Once again members of the Parish Grasslands Project made arrangements for children from the St Briavels Play Group and St Briavels School to visit and see the variety of wild flowers growing at Hollyside Farm and to use sweep nets to catch and observe insects which feed on the flowers. On this beautiful sunny morning teachers and parents brought preschool children (25 or 26 – it was difficult to count them as they kept moving!)
As well as observing the wild flowers the children, with the aid of nets, soon scattered around the field catching grasshoppers, butterflies, spiders and other insects which were put into little pots and then transferred to a larger net enclosure for observation. With smaller nets “pond dipping” in the spring water tank was also enjoyed, catching tadpoles and a baby newt. Also a small frog was found!
This happy group concluded their visit with a picnic lunch in the clover patch of the field. In the afternoon the school minibus brought teachers and children, smartly dressed in school uniform, from the reception (Bluebell) class. They enjoyed the same activities as the morning group (though some children were reluctant to release their “pot” catches into the observation net!) These children happily completed the afternoon with cooling drinks as they sat on hay bales in the shade of the barn and the captive insects were released in the field. Once again this year’s flower field visit was enjoyed by everyone, young and old.