GIVE IT THE WELLY?

Laura's fine Wellies?

Wood mouse

Last time I went to put my wellies on, after a particularly nasty cloudburst that plunged my back garden under 2 foot of water. (I'd had a nice afternoon walk over Pendle hill- as we came back to Liverpool we could see the ominous Black clouds over Liverpool..too late) I found a mouse had nested in them. Fortunately not resident when I removed the shredded paper and feathers...Sorry mouse.  Maybe a good time to invest in a new pair...after all mice are doubly incontinent you know...

By the way did you know rodent urine glows in UV light, pretty useful if your a Kestrel who sees in UV, find the pee find the mouse....clever!

Kestrel Garston Shore 2012

I digress.....

To start the year on a good footing, RSPB Burton Mere Wetlands in Cheshire is asking local people to donate their unwanted, worn-out wellies to help celebrate  Welly Season  in style.

 From green gardener s wellies or trendy festival wellies to pink with polka dot wellies, people can take their old pairs to their local nature reserve, where they will be put to good use for  Welly Season .

Running from mid-January to the end of March, RSPB Burton Mere will be delivering a season of welly-related activities for all the family to get involved in.

Paul Brady, RSPB Visitor Development Officer, said:  Maybe Santa brought you a brand new shiny pair of wellies for Christmas, but you don t know what to do with your old ones   well, bring them to us and we ll show you how to put them to good use.    Donated wellies will be transformed into miniature gardens or bird feeders, and staff and volunteers at the sites will be on hand to show visitors what to do.

Paul added:  On our reserve, we wear wellies to carry out lots of different work on a daily basis. But there s also a lot of fun to be had with them, from jumping in puddles to decorating them with glitter and paint.    Visitors will be able to  Bling their Boots , and the reserves will be providing craft materials for people wanting to decorate their wellies on site. They will then be encouraged to share pictures of their wellies on the RSPB Burton Mere Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/RspbBurtonMereWetlands.

The reserve will also be running a special  Wardens Welly Walk  event on Saturday 19 January, which offers a unique chance to go behind the scenes to find out all about how the wetland habitats are managed.

There are plenty of activities planned throughout the season which will excite all the family, from welly quiz trails to welly walks for pushchair pushers, and there may even be a spot of welly wanging.

Anyone wanting to donate their old wellies can take them along to their local RSPB nature reserve. For more information, visit www.rspb.org.uk/burtonmerewetlands.

Laura