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ContactEducation at Bowhill
As a Ranger I believe that there should be a strong human connection to the landscape, especially a landscape as vibrant as Bowhill’s and children’s activities, whilst providing a much needed break from the classroom, are a golden opportunity to foster a deep respect for nature.
The most important aspect of this is overcoming barriers and there are two stars of the show that always provide a helping hand in the early summer months. Damselflies and frogs. The kids love them!
Damselflies are abundant on the estate in summer around the Upper Loch and after learning how to correctly catch and handle these fragile invertebrates, children are asked to describe their eyes, body and wings.
Damselfly or Dragonfly?
Wing position at rest is the key identifier, with damselflies resting with their wings folded along their body and dragonflies resting with their wings outstretched. Another difference is size, but I personally rarely use size as an identification guide.
How do you know which is bigger if you’ve never had an opportunity to compare? For the record, damselflies are around 3-5 cm, with some dragonflies reaching an enormous 8cm. You certainly notice them when they fly past!
If you would like to learn more about damselflies and dragonflies (Odonata) you can visit the British Dragonfly Society page here.
Image: Male Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella)
The froglets are the other star and many an activity has been sidetracked by their summer incursion at Bowhill. There will literally be thousands of froglets and you have to walk very carefully when making your way around the Upper Loch.
More about Froglets
A common misconception is that frogs spend most of their time in water, but whilst water can act as a refuge, amphibians actually spend most of their time in cool damp areas such as log piles and return to water as an adult for breeding in early spring.
The metamorphosis from tadpole to froglet is another miracle of nature and can be delayed for several months depending on environmental conditions. The froglets emerged last year in late May, whereas due to the colder weather this year’s emergence was around mid June. Other things that will affect this is predation and if the tadpoles are under pressure, they will change far more quickly and make a very fast escape!
If you would like to learn more about amphibians and reptiles you can visit the Froglife page here.
School Activities
School activities are not always the traditional pond dipping, bug hunting or den building and the Lauder P7 challenge is a great day that I very much look forward to.
Activities
Starting with a school visit to have an introductory session on map reading, a week later we were heading up and around the Duchess’s Drive! If you’ve not walked this route, it’s a must for some spectacular views extending West along the Yarrow Valley to St Mary’s Loch and East to the Eildons and Cheviot Hills.
The P7’s thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and were also challenged with the activities Herd ‘em up, Fold the Leaf, Raise the Flag and the all-new Search and Rescue. This was a great way to get them thinking outside the box and they all worked fantastically in their teams to successfully complete each task.
Image: P7’s proudly carrying their flags on the last leg of the Duchess’s Drive to the Playpark
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