Friday 4th October 2024

It was lovely to feel the sunshine for a change at nature club and we were still witnessing the first signs of autumn in the form of a nibbled conker, ripening rosehips and fallen leaves.  The children suggested the hole in the conker might have been made by a bird, mouse or hedgehog and some of them knew that for some animals-horses, dogs and, of course, us, it is poisonous. It is amazing what can be achieved in 30 minutes. In teams, two dens for hedgehogs were built using anything they could lay their hands on natural or otherwise-sticks, plastic pots, cardboard.  I heard the words shelter, protect and camouflage.  We then had two jobs to do-stirring the compost where we saw(and smelt) silvery white fungus working its magic, breaking down all the twigs and vegetation. Its correct name is Xylariaceae!  After that, they sowed the yellow flag Iris seeds and watered them and picked all the lavender heads.  They can decide what to do with them next time.