Wednesday 12 July 2023

River-sampling with Abington Pre-school

10th July 2023 - David F and Peter B from the Abington NatureWatch team met with children from Abington Pre-school to talk about our river, and how the RiverCare group go about sampling the wildlife in the river.

About 19 children and several adult supervisors walked across to the river, where David gave a talk about why we should all care about the wildlife in our streams and rivers, as well as a short explanation of the river sampling techniques the RiverCare team use. And of course, there were lots of river creatures on hand for the children to look at in the sampling trays! 

There was quite a lot of excitement, with several children spending a long time asking questions and looking at the wildlife that had been caught beforehand, which included several Signal Crayfish, a Minnow, a Bullhead, some Freshwater Shrimps, and the larvae of Mayfly and Olive.

Excitement mounts!

Taking a first look at the wildlife that had been caught earlier and placed in the sampling trays.

Getting up close and personal with wildlife from the river

Bullhead

Signal Crayfish

Signal Crayfish

Minnow

Olive fly larva

Mayfly larva

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The Aims of Abington Naturewatch

At their meeting on 9 April 2005 the members approved this revised version of the aims of Abington Naturewatch:

  • To monitor and record the wildlife (fauna & flora) within the borders of the Abingtons;
  • To encourage protection of our wildlife, maintain its quality and foster its diversity;
  • To promote awareness of the richness, potential and problems of the natural environment of the Abingtons;
  • To cooperate in improving access to the local natural environment for the benefit of all Abington villagers.

Pat Daunt, Founder

The organisation is informal and communication is by email if possible; members are notified of events from time to time. Contact details are maintained by a small "project team". There is currently no membership fee as costs are covered by voluntary contributions at events.

Members are encouraged to report notable sightings of flora and fauna within the Abingtons to the appropriate sector coordinator and an illustrated record is published annually.

A map of the area covered, with some features noted, is available here: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=213774935674882866424.00000111dca2be9f06ab8&z=13>

For more information or to join, please contact David Farrant on (01223) 892871.

Contributions to our records should be sent to sector contacts or either of the above. Photographs may also be submitted to Andy Merryweather (amerryweather61@gmail.com)