I've moved!

I've decided to move my blog over to wordpress and i'll be posting over there from now on. So if you follow me on here and would like to keep up to date please visit:

www.twigsandfinches.wordpress.com

Thankyou! x

Make a Woodland Crown!

This idea was taken from a quite a cool little book called The Stick Book. I bought it for my dad for christmas as i thought he could do the projects with my younger sisters. This crown was made simply by twisting green stems into a circle. Willow is recommended, however i used periwinkle stems which were just as flexible and not too thick. i decorated mine mostly with ivy and a few flowers. I like the idea of keeping the crown base and altering the decorations with the changing seasons - i think an autumn leaf crown sounds magnificent! Collecting the materials and making the crown is a nice nature project for kids (and 21 year olds pretending to be in Narnia..) 

Please share your photos if you make one!!

Alternative Resolutions for a Brand New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Do you bother making resolutions? I say eat as many chocolate biscuits as you like and embrace one (or more!) of these New Year resolutions instead!

Get out more

Being outdoors is a good way to de-stress and keep healthy too. But life can be hectic and sometimes it’s difficult to find time to do things. Why not commit to having an “outdoor day” at least once a month or fortnight. The best way to start is by visiting a local nature reserve and even taking part in an organised activity. There are hundreds of reserves all over the UK – I bet there’s one not far from you! Check out local reserves here

Participate in citizen science

Completing a wildlife survey provides really useful information to scientists. Records from all over the UK can help us to understand the decline or spread of species. And there are loads to choose from! There’s the Big Butterfly Count, the Big Garden Bird Watch, National Hedgehog Survey and more. Why not try to take part in at least one during 2015

Feed the birds 365 days

How many days of the year can you remember to feed the birds!? It’s easy to forget, but garden birds start to rely on the food we provide - especially on cold days. Challenge yourself to feeding the birds 365 days of the year and see how many you manage!

Don’t forget your camera!

Countless photo opportunities have been missed by not having my camera with me. I’m certainly going to remember to take mine everywhere I go in 2015!

Start a new hobby

The new year is a great time to start something new. Pick something that will get you outdoors such as a walking group. Alternatively you could learn something new which will complement your wildlife interests such as SLR photography, sketching or painting.

Join a local group

It’s likely that there is already a local bird or wildlife watching group in your area, although sometimes they take a bit of researching to find! If there isn’t one – why not consider starting one yourself! 

Become a species champion
Pick a British species to support and learn as much as you can about it throughout the year. Make a trip to go and see it in the wild and possibly even do some relevant volunteer/charity work. Learn about the threats facing the species and its environment and spread the word amongst your friends and family. Why not chose a lesser known species which doesn’t receive as much attention as the more iconic/cute animals do.

Waterloo Road and the Crested Tits

It’s taken me a while to get round to writing this, mainly since it involves admitting that I watch Waterloo Road (naff TV programme set in Scottish school with over-exaggerated accents.) Look, it’s a guilty pleasure. However my fingers are poised over the BBC complaints page until I decide whether my grievances are unjustifiably petty or not.

Around 4 million people tune in to Waterloo Road each week and sadly would have witnessed the mocking of dear old Audrey McFall and her Crested Tits.. Miss McFall is the school’s history teacher and portrayed as a bit of an old nutter in weird clothes. She’s pretty wild too; this series saw her arrested for demonstrating against the destruction of local woodland and nesting sites. Campaigns for her cause were met with sniggers, jeers, rolling of eyes and other such fun pokings. Alright it does sound petty now that I’ve written it down.

Alas, the point I’m trying to make is this; should a highly popular and influential BBC programme be contributing to the unfair stereotyping of "outdoorsy folk"? There is real crisis right now concerning young people and their lack of connection to nature (as mentioned in a previous post.) And so for a programme to include such a storyline is surely just a little irresponsible??...

It would have been nice to see the show using their popular characters (particularly the school kids) to promote environmental awareness to it's younger audience. 

Anyway, the BBC are responsible for some truly spectacular nature and science documentaries. I just don’t know why they would want to undo all their hard work! Rant over. 

Young People and Nature

I am a young person, 21 to be precise. And I love nature. Granted we are few and far between, but we are out there. We’ve all read the shocking reports – you know, that one saying that only 1 in 5 kids climb trees nowadays. So if you’ve all finished falling off your chairs in disbelief let us address problems rather than write long reports about them

I firmly believe that amid an ocean of touch screen devices there are literally thousands of young people who have the potential to become fantastic naturalists. But how can young people who have never been given the opportunity to experience nature, be expected to discover it on their own?

Young people today are not made aware of the opportunities and experiences that are available to them. The ones who have already identified their interest in wildlife will seek out experiences on their own. And possibly go on to study or work in conservation - which is great. But just remember that the future of our environment doesn’t just depend on scientists – it depends on the gestures of everyday people getting up in the morning and feeding their garden birds because they care. Because at some point in their life something or somebody inspired them to appreciate the natural world.

There is a distinct stereotype among young people that being interested in bird watching means you must be elderly and dress like a librarian. Now I’m not suggesting you go and throw anyway your favourite corduroy trousers, but perhaps this is a two-way thing. Stop succumbing to your allocated stereotype so readily. Don’t dismiss a young person’s potential just because they don’t own a pair of binoculars or wear hiking boots 365 days a year. I can guarantee you there’s a receptionist somewhere with the potential to become an incredible wildlife photographer. And there’s a supermarket tiller somewhere with the potential to become a great birder – even if they don’t know it yet.

I challenge you readers to approach a young person who you never dreamed would be interested in nature. Show them just a little bit of your passion for wildlife – ask a question, show a photograph, discuss a news article. At the very least you’ll get a sympathetic or slightly bewildered expression. And at the very best you may just plant that tiny seed of inspiration. I can tell you now, young people aren’t going to miraculously start turning up at your wildlife groups. You’re going to have to go to them. But if you really care about the future of conservation and preserving your hard work, you’ll do that right?

Additionally, I challenge the secondary education system to stop failing our young people. Stop measuring their successes on their ability to play sport and achieve A’s in mathematics. Why aren’t you compulsorily teaching environmental issues alongside road safety and sex education? Issues such as climate change and fracking, which are likely to affect the next generation during their lifetime. Okay so you’ve got your football clubs, but where are your gardening clubs, vegetable allotments, bird watching groups, green committees, science clubs, hill walking groups…. The list goes on.

At the risk of sounding like I’m preaching a sermon – go out into your local communities and reconnect the young with nature. Send information to your local high schools notifying them of local groups and events. Hell, offer to run an after-school club yourself. I don’t know a primary school child who isn’t fascinated by animals; the test is to maintain that interest throughout secondary school and into adulthood. Write to your local councils urging them to offer support and funding. It will take a monumental collective effort, but I’m confident we naturalists are a hard working bunch. Our responsibilities lie not only in the protection of wildlife, but also in the preparation of those who will one day take our place. 

2 Minute Beach Clean

I'm not a huge fan of Facebook - but i do believe social media can be a powerful (and perhaps under used?) tool in the world of conservation. I saw this great little video posted by the BBC about littering on beaches. The campaign urges beach visitors to spend just 2 minutes picking up litter on the beach and put it in the bin - after you've taken a photo and posted it on social media, obviously. The hashtag #2minutebeachclean is now trending across the internet and hundreds have taken part. 

Imagine if every single beach user did a 2 minute beach clean, it would start to make a real difference. The ocean is absolutely full of plastic, all originating from us humans in some way or another. By picking up the litter we see on our beaches we ensure that it doesn't get washed back out. As plastic objects are gradually worn down they form microplastics which can retain harmful chemicals and are often mistaken as food by fish.  

There's no doubt that marine litter is set to be a future environmental crisis if we keep using our oceans as a dumping ground. So time to stop posting photos of your dinner on Instagram and use it for a good cause instead! 

To find out more about #2minutebeachclean visit their website! Or if you fancy something a bit more hands on why not sign up to the Great British Beach Clean happening between 19-22nd September at a beach near you!

Bird Cake Recipe

I remember making yoghurt pot bird cakes when i was little and i think it's a simple way to get children engaging with nature. You don't even need to force your child to consume copious amounts of yoghurt - All sorts of food containers can be recycled into bird feeders. Alternatively you can use cookie cutters to cut shapes out of the mixture like i did. I used 100g of lard with an equal amount of bird food - too much lard will result in very squishy cakes but too little means the mixture won't hold together properly. Begin by melting the lard over low heat and then mix together with any of the following:

- Bird seed                                         - peanuts 

- raisins (not good for dogs!)             - sunflower seeds

- fruit pieces                                       - bread or cake crumbs

- cheese                                             - oats

 If you are using pots or containers, tie a perching stick to the end of some string and thread through a small hole in the base of the pot (so that you can hang them upside down when ready). Get somebody to hold the string in place whilst you fill the pot to the top with mixture. If you have used cutters instead, take a drinking straw and punch a hole in each bird cake - you can add the string later once they have set. All you need to do now is leave them in the fridge overnight to harden. 

These bird cakes are particularly good for hanging out in the winter because the lard will stay chilled and not melt in the sun. The high fat content will also give garden birds the best chances of surviving cold winter nights. 

Here are a few more photos from my weekend at home in the Scottish Borders. The fields had already been harvested - i feel like autumn colour is already on its way (and i can't wait!)