Spring watch

Hi everybody!
Just a couple of things, firstly as an amateur photographer I take loads of wildlife photos and I use some to make hand made greetings cards. What do you think about me bringing some along to springwatch to sell - all profits to swt of course! I can bring some examples to the next meeting if you think its a good idea. I mentioned this idea to Sarah and she suggested I put it to you all via the blog.
And secondly, further down the page was mentioned the idea of trips to places in Sussex and the possibility of the Weald and Downland museum. Well I volunteer at the stables there every friday and can highly recomend it as a good place to visit.
Finally, I have updated my blog after my holiday in Kent, so if anyone wants to see what I got up to and some of the photos I took do have a look - www.sophiecosussex.blogspot.com
Thats all for now
cheerio!
Sophie May xx

Hey Ho :)

That all sounds really exciting Sarah! I am sooo looking forward to our next meeting :)

Just one thing though... could you explain what a 'mini allotment ' is? I know what a regular sized allotment is, lol, I'm just not quite getting how you make a smaller version... and it does sound like a really interesting thing to try and do!

Also, I forgot to say before, I love your idea about having a plant identification thing at SpringWatch, Rachel! Maybe we could also have a talk about how we could make that happen at the next meeting?

One last thing, i had one other small idea for SpringWatch, partly inspired by something my mum said... we could maybe have another very simple questionnaire type thing, where all you have to do is tell us what you think you'd do if you were given the chance to manage a piece of land (on your own or as part of group) with no interference from outside authorities... hopefully we'd get quite a few entries with really good nature-related ideas, and not just "I'd build a football pitch", lol...

I'll shush now! Peace Out

Leah :)

Things to do...

Hey

Great to see you're all busy and chatting on the blog. I've been busy too and have got some things to ask you...

If you're all keen on Leah's idea about video-interviewing people at Springwatch, you needto come up with some ideas for thing you want to talk to them about - what are you going to be asking them about?

Also, Brighton and Hove Council are holding a mini allotment competition at Springwatch and they were asking whether any of you would like to enter - you just need to build one and bring it along on the day. Make it in a recycled container if possible.

We've been given a couple of jobs to do in preparation for Sprinwatch too so we're going to have a busy and creative next meeting. I'll email info to Melissa and she can put a rough agenda together and email it round you all.

That's all for now I think.
Sarah

Hey All :)

Thanks again Rachel :) I'd actually completely forgotten about that idea! lol

One other thing... I suddenly realized that there is one really awesome place to visit in Sussex that nobody has yet mentioned (this may be because you've all been there loads already though...)

But just to check, would any of you be interested in a visit to the Weald & Downs Museum?...

That's all for now

Peace Out, Leah :) 

it was me

hi everyone the post were it says about the ending was me and yes leah mi computter is really werid and changes things sorry;lol...yer it was me
from reniece

Oh yeah i see now :) Thank you!
was reading some of the older posts too and Leah your idea about having a workshop type thing is really good - i think it would definitely encourage more people to visit the stall. Like you say though, not sure how plausable it is. Maybe we could have a 'tracker' (not sure what they're called) down to one of our meetings so that we could go for one of our walks and take pictures of what is identified. Then at the stall, the visitors could look at pictures on display and guess what they are. Only a small idea, it doesn't need to go ahead at all - not sure how cost effective it would be - no tracker works for nothing i'm sure of that! hehe :)

still coming up with a few ideas for the logo - could anyone send me the logo you have already with the big Y (sure you know what i mean) if not no worries :)

see you soon,
Rachel xxx

Look into the paassst...

Thanks Rachel :)

Also, if you go down to the bottom of the page and click 'Older Posts' twice, and then go up again you should find a post from Sarah that explains everything you need to know about the photography competition :) It's better you do that than I explain it, cos I'd only get it all mixed up! lol

Peace Out... again

Leah :D

:)

Hi everyone, hope you are all ok - it was lovely to meet all of you and i thought the first meeting went very well :) Leah I think that is a really good idea (and those pics are fab too!) - definitely nice idea to have it on the blog too so other people can see what we've been up to!
Also, I think the mission statement sounds much better - thank you Sarah for readjusting it :)
have been trying to come up with a few ideas for the logo - will also try to maybe put the pics of them on here to see what you all think.
could you guys remind me about the photography competition as well - what is the closing date and what kind of pics do we need to take?

thanks very much
looking forward to meeting everyone again and everyone who couldn't make it :)
Rachel xxx

Hey Ali :)

Coool, I haven't been camping in ages and Derby sounds like a pretty fun place to do it! lol

Anyway, i don't really know a whole lot about camera's, so don't take my advice as completely foolproof... but i think if you want an uber-good camera that is also totally waterproof, then you might just want to go for an uber-good camera with a totally waterproof extra casing, which you can probably buy separately :) 

Our family digital camera is a Nikon CoolPix P6000, which is supposed to be one the smallest professional standard camera's around... you can't put any extra lenses on though, which makes it a little less appealing...

Anyway, thats all I can tell you for sure, lol :)

Peace Out

Leah :D

p.s.thanks for the translation! lol

Hi :)

Hi, glad to hear that the first meeting went well- sorry again for not being able to be there, but camping in Derby was great :)

Also, I was wondering if anyone could recommend a really good waterproof camera (as much optical zoom as possible!). I'm going to the Amazon in the summer (as some of you know) and really want a great camera to take some pictures! :)
Also I'm looking to buy a camcorder and haven't a clue what to look for (again best if waterproof), so if anyone could advise me, that would be great

Love Ali x
d

Oh, and I translated the wierd post as:
'I think that sounds really great sarah, especially the end bit where it says constantly making nature our main focus and embracing nature where ever possible. from Reniece'

hmmm... :)

Hi All :)

Thanks Sarah :) Glad you like the ideas, (neither were actually thought up by me though... lol) and i'd be happy to volunteer as a 'Watcher' for the next meeting. But we could actually have more than one if anyone else is interested in this role... then it wouldn't just be my opinion!

Anyway, the 'mission statement' is lookin pretty good and making a bit more sense :) lol. 

Only one thing i suddenly thought was whether it would sound better if it ended with "embracing nature at all times" or something similar, instead of "embracing nature wherever possible"... just because maybe it sounds a bit more positive... but if any of you think it's to major a change then forget about it!

Peace Out, Leah :)

p.s. Who sent the last post??? And is it supposed to look like that? ... Or is it just the computer going weird...? Ah well... it actually looks pretty cool that way! :)

sounds great

i think that sounds really great sarah,espically the end bit where it says constantly making nature our main focus and embrassing nature where ever possible.
from Reniece

Our Mission Statement

Me again

I've been trying to work out the Mission Statement we came up with on Saturday which can't have a semi colon where we put it! What we finished with on Saturday was:

‘Our aim is to connect young people with their local environment and with other like-minded people . We hope to inspire, educate and encourage each other and our peers through organising activities, events and projects;constantly making wildlife our main focus and embracing nature wherever possible.’

I've added 'peers' and modern technologies and moved some stuff around to come up with this:

‘Our aim is to connect young people with their local environment and with other like-minded people through organising activities, events and projects and using modern technologies. We hope to inspire, educate and encourage each other and our peers, constantly making wildlife our main focus and embracing nature wherever possible.’

What do you all think?
Sarah

Fantastic idea

Hey everyone

Just a quick post to say how much I enjoyed meeting you all on Saturday. I think we're going to get some fantastic things going and I'm really excited about being your Facilitator!

Leah, what a wonderful idea about filming people's opinions at Springwatch - we could put it all together using Windows Moviemaker and put it onto the SWT Youtube site: www.youtube.com/group/sussexwildlifetrust which we could link to through the blog.

I think this is just the sort of thing we need to be doing to get to reach more young people. Brilliant.

Also, I think the idea of a Watcher is good - I sort of do that in my role, but I think it's much better for one of you to do it - Leah would you like to volunteer for the next meeting?!

Hope you're all going to take some photos for the photography competition - don't forget there's a section for photos taken on mobile phones.

Ciao for now
Sarah

First meeting was AWESOME!!

Hey All :)

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you for making our first meeting so fun and productive!

Also, I've had a couple of new ideas suggested to me by a few unamed persons...

1) Another thing we could do at Spring Watch, if it wasn't too hard to arrange, would be to maybe make an interviews video type thing... like where a few of us go off walking around the tents and

 asking random people their opinions... and filming their responses... What do people think? :)

2) Another  one of the responsibilities could be something like a 'Watcher'... who watches the 'group dynamic' all through the meeting, (as well as participating themselves, of course) and at the end gives their opinion on whether we are listening to each other well... and stuff like that... not sure if we actually need a role like that though... Again, what do people think? 

I'll stop talking now :)

Peace Out, Leah 

Best pics from Woods Mill :)

Happy Easter all

Hello all,

Hope you have all been having a good Easter weekend. Just to say sorry I wont be with you on Saturday, look forward to getting together with you all soon. My family and I will be nature watching in Kent (and sussing out the Sussex Wildlife Trust's opposition! haha!). Meanwhile a photo I took a couple of weeks ago of the original Easter Bunny.

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)

See you all soon

Sophie May x

Hi everyone and welcome to new members!
Sorry I won't be able to make the first meeting, but lovely to talk on the blog :)

Ali x
d