Now that the Autumn term is back in full swing, our field studies team are busier than ever! Everybody loves to get a little bit grubby and discover fascinating facts about their surrounding environment. Over the August school holidays, the field studies team have been busy adding ‘upgraded accommodation’ to our Bug hotel and jazzing up the pond shelter, with the addition of ‘Francis the Frog’. The addition of our froggy friend, allows us to capture creatures during our pond sessions and allow everyone to see them swimming around. Fabulous discoveries made with some of our younger guests include leeches, water boatmen and dragon fly nymphs. New Lifecycle Charts allow the children to have a think about pond life even if they are not on a pond session!

 

 

 

 

The leaves on the trees are beginning to turn orange and gold and the mud is beginning to squelch under foot… Autumn has definitely arrived at Hilltop. Our schools have been enjoying this change in the weather and have been honing their survival skills, making campfires out of the wood nestled amongst the rhododendron bushes to make a tasty hot chocolate and toast, the key to all survival situations… a marshmallow or two! Smelling of smoke from this often lost skill, we then can do a bug hunt in our woodland area, finding crazy looking caterpillars and Halloween special spiders! In addition to this, we also have a number of butterflies attempting to hibernate for the winter in one of our field studies equipment sheds. We of course wish them a warm and safe winter in there, so when spring comes they can fly again in the sunshine.