Island Life Magazine Ltd April / May 2016 | Page 76

COUNTRY LIFE

Help celebrate
Nature Reserve’s

21 birthday
st

One of the Isle of Wight’s most beautiful landscapes, Newtown
National Nature Reserve, is inviting wildlife lovers of all ages to
celebrate its 21st birthday, at its first ever BioBlitz

O

n June 2, wildlife enthusiasts
can join nature experts in a race
against the clock to carry out
one of its largest ever surveys of wildlife
in the area.
Working alongside teams from the
National Trust and Isle of Wight Area of
Outstanding Natural Beauty, visitors will
help record as many different species of
animals and plants as possible around the
varied habitats of Newtown. The results

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will help nature specialists understand
how wildlife at the Island’s only National
Nature Reserve is changing, and how best
to protect it in the future.
With the cleanest water in the whole
of the Solent, and one of the least
disturbed estuaries along the south
coast of England, Newtown is one of
the Island’s top places for wildlife. The
hay meadows are full of wildflowers
such as yellow rattle, and butterflies

including the eye-catching orange-tip.
Survey volunteers should keep their eyes
peeled for little owls and black-headed
gulls around the estuary, and listen
out for chiffchaffs and greater spotted
woodpeckers in the woods.
The BioBlitz is a great opportunity
for kids to tick off some activities in
the 50 Things to do before you’re 11¾
challenge, from hunting for bugs to
bird spotting. This list of activities and