Last Tuesday Class 4 visited Braunton Burrows with warden Rupert to find out more about this amazing place and how it is managed. We went on the public bus which was good fun – and meant we managed the whole afternoon trip for £1!
It was great to learn about the burrows from an expert, and to be able to identify some of the insects and plants that we found there.
This was the very cute Garden Tiger Moth caterpillar we saw, and the moth it grows into. We also found some great beetles, spiders and flowers.
Rupert explained to us that these days managing the burrows means stopping it from stabilizing as it is the newly populated sand that encourages the greatest diversity of plants. This is why they have introduced the cattle to keep down the shrubs and bushes, and why you often see large areas of ground that have been cleared by tractor. Class 4 did their bit by jumping all over the sand dunes at lunchtime.
Rupert also told us that the big dune is moving inland at a rate of 5 meters each year!
We did manage to lie quietly for 5 minutes to find out what we could hear…
Next week we will be writing our leaflets to give to visitors to Braunton Burrows, encouraging them to look after this special place.
Thanks to our parent helpers Nichola Perry, Sarah Leech and Fiona Morris for their time 🙂
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