AFON
Young Darwin Scholarship – Sorrel Lyall & Georgia Locock
On Saturday 20th August, fifteen 16 and 17-year-old naturalists began a five-day residential at the Field Studies Council’s Preston Montford Field Centre, near Shrewsbury. This was as part of the Young Darwin Scholarship awarded to them by the FSC.
Each of the ‘Young Darwins’ were from different backgrounds and specialised in their own area of the natural world. Therefore, they were all able to discuss and share their knowledge when participating in the range of activities organised at the field centre, nearby at a local nature reserve and when paddling down the River Severn. Throughout, the group were also able to engage with experts on different subject areas, and be supported thereafter.
For a better understanding of the Young Darwin Scholarship residential, here are two accounts by AFON members Sorrel Lyall and Georgia Locock about their experiences.
Georgia:
We were all split into three groups and put into different canoes with an instructor. All morning there’d been competitive talk between each boat of who’d seen the most exciting thing. Some of this included making things up. However, when an otter broke the water and briefly drifted just metres in front of my group’s boat, it was a case of ‘those who cried otter’ as when we shouted back to the other two groups they looked in disbelief. It was then sighted by our instructor as it bobbed back up closer to the water’s edge.
I’m pretty sure none of the others, including Sorrel, believe we actually saw an otter poke up right in front of our boat but this was definitely my highlight of the residential. It was amazing! Throughout the five days it was clear the FSC had an understanding of where to take us and what to do. Not just that but the broad range of activities which we participated in and learnt about. On the Tuesday, we bioblitz’ed on the vastly arranged grounds of Preston Montford. Throughout the day different experts ran workshops including one on dragonflies and damselflies, which was my favourite.
Not only were we helped with ID’ing skills of some of the species at Preston Montford but we also got a few close up views when we caught a dragonfly or damselfly in our nets. It was fantastic to see them so up close, and fascinating when we were able to compare the colouration and characteristics of the common species Common and Ruddy Darter.
This is just a summary of some of my highlights as a young Darwin scholar. It was such an enjoyable experience and the opportunity to meet other likeminded young people just as enthusiastic as myself was brilliant. If you’re 15 or 16 then I’d fully encourage you to apply next year!
Sorrel:
The residential was an incredibly fun, interesting and memorable 5 days, with a great group of people. Each day was packed with activities to help us develop our skills and deepen our interest in the natural world. As the great Charles Darwin was born just 10 minutes away from the Preston Montford Field Centre, in Shrewsbury, the focus for the course was ‘What would Darwin do today?’ – to explore, observe and record the nature that Darwin himself grew up in.
We focussed on many different aspects of studying and preserving the natural world; including geology, biological recording and identification, conservation and management techniques, citizen science surveys, and wildlife education. For me there were lots of highlights… walking along the ridge through Stiperstones Nature Reserve on our second day was one; seeing the impressive rock formations and eating bilberries in the heather. We saw some great wildlife there too, including Fox Moth caterpillars, lots of young Common Frogs, Stonechats and the most Ravens I’ve ever seen in one place.
The third day was probably my favourite day, as we spent it on the River Severn in canoes, which was a lot of fun! We canoed for about 9 miles in total, spotting Common Sandpipers, Kingfishers, Goosanders and a Little Egret along the way, and developing an idea for a citizen science survey to monitor the invasive Himalayan Balsam, which is very abundant along the banks of the Severn. Being in canoes also allowed us very close to lots of Banded Demoiselles, which danced over the water as we floated by. After dinner we took a visit to Venus Pool Nature Reserve for a spot of birding, where we saw Green Sandpipers, Greenshank and watched 3 Barn Owls as the light faded – amazing!
Small mammal trapping and moth trapping were also highlights of the week for me. Our Longworth traps had been a lot more successful than anticipated, catching 6 mammals from 16 traps (the usual success rate is about 10%), and one trap had two Bank Voles in, remarkable! We caught some nice moths in the moth trap too, including Brimstone, Spectacle and a Poplar Hawkmoth.
From left to right: Bank Vole (c) George Garnett, Two Bank Voles in one (c) Sorrel Lyall, Wood Mouse (c) Sorrel Lyall
Our last full day on the residential was brilliant – we did a BioBlitz of Preston Montford, splitting into groups to tackle different taxa with different experts. I did a bees, ants and wasps session, followed by a dragonflies and damselflies session. Armed with sweep nets, we learnt so much about the ecology and identification of these insects throughout the day, and got to see some of the species up close when we caught them. During the first session we found a first for the site, an Anthophora furcata, or Fork-tailed Flower Bee, this is why BioBlitzes are so good! As for the dragonflies; Brown, Southern and Migrant Hawker, and Common and Ruddy Darters were seen, allowing us to learn some of the features to distinguish between the similar species.
It was a truly brilliant week, where everyone learnt so much from each other and the experts, as well as having lots of fun spending time with like-minded young people. As Georgia has said, if you’re a young person interested in the natural world then I would seriously consider applying for this in the future!
A full recount of our daily activities, plus lots more photos, can be found here on my blog: http://sorrellyallwildlife.weebly.com/wildlife-blog/young-darwin-scholarship-2016.
If you would like to find out more about applying for this brilliant opportunity, visit http://www.field-studies-council.org/about/young-darwin-scholarship.aspx.