Steppingstone4Nature

Grassland flowers often make the most beautiful cut flowers.
I never cut flowers in nature reserves or wild spaces because many of the plants are threatened.
However, there are some plants which are doing "a little bit too well" in my own grassland and I have no qualms in cutting a few for the vase.

Making "glow-in-the-dark" fireflies was fun and very messy! Inspiring children to love and respect nature through play at Hillcrest Conservancy inc. Springside Nature Reserve Eco-club in partnership with Steppingstone4Nature

Thank you Teri-Jane Row for the photos.

The theme of last night's ecoclub was "nocturnal creatures". Nicholas Liebenberg, Springside Nature Reserve 's conservation officer took the children and parents on an informative night walk. We all enjoyed a picnic supper and a wonderful evening of craft, stories and games.

It's gratifying to see children who started the year off being very quiet and reserved gaining in confidence and being willing to share information on their nature "discoveries" with us all.

To top it off, the planets, Venus and Jupiter were very close together in the sky putting on a show of their own.

If anyone is interested in joining the Hillcrest Conservancy inc. Springside Nature Reserve and Steppingstone4Nature ecoclub please contact Dawn 0733418211.

Teri-Jane Row thank you for the photographs.

Yes!! You all know I love grasslands but I've got absolutely nothing against trees in the correct setting. :)
Yesterday's walk in Crestholme was magical. I could imagine tree dryads lurking in the shadows and fairies dancing in dappled light to bird song.

Forest View Primary has increased the size of their Grassland patch. Thank you Jenny Dean Wildflowers for sponsoring the grasses. The garden is tiny but incredibly biodiverse containing some very special bulbs and unusual wildflowers. The wildlife is starting to move in and the children are loving learning about all our beautiful local species. The grasses are turning brown and growth is slowing down in preparation for winter but there is still plenty of colour to be seen.

The Forest View Primary School grade 3 children were excited to learn about pollination and important grassland pollinators. This is the second year FVPS has run with the Steppingstones4Nature project and I was delighted that they remembered last year's lesson about grassland neighborhoods and frogs!

I suspect the children who pretended to be "meilies" this year will remember being pollinated with a feather duster for years to come, the "bling star" pollen was a hit!

One young man did an outstanding job as my "helper" by explaining the complex mechanism of how wasps pollinate figs. The children played games and sucked nectar out of flowers. The fact that the lesson fell one day after the international day of the bee was purely coincidental.

Thank you Forest View Primary for always going the extra mile to accommodate me and for the lovely welcome.

What a beautiful day to "go fly a kite!" The sun against the grey autumn sky is magnificent. Hope you take time to step into nature this weekend.

We have a few places left for our next Eco-club meeting. Children must be accompanied by a responsible adult. We would love to see you.

I have had a lot of fun watching the wildlife on the "Hairy Balls".

The Plain Tiger Butterfly The Plain Tiger butterfly, it's hosts and predators.