Island 2000 Trust Blog

Well, it is now upon us.   The Big Green Picnic kicks off in about two and a half hours.   Island 2000 have been busy preparing all kinds of stuff, from lollipop signs to entrance way arches.  Gift to Nature will be there throughout the day, with an opportunity to see video clips of our work and have a chat with staff about our Friends scheme and the projects it helps bring to life.  Magpie has turned some rubbish into incredible creations which will be on show around the Biffa waste displays.  There will also be some interesting on-street signage, but more of that after the event….   I’m not going to post any images of the amazing creations that will be there, as you should come and see them for yourself.  County Hall  Car Park, Newport from 10-6 Saturday and Sunday.  Oh and there’s lots more interesting stuff from other people too!

Dave Dana, dragonfly recorder extraordinaire, has reported 2 very exciting records from the Gift to Nature pond at the sandown Wetland Walk. He found Hairy Dragonfly Brachytron pratense and Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata, both rather scarce on the Island and the former scarce just about everywhere! This is a great reward for the conservation efforts of the Trust, many volunteers and Southern water who own the site. Here’s one of Dave’s fabulous pictures of the chaser.

We currently have a part time job vacancy and a volunteer position available within the Gift to Nature team. If you would like more details please take a look at the Gift to Nature site where you can download an application pack.

We don’t have much to grumble about weather-wise on the Isle of Wight. Sandown Bay is the sunniest place in the UK, winters are mild and life is good. But there is hardly ever any snow. Which leaves us with thousands of children (and adults) deprived of one of life’s finest pleasures - building snowmen. This is such a fundamental of humanity that last year Island 2000’s revered leader, Ian Boyd, decided he had to do something. Sandman Snowman was born. For more on last years event see this post. The event was so successful we repeated it this year, but relocated to Shanklin. While it was rather chilly we had a fantastic sunny day, with around 60 people joining in over a couple of hours. The standard this year was possibly even higher than last years, with some truly stunning contributions. Participants also made generous donations to Gift to Nature, supporting our ongoing conservation work across the Island. More pictures are available on our special Sandman Snowman Flickr pages.