Month: February 2016

A glimpse of spring

~ sueyoungwildlife ~ Leave a comment

Wednesday was one of those have to get out in the sunshine days, even if only for a 20 minute lunch-time walk.

And spring is on its way!

Lesser celandine by a hedge in Kent
Lesser celandine grows along the bank beneath a hedge
Snowdrops manage to push their way through the ivy, bramble and nettles.
Snowdrops have been out for a while, they look so delicate but still manage to push their way through the ivy, bramble and nettles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Willow tree catkins, blue sky
Hazel catkins and glorious blue sky
Checking twigs to identify this cherry plum blossom
Ali is checking the twigs to see if this is cherry plum. The ends of the twigs are hairless and glossy green, as opposed to blackthorn, which has similar blossom but young twigs which are are downy and grey brown. Blackthorn is also a lot more thorny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Queen bumblebee searching for a nest site
This queen bumblebee has just come out of hibernation and is looking for somewhere to build a nest. A hole in the ground, or some tussocky grass would be ideal.

 

snow waving
A flurry of snow at Tyland Barn on Thursday reminded us that spring is not quite here yet.
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Storyboards at Samphire Hoe

~ sueyoungwildlife ~ 1 Comment

The classroom at Samphire Hoe, at Dover, beside the white cliffs of Dover, looking out across the English Channel

Another great location for a meeting – the Education Shelter at Samphire Hoe has fabulous views of the white cliffs of Dover and out across the Channel.

Kent Wildlife Trust conservation team working on storyboards for a video clip
Home-made biscuits, provided by the Kiosk, and a steady supply of tea and coffee fueled our creativity.

With some trepidation, the conservation team gathered in the Education Shelter at Samphire Hoe, a country park on the outskirts of Dover. They had provided me with a long list of things they really wouldn’t want to do on a team building day, and a quick internet search had added to the list of activities widely considered to be uncalled for. Luckily, Bryony, Paul, Vinny and I had come up with (we thought) an excellent idea – to get everyone to work on producing some video clips about the work of the team. It seemed to meet with general approval, provided certain people didn’t have to stand in front of the camera.

 

Kent Wildlife Trust's conservation team making a video
Paul checks the first bit of footage, introducing the Conservation Team

 

 

By the time we had got our ideas together, it had stopped raining long enough for us to risk taking the ipads we had borrowed from the marketing department outside. We headed out to various locations, braved the cold and our fears of being in front of the camera (for some of us; but it turned out that some of my colleagues could be doing this for a living!) I will share the end results once Gordon, social media guru, has turned our various clips and re-takes into the seamless footage we had planned.