This week saw my 6^th anniversary of working for BCN and as per my previous blog, working with local school children and young people continue to be a highlight. It has, therefore, been a wonderful few months for me – please read on to find out more.

BEDFORDSHIRE YOUTH RANGERS

I have just come back to the office after another splendid morning working alongside a fantastic group of young people on Blow’s Downs. Whatever task myself and volunteer Nigel find for them to do they get stuck in with determination and enthusiasm.

Over the winter of 2021/22 the Bedfordshire Youth Rangers have met monthly across the county and undertaken a wide range of practical conservation tasks.

In September we carried out some scrub clearance at Blow’s Downs to open up some scrubby patches to help wildflowers thrive. October saw us carry out further clearance work on Cooper’s Hill. Chantelle brush cut an area of bracken and we helped by raking and stacking the cut vegetation. This is a job the reserves officers need to do every year to limit the spread of the bracken and were grateful for the extra help this year.

Unfortunately our December session was postponed due to the rise in covid cases but we were back to work in January tackling the encroaching gorse and broom bushes at Cooper’s Hill. Removing some of these larger plants gives the heather a better chance and preserving the rare heathland habitat on this reserve.

We spent Valentine’s day morning at Totternhoe helping Senior Reserves Officer Rich open up another of the gullies to make a more favourable habitat for the Duke of Burgundy Butterfly. We ended the morning with some baked potatoes and beans cooked on the fire – our postponed Christmas treat!

Our next session will be at Cooper’s Hill in May as part of the Greensand Country Festival.

If you are, or know someone who is, 12-18 years old and enjoy meeting like-minded people whilst picking up new skills and making a positive impact on your local environment then why not come along to find out what we’re all about. For more information please visit  www.wildlifebcn.org/youthrangers or email Sarah on sarah.cowling@wildlifebcn.org

Bedfordshire Youth Rangers – upcoming sessions:

Sun 22^nd May 10am-12pm Bracken Pulling at Cooper’s Hill

Sat 18^th June 10am-12pm Ragwort pulling and Butterfly surveys Totternhoe

Mon 25^th Jul 10am-12pm tbc

Mon 22^nd Aug 10am-12pm Hay raking, Blow’s Downs

WILDER SCHOOL’S WORK

Another exciting piece of news is that schools are opening up again to visitors and the Beds Wildlife and Community team are looking forward to re-launching our schools programme – Tiny Creatures in the Big Hills.  Last week was an exciting week for me being back in school. I spent a lovely couple of days in a little school in Dunstable where I’ve been showing a couple of our newer team members the school programmes. Being able to get excited about the plants and wildlife that call our chalk grassland reserves home with over 200 children has been a joy and a privilege, definitely one of the best bits of my job!

Last Tuesday was spent with the children from YrR to Yr3 delivering  “The Tiny Creatures in the Big Hills” programme. This begins with a look at the huge map of our local area, thinking about the natural and human features on the map. We then think about our local green spaces and Wildlife Trust BCN nature reserves and what plants and animals live there. Unfortunately the weather turned damp and cold after the glorious sunshine of the previous week so we weren’t able to explore the school grounds to discover what lives there but we did learn more about the special relationship that exists between the Chalkhill Blue Butterfly and the Yellow Meadow Ant.

On Wednesday we worked with KS2 to think about what’s “Hiding in the Hills” using our “Fossils Under our Feet” programme. We travelled back in time, held pieces of history in our hands and the children made their own replica fossils to go away with.