Monday 24 January 2011

A Cold Day at Hatfield

Even though the temperature was about 4 degrees C, there was a biting northerly as we trooped up to Hatfield Forest yesterday (Sunday).

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The idea was to talk to people about our Countryside and Woodland Awareness course and generate some interest. If it had been last weekend, I think we would have had a larger audience as, by all accounts, it was mobbed because of the good weather.

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Nevertheless, after setting up my showcase of feeding signs, vials of deer pellets, animal hair and jawbones, we started talking to those who were interested in peering at the contents. Plenty of people were interested in watching JP whittling away at a piece of birch.

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We were helped by Mrs P who came out of hibernation especially for the event, and for a time Ken V from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) who will be helping us on some of our planned bird ID and dawn chorus walks.

It was surprising the number of people who did take an interest. If you took away the dog walkers, many families with children and, of course, the children themselves were interested. I think we have away about 100 leaflets, which was no mean feat for a cold and damp Sunday afternoon.

Best of all there was a small surprise waiting for us back at the National Trust Estate office. A small key in a see-through plastic bag was handed to us by one of the wardens. I knew exactly what it was. The key to Hatfield Forest!

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