After the success of the wildlife weekend last year, Leeds Castle decided to hold the event once again. I was asked to take three guided tours on each of the two days around the nature reserve and I had Terry as my trusted back marker. In fact, Terry knows a lot more about the nature reserve than I do as he had a hand in the design and maintenance of the reserve and is very good at answering questions from the tail enders. We were lucky enough to see a water vole on all three trails. We also set up a tactile table in the Wykeham Martin Centre, which aimed to enlarge on what was on offer in the reserve. The most popular exhibit was the owl pellets, which we dissected with the children to find out what the owls had eaten. Owls regurgitate anything they cannot digest and the result is pellets. Also on offer was bush tucker, a craft tent, exhibits from various outside groups, a potted version of Wind in the Willows, and a tank containing some of the creatures found in the castle water system.
