Written by Xavier Marrs, aged 13 years
My sister and I were previously members of a ranger group called Wildlife Rangers at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. We were a group of 12–16-year-olds, helping on the reserve. We did a variety of things from clearing grass, making insect homes, and litter-picking However, after a period this stopped due to staffing changes.
Thankfully, two weekends ago, a new rangers group started. It was for a similar age group, although the name had changed to Fledgling Rangers. We have only done one session, we both found it fun and engaging, and we met new friends.
For the first half of the session we did litter-picking along the beach. After this we drank hot chocolate that Aimi (who runs the sessions) had brought along. This was our halfway point.
After our hot chocolate break, and some very competitive stone throwing, we took part in a citizen science project on “mermaid purses”. These are the leathery egg cases from skate and ray fish. The rays and skates lay the egg cases, which are fastened to the seafloor to something like a rock for many months while the young inside develop from eggs to small fish ready to hatch. Then the young fish comes out, and the empty egg cases can float away and wash up to shore where people find them on the beach!
We identified the species of the fish of the differently shaped and sized cases that we found. We documented these and sent the information to a central database to be recorded, monitoring the species.
At the end of the amazing session, Aimi hinted that next month we would be using Kelly Kettles. I love these! You pour in water and make your own little fire outside. Kelly Kettles are very efficient. You light them with fire steel that you strike together to make sparks – they can catch light and boil the water surprisingly quickly, if done correctly. I cannot wait until the session on March 22 where we will be doing this, and more!
Thank you to Aimi who makes the sessions a fantastic fun and interesting experience!
Image Credits: Aimi Rifat/Sussex Wildlife Trust .