Create Your Own Springwatch With Webcams & Activities
Easter is the time when we’re usually heading off out into the lovely spring countryside – often accompanied by excited children, a picnic and hard-boiled eggs to roll.
This springtime, of course, is different. However the Wildlife Trusts – charities that run some of our loveliest nature reserves around the UK – have come together to make sure we don’t miss out completely.
Trust staff have teamed up to create a whole series of wonderful online nature activities. These include both craft and outdoor projects which offer fun for all ages.
These activities aim to encourage everyone to tune in to wildlife at home this spring – and to help people find solace in nature during tough times.
There’s still lots to look out for. Pic © David Tipling
Over the past week or so, hundreds of people have told their local Trusts that they’ve spotted their first butterflies. These are moments of connection with nature that people find uplifting and comforting.
Female Orange Tip butterfly on cuckooflower. Pic © Ross Hoddinott
And for wildlife, there’s a bright side to human lockdown. With traffic levels down to levels last seen in the 1950s, air pollution has dropped dramatically.
Reserves are closed, and people are being discouraged from travelling to wild places – but this means that nature has more peace to do its own thing.
The lockdown means more peace for wildlife. Pic: Bertie Gregory
Best of all, you can still see what’s going on. There are publicly available webcams broadcasting live online – everywhere from a barn owl nestbox in Dorset to a puffin colony on Alderney.
A barn owl comes in to land. Pic: Bertie Gregory
To whet your appetite, here’s a recorded clip of a pair of ospreys sharing a fish. This is an intimate behaviour only shown by established pairs, so it’s really special to witness!
The Trusts have popped all the information onto one easy-to-find webpage. So enjoy “exploring” the UK’s reserves, spying on wild creatures without disturbing them. Then, perhaps, you can make wildlife more welcome in your own garden with some of the activities too.
Sarah Proctor
I've worked on a variety of regional newspapers and national magazines. My Weekly and Your Best Ever Christmas are fantastic, warm-hearted brands with an amazing, talented team. I'm a sub-editor and particularly love working on cookery, fiction and advice pages - I feel I should know all the secrets of eternal life, health and happiness by now, but hey, we all need that regular reminder!
