Liz Nicholls discovers the plethora of wildlife inspired events at Oxford Festival of Nature
Are you ready for a properly wild weekend? Then head to a celebration of the great outdoors next Friday and Saturday (June 6 and 7) with the completely free Oxford Festival of Nature in the wilds of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead.
Organised by Berks, Bucks & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, the festival starts on Friday at 6pm with talks and walks at Cutteslowe Community Centre.
Oxford’s own hedgehog expert Hugh Warwick will describe how these charming little prickly creatures could save the world.
This will be followed by walks in the evening dusk with Oxfordshire Mammal and Bat Group to discover bats and moths.
And early risers are invited to be up with the larks on Saturday when BBOWT’s bird expert Colin Williams will lead a Dawn Chorus from 5am.
The Oxfordshire Mammal Group will be back on site at 8.30am to open up the (humane) mammal traps they set the previous evening.
Drop in to the Cherwell riverbank at Sunnymead Park at about 9.30am to help pull up crayfish traps with an expert from the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre.
On Saturday, it’s the Wild Fair, at Sunnymead, noon-4.30pm with a day of hands-on wildlife activities.
Children can explore the nature trail and meet some native birds of prey, handle native reptiles and join a guided walk to explore the park and discover the inhabitants.
Volunteers and staff from the wildlife trust have been busy creating an extraordinary demonstration ‘garden’ for wildlife.
Lucy Tomkinson and Andy Gunn from the Wild Oxford project have been rummaging around at BBOWT HQ in Littlemore to unearth old pallets, some old bricks and other ‘rubbish’ which is now being transformed into wildlife heaven.
“It’s amazing what you can do with odd bits and pieces of what looks like rubbish,” said Andy. “We’ll show people what they can do with those old saucepans, broken pots and tin baths that they’ve probably got round the back of sheds or hidden in the long grass. They can easily be transformed into homes for wildlife.
“Tyres become mini-gardens filled with nectar-giving plants, upturned dustbin lids make small ponds, and off-cuts of wood are perfect as cosy box homes for bats and birds.”
Lucy will be demonstrating Creature Features: “We’ll be showing how people can use material they can easily find to make homes for hedgehogs to hibernate in, create a bamboo cluster for solitary bees, and make a lacewing chamber using an old plastic water bottle,” she says.
In the Butterfly Border will be the ideal plants to encourage more pollinating insects into gardens. Rosybee nursery from south Oxfordshire is planting up the ‘garden’ with colourful scented plants that attract butterflies, bees and moths.
So flutter down for some natural goodness!
The Oxford Festival of Nature is all free. To book any events, call 01865 788300 or email events@bbowt.org.uk
See bbowt.org.uk/oxfordfestivalofnature
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