzzkgTB0JSdyRkwvxpOBeoHVlz2U6RP8FL4sBQUyqglh43cIENDsMz-2LX2kiuZC4KXYEwDw9JCCL7uTSbHVbbtEeHW3wgUkQyRC_I17wgnmQYTIjvY9lH8a2X98G9IfY/s320/witchhazel1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Witch Hazel flowers hanging under the snow</td></tr>
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One of the first things I noticed was how some of the plants around the garden were adapted to cope with the snow. It hadn't occurred to me before that they would be but then I don't think we've had snow like this for quite a while. The shapes of the Snowdrops looks to have helped them to not get weighed down by snow settling on them, that they are designed to poke through the snow. I also noticed how the Witch-hazel has all of its flowers arranged so that the snow collects above them. I don't know if it's insects or the wind that pollinates this plant but either way the flowers are exposed even after the heavy snow.<br />
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We always feed our birds and we have a nice garden selection, though we get less finches than we think we ought to. A neighbour has a big field with quite a large pond in it so it's not unusual to see big flocks of Greylags and Canada Geese flying over our house. I've also got Cormorant on my garden list thanks to the neighbours pond. It's not often I get to add new birds to this list.<br />
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When the snow came we stepped up the feeding and worked hard to keep the bird bath from freezing so our feathered visitors had plenty of food and water. The extra food plus the bad weather has meant my garden list has grown by three in the space of a week.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYr_Acs7ZbIqhN4K809IDlZZzgPSHIorAXIwJ-glwDjYLIYDI9-rcon8rEfi23CHfXEl_OEzAd4YbhdbJn2Kpeox8KqXvKSeKk-qxnzZaASPpVwAPAVje3X_QRQu_ieZQEqrcugTS-LXs/s1600/Treecreeper2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYr_Acs7ZbIqhN4K809IDlZZzgPSHIorAXIwJ-glwDjYLIYDI9-rcon8rEfi23CHfXEl_OEzAd4YbhdbJn2Kpeox8KqXvKSeKk-qxnzZaASPpVwAPAVje3X_QRQu_ieZQEqrcugTS-LXs/s320/Treecreeper2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favourite new garden list addition - Treecreeper</td></tr>
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The first new bird I was surprised to see was a Tree-creeper. It was a lovely bird to see in the garden. Normally when I see them they are a lot more distant working their way up a tree in a wood somewhere. To have one on the bird table a few feet from the window was amazing as I could see its wonderful intricate plumage which I'd never really seen that close up before. After its first visit I hoped it would be a garden regular and while I've not seen it every day it has been back a few times now snacking on the fat balls.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhFhF9Hyg2AwQmjHNk5d3iuTKN84rK9xDHjKIwemaLEAYzVy_smPvtsdnRDjKfk5qJO9QiIcIHbTEa3GpUnTEVsFDRacBopbzXqRpCr7Ex6ZdL28rXfqGePIvNzeO-18ToiZt8FFGqPE/s1600/longtails1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrhFhF9Hyg2AwQmjHNk5d3iuTKN84rK9xDHjKIwemaLEAYzVy_smPvtsdnRDjKfk5qJO9QiIcIHbTEa3GpUnTEVsFDRacBopbzXqRpCr7Ex6ZdL28rXfqGePIvNzeO-18ToiZt8FFGqPE/s320/longtails1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long-tailed Tits feeding up!</td></tr>
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I've also had some Long Tailed Tits in the garden. Like the Tree-creeper they've been enjoying the suet. They only came back to the garden lately, they weren't around when I did the Big Garden Birdwatch, but they've been around quite a bit since and before it snowed I noticed they had been collecting nesting material. I thought these little birds must have it the worst of my garden birds in this weather being such small delicate looking creatures. Another surprise was to find out the Tree-creeper probably has a harder time as the Long Tails have seen it off the feeders a few times. It has snuck back when they've finished to top up on food though.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSzAU7Otq7U0oNb2nCwyRFyTB7ZgyeUtSMj3DtL2tjyso5Jo1YLqwsnjPAch5aV1i7iOivUJ63nF4qu2Hjll7nbuPiwRQntmtRC5p2o2FzLyj0oQSu2k75EO1K0fxn4vhL_jCor5dW7g/s1600/feildfare1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSSzAU7Otq7U0oNb2nCwyRFyTB7ZgyeUtSMj3DtL2tjyso5Jo1YLqwsnjPAch5aV1i7iOivUJ63nF4qu2Hjll7nbuPiwRQntmtRC5p2o2FzLyj0oQSu2k75EO1K0fxn4vhL_jCor5dW7g/s320/feildfare1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fieldfare on the bird table - the apple bait worked!</td></tr>
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Over the week Dad's been going to and from work and has been coming back with sightings of Redwings and Fieldfares in the village so we've been putting down apples to encourage them in and give them a good feed. It's paid off. A couple of Fieldfares have spent a day or two in the garden, seeing off Blackbirds at first, but quite happy to feed next to Starlings. As time went on they were a bit more tolerant of the Blackbirds so I guess they're not so hungry. Today was the first time they've not been around but the snow is melting well now so I wonder if they've found food elsewhere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHAAwgGuuN9hCvEX7HG943eU0pfg9MnXeeeemyJjkl02X68Pkbh-CY2arvV4u4zQ71S7b2-ZtJfn9XjUv3xEOEBX_2O-_YwerbBX1m36iK7HoEDrFujK4wtFeX-fh2NGRWeie8eBpOVk/s1600/redwing1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGHAAwgGuuN9hCvEX7HG943eU0pfg9MnXeeeemyJjkl02X68Pkbh-CY2arvV4u4zQ71S7b2-ZtJfn9XjUv3xEOEBX_2O-_YwerbBX1m36iK7HoEDrFujK4wtFeX-fh2NGRWeie8eBpOVk/s320/redwing1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This Redwing appreciated them too.</td></tr>
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Mum's been keeping her eye out too and it was down to her sharp eyes that we now also have a Redwing on our garden list. It's only been in once that we know of but it stayed long enough to have a good feed and to let Mum get a few photos to mark the occasion.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgoNvlTYQ2ZqtlSo68UcAjIA9za85-07JNDbZ1lVzWXgFLlDt0XIZFtHkSLG1xVU_ZFdINYWVCn_BsKIs1x_qIr8m1UUVae3-HzUE4EvcA-5xw05IBY62Yg0eSjz_w7esvYiZXLFMscK0/s1600/bluetit2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgoNvlTYQ2ZqtlSo68UcAjIA9za85-07JNDbZ1lVzWXgFLlDt0XIZFtHkSLG1xVU_ZFdINYWVCn_BsKIs1x_qIr8m1UUVae3-HzUE4EvcA-5xw05IBY62Yg0eSjz_w7esvYiZXLFMscK0/s320/bluetit2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue Tits are claiming their boxes!</td></tr>
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I hope the weather is improving now. While I've enjoyed seeing these birds I know they are probably only coming to gardens as they're short of food elsewhere. It's close to mating season for birds too and they'll need lots of food and energy. My Blue Tits seem to think Spring isn't far away though. They've been eyeing up one of our nest boxes for a few days and today we saw them popping in and out of it! Fingers crossed they know the weather is set to improve.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
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<br />
Z.<br />
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Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-43326366565395801942018-02-04T20:46:00.000+00:002018-02-06T18:41:49.225+00:00Post 481 - Outstandingly Obliging Owls & the Wonderful Wild Watch<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfi5rzAQUmBbBwz02Onp8_l0jLGGPl8DDDuGKYuzHNK5uHyk8wJrJ-QUZ9QY3Pe0oX84_U4RaDrSdAZKlVAm3q-AMnoW7kPXZktK8pmsqH6Yb8rXX3tc7msOL3tZJjPQPeH9u8unma1Es/s1600/zowl1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfi5rzAQUmBbBwz02Onp8_l0jLGGPl8DDDuGKYuzHNK5uHyk8wJrJ-QUZ9QY3Pe0oX84_U4RaDrSdAZKlVAm3q-AMnoW7kPXZktK8pmsqH6Yb8rXX3tc7msOL3tZJjPQPeH9u8unma1Es/s320/zowl1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Spike the Barn Owl</td></tr>
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Hey everyone, a great post today for post 481 about an amazing opportunity I was given that happened today. If you regularly read my blog you'll know that I've been working with a great project called <a href="https://www.nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/wild-watch-0">The Wild Watch</a>. It's based in Nidderdale and is surveying 50 key species across the area of outstanding natural beauty so that they can see what is happening with their populations and work out how best to look after the land to help the wildlife. This year I'm looking forward to two things in particular, the first is reptile surveying, but the second is related to my opportunity today - Owl surveying!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTczAmumvtfoJtufVVwGCZJg9MtwMG72N3kcCTqUvXNwIPOWAkHp_0O8aEvmxXP2nSCFTwv6uH3uKUbhcS-lEeRwrMtI458ZuSdi91lu7EACGHQtrFHQkcrwW-qvByB3FrsPZ-ZBMSox4/s1600/zowl2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTczAmumvtfoJtufVVwGCZJg9MtwMG72N3kcCTqUvXNwIPOWAkHp_0O8aEvmxXP2nSCFTwv6uH3uKUbhcS-lEeRwrMtI458ZuSdi91lu7EACGHQtrFHQkcrwW-qvByB3FrsPZ-ZBMSox4/s320/zowl2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flynn the Tawny Owl busy surveying the area</td></tr>
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A key part of The Wild Watch is getting more young people engaged in nature so to help with the Owl surveying they are going to go to the schools in Nidderdale and talk to them about the project. As part of that they wanted a film about Owls to use as part of the talk. As youth patron they asked if I'd like to do the film. It didn't take too long to think about as Owls are a family favourite, I gladly said of course I'd do it!<br />
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So today we headed down to the <a href="http://www.falconrycentre.co.uk/">Thirsk Bird of Prey Centre</a> to do some filming. It's a great place. I've been a few times when I was younger, they have some absolutely amazing birds there, 30 species altogether. They very kindly said we could come along to do the film and we had the place to ourselves as they don't open to the public until March. As if that wasn't kind enough one of falcloners, Kerry, also came in on her day off as she looks after the Owls that we wanted to see!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgqbv2SvYHKauqVZI9UL7d6be2UBP-t0dEikjLILQnsgJn6_pG5XAstJNpjgjUbHVXgy04SEVXSNJ8o3NlTAMqNgt9k2PG0BYR_EC1REiWtryjfw_3eTdZBm7rZOl7KUjOJITQGJhVwc/s1600/Zowl3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgqbv2SvYHKauqVZI9UL7d6be2UBP-t0dEikjLILQnsgJn6_pG5XAstJNpjgjUbHVXgy04SEVXSNJ8o3NlTAMqNgt9k2PG0BYR_EC1REiWtryjfw_3eTdZBm7rZOl7KUjOJITQGJhVwc/s320/Zowl3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sprout the Little Owl</td></tr>
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So my family and a few of the Wild Watch team and their children arrived not long after it had stopped sleeting so it was a bit chilly, but the cold didn't bother us much and we certainly forgot about it as soon as the Owls came out. The film was great to do and it was really just explaining a bit about the Wild Watch and how we want all the school kids in Nidderdale to help survey the area for 3 species. One of the best bits was that I got to hold the three species, a Barn Owl (Spike), a Tawny Owl (Flynn) and a Little Owl (Sprout). Owls are so beautiful and it was such a privilege to hold them and see them up so close. While I was holding them we filmed a few facts about each Owl and the other young people there added to them too. I think it'll be a great film and I hope it gets lots of people out looking for these wonderful creatures.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvwQojYHvAKUTZH8Vo3MIFsnmJr6mSvebg_ZipJslBBuIf52lD3urI6YmFVJddWENaGUHGNTzfTKex-zJO0-M9Cn75_Rrf5M_dRPrYzogs1s4GzqDXdqIrOFiBbdJeB9g8zhS_J6VaeM/s1600/zowl4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibvwQojYHvAKUTZH8Vo3MIFsnmJr6mSvebg_ZipJslBBuIf52lD3urI6YmFVJddWENaGUHGNTzfTKex-zJO0-M9Cn75_Rrf5M_dRPrYzogs1s4GzqDXdqIrOFiBbdJeB9g8zhS_J6VaeM/s320/zowl4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flynn was very watchful</td></tr>
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Since I heard about this opportunity I also saw that the BTO are having a year of the Owl and are also raising money to be able to find out more about these special creatures. I started wondering how I could help. I've done some fundraising before, recently mainly through selling calendars, but a while back I did a sponsored walk for a local wildlife santuary. I've noticed other young conservationists have done walks lately too (like Georgia Locock and Dara McAnulty) so I started thinking about this and then Dad reminded me that there is a Nidderdale Way - so it all seemed to fit into place quite nicely. It's a 56 mile walk around the Nidderdale AONB. I know little bits of Nidderdale but not all of it so this is a great way to help out the Owls and spend some good time out exploring a bit more of the area.<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
2018 is the year of the owl for BTO and we are currently fundraising for a major programme of work on all our owl species. Please support our appeal if you can <a href="https://t.co/aLnRvP0oUi">https://t.co/aLnRvP0oUi</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ProjectOwl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ProjectOwl</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SuperbOwl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SuperbOwl</a> <a href="https://t.co/sFbHzY4bKt">pic.twitter.com/sFbHzY4bKt</a></div>
— BTO (@_BTO) <a href="https://twitter.com/_BTO/status/950686766280962048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">9 January 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
I'm talking to the BTO and the Wild Watch and I'm still making plans but once I know when I'm going to do it I'll be setting up a page for people to sponsor me. I'll make sure I let you know when!<br />
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So the last thing to do is to say a big thank you again to the Thirsk Bird of Prey Centre, to the Falconers Colin, Kerry and David, to the wonderful Owls Sprout, Flynn and Spike and to the Wild Watch team for giving me the chance of this wonderful experience.<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
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Z.Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-10263474008048266802018-01-14T21:32:00.001+00:002018-01-14T21:32:25.064+00:00Post 480 - Looking back & forwardHey everyone, Post 480 today and I can't believe it was the end of November when I last wrote a post! Apart from Christmas I don't know what took up my time in December but during the holidays I started a big job that has been a long time coming - sorting out all the photos I take! I've been organising them so I can find them more easily.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2T_e57-zd_bGSIVSprOueY2ChN9hTPWIdp8mbZnlfMOJgschWWlQWvgW07lskzLwCSxipFv1cuAKeBJvw9_i17SmJ1R2dNp7tPTt1NhgqTkkl94WoM3lR8lGvW9WhUv-p_7veCWFQf0c/s1600/blackredstart1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1333" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2T_e57-zd_bGSIVSprOueY2ChN9hTPWIdp8mbZnlfMOJgschWWlQWvgW07lskzLwCSxipFv1cuAKeBJvw9_i17SmJ1R2dNp7tPTt1NhgqTkkl94WoM3lR8lGvW9WhUv-p_7veCWFQf0c/s320/blackredstart1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saw this beautiful Eastern Black Redstart a few times.<br />A really lovely bird and very willing to pose!</td></tr>
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So to get back into the swing of things again I thought I'd have a little look back at 2017 and let you know a few of the things I plan to do in 2018. Most of the pics today are some of my favourite finds of 2017.<br />
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Well I've got lots of people to thank for some wonderful opportunities in 2017. I got to do quite a bit of writing and guest blogging for people. Guest blogs included <a href="https://www.rewildingeurope.com/blog/rewilding-the-next-generation/">Rewilding Europe</a>, <a href="http://btoyoungbirders.blogspot.co.uk/2017/10/the-magic-of-spurn-by-zach-haynes.html">the BTO</a>, <a href="https://www.newnature.co.uk/single-post/2017/06/21/THE-MARVEL-OF-MOTHS">New Nature</a>, <a href="https://www.nidderdaleaonb.org.uk/wild-watch-latest-news/hello-our-youth-patron-zach">the Wild Watch</a> and <a href="http://www.ourbrightfuture.co.uk/2017/12/18/easy-owningit-ideas/">Our Bright Future</a> - thanks for these opportunities!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr283MJdGWL1xX28XxlHe1dxg2glEl72wmcAgpBWYP6mU66nMPwsovihgzhktYDU3fZ86Ula35zDGT2XmYQKmthzqVJWc8vJlY3H9Rkn63KGIEfyIxKOk5r9xgH9XI5ZyVrMboficzoTw/s1600/dob2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr283MJdGWL1xX28XxlHe1dxg2glEl72wmcAgpBWYP6mU66nMPwsovihgzhktYDU3fZ86Ula35zDGT2XmYQKmthzqVJWc8vJlY3H9Rkn63KGIEfyIxKOk5r9xgH9XI5ZyVrMboficzoTw/s320/dob2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was great to find the Duke of Burgundy up on t' moors</td></tr>
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It was also a year when I got to do a couple talks and got to conferences and events to spread the nature word. Thanks to <a href="https://www.thewildwatch.org.uk/">The Wild Watch</a> for letting me speak at your launch event and to the <a href="http://www.ywt.org.uk/Tomorrows-Natural-Leaders">Yorkshire Wildlife Trusts Tomorrows Natural Leaders</a> for a big talking slot at their Youth Summit. It was also great to attend <a href="https://www.ynu.org.uk/">Yorkshire Naturalists Union</a> annual conference to display my photos and to provide some insights into helping engage young people. I also got to write a follow up article for this in their magazine The Naturalist which was great and I got some lovely feedback from this.<br />
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The most writing I've done for anyone was this last year for <a href="https://www.newnature.co.uk/">New Nature magazine</a>. Thanks very much to James and the team for this opportunity - I've never been called a stalwart before :-)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTqbgi0iY43vATOhO7QtLWG8G-UEz7-OJdsD9cqE4kjMvEtQAB12Fe90W41MaS0a8aro_NxXd1dywa7fnUFRCjgcbHrSvSYrn0-agpC1ldN24iVwgeJ41lYHWCrhPnN0KuH5wjikeZHc/s1600/tansy1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJTqbgi0iY43vATOhO7QtLWG8G-UEz7-OJdsD9cqE4kjMvEtQAB12Fe90W41MaS0a8aro_NxXd1dywa7fnUFRCjgcbHrSvSYrn0-agpC1ldN24iVwgeJ41lYHWCrhPnN0KuH5wjikeZHc/s320/tansy1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Made sure I got back to see these beauties this year,<br />the 'Jewel of York' - the Tansy Beetle</td></tr>
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One of the most exciting developments last year was to be the youth patron for a new project - <a href="http://www.thewildwatch.org.uk/">The Wild Watch</a> - a great project in Nidderdale that will have some big benefits for the areas nature! It's been great working with this project and learning new things like river surveying. Really looking forward to getting involved in this years activities!<br />
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A big thank you also has to go to the <a href="http://www.ywt.org.uk/">Yorkshire Wildlife Trust</a> for their continued support and helping with this year's calendar. I also enjoyed helping out <a href="https://live.firstnews.co.uk/childrens-party/zach-party-political-broadcast/">First News with a 'party political broadcast'</a> putting over a young person's view during the general election.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8YBzp1Y6GoiD9cSWa8cvE0uBCwJ0EzYmt-FiJVFrwihldaMbzQq1PjSx81o8_TwjdQzvZxuO_Wb0GE7LvSFuuTFVN4XHkfvwuVbw1uYjZTJXU86mmS9ePL-6nOFBhsX3gevyg1pIGHQ/s1600/awood+cuckoo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht8YBzp1Y6GoiD9cSWa8cvE0uBCwJ0EzYmt-FiJVFrwihldaMbzQq1PjSx81o8_TwjdQzvZxuO_Wb0GE7LvSFuuTFVN4XHkfvwuVbw1uYjZTJXU86mmS9ePL-6nOFBhsX3gevyg1pIGHQ/s320/awood+cuckoo.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was really lucky to get great views of this Cuckoo in<br />my local forest.</td></tr>
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I was also honoured last year to be awarded the <a href="http://www.northyorkmoorstrust.uk/young-ranger-award/">North York Moors National Park Trust</a> Young Ranger Award. <a href="https://www.nyll.org.uk/first-young-ranger-award-at-the-launch-of-the-new-north-york-moors-national-park-trust-3rd-november-2017/">I met the Lord Lieutenant to receive that</a> and it came with an award that will help me visit another national park this year so I'm busy planning that.<br />
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One of the final highlights of the year was a trip to London and the <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2017/11/post-479-magnificent-museum-and_27.html">Natural History Museum - a big thank you to Erica</a> for making this the most memorable visit yet!<br />
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So on to 2018. I've been wondering what to do. I'm still wondering but I've take some inspiration from <a href="http://www.ourbrightfuture.co.uk/2017/12/18/easy-owningit-ideas/">the last blog I did last year for Our Bright Future</a>. I wrote about a lot of practical ways young people can make a difference for nature, so I'm going to put some of this into action again!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRb3Z1cB9pxmLsPJmULHEKCuhssHRUtv0gG-iOO8wD27pGCSnRmvugeeoCkDJWEq7405Fe1Gzg5N0wblF0PiiUra2Bnt-e4O8uv0QmSykgNaEUIloXA8BG9G8eFE8Wp2OSYSnXjptLa8/s1600/Maylillysocmed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNRb3Z1cB9pxmLsPJmULHEKCuhssHRUtv0gG-iOO8wD27pGCSnRmvugeeoCkDJWEq7405Fe1Gzg5N0wblF0PiiUra2Bnt-e4O8uv0QmSykgNaEUIloXA8BG9G8eFE8Wp2OSYSnXjptLa8/s320/Maylillysocmed.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A botanical highlight was finding a patch of May Lily</td></tr>
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I did a lot less campaigning last year whilst waiting to see what the Government would do for nature after Brexit. Since the 25 year environment plan has been released there's been a lot of people talking about how it needs to be backed up with an Act and policies. Well I noticed my MP Rishi Sunak had got a Cabinet job in the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government so I decided it was a good time to write and ask him if he could do anything to introduce policies to make new housing developments better for wildlife. I'll let you know what he says!<br />
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I've got some more fundraising ideas that I'm working on but they're not really arranged fully so more on those when they are.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuvzhVP1cxFdCUl7W7AuhWGsWj0ho4u3HCWGfHRKFbJga0YRnufwnM2mQCzlriwupBI4jr-J_e0OQuFFwwRzT3tjhxEOm2dWI8Y3YtTvbrVjOBHsK_Ocq8Gl5lVtapneG1eMJB7da1-w/s1600/IMG_9454.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuvzhVP1cxFdCUl7W7AuhWGsWj0ho4u3HCWGfHRKFbJga0YRnufwnM2mQCzlriwupBI4jr-J_e0OQuFFwwRzT3tjhxEOm2dWI8Y3YtTvbrVjOBHsK_Ocq8Gl5lVtapneG1eMJB7da1-w/s320/IMG_9454.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today's haul - impressed the beach<br />was so clean :-)</td></tr>
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I'm going to do my bit on plastic pollution. Our family is quite good with recycling but when we look at what's in the boxes when they're put out there's still quite a few things we could try not to use in the first place. We're trying really hard as a family to reduce our use of single-use plastic. I'm still litter picking, I'll pop dropped bottles and cans I see on my way to school in the bin and when I get to the beach like we did today I'm still doing #2minbeachcleans - well they last as long as we're out. I was really pleased that today at Saltburn it was quite hard to find much plastic.<br />
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Well that's a start for 2018. There will be a lot more to come. Please look out on my twitter, facebook and instagram - I'll be trying to share photos regularly from my newly organised collection (I'll try daily but I know what that involves :-)<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
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Z.<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-8868928377217066312017-11-27T19:36:00.000+00:002017-11-27T19:36:11.215+00:00Post 479 - A Magnificent Museum and an Entertaining Entomologist!<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiaYtoe-uFbBPxhLDBsjWGjejOCsLZB6kj0EtEwn2K3SPP8WdRuJGcOb9UjK8ElA-XRXjzsVcPrTZnzS1peGZ3MEKufaXAC97lnaYp-sm2CIeGOESqZNfhGfhKT_aaNYdgs-A5SZ6X7Yw/s1600/NHM-hope.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiaYtoe-uFbBPxhLDBsjWGjejOCsLZB6kj0EtEwn2K3SPP8WdRuJGcOb9UjK8ElA-XRXjzsVcPrTZnzS1peGZ3MEKufaXAC97lnaYp-sm2CIeGOESqZNfhGfhKT_aaNYdgs-A5SZ6X7Yw/s320/NHM-hope.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope - the Blue Whale in the magnificent main hall<br />
- a symbol of humanity's power to create a<br />
sustainable future! </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hey everyone, today’s post 479 and over the 3 years that I’ve been doing my blog, I’ve had lots of people talk to me over social media, and of course in real life (I do get out a bit). Quite often, though, these two things cross each other, like recently when I went to London. I’m in contact with people at the wonderful Natural History Museum in London occasionally over Twitter, and through that, one of the curators that works there reached out to me, and said pop in and say Hi if we were around. Our family was planning a weekend visit to London any way as we hadn't been for a while so I jumped at the opportunity to try and meet up at the NHM. I've been going since I was quite little and it is probably my favourite museum!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelzTXypLDwpYivJa86u9VLWxhxKOEVHiK2vxV0GFLBdhiB2UYC7pK2-hGNaI5uHk2UCkTfpO-mGG4g3DmG2_mRkt0ngJf-0IuhaHtUkmeTJqXXwHdnvDoDzqoPQQuPPfAONwgITbPmro/s1600/NHM-rowsofcabinets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhelzTXypLDwpYivJa86u9VLWxhxKOEVHiK2vxV0GFLBdhiB2UYC7pK2-hGNaI5uHk2UCkTfpO-mGG4g3DmG2_mRkt0ngJf-0IuhaHtUkmeTJqXXwHdnvDoDzqoPQQuPPfAONwgITbPmro/s320/NHM-rowsofcabinets.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The scale of the NHM collection is almost unbeleivable!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So plans were made and Mum, Dad and I got ourselves to London and then set off early on Saturday to see Erica McAlister (aka @flygirlNHM). As we'd got there a bit earlier than expected Erica met us at the entrance around 15 minutes before public opening time and we were really amazed to be able to get in and have a look around some of the public halls without anyone else there. The most spectacular part of the museum for me is the Main Hall, I always loved being there, seeing this huge space and the enormous dinosaur.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYFcKbnxh_Lr30faHL6V4AFGomDXmRyQMPiCkvC6vpPDQq8Kow4n2NLtrf8W9P6GGS7YIfPSI9cCvMmRQmc8eWtepmcK4rQ7hZ8Qv3hqf7Q15nCIU3lRPqOixYpw4lBHx-7x2fhEzQlQ/s1600/NHM-stalkeye.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="1000" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYFcKbnxh_Lr30faHL6V4AFGomDXmRyQMPiCkvC6vpPDQq8Kow4n2NLtrf8W9P6GGS7YIfPSI9cCvMmRQmc8eWtepmcK4rQ7hZ8Qv3hqf7Q15nCIU3lRPqOixYpw4lBHx-7x2fhEzQlQ/s320/NHM-stalkeye.JPG" width="272" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are some incredible creatures!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Obviously we knew about the new Blue Whale (Hope) they had put in Dippy's place and she is an incredible sight. It is quite a breathtaking sight to come so close even to the remains of the world's largest mammal. She's posed in a dive and it's an amazing sight in an amazing building that must have taken years to build. Erica was telling us all about how it was built specifically for a Victorian collector, well at least to house his collection as a condition of him donating it. They made such a good job of the building, the decorations and carvings around it are as incredible as the contents of the building - even the floor - mosaics throughout - it`s absolutely mind-blowing the work that has gone into this building!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLjpUcjP3TuT4-jCJyYXyeEou0ehh0J0zrUittoMtLpmLb4mF-VwyyiqU_wppDlfXlx_5vN1znJ4ZewTqjrrxeWbRTQDnCEc_Wclzv2nSBzhyOla7M0BywtPoA98gvnCK8qvDR_SxefvM/s1600/NHM-beaglejar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLjpUcjP3TuT4-jCJyYXyeEou0ehh0J0zrUittoMtLpmLb4mF-VwyyiqU_wppDlfXlx_5vN1znJ4ZewTqjrrxeWbRTQDnCEc_Wclzv2nSBzhyOla7M0BywtPoA98gvnCK8qvDR_SxefvM/s320/NHM-beaglejar.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It holds specimens from the time of Darwin </td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So after we were done looking around the museum, we went ‘back stage’ where they hold the NHM collection, where all the specimens are kept. It`s a bit of an understatement to say there's a lot of them! Species are laid out in wooden display trays. These then go into metal lockers, and each locker is in a block - it`s hard to describe the scale of it because it goes on forever! There are lots of blocks of lockers in a row on one floor, huge rooms of them - and that's just one floor - there were 7 floors just for the insects! Erica was telling us that all together the NHM collection contains over 80 million species. It's the biggest in the world (Erica cheered at that once or twice :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There were some specimens from centuries back when people were first going to foreign countries to collect. One of the amazing things we saw there was a shelf with some specimens that Darwin himself and his crew collected on the Beagle!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_RgQFGy0A2qe-ZLK2oARX3qBidR7iqIoBggzCqKG5pI9c5vdlEJzGdQ8kxaVNjCmfYb_HDL2nyiaQlk7nJIkT__vPhAZDernVoMHOKVg516OiJfcNUrAryAFb2tGDi-HS2kuRikjyCk/s1600/NHM+-+robberflies.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1001" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU_RgQFGy0A2qe-ZLK2oARX3qBidR7iqIoBggzCqKG5pI9c5vdlEJzGdQ8kxaVNjCmfYb_HDL2nyiaQlk7nJIkT__vPhAZDernVoMHOKVg516OiJfcNUrAryAFb2tGDi-HS2kuRikjyCk/s320/NHM+-+robberflies.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erica's favourite - Robberflies<br />
These two were caught carrying <br />
this huge grasshopper!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Erica showed us an amazing array of things from the cabinets, some of the insects there seemed as if they didn’t come from Earth, and ones I probably won’t ever see again. It was amazing to see how people have been storing these exhibits for the years since records started, I felt very special to get to see them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then, there were the pickles! A huge room essentially filled with preserved animals of all shapes and sizes, ranging from ticks to a giant squid that was so long I had to get a video instead of a picture! It was so big it has to be kept in a specially made tank - made by Damian Hurst as it was so big! See the video to see what I mean! One of my favourites was the pickled Angler Fish! It was interesting to see one of the creatures of the deep and how it had evolved to live there, and how it uses bioluminescence to attract its prey. Have you ever seen a pickled badger, fox, rat, or boa constrictor - no, well neither had I - but thanks to Erica now I have!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In complete contrast to the display we saw in the main hall, ‘Hope’ the Blue Whale diving, Erica also showed us a jar with a tiny Blue Whale foetus! It’s amazing how something so vast comes from something so tiny and fragile.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scorpion dimorphism.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the fascinating things I got to see was the dimorphism between species of scorpion. There’s a quite small species that wasn’t even the length of one of my fingers, to a much larger Emperor Scorpion that spanned my whole hand! The little one is interestingly the most dangerous, much more venomous - and uses stealth. The big Emperor is all about show (and bravado so mum says) and scaring off predators. I also found out that all scorpions glow in ultraviolet light!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The main thing that I couldn’t get over, though, was the sheer number of specimens they had, it was crazy how many there was just on the floor we went around, and to know they had 6 more floors for insects and another building entirely for plants! I learnt a lot about what curators do and how collections are kept. One of the things I found amazing though is they now have the task of digitising the whole collection! A great opportunity for some overtime or maybe holiday jobs for students I would think!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you for an amazing visit Erica!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So lastly, I’d love to give a huge thank you to Erica for reaching out to me and letting me do this! She was one of the most kind and enthusiastic people I’ve ever met, and she let me have so many experiences I doubt I’ll ever get again. It was amazing to be able to go there and see all of the incredible things Erica showed us. I know we only scratched the surface so I’d love to do it again sometime.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thank you Erica, I'm so glad they keep you in this institution :-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Hope you enjoyed,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Z.</span><br />
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Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-11956670011115306892017-11-24T20:02:00.000+00:002017-11-29T19:29:53.022+00:00Post 478 - Celebs champion & celebrate nature rather than distress, disrespect and devalue it.You're a celebrity so step up and get some respect for nature!<br />
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I'm fed up of the 'celebrity' programme. I've never liked it. Why is it that a 'celebrity' gets attention for eating insects, for having to crawl through a box of frogs and spiders and making people think nature is something to be scared of and feared?<br />
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I say celebrity. I really don't know who most of the people that go on this programme are! And just to say I never watch it, I get fed up enough of the headlines everywhere, watching the show would only make me more annoyed.<br />
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To me a celebrity should be a role model, someone to respect, someone who inspires people and uses their position to make a difference. I wrote about this a while back in <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/post-378-bees-vs-beiber.html">Post 378</a> - and I mentioned the sorts of celebrities that I admire like Chris Packham, Bill Bailey, Bill Oddie. Of course Sir David Attenbrough should have been in that post too. These are people who are trying to get people to care about the environment. There are any more of course but sadly the people that end up on the celeb programme take the money and just perpetuate an image of nature that is wrong. It should not be exploited for entertainment or popularity.<br />
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It was actually tweets from Bill Oddie and Chris Packham that reminded me about my earlier blog and inspired me to write this post.<br />
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Every day someone asks me:" Here Bill, why dont they ask you on that"I'm a. celebrity thing? ",They have.Twice actually, but I </div>
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said I would not eat or mistreat creatures I would normally love filming and I couldn't condone terrifying people with spiders and snakes. Bad message</div>
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— Bill Oddie Official (@BillOddie) <a href="https://twitter.com/BillOddie/status/932929929175621632?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">21 November 2017</a></div>
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If I was wildlife I’d be getting the hell out of there . More abuse to ensue I’m sure . . . <a href="https://t.co/nQRxcT3vgX">https://t.co/nQRxcT3vgX</a></div>
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— Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisGPackham/status/927942671716507649?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">7 November 2017</a></div>
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I've felt this way for a while and I've tried to spread the message a little. I rediscovered my Rant for Change video which must be two or three years old now. I've included it at the end if you want to see it.<br />
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Why can't more celebrities promote and help nature?<br />
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Wouldn't you rather see celebs doing good? Promoting and helping nature? I want to see these people doing beach cleans, to save our marine wildlife from getting caught in and eating harmful plastics - plastics that we end up eating. How about helping hedgehogs and other declining species? Maybe Ant and Dec could volunteer at a nature reserve?<br />
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What about helping insects rather than eating them - studies show we've lost three quarters of our insects in the last 25 years! If we lose the insects then our entire ecological system is at risk of collapse! Don`t they know that our insects are our main pollinators of plants, and food source for birds, reptiles and small mammals?<br />
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Try doing some fundraising for wildlife. I think that would impress people much more than poncing around the jungle abusing nature. I'm sure the people eating the meal worms, cockroaches and spiders aren't enjoying it, but I bet the insects like it a lot less even if they are being eaten by a 'celebrity'.<br />
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So I decided to start a Thunderclap to try and show that other people feel the same. You can sign up here:<br />
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I hope I've timed it right for the final of the show so that lots of people will see that it's not right to exploit nature like this, that it's not right to send a message that nature is scary.<br />
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While I was promoting the Thunderclap the RSPCA were kind enough to respond to one of my tweets. They gave some really good advice about some other things that you can do about the way this programme treats wildlife - I've included the tweet below but basically complain to <a href="http://www.itv.com/viewerservices">ITV viewer services</a> and <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/about-ofcom/contact-us">Ofcom (link to how to contact them)</a>. I noticed when looking at this that I'm a Celebrity had had a few complaints over the last week but we probably need to send them a lot more to get this to change.<br />
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb">
<div dir="ltr" lang="en">
We don't approve of any use of animals in entertainment that causes distress or suffering. We would encourage animal lovers who are concerned about this to contact the programme makers and/or OFCOM. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do as it's filmed outside of our jurisdiction</div>
— RSPCA (England & Wales) (@RSPCA_official) <a href="https://twitter.com/RSPCA_official/status/935630834471784448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">28 November 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
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Only problem about this though that I can see is that I'd have to watch the programme to be able to make a complaint rather than just be campaigning about the principle of using and eating wildlife for entertainment :-(<br />
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Nature is to be treasured. Nature supports us all. Nature is suffering and needs our support more than ever!<br />
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Hope you agree,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-27856434752496660782017-10-27T17:42:00.000+01:002017-10-28T07:15:58.125+01:00Post 477 - A happy return to Haggewoods <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec5cL4PHeK3Jcw9IAD9I2ugr1XaTMfL6Ot__M3DQ7k327hnoHVTjDptm60QnYAl6iFXSPlWgkF9OhelSN0YRIfJIX-d-sctU5gtZCz7ywJ9J5vo6CbYbHrudF2ycA3ugRE2G532G1dIs/s1600/IMG_8797.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhec5cL4PHeK3Jcw9IAD9I2ugr1XaTMfL6Ot__M3DQ7k327hnoHVTjDptm60QnYAl6iFXSPlWgkF9OhelSN0YRIfJIX-d-sctU5gtZCz7ywJ9J5vo6CbYbHrudF2ycA3ugRE2G532G1dIs/s200/IMG_8797.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Removing Deer guards</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hey everyone, Post 477 today and a quick one about a lovely morning I had revisiting a place I wrote about back in <a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/post-410-happily-hanging-about-at.html">Post 410</a>. It's a great project just south of York - <a href="http://threehaggeswoodmeadow.org.uk/">Three Hagges Wood Meadow</a> - essentially since 2010 they've turned an old barley field into a completely new and brilliant habitat, a wood meadow. It's now so full of wildlife and insects it's amazing. Even today, almost in November, there was lots to see.<br />
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I went along to do a bit of volunteering for the morning. A small group of us took some deer guards off a few rows of young trees that will be forming some hedges. That was quite tricky as you had to cut the guards off around all of the branches that had grown through them, but we managed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNeudL42g48ADzQsD_9ajvgj2CsDkvYMrGBEOBWbHlmj_pxySzMJ7jq838XB3hJfsCAmAwP26ruED-BjGqqQ-21l1S-VEdeO6icW_teKHKO_pLGB-vkQekrQgULYikmfv9XpXJTm5Zjw/s1600/IMG_8807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfNeudL42g48ADzQsD_9ajvgj2CsDkvYMrGBEOBWbHlmj_pxySzMJ7jq838XB3hJfsCAmAwP26ruED-BjGqqQ-21l1S-VEdeO6icW_teKHKO_pLGB-vkQekrQgULYikmfv9XpXJTm5Zjw/s200/IMG_8807.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raking mown grass</td></tr>
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The next job was raking up and collecting some of the grass that had been mown off of the meadow. This was hard work but nice to do in the lovely sunshine. I don't think there were any clouds about at all. It was soon too hot to have coats and jumpers on.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sowing Yellow Rattle</td></tr>
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It took a while to get all of the grass raked up. Dad and I did this while some of the other volunteers collected it up in wheelbarrows. The reason for doing this was to help the meadow by taking away the cuttings which reduces things like Nitrogen and Phosphorous in the soil. This makes it harder for the grass as there's not so much to feed it and that gives the wildlflowers more of a chance.<br />
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The other thing we did to give the wildflowers a chance was to sow yellow rattle seeds. This is a plant that also makes life harder for the grasses, it's a sort of a parasite and weakens the grass again giving the wild flowers more of a chance to get going. Well it didn't seem to take long for the morning to go, it was lovely being out in the meadow in the sunshine.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvHBqR9W3K4enZL4VK4WRp-pA4rV_1ItSqMQSrRhTqUTdDRIX227wlE_TFmvM3yeAZ1QoJrrgSBoHfiU1cgLAhaevAtxaMgLEN66mP7ZeQfN2Z4S2iA8R1TVKWLsonasZFfVy1ooYRME/s1600/IMG_8801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuvHBqR9W3K4enZL4VK4WRp-pA4rV_1ItSqMQSrRhTqUTdDRIX227wlE_TFmvM3yeAZ1QoJrrgSBoHfiU1cgLAhaevAtxaMgLEN66mP7ZeQfN2Z4S2iA8R1TVKWLsonasZFfVy1ooYRME/s200/IMG_8801.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A young Toad</td></tr>
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After that we went back to the table by the volunteer hut to have a chat. The main reason I went down was that I was invited by Rosalind one of the people who's developed the Hagges Wood project, who wanted to have a chat with a few people about some of the ideas I'd written about in the Yorkshire Naturalists Union magazine - I did an article called 'From Grey Beards to Green Teens - an engagement conundrum'. It was basically a write up of the event and some thoughts about getting more young people involved in nature and conservation. Well Rosalind, Justin who was volunteering there, Nick a filmmaker who's done some work at the wood, Kat the project volunteer co-ordinator, Dad and I all had a great discussion and came up with lots of ideas. There may be a new project here in the making which I'll tell you more about as it develops.<br />
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So a great morning, during the volunteering I found a toad and two frogs in the long grass and we were treated to nice views of a Kestrel and two lovely (I think) Red Deer who passed over the field quite close to us and headed into the woods. I'll be looking forward to going back and seeing how the yellow rattle gets on next season!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-12918594918183782102017-10-24T14:22:00.000+01:002017-10-24T14:22:07.333+01:00Post 476 - #OwningIt & #OurBrightFuture<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5uUEp8_dTAfaKV4mtThMc7Y9Z4ntyITAmn9QROyI-OdyUkR1mw8k-UQiJBjSP2KG4IRd5q27vPrvehvLnJ-eWa_QBsnnvRKRV71E6NQ3ZU4mBJxnfiPI8lkHKvUw3zsi1kXMl_DdbDM/s1600/IMG_8733.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY5uUEp8_dTAfaKV4mtThMc7Y9Z4ntyITAmn9QROyI-OdyUkR1mw8k-UQiJBjSP2KG4IRd5q27vPrvehvLnJ-eWa_QBsnnvRKRV71E6NQ3ZU4mBJxnfiPI8lkHKvUw3zsi1kXMl_DdbDM/s320/IMG_8733.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The raw materials</td></tr>
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Hey everyone, post 476 today and it's the start this week of a fantastic new campaign. A few months ago I was lucky enough to be asked to give a talk at a local youth nature summit organised by <a href="http://www.ywt.org.uk/Tomorrows-Natural-Leaders">Tomorrows Natural Leaders</a> (<a href="https://yearofnature.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/post-469-talking-to-tomorrows-natural.html">see blog post here</a>). This is one of a series of projects around the country being run as part of the <a href="http://www.ourbrightfuture.co.uk/">Our Bright Future</a> programme led by the Wildlife Trusts. It was really good to be involved with so I'm glad to see that something they mentioned would be happening has started this week.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZQQBIyx1t_D65ydOWBygT-ghsK4aK-WiUXdbrbaDa0cRuIHVesWU9rg3e0M_hWSUGr7upX5TEWafTSQzNyGWMD5p-72_dNiFL2x21Cl-y_qGvgM-O8CD80MXavFsg9PvlqLqRuh-uhE/s1600/IMG_8735.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGZQQBIyx1t_D65ydOWBygT-ghsK4aK-WiUXdbrbaDa0cRuIHVesWU9rg3e0M_hWSUGr7upX5TEWafTSQzNyGWMD5p-72_dNiFL2x21Cl-y_qGvgM-O8CD80MXavFsg9PvlqLqRuh-uhE/s320/IMG_8735.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The site</td></tr>
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This is a new campaign called #Owningit. In the words of #OurBrightFuture it's about this:<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">We are asking organisations, projects and young people both within and
outside of Our Bright Future to join the #OwningIt movement. We want to
illustrate the large-scale impact that can be made to the environment
when many people take small actions. The campaign will provide
inspiration and ideas to excite young people and encourage them to take
action.</span></i><br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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You can read more on their website, there's lots going on, loads of organisations and young people are showing how they are trying to make a difference.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Lg5M8cfUXHUnhdVuk8qlqXypo2gRcEG4wHuyViSMoJImBgfv1gxQg6kFwuyl5muMwxnciVFqDEaFsFY0xUXjf29qLKpUaIWIbvFY8TrTe6zVc6C8Ow0QbxuOKklzcM7_sJeJuu59uC0/s1600/IMG_8743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Lg5M8cfUXHUnhdVuk8qlqXypo2gRcEG4wHuyViSMoJImBgfv1gxQg6kFwuyl5muMwxnciVFqDEaFsFY0xUXjf29qLKpUaIWIbvFY8TrTe6zVc6C8Ow0QbxuOKklzcM7_sJeJuu59uC0/s320/IMG_8743.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cutting logs to size</td></tr>
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Well after giving me a chance to do my talk and as I'm very passionate about connecting young people with nature I thought I just had to do something to mark the start of the campaign. So today I finished a project that I've been meaning to do for a while, that is create a bit of a new habitat in my garden. It's really easy to do and if everyone did something similar it could make a big difference to our insect populations which are sadly struggling!<br />
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We've had a pile of cuttings lying around the garden for a while taking up a bits of space here and there and looking a bit untidy. Although that's not such a bad thing today I used them and with a bit of help from Dad we made a great log and stick pile which should be great for beetles, toads, frogs and hopefully some wasps, bees and other species will benefit from a place to hibernate or feed. The original idea was to build a hedgehog house in the middle of it, but I think we'll do that another time and put it in another place. Thinking about it it would have made the job of cleaning the hog house out very difficult.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzD9lAcA_pzfsRviAQOdQObtliQoHD_QD-KBcLFbuoVU_7tgRvlPegHIqjj58oB22ptnwhSj_obgH0XLhCZeNRwY8dICRNNxuqFoCh_Uq479sVzFfv7tjkACqpX0KI7zQdJ1W_RewBt8/s1600/IMG_8745.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSzD9lAcA_pzfsRviAQOdQObtliQoHD_QD-KBcLFbuoVU_7tgRvlPegHIqjj58oB22ptnwhSj_obgH0XLhCZeNRwY8dICRNNxuqFoCh_Uq479sVzFfv7tjkACqpX0KI7zQdJ1W_RewBt8/s320/IMG_8745.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halfway there</td></tr>
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So this was quite an easy thing to do really. All of the stuff was free and all of it had been collected from our garden as it was trimmings from bushes and trees that needed cutting back. We like the garden quite wild and full but every now and again it does have to be tamed a bit! All of the trimmings were gathered together and sorted into piles of different sizes. The only thing that wasn't from our garden were four pieces of wood that came from my grandparents house just up the road and they were recycled fence posts. They were just knocked into the ground a bit to make a frame.<br />
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All of the logs and sticks were then just piled in, the bigger stuff on the bottom and smaller stuff on the top. It's built directly on to the soil and it's placed under our Magnolia tree so that it won't dry out in the summer. Putting fallen leaves on top will help retain moisture too. I'll add to this as the leaves fall more. There you go, an easy DIY bug house.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZJgYDULkegKjQ9Kr8jXmmX3VH9WxCqWF34t2RToBaFh6E0WchM7P0cA-wXP_PMnJKdUISLWQ_qBKIqTXVaX4TdnIf-QNqSLm8TJSn6TyHNkiHjjmwSGRzum3eL3bs-iRZlDoj5b9Hds/s1600/IMG_8762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRZJgYDULkegKjQ9Kr8jXmmX3VH9WxCqWF34t2RToBaFh6E0WchM7P0cA-wXP_PMnJKdUISLWQ_qBKIqTXVaX4TdnIf-QNqSLm8TJSn6TyHNkiHjjmwSGRzum3eL3bs-iRZlDoj5b9Hds/s320/IMG_8762.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The finished product!</td></tr>
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Dead wood like this should support lots of insect life. Slugs and snails will no doubt like hiding in it too. Frogs and Toads should like the damp nooks and crannies too and hopefully will have lots of slugs to eat. If I'm lucky Wood Mice might take up home too. Then of course birds like the Wren and the Robin will probably have an explore for a meal or two.<br />
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I'll be watching with interest!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Z.<br />
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<br />Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-46828186278397796102017-10-15T20:46:00.001+01:002017-10-15T20:46:47.822+01:00Post 475 - A Marvellous Gathering for YWT Annual General Meeting <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyKqGIsSQu697pHiv4DUbT9XK6zTzBa3VeCafu4bu4D0ZESC2MOMVnfStO_EoiYbQbHTRax7l6_aLSpZxRGD_kGa3ohmgs_viSKlnlD8cPrBWgV_D83XgDgujPSKMdhKLLwlT7aUIte0/s1600/potteric.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikyKqGIsSQu697pHiv4DUbT9XK6zTzBa3VeCafu4bu4D0ZESC2MOMVnfStO_EoiYbQbHTRax7l6_aLSpZxRGD_kGa3ohmgs_viSKlnlD8cPrBWgV_D83XgDgujPSKMdhKLLwlT7aUIte0/s320/potteric.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The clouds cleared and it was an incredible day <br />for the members day at Potteric Carr</td></tr>
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Hey everyone, Post 475 and a little post to let you know about a great meeting I went to yesterday. It was the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust AGM. This year they made it into a member's day, so that they could attract a few more people and make the meeting not just about the facts and figures of the last year. The idea was to make it more interesting and to show off Potteric Carr visitor centre, which is one of the big projects they did last year. Did it work? Well for me it did, I had a really great day!<br />
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Dad and I set off early as Doncaster is quite a way from us, pretty much the other end of Yorkshire, but we got there in plenty of time. A bit of a co-incidence but the first people that we bumped into when we got there were some people Dad has worked with in Northallerton where we live!<br />
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Everyone got a cup of tea before the morning activities started and most people were gathered outside on the decking by the visitor centre as the day was glorious, it was hard to believe it was October. We got to say hi to Richard and Jono from YWT too before things got going and it was good to see them as they've been very helpful to me. More on that in a bit.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJU00wZ8waH1d3XQmVAeoMKYigLCtJ47dZnaZYpIFpR20MhGO9Cl-gX5MoEsLBQtltB6culDYW7wgS0QcWZMoRuYyeCldrLUQG8d34lsajDBopZfM93TWMPL3efiXDxKCd4x1WVp3rQY/s1600/grasssnake1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicJU00wZ8waH1d3XQmVAeoMKYigLCtJ47dZnaZYpIFpR20MhGO9Cl-gX5MoEsLBQtltB6culDYW7wgS0QcWZMoRuYyeCldrLUQG8d34lsajDBopZfM93TWMPL3efiXDxKCd4x1WVp3rQY/s320/grasssnake1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A highlight was this Grass snake.</td></tr>
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So the member's day started with activities in the morning and a choice of a long walk around the reserve, a short walk or an introduction to bird spotting. Well as it was such a sunny warm day it had to be the long walk. Potteric Carr is a lovely and huge reserve and we find new bits every time we go. It was nice to have a walk around with the visitor centre manager and learn some more facts about the place and where to see some nice species. A spring visit for Lesser Spotted Woodpecker is being planned! The highlight of the walk was seeing some lovely Grass snakes!<br />
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After the walk it was back to the visitor centre for lunch. This was in the visitor centre cafe and the catering staff there made us a wonderful lunch, I ate loads as it was so good!<br />
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So then onto the afternoon when it was a series of talks including all of the AGM business. Well they were all really interesting. I was looking forward to the first one as it was Lindsey Chapman talking about some of her Unsprung experiences. The last time I saw Lindsey, Springwatch and my Dad had arranged a surprise while I was bird watching, and she presented me with an Unsprung Hero award (there's a link to it on the right >>>). There were some funny insights into the world of Unsprung and it made you appreciate how hard it is to pull the show together live! It was a great talk.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZuW5Ekxah5w92kdarktA4PolfJEAKKajt5YeXkHVq2nEsUO8HIKrhyphenhyphenb3w0L5CC5z5NvadweC8D-5UbVlOjKx-n2vkhFddqEMroYhrFgogfyh3CG828Xn_EFUihit3St_3AC_wZPrS-yg/s1600/cals2018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZuW5Ekxah5w92kdarktA4PolfJEAKKajt5YeXkHVq2nEsUO8HIKrhyphenhyphenb3w0L5CC5z5NvadweC8D-5UbVlOjKx-n2vkhFddqEMroYhrFgogfyh3CG828Xn_EFUihit3St_3AC_wZPrS-yg/s320/cals2018.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very proud of this!</td></tr>
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Then came the AGM bits. I didn't know if I'd enjoy these bits but it was interesting to learn about how the organisation works, where it gets its money and how it spends it as well as learning about some of the projects. We also had to vote in a couple of new board members.<br />
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Last speaker was Rob Stoneman, the Chief Executive and he gave a really powerful presentation about how important the work of the Wildlife Trust is, how fragile a lot of our habitats and environment is but also how some projects are working and making a difference.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPQX9SE30D9SlZlXT0ybjasciYQUhnlIfmzZVtgMKJm1gZV3gEiKj32z10J-xayMKoPQzpHhxcx5YO3-8RS8BQsbz_k01KX9P3zeYNcueUtnpzGt0XobvRQu4VjTH4gp_WCT0r5EgRXY/s1600/Calback.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="1333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPQX9SE30D9SlZlXT0ybjasciYQUhnlIfmzZVtgMKJm1gZV3gEiKj32z10J-xayMKoPQzpHhxcx5YO3-8RS8BQsbz_k01KX9P3zeYNcueUtnpzGt0XobvRQu4VjTH4gp_WCT0r5EgRXY/s320/Calback.JPG" width="317" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks so much YWT and Northwold</td></tr>
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So it was a great day and I really enjoyed it but the best was still to come. I'd been working since the summer with YWT to produce a 2018 calendar using some photos I'd taken when I was on my 2016 challenge to visit all their reserves (there were too many and Yorkshire is too big - but I did get to around two thirds :-). Well I had been waiting for the calendars for a while as very kindly Northwold Print were doing them for me as half of the profits are going to YWT. The company is owned by one of the board directors Gurdev and he very kindly brought them with him that morning.<br />
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I was having a look through it and Jono and some of the YWT board members had a look through it with me. It looks really good! The photos are pretty good but the graphic design was done by Sally Henderson at YWT and it's made it look so much more professional than my last calendar, thanks Sally!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLBZ0hrDve6TiIHuwVPee3cHlKC5wqIIElpK5CL1SVZczxDn1tOJ1sfODKnKFiKRqejD_CrBs87wtvmpn40JLVPJOIlsqJPNUGWUWVHJH3Vs2gOtfXiRNp8ypexEN2sonMJSHfbqqBaI/s1600/amins11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="904" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnLBZ0hrDve6TiIHuwVPee3cHlKC5wqIIElpK5CL1SVZczxDn1tOJ1sfODKnKFiKRqejD_CrBs87wtvmpn40JLVPJOIlsqJPNUGWUWVHJH3Vs2gOtfXiRNp8ypexEN2sonMJSHfbqqBaI/s320/amins11.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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It was after this that Lindsey came over to have a catch up and we had a chat about some of the things I'd been up to. She was surprised how much I'd grown since the Unsprung Hero filming, but it was quite a while ago now. One of the things we talked about was the calendar, happily she really liked it, so much she asked if she could have it :-)<br />
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Well I wasn't going to say no and Lindsey was happy to have a photo taken with me. I never expected the first one to go to a celebrity or to get such a great endorsement! Thanks Lindsey.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_5GNJwOA60Gnk0QTW9fkF-n2O_VBt4acFbyRBlHqEa3wRIUNLsWx15DxWE08Zr51ZkZzb7glXfXzANT80m6ra-XJHdGg4jKViSfyFpDq3Df4oIJLF6m-EsHc7I9hPzpeHthAxhTM7VE/s1600/lindseyzachcal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD_5GNJwOA60Gnk0QTW9fkF-n2O_VBt4acFbyRBlHqEa3wRIUNLsWx15DxWE08Zr51ZkZzb7glXfXzANT80m6ra-XJHdGg4jKViSfyFpDq3Df4oIJLF6m-EsHc7I9hPzpeHthAxhTM7VE/s320/lindseyzachcal.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great to catch up with Lindsey <br />and so glad you like the calendar :-)</td></tr>
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After saying goodbye to Lindsey we went off to see Richard in the shop to get a few calendars to bring home to sell and Richard will have them up for sale on the YWT website soon!<br />
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Have to say a big thanks to Jono, Sally, Richard and Gurdev for all the help - they look incredible and I'm really proud to see my photos in something so professional.<br />
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So a great day, and I was really glad to be part of it. It'll be a hard job to do a better event next year!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
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Z. Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-735072840788165431.post-24969175447242776532017-10-10T21:00:00.001+01:002017-10-10T21:00:33.630+01:00Post 474 - Brilliant Butterflies of 2017Hey everyone, sorry it's been a little while between posts. School work has been taking up a lot of time again! I hope this post makes up for not posting for a while.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBs6phu-D-aq_BFP5o6DuzIrjOBwVvUo_teY0l3QJW0kwNaUkoT4p6CXL7XIRoe6cQKwWHe_Po0UoOgJJ_RPHXDCBDgSy3HDgGl0Lmt9Smo3_z9AWmQnslHevjPCpbSnRdpyy2Zpkqd4/s1600/b3+-+dob2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1333" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDBs6phu-D-aq_BFP5o6DuzIrjOBwVvUo_teY0l3QJW0kwNaUkoT4p6CXL7XIRoe6cQKwWHe_Po0UoOgJJ_RPHXDCBDgSy3HDgGl0Lmt9Smo3_z9AWmQnslHevjPCpbSnRdpyy2Zpkqd4/s200/b3+-+dob2.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duke of Burgundy</td></tr>
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A little while back I was in touch with Butterfly Conservation on twitter. I'd sent a few pics of butterflies I'd seen and they asked me a question. Well today in post 474 I'm going to sort of answer it and in future years I hope to be able to answer it better.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlvj4keUg7RfHnyoqsvacsr0uE0wDxwgEbMl4eKdLFSURYOWsQldLAqYHZ2OJyvv8Z08NyhmKZtj9W44hvggXIVSGcQtgic-anVoevXqoDTEYztdGuCmFrdHebo8bNIr13goXpikbMow/s1600/b1-+orangetip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="1333" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtlvj4keUg7RfHnyoqsvacsr0uE0wDxwgEbMl4eKdLFSURYOWsQldLAqYHZ2OJyvv8Z08NyhmKZtj9W44hvggXIVSGcQtgic-anVoevXqoDTEYztdGuCmFrdHebo8bNIr13goXpikbMow/s200/b1-+orangetip.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orange Tip</td></tr>
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So what was the question? It was... had I seen more or less butterflies this year. It's tricky to answer as I have seen some more species this year as I've been out deliberately looking for a few new species. I think I've seen four new species this year, but at the same time I have not seen three of the species that I've seen other years. The new species were the Large Skipper, Duke of Burgundy, Greyling and Silver Washed Fritillary, the ones I didn't manage to see were Holly Blue, Marbled White and Swallow Tail.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4Vky4WtIN6KLTD-1TqakqLHisHQ8eGIHyJkpmSWWCb9kq5N-n9Q-o2tlRy5zU4RIZJCov6OLZ6sIXwoc-Loo4kq7kfg1LyzxXmPybpZG14BgyLQiSrfH_-NqgPtdsS42UJ3UclJTpbE/s1600/b4+-+green+veined+white.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw4Vky4WtIN6KLTD-1TqakqLHisHQ8eGIHyJkpmSWWCb9kq5N-n9Q-o2tlRy5zU4RIZJCov6OLZ6sIXwoc-Loo4kq7kfg1LyzxXmPybpZG14BgyLQiSrfH_-NqgPtdsS42UJ3UclJTpbE/s200/b4+-+green+veined+white.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Veined White</td></tr>
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The other reason it's hard to answer is because I haven't started keeping very good records of what I've seen and when yet. It seems like I've seen a lot less in my garden at the start of the year, it got better at the end of summer but it has gone quiet again now. I've definitely seen less Painted Ladies this year and less Peacocks. So I need to record what I see better so that I can answer properly. I do do the Butterfly Count but I'm going to keep more records. <div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYviAFUS6E4pDo7nio4AhNZYSL05-bJIqLlq-HyV9PPqo-twaDr1kHWxMLtIXM124OcoAElG3Ud6j_BHCUMWSPZz897VNlqW1VH3Qm3zOP7r77XgjkK6RWHSvijxxjovnVuM4UrYXg2U/s1600/b5+-+comma.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1333" height="138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYviAFUS6E4pDo7nio4AhNZYSL05-bJIqLlq-HyV9PPqo-twaDr1kHWxMLtIXM124OcoAElG3Ud6j_BHCUMWSPZz897VNlqW1VH3Qm3zOP7r77XgjkK6RWHSvijxxjovnVuM4UrYXg2U/s200/b5+-+comma.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A challenging Comma</td></tr>
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I'm still hoping to see a few more in the garden yet this year, the Michaelmas Daises are still out and I've got lots of fallen apples so there's still lots of food for them. Fingers crossed for a few still sunny days when I'm at home. It's something simple we can all do to help butterflies and many insects, grow a few nectar rich plants that they like. In our garden we have three Buddleia bushes that they especially like but quite a few other plants too that they like.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9ghkGtlZpSFk8-w5hs0EaKX-qwKsDc5KbjWIbol2bYdJcbsZxsuLeqVUGBxyX__w9cSlNScGQ-SwVSOmZxbKR3_-y9NEqSkl5wRpzZoLhCXu_OKpneIPryAz0aYIb2rexfJxXaDoyB8/s1600/b9+-+peacock.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="993" data-original-width="1500" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi9ghkGtlZpSFk8-w5hs0EaKX-qwKsDc5KbjWIbol2bYdJcbsZxsuLeqVUGBxyX__w9cSlNScGQ-SwVSOmZxbKR3_-y9NEqSkl5wRpzZoLhCXu_OKpneIPryAz0aYIb2rexfJxXaDoyB8/s200/b9+-+peacock.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peacock</td></tr>
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So what have I seen this year? Well let's start with a rare beauty, The Duke of Burgundy. I was told about this butterfly a little while ago by two different people and that there was a spot near me to find it. (Thanks Dave Renwick & Whitfield Benson). I didn't know at the time until I looked it up again that it is one of the UK's rarest butterflies. So this year I set off to see it and happily I did! I'll be back next year I think as it was a lovely walk out on the North York Moors to find this spot.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRLbaR8POaFPj9M1lXe8HhpUh53DHEJpPruaqG2EvDVYtqOoWV8rAn4Nl07krk__c76ww4jYLYFeDPwUvxVmFs5Q5WFwixzTlI4CnQIxQJl2TOphrvPZCl7F23i3wlSFBzKXIH8vfsqI/s1600/b10+-+swallowtail+caterpillar.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1500" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbRLbaR8POaFPj9M1lXe8HhpUh53DHEJpPruaqG2EvDVYtqOoWV8rAn4Nl07krk__c76ww4jYLYFeDPwUvxVmFs5Q5WFwixzTlI4CnQIxQJl2TOphrvPZCl7F23i3wlSFBzKXIH8vfsqI/s200/b10+-+swallowtail+caterpillar.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Swallowtail Caterpillar - amazing!</td></tr>
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One I always try to see but I often miss because I go to Norfolk just at the wrong time of year (school needs to break up earlier for summer!) is the Swallowtail. I have had the odd fleeting view of this magnificent butterfly but never well enough or long enough to get a photo of one. Their larvae I see more often though and they are very pretty as well. Here's a beauty I saw this summer.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmamlQVFU1LSqNwRKlr0H7qtEzqbJGQwRfTtmGxjtiIHdCxvZ2cIlPSfv6Z5LJE6y95xc9OqGE_wPVV3goPZ1RNepJbeiletOcB5HrPMMbYpi1cgafKhw4tZCQRhPuJeccea4xkublm90/s1600/b7+-+silverwashed+fritillary.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1500" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmamlQVFU1LSqNwRKlr0H7qtEzqbJGQwRfTtmGxjtiIHdCxvZ2cIlPSfv6Z5LJE6y95xc9OqGE_wPVV3goPZ1RNepJbeiletOcB5HrPMMbYpi1cgafKhw4tZCQRhPuJeccea4xkublm90/s200/b7+-+silverwashed+fritillary.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver washed Fritillary - a little worn</td></tr>
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I like looking out for new places and new species so when we were on our Norfolk holiday this year we went to Holt Country Park. I've been to the market town of Holt a lot, and this year rescued a baby hedgehog from the churchyard while Mum was shopping. Afterwards we popped to the park and saw an amazing list of butterflies that had been seen. One that was meant to be in abundance was the Silver Washed Fritillary. I managed to see one but it wasn't in the best condition.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD59BtbWSxmfu3FYcoXbzOiUeq0D8Tw9ZmZu3JelNRg1N8_4z8kpDRU6UsGoJ_Pxo4ZR0DhuzVdedDfMq7a1RxX10cYZBlPHg4IbCCLDNR_6w4ctHufAlsfFbSjZWw2zI0-8LwoWzDTSk/s1600/b2+-+brimstone.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD59BtbWSxmfu3FYcoXbzOiUeq0D8Tw9ZmZu3JelNRg1N8_4z8kpDRU6UsGoJ_Pxo4ZR0DhuzVdedDfMq7a1RxX10cYZBlPHg4IbCCLDNR_6w4ctHufAlsfFbSjZWw2zI0-8LwoWzDTSk/s200/b2+-+brimstone.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brimstone</td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF8Loytmg6XKxPgkfQQO9bZ4a0K5BXKgcErH5-TB8rGop-mGYsSdyoF_TSZN_dHaEcWU21aA5RKFkOVnPRZU_gDAhl5o1nY86fkomNwPuZX-ugBou5fc8_XeL4QYiBlVWDoXRpY582fs/s1600/b6+-+hummingbird+hawk+moth.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="990" data-original-width="1500" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvF8Loytmg6XKxPgkfQQO9bZ4a0K5BXKgcErH5-TB8rGop-mGYsSdyoF_TSZN_dHaEcWU21aA5RKFkOVnPRZU_gDAhl5o1nY86fkomNwPuZX-ugBou5fc8_XeL4QYiBlVWDoXRpY582fs/s200/b6+-+hummingbird+hawk+moth.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hummingbird Hawkmoth</td></tr>
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I also saw a lovely Brimstone there and a wonderful Hummingbird Hawkmoth. I know it's not a butterfly but I love seeing them. I get them in my garden too - this year I only got a quick glimpse of one on the red Valerian outside of the house so it was great to get this shot of one at Holt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iHjMf3tG_Zw-GgoP4RMAI9Bsomeq4QWQSOj3SA3eqMOUQyI6B3emz4lqzVKc2pGyUUeFYuQlHX9dhraY-rt18Y1zBGAwBtLG-ZkyIwaDkslSGHc99X99tSkJ30kOSBCXuqAb_l2qMrQ/s1600/b8+-+larger+skipper.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1333" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5iHjMf3tG_Zw-GgoP4RMAI9Bsomeq4QWQSOj3SA3eqMOUQyI6B3emz4lqzVKc2pGyUUeFYuQlHX9dhraY-rt18Y1zBGAwBtLG-ZkyIwaDkslSGHc99X99tSkJ30kOSBCXuqAb_l2qMrQ/s200/b8+-+larger+skipper.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Large Skipper</td></tr>
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A lovely little butterfly I saw, and have probably seen before but never really stopped to photograph or appreciate is the Large Skipper. This is one that hangs around a forest I go to quite often on the fringe of the North York Moors, Silton Forest. I'm not sure what made me pay attention to this one but perhaps it was because it sat still for me!<br />
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On the same bit of path in Silton Forest I've also been able to see some lovely Common Blue butterflies too this year. Males and females both sat nicely enough for a photo.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eHkSZl1gwWrL3mnFhccUdTFMpQU1be57qqETVhI8N-NfV03HDAwPGVwBmGNkmAhJsb4Iw9xCjOSMe5w-m2LcP9aqEiWDNL7-laLFuZO5_D60FP7P-mRIHVDQYRnWgUP8ykUoQomtRdU/s1600/b11+-+common+blue.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="1600" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0eHkSZl1gwWrL3mnFhccUdTFMpQU1be57qqETVhI8N-NfV03HDAwPGVwBmGNkmAhJsb4Iw9xCjOSMe5w-m2LcP9aqEiWDNL7-laLFuZO5_D60FP7P-mRIHVDQYRnWgUP8ykUoQomtRdU/s200/b11+-+common+blue.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Common Blue</td></tr>
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Well, there's a lot more to mention, like Speckled Wood, Painted Lady, Peacock, Red Admiral, Tortishell, a brief view of a White Admiral, Small White, Large White, Green Veined White, Orange Tip, Wall, Meadow Brown, Small Heath and Ringlet. I think that's probably all that I've seen this year.<br />
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There's still quite a few species I've yet to see so I'll be looking up where and when I can see something new next year. It's always such a buzz to see a new species and especially with something as beautiful as a butterfly!<br />
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Hope you enjoyed,<br />
<br />
Zach.</div>
Zach Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673337503056704084noreply@blogger.com2