Archive for February, 2012

Helen Murray - Catering Manager

Helen Murray first attended Bedford College as a catering student – but returned in her 40s to take a degree level course in management. The result is that she is now in charge of catering for visitors , conferences, weddings and children’s parties at the Forest Centre.

She said  “I had plenty of real work experience  but the course helped me learn so  much about the law and regulations relating to my job. It also showed me how to  use the correct management terminology to support my work with Marston Vale Services ”

“Because I was working full-time , the assessor came out to see me at the Forest Centre once a fortnight or so and I then worked on assignments  at home.

I think Bedford College is a fantastic  place – so does my son who attends one day a week.”

Why not sample the fruits of Helen’s success by visiting the Centre’s beautiful Lakeside Cafe and Bar?

Felling poplar (image Don Morris)

We recently warned you that we would be felling potentially dangerous poplars in some parts of the Millennium Country Park. The work is now underway. So if you see men with chainsaws up trees – you’ll know what’s happening.

As previously reported, there may be some brief disruption to access around the Park, but this will be kept to a minimum.

Read more

For further information please contact Anna Charles- Head Ranger at anna.charles@marstonvale.org or 01234 762614

 The second half-term activity for kids was all about badgers.  Baby badgers are being born right now in the warmth and security of their underground setts and will stay there until the warmer weather arrives.  They will then be looking for tasty tit bits to eat so the first task for the children was to create a meal for a badger. 

They were provided with paper plates and pictures of all the things badgers like to eat: snails, worms, blackberries, frogs, honey, ants, strawberries, etc.  The aim was to colour and cut-out the various items and then stick them onto the plate in the form of a menu.  We had some very imaginative suggestions from snail and worm pie to mushroom porridge!  My favourite was ant ice-cream – yum yum!

All we needed now were some badgers to eat this wonderful selection of food.  So the next task was to make badger masks.  The kids used templates to cut out the elements of the mask – eyes, snout, ears and nose.  They then coloured in the stripes – not necessarily in black and white! – before carefully assembling the masks using a stapler.  After the final addition of a headband, the masks were ready and the children went home happily wearing them.

Jean Sargeant   Volunteer

Colourful creatures at the Forest Centre (image Jane Lambourne/Wassledine)

Monday 13 February saw the beginning of the half term holidays.  The weather outside was grey and dreary.  But I was soon immersed in a very colourful and creative kids’ session.

As always, Jane had devised a wonderful variety of activities which allowed the children to use their imaginations to the fullest extent.  And that was exactly what they did!

Over the four sessions, nearly a hundred kids showed their skills and coloured, glued and moulded a huge variety of creatures.  Some were from life, like the red-eyed tree frogs and colourful parrots, which they brought to life using crayons and scrunched-up tissue paper.  Others were truly amazing and marvellous creatures that had been dreamt up in their heads and modelled using coloured plasticine.  They used a variety of other materials to embellish their work and they became so absorbed that it was difficult to bring the sessions to a close.

The other volunteers (Diane, Pam 1 and Pam 2) were stunned with the creations and are looking forward to the next session on Friday – Stripy Faces (very nearly fully booked today – please call 01234 767037 to check availability).  I wonder what Jane has up her sleeve this time …

Jean Sargeant, Volunteer

Bittern in the Millennium Country Park (image Martin Green)

Our annual early February bird walk always has a title with a cold theme because we hope that it will coincide with a period of extreme cold and possibly snow which will bring  unusual species to the Park. In the past we have often been disappointed with the weather, but not this year. At 8am a group of hardy souls met in the car park and it was cold, very cold, a terrifying Arctic minus seven! 

We set off on our walk with lots of extra layers of clothing, gloves, hats etc. with hopes of some unusual sightings. We were not to be disappointed and the group was soon admiring a bittern that was catching the early morning sun along the edge of Stewartby Lake. In past years during extreme cold weather up to six of these rare herons have been seen around Stewartby Lake. (Last year Neil Wright helped the bitterns survive by supplementary feeding with sprats). Paul Wright then identified a little gull which flew from Stewartby Lake to the sewage works where it fed with a couple of hundred black-headed gulls. Little gulls are very unusual in winter in Bedfordshire, more usually seen during the spring and autumn migrations.

We needed to keep moving to keep warm and started to make our way to the Pillinge in the wetlands. On the way we saw a number of species including fieldfare, redwing and chaffinch although small birds were difficult to find, probably because the cold conditions had sent them all to our garden feeders.

The redwing - a winter visitor to the Country Park (image Don Morris)

The pillinge had a good variety of grebe, gull and duck species on it: pochard, wigeon, tufted, mallard, teal as well as herons, cormorants and coots. I counted twenty-four moorhens which had been frozen out of their normal reedbed habitat. What we were looking for were two species that had been first recorded earlier in the week. Tony somehow managed to find the first; a female common scoter which was fast asleep. This is a drab grey looking bird with off white cheek patches which should have been bobbing up and down somewhere around the coast. The second was just as difficult as they spend most of the time diving for food. Three female smew had arrived on site about the same time as the scoter. They belong to the sawbill family; the bill has a small hook at the tip and teeth along the sides which gives a better grip of their fish prey. The females are very smart birds with grey upper parts, a red brown head and brilliant white cheeks.

Breakfast was beckoning so we made our way back to the Forest Centre. On the way we flushed a woodcock and had some good views of snipe which again had been forced out by the cold to look for food.

The walk, for once had lived up to expectations. The rest of the day was just as exciting with a whole panoply of unusual species putting in an appearance. Thirteen Bewick’s swans, Mediterranean gull, forty-four pintail, common sandpiper, redshank and four Egyptian geese, what a day!

Bob Hook, Volunteer

Bearded tit at the Country Park, it's possible! (picture Martin Green

It may be frozen and gloomy but you can’t cower inside until until May; can you?

What might lift the spirits and get the blood pumping is to come to the Country Park for a walk. We have a fantastic network of paths including 5 miles of surfaced trails for cycling if you’re feeling really active. From a long hike to the shortest stroll the Millennium Country Park offers wonderful views and a variety of meadows, woods and water. At the end of a walk the Lakeside Cafe is the place for a cake, hot soup and coffee.

If you’d like to join others, why not come to one of our guided walks? This weekend there are two.

Feathers in the freezer – a bird walk

The Bird walk   will happen on Saturday 4 February 2012, 8am – 11am and costs £3/adult, £2/child. £1 reduction for Volunteers and Friends.  Life’s tough at this time of year and there’s always a chance of rarities in the Country Park. Our volunteer leaders are the people to tell you what you are looking at or listening to.

No experience of birdwatching is necessary because leaders know everything necessary to introduce you to the wonderful world of birding.  Bring binoculars if you have them although these are not essential as there are usually some spares and often the chance to look down telescopes.

Wrap up warm- birders often spend ages rooted to the spot waiting for something to happen! There are some rough paths and short lengths of gradient over 1:6. Please book in advance but pay the leader on the day. Call 01234 767037 to book a place.

Sunday Stroll, a Gentle Sunday Walk 

5 February at 10.30am
Come and join us in the Country Park for a gentle walk to hear how the Park was set up and a little about the surrounding area.

The walk will keep to hard surfaced tracks in the Park which are mostly level but have short sections of gradient up to 1:9.

Call 01234 767037 for more details.
Cost £1, payable on the day – no need to book. Meet at reception. Walks last approximately 2 hours.                              

Why not finish the morning off with lunch in our Forest Centre Restaurant? Call 01234 767037 for details.