The Meldon Wildlife Festival

We were at Meldon Wildlife Festival, organised by Dartmoor National Park Authority. We clambered out of the car into the blazing sun, and marvelled at the breathtaking views all around us. The valley was coated in gorse and trees and bathed in sunlight, with the enormous Meldon Dam partly obscured by a hill. The festival had been erected beneath us (the car park being situated on an elongated hillock), and looked busy and inviting. Meldon was a great place for wildlife, and with the reservoir just round the corner as well, you could see why the National Park would choose to hold a nature based event here.

The Festival was a free event organised by Dartmoor National Park, and consisted of family friendly activities, stalls and more. Many charities and organisations had stalls in order to raise awareness, but they also had nature based carnival games, which were good fun to try. There were stream-dipping sessions, guided nature walks and even a falconry set-up.

We walked down to the stalls, and came to the stand for the Dartmoor Curlew Recovery Project, a 5-year project whose main goal was to bring breeding Curlew back to Dartmoor. In 2018, a summit was held by the now King Charles, in order to find a way to help these iconic birds. There are only two wild pairs left on Dartmoor, but headstarted birds being released are expected to return to breed when old enough.

The thing is, Curlews are ground nesting birds, and species such as Crows can decimate populations be stealing the eggs before they hatch. So the more nesting birds, the higher the chances of survival. GPS trackers have shown the birds flying far afield, and really getting around. But, in theory, the released birds should return to their Dartmoor breeding grounds when mature enough. The people on the stand were brilliant, and great to talk to, with a wealth of knowledge.

We continued on, exploring the stands around. The Devon Mammal Groups was really cool, featuring squirrel chewed pinecones, beaver chewed sticks and a stuffed otter that had been found dead on a roadside, not to mention live slow worms! They are the main organisation for Devons mammals, and fight to conserve and research the many species.

The Devon Wildlife Trust stall was also incredibly cool, featuring a birdsong ID quiz, make a nature mask (mainly for the younger ones) and a huge Curlew puzzle! The puzzle was surprisingly tricky, and the birdsongs were really fun. I’m pleaseed to report that I scored full marks on the birdsong quiz!

The people there were brilliant as well, engaging and encouraging, and also great to talk to about anything wildlife-based!

At the Barn Owl Trust, they had put out a selection of trays and tweezers, each with a number of untouched owl pellets! Dissecting them was a must, and surprising amounts were found, such as skulls, shins, ribs and basically any other bone that you would find a on a small creature!

All the stalls were seriously cool, and most had something fun to do! But I must mention the Stream Dipping and Nature Walk sessions that were also held, and led by expert Dartmoor National Park Rangers! I hope to join the Dartmoor Junior Rangers Scheme once I’m old enough!

I would have loved to have taken part in a walk, but the heat by midday was very intense! So we left just before the sun was at its highest and hottest, probably a sensible move.