In the Field with Exam Students

Our Secondary and Sixth Form Programme, launched last year, has gone from strength to strength and proved to be an extremely effective way for 'A' Level and GCSE students to get 'hands-on' with some of the key areas of their Geography and Biology syllabuses. This year we have welcomed groups from Wymondham College, Notre Dame High, Greshams and Cliff Park Ormiston Academy to complete field work on our National Nature Reserve.

As an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, our reserve boasts a unique diversity of habitats: grazing marsh, pine woods, reedbed, foreshore, sand dunes and saltmarsh. Students visiting us this year have really appreciated the chance to discover, first hand, how these habitats work and interact and to hone their practical field study skills. These practical skills have once more become extremely important, with current examination specifications moving towards much more practical centred courses.

Under scrutiny have been our fantastic system of sand dunes, the newly evolved saltmarsh in Holkham Bay, both our pine and mature mixed woodlands, and also the conservation methods used around our vast farmland. Several surveys of Psammosere succession were completed, with varying data collected at different times of the year. Many key field study skills, such as measuring incline, species diversity, light, wind speed and air temperature were learnt. Soil samples were taken and tested and flora identification practised.

As well as the natural aspects of the Holkham landscapes, students looked at the human interaction with the land. They analysed coastal defence systems and the variables that affect and influence decisions made by local councils and other strategic organisations. Cost/benefit analyses were drawn up for the town of Wells-next-the-Sea and students spent time with our reserve wardens, discussing their task of conserving the almost 4000 hectare National Nature Reserve and its 18 km coastline. Just how can you reach an ecological balance when faced with the forces of nature, climate change and 1 million visitors a year?

All our schools agreed that their experience was a fantastic motivational boost for students, as the content of text books was put into context out in the field. So many new skills and techniques were learnt and practised, and invaluable data was collected, to be taken back to school for use in assessed project work. They also all had a lot of fun!

Primary Pupils Get Busy in the Wild at Holkham

This Summer Term has been jam-packed full of school visits to Holkham by primary pupils from all over the eastern region. We have had tremendous fun, as well as learning a huge amount about the Holkham's history and amazing variety of habitats. Classes from Reception through to Year 6 have enjoyed working with us in the Hall, the Deer Park, the farmland and, of course, in the Pine Woods and Beach at Wells. Using their experiences with seaside habitats and nature as an inspiration, children have produced some fantastic sand sculptures.

The octopus and the very lifelike dredging boat, which works the Wells channel, were two of our favourites! 

With lots of changeable weather, including strong winds, rain and storms, conditions for scavenging sea treasures on the strand-line have been excellent. Buckets have been filled with razor clam shells, crab exoskeletons, oyster shells, bladder wrack and the odd dogfish and ray egg cases. Also, a few eagle-eyed children managed to find some really unusual tidal debris. Full points to them for their observational skills! Pupils are always surprised to find out that the little balls of 'bubble wrap' that can be found blowing around the tide-line are actually the egg cases of sea snails called Whelks. Each ball can contain thousands of tiny eggs and they used to be used by sailors as washing sponges. 

Top discovery of this season goes to this superb Slipper Limpet - something we had never seen before on Wells Beach. The shells are absolutely beautiful and look like they might have been carved out of marble. These non-native creatures often attach themselves to larger invertebrates such as crabs, mussels and scallops and have actually travelled across the Atlantic Ocean, from North America, on the bottom of ships. They also stack on top of each other and we love them!

Away from the sandy shores, pupils have also been getting tremendously busy in the Pine Woods, which were planted by hand in the 19th century and provide a valuable windbreak for the National Nature Reserve grazing marshes. The woodland habitat here is a home to a plethora of species and this year has been particularly good for observing the spectacular Cinnabar Moth and its caterpillars.

Education Co-ordinator 'Bear' Wills Clennell has been teaching pupils all about the Survival Triangle of fire, shelter and food/water, and helping them to design and build some truly awesome dens. We know that pupils that have visited us at Holkham would be okay if they were stuck in the wild for a night!

Norfolk's finest young naturalists again showed fantastic skills during some of our mini-beast hunts in the Deer Park woods. Another first for Holkham was this monstrous Lesser Stag Beetle - more of a mega-beast than a mini-beast! They have huge, powerful jaws and their larvae depend on the dead and rotting wood of Beech and Ash trees, which are abundant in our woodland.

Not a mini-beast, but something equally scary looking was discovered attached to the bottom of an oak tree. Oozing amber coloured puss, this unusual find was eventually identified as Oak Bracket Fungus, which can attack the root systems and heartwood of oak trees. We quickly told Harry, our Head Forester, about it!

Fantastic Reviews for our 'Field to Fork' Exhibition!

Spring 2016 has been a time of new beginnings here at Holkham and very exciting for the Education team on the estate. The focal point of this has been our fantastic new farming exhibition in the newly redeveloped courtyard area. ‘Field to Fork’, a permanent exhibition, is the culmination of 2 years’ of design and planning, led by Education Officer Sue Penlington.

The highly interactive displays take visitors on a journey through the history of the agricultural methods used and the developments made, here on the farmland at Holkham. Many of these innovations, such as the crop rotation system invented at Holkham by Charles ‘Turnip’ Townshend in the early 18^th century, have become both nationally and internationally important. Developments continue to flourish as the current Earl of Leicester looks to renewable energies such as solar power, biomass fuel and the production of gas via anaerobic digesters to sustain the Holkham Farming Company.

The exhibition has been designed with all ages in mind and the six rooms, each focussed on a different aspect of farming, use a blend of traditional media and state of the art technology to enable all visitors to access the information on show. In every room there is something to push, pull, touch or smell, making for a truly memorable experience. There are bowler or ‘Coke’ hats and gamekeepers’ tweeds to try on, wheat to grind by hand and beautiful displays of the wildlife which thrives on the farmland. The in-house ‘cinema’, complete with hessian wheat sack ‘bean-bags’ for the comfort of children, delivers a spell-bindingly beautiful film of the farming year at Holkham, shot on the estate last year.

Having now been open for over a month, we look forward to soon welcoming our first school visit groups to the exhibition, where they can participate in a specially designed team challenge which will ensure they get the most from their educational experience. Combining a visit to the exhibition with a Trailer Tour of the farmland, conservation and game-keeping areas of the estate, usually off-limits to the public will make for a magical field trip. It will also mean that our aim, to educate local children about food provenance and their agricultural heritage and future, will be very roundly met.

If you are not coming as part of a school visit, please do come along with your family as the exhibition really is not to be missed. Visitors to 'Field to Fork' have been fantastically positive in their feedback, so get yourselves along here for a feast of farming fun!

Spring Brings New Arrivals

Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia)

Tuesday 12^th April saw our first Outdoor Workshop of the year – Migrating Birds. With a steady flow of both passage and breeding migrants already showing up along the Norfolk coast all 5 members of the workshop were excited and keen to explore the National Nature Reserve to see what we could find.

We didn’t have to wait long as our first ‘decent’ birds gave us excellent views without us having to leave the car park on Lady Anne’s Drive! A pair of Mediterranean Gulls was partaking of some parallel walking as a show of affection on the grazing marsh, an unexpected spot in this part of the county. Following them up came an absolutely splendid Spoonbill, a real Holkham speciality, which showed off its breeding plumes and yellow colouring beautifully only a few yards from the parked cars. As if this wasn’t good enough, we then caught flight views of the long-staying Great White Egret gliding overhead – surely, along with the Spoonbills, another sign of the impact of climate change.

Our next treat came again before we even left the car park, when a pair of Barn Owls (one who I am sure was called Hooty!) drifted ghostily along the embankment looking for voles. Happy with our start, we headed along the back of the pine woods, checking the avenue of pines, holm oak and scrub for interesting passerines (small perching birds). We discussed the importance of recognising bird song and using this as both a tracking and identification device. With all the snazzy kit in the world, it’s no use if you can’t first find the birds with your ears and eyes. So, it was with the mantra ‘eyes, ears, bins, scope’ ringing in ours that we found and observed some great little birds: Chiffchaff, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Long Tailed Tit, Robin, Wren and a gorgeous and aptly named Treecreeper.

                                Treecreeper (Certhia familiaris)                                

As we reached Salt’s Hole, a brackish pool bordering the grazing marsh, we could see several small and extremely busy water birds diving and popping up repeatedly. This was the family of Little Grebes (known in Norfolk as Dabchicks) that bred successfully here last year. Up to 6 can be seen on Salt’s at any one time. Accompanying them were some Gadwall, Shelduck and pretty Teal.

                                               Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

Out on the grazing marsh Redshank were claiming territory very noisily and we caught sight of another distant Spoonbill. A couple of Common Buzzard were also circling high above us and then drifted off towards the Monument, no doubt in search of rabbits.

The drizzle had turned to a heavy shower and so we ducked into Washington Hide for some shelter and a great view across the scrub, lagoon and reedbeds.

                                                  Marsh Harrier (Circus aeruginosus)

The main highlight from here was the Marsh Harriers, fantastic raptors often taken for granted here in Norfolk. Several were busy collecting nesting material, flushing wary waterfowl from the lagoon. As the rain began to lash down they seemed happy to perch on a stump and wait it out, much as we were doing. A vociferous Chiffchaff dropped onto a bare sycamore right next to the hide and we also made out the songs of Sedge and Cetti’s Warblers from somewhere in the depths of the reeds and scrubs. Alas they did not emerge to show themselves and we were a week or too early to hear the ‘reeling’ Grasshopper Warbler.

Thankfully the rain eased up after a short time and we moved back out into the field in search of a rare passage migrant or two. Passing Meal’s House we came across some feeding parties of mixed tits, which held a few tiny and very cute Goldcrests and we heard but again did not see the Willow Warbler. The cold, damp air seemed to be keeping these spring migrants huddled deep in the foliage and out of view.

Next stop was the Joe Jordan Hide, which overlooks the ancient Iceni fort, the large lagoons and lush grazing marsh. Immediately more Spoonbill activity was apparent, with several birds wheeling around in their characteristically stoop-necked flight poses. Another was feeding in the shallows of the lagoon, along with a group of 16 elegant Avocet, fresh in for the season. Probing for worms to the left was a large group of Curlew, also recently arrived, some Egyptian Geese (not actually a goose at all, but a type of Shelduck) and a pair of Red-Legged Partridge. The pair of the more impressive Grey Partridge that normally hangs out here did not, unfortunately, show. Amongst the busy and brilliantly noisy Curlew, sat in the middle of a patch of sedge was a huge Brown Hare.

Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta)

Looking out again to the Cormorant roost, we spotted a lot more Spoonbill activity – probably in the region of 10 individuals – a truly fantastic sight. Also a group of 5 Little Egrets flapped past and more raptors were present in the form of Marsh Harriers and Common Buzzards.

Firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla)

Next we headed out towards the dunes of Burnham Overy in the hope of some Ring Ouzel and Wheatear action. Before we got there, however, another little technique proved invaluable - simply stop and wait for 10 minutes and see what birds come to you. Pausing by a couple of lovely Holm oaks and a stand of bare-branched trees, it was soon apparent that there was a lot of small bird activity. More Goldcrests and Chiffchaffs were followed by 3 superb male Blackcaps, singing mellifluously. Then Peter, one of our group, noticed a flash of green and fire in the bare trees. Firecrest! What a magnificent bird it was, darting around after insects and giving us lovely views. Undoubtedly the highlight of the day. Great spot, Peter!

Natterjack Toad (Epidalea calamita)

Our trek through the dunes produced almost no avian action, save for a Song Thrush overhead, but we did get lucky with a rather rare amphibian. ‘Running’ across our path was a beautiful (in our opinion) Natterjack Toad, a small population of which is present and protected here on the NNR. Its orange-brown nobbles were dissected by a striking yellow line and it seemed happy to pose for a few pictures.

Tree Pipit (Anthus trivialis)

Deciding to leave the dunes in favour of the path along the edge of the pines, we managed to bag a few more excellent spots before we arrived, happy but exhausted, back at Lady Anne’s Drive. One of the Tree Pipits that I had scouted on previous recces was perched up at the top of a pine sapling and gave us excellent flight views, which diagnosed it as a true Tree Pipit and not its much commoner Meadow cousin. Numbers of Linnet flitted around searching for seeds and we again heard Sedge and Willow Warblers. Back by the marsh we watched some handsome Pochard before our final treat, a close encounter with a pair of Muntjac Deer.

Looking back at our list of species seen, we had clearly had a very productive morning, with sightings of many fantastic birds and other wildlife. I can’t wait to get out on the next migration workshop, when the birds make the return trip in October! Please see our website for booking details.

Spring Fling 2016

Harvesting Holkham Wheat

On Tuesday 5^th April, the Education Department took our interactive farming stall to the Norfolk Showground, as we took part in our first Spring Fling. We joined over 70 other stands at this fantastically fun and educational day which aims to teach 4-14 year olds more about food provenance, farming and the countryside. It was a sell-out event, with more than 5000 tickets sold and Michaela and Will were kept busy by the young attendees all day.

An interactive game, devised especially for the show, helped children identify all the different crops grown by Holkham Farming Company  and then showed them how they were planted and harvested and what products they were then made into. Did you know that our malted barley gets made into Maltesers, or that our maize produces household gas for the people of Wells?

Keen agricultural enthusiasts also battled it out in a game of farming machinery Top Trumps. Not many machines could beat the value of our New Holland T9 560 tractor, which cost us £263,000!

We all had a fantastic day and hundreds of Norfolk children were very pleased to take home our awesome lamb, calf and tractor posters. Bring on the next Spring Fling!

Calling all toddlers!

Pond dipping

As part of our ever-expanding education programme, we are starting a brand new outdoor parent and toddler group from April. Meeting once a month in the woods in Holkham Park, 'Twiglets Toddler Group' will give children from walking age to school age the freedom to explore and connect with the natural world. Come along for loads of fun, creativity and fresh air!

Click here for more details.

2016 off to a chilly start!

Wildflower margin in the summer

With a few patches of Snowdrops around the estate signalling (we hope) the start of Spring, we welcomed Mr Hadley and an eager group of Year 4 pupils from Wells Primary School to help us complete the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust Big Farmland Bird Count. This important piece of citizen science has been running for three years now and aims to highlight the good work done by farmers and gamekeepers in helping to reverse the decline in farmland bird numbers. Sue and I had selected two different sites to survey, which each offered an expansive view of farmland as well as a selection of different features such as grass margins, field trees and hedgerows. If only the count was conducted in the summer months!

On arrival we ran through a selection of birds that we were likely to see and looked closely at their key identification features. There followed a quick lesson in binocular skills and we were lucky that a mixed group of birds including Greylag Geese, Coot, Egyptian Geese and a bonus pair of Barnacle Geese had chosen the nearby cricket pitch as their morning hang-out zone. They posed beautifully for us and, having honed our field skills, we set off to our first survey site, clipboards and binoculars in hands.

Brown hare

Site 1 gave us a fantastic view of a large, newly ploughed field and several clumps of field trees which led on to a winter wheat field and the distant back of the Hall. The wind was gusting icy blasts but our intrepid citizen scientists soon got down to spotting, identifying, counting and recording the birds that had braved the bitter weather. First off were 15 Common Gulls, a small gaggle of 5 Greylag Geese and large groups of Woodpigeon and Lapwing, who were feeding in the amongst the winter wheat. Single Herring and Black Headed Gulls joined the party before we were treated to a double raptor hit of a swooping Kestrel and a soaring Buzzard. Despite having fingers that were numbed to the bone, the plucky Year 4s also noted weather conditions and physical land features and were lucky enough to spot some wonderfully camouflaged Brown Hares before we headed off to Site 2, by the pheasant pens and bio-mass storage areas.

Buzzard

We hunkered down as best we could in the dip between fields and once more clamped binoculars to eyes. A gorgeous Buzzard appeared above the large tree clump and cover crop zone, treating pupils to really good views before it spooked large flocks of around 30 Woodpigeons and 40 Lapwings. It was especially nice to see so many Lapwings around the farmland as these birds have been really struggling in recent years. It was feeling almost like an Arctic expedition now, so we retreated to the warmth of the mini-bus to finish our survey and managed to add Carrion Crow, Herring Gull and Jackdaw to the species list.

With birds counted and fingers thawed it was time for the Year 4s to head back to school to share their new ornithological knowledge and to upload their survey results to the GWCT website. These citizen science projects are playing an increasingly important role in developing conservation methods and we were all very pleased to have played our part.