Net Sweeping at St Catherine’s Hill

Sarah Perrin from the Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust ran a great net sweeping workshop for the children and volunteers from the 5s to 13s Befriending service on Wednesday 9th July.

The children and their befrienders were given instructions how to use the large nets to sweep for bugs and butterflies. A variety of bugs were caught and identified including, a stag beetle, green plant beetle and a bee. But the best thrill came when one of the children caught an illusive Chalk Blue butterfly! Sarah helped to to carefully place the butterfly in a viewing pot for everyone to observe before releasing it back into the beautiful wild flowers.

After a short pit stop of strawberries, grapes and oranges under a shady tree everyone agreed to climb up to the top of St Catherine’s Hill to take in the views across Winchester. Sarah pointed out the main landmarks and some of the children tried to identify where their house was, whilst others practiced their tree climbing skills!

It was a wonderful afternoon exploring this wonderful local beauty spot and our thanks goes to Sarah and the HIWWT for providing the equipment and knowledge to identify the nature we observed.