In glorious sunshine and with a pancake flat blue sea, over 100 Islanders and Island visitors made their way down to Yaverland on May Day, joining Arc Consulting and Eccleston George on the sand and in the meadows for Beach, Bugs & Bones.
As part of the Isle of Wight Walking Festival’s menu of events, visitors dived in to fossil hunting with a difference, ‘dribble-tower’ making, bug-hunting and with a spot of cloud-watching too.
Thanks to a loan of artefacts from Dinosaur Isle, dozens of children spread across the sand, digging for and then identifying genuine fossils…including a dinosaur snout bone. Then it was down to the sea to test out the Arc hydrophone, listening to the world under the waves in The Bay, before heading off on a walk to the wilderness beyond Brown’s Golf Course. Once there, families had the chance to encounter Island wildlife up close and under a microscope at the Arc base-camp – exploring the Isle of Wight Natural History Society’s treasure chest and hearing tales of its specimens from insect parasites to the Island’s iconic Glanville Fritillary, before firing up the bug hoover and collecting insects for a mini-bioblitz.
Ian Boyd at Arc explained the purpose of the event:
“Beach, Bugs & Bones is one of the free events we run at weekends to support the excellent Isle of Wight Walking Festival. For this and in our everyday work, we want to make wildlife encounter and environmental experience fun, engaging and interesting for as many people as we possibly can.
“We’re based at Yaverland, and as part of the Bay Coastal Community Team here, we’re also keen to highlight just how varied and fascinating this area is and how simple it is explore its natural side and the public realm. Whether you’re exploring on the beach surrounded by landscape-scale scenery or examining your wildlife finds under a digital microscope, there’s always something new to discover or experience – at every scale”.
Rebecca Finch says:
“We had a great time at Beach, Bugs & Bones! Our daughter Ruby was completely engaged in the bugs… she wouldn’t even look at a spider before today! We move to the south of the Island from Woking in October 2015 and we can’t get enough of exploring our beautiful new home!”.
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Arc have more nature-related events coming up for the walking festival and beyond, some of which are in Yaverland and around the Bay area. For more information visit https://arc-consulting.co.uk/2015/04/upcoming-events.
