Pond Dipping at RSPB Sandwell Valley

The summer holidays are in full swing. Not managed to get to the beach this summer? Have a go at pond dipping, an activity similar to rock pooling – available at RSPB Sandwell Valley!

Nature’s reach is open 10am-5pm Tuesday to Sunday throughout the holidays. Come before 4pm to hire your equipment. In your set will be a net, a white tray to view creatures, a magnifying glass and spoon, for just £3 (Please do not use your own nets as this could contaminate our ponds and upset the little critters).

There are so many creatures to see in our ponds. From phantom midge larvae, leeches to newts and water beetles among many others!

Leech - Jackie Cooper (rspb-images.com)

Quick Fire Pond Creature Facts

• Did you know newts can regenerate many parts of their bodies, their limbs, eyes and even heart!
• Greater Water Boatman, these common pond creatures eat through a tube that they stick into tadpoles and suck out all the yummy juices!   
• Try and find a caddisfly nymph, these amazing youngsters are experts at camouflage. You better look closely otherwise you might think they’re just sticks and stones!  

A newt I discovered when pond dipping

Top Tips for Pond Dipping

1.  In open water use a figure of eight sweep of your net to ensure you catch some creatures
2.   In more weedy areas use a back and forth motion so you can catch the bugs that get dislodged
3. Remember that you are taking the creatures from their homes. Be kind to them and when you finished looking, gently return them to their habitat.
4. Be patient and look carefully at your discoveries. Some things might be hiding or creatures like the phantom midge larvae are nearly invisible – like ghosts!

If you want any other information just call our visitor centre Nature’s Reach on 0121 357 7395 or email alex.sharrod@rspb.org.uk.

Remember – pond dipping isn’t just for kids – I’m 24 and I absolutely love it! You never know what you might find.

Imogen, Connecting People and Nature Intern, RSPB Sandwell Valley

Fly by Night - Bat and Moth Night, September 2015

We had a fabulous bat and moth night on Saturday 5th September. We had a great number of visitors of the human variety, and some very obliging bat and moth visitors too.

We started the evening at Nature's Reach with a really informative presentation about bats from Morgan, our expert. We learnt all about bat behaviour and the various beasts we can find both here and worldwide.

Bat Detector (Tim Hunt)

Then we got our mitts on the super-cool bat detectors! Morgan treated us to a few different types, some relatively simple: detecting bat sounds based on the frequency they were tuned to, and some a bit more techy: capable of recording a number of different bat sounds, all at the same time, for analysis later on.

Bat Walk (Tim Hunt)

And so we were off! We walked down to the hide and within minutes, we had bats! We stood on the path by the Mini Beast Meadow listening intently to Morgan's instructions on using the detectors and were quickly interrupted by our winged friends flying overhead. We saw several pipistrelles on our way down to the lakeside hide and were treated to lots more, while shining our torches out across the water.

Toads in the hole

Before heading back up to see what moths were about, volunteer (and regular blogger) Tim spotted some more obliging beasts hanging out in the bee bank. We saw the unlikely trio of two newts and a toad sharing a hidey hole and plenty more scattered about the slope.

Moth Trap (Tim Hunt)

On our return to the visitor centre, butterfly and moth expert, Mike gave a brief talk on what we'd be likely to find and gave some great tips on identification. Then it was off out to the moth traps. We were quite early for our winged friends but still managed to see a good number.

Large yellow underwings were out in force and we had a fabulous swallow prominent. Small square-spots made a good showing, as well as a silver y, a couple of copper underwings and old ladys.

Large Yellow Underwing (Chris Shields www.rspb-images.co.uk)

We also had phoenix, flame shoulder, white shouldered house moth, double sqaure-spot, setaceous hebrew character, angle shades, six-striped rustic, common rustic and flounced rustic.

A fantastic night was had by all and we can't wait for the next one! A big thank you to Morgan, our bat expert, and our brilliant team of moth-ers for making it possible.

Jenny, Connecting People and Nature Intern.