Wild Travel

Welcome to Wild about Colchester. Each week we are going to investigate the wildlife around Colchester.

The theme this week is all about wild travel– for people, animals or plants. 

In the bingo sheet for this week we have asked you to find places, animals, and plants that are associated with travelling. Some you may be able to find at home, in your garden or a park near your house. Others you may have to travel to find something at one of the countryside or town parks.  Can you find them all? 

As this week is all about travel, when you travel around Colchester you could: 

• Keep a travel diary – for every journey you take score yourself. For this activity you don’t need to have a high score – it is all about getting as small a score as possible. Try working out your score for one week, then see if you can get a smaller score for the next week. 
• Give yourself: 
  • 1 points for riding a bike or walking.
  • 2 points for using public transport such as buses or training.
  • 3 points for sharing a car journey with someone outside of your family.
  • 4 points for travelling in a small car.
  • 5 points for travel in a big car. 
• When you travel around Colchester have a look out for insect highways. By this we mean the verges that are all the way along the sides of the road. Colchester borough council have taken the decision this year to cut fewer of the verges to try to help wildlife. Can you spot some of the areas that are uncut? At this time of year they may not look that pretty or neat, but wildlife such as insects and birds still really need them.

When you visit one of Colchester’s town or countryside parks, have a look out for animals there and how they travel:

• Look at animals that travel in similar ways, such as birds and butterflies that both fly. Do they fly in the same way? Are some better at flying direct? Do some fly in circles or up and down? Could you copy their route? 
• Look out for birds such as swallows, swifts and geese that are migrant birds. They can be quite noisy and noticeable at this time of year as they are gathering to start their migration to different countries. You can find out about where some of our local birds such as swallows, redwings and Brent geese migrate to by reading their stories here.
  • They fly by themselves for their migration. If you had to migrate each year how would you travel to the place the birds travel to? Try using the internet to plan an imaginary migration for you.
• With lock down some of the major sporting event shave had to be cancelled this summer, including the Olympics. However, you can still try to be an animal athlete – see how you compare to the best animals out there in Colchester: 
  • Ants can carry up to 30 times their own weight! No human can do this, but what weights can you lift?  
  • Froghoppers (or cuckoo spit bugs) can jump nearly 100 times their own height. That would be like you jumping over skyscrapers! How high can you jump in one go? I am sure you can jump in one go on to a step. Can you jump on to something higher?  
  • Hares which can be seen in countryside around Colchester can reach speeds of 40mph! The fastest man ever (Usain Bolt) reached just over 23mph. Try setting your own distance and timing yourself to run it. Then see if you can get faster and beat your own speed.   
  •  Peregrine falcons can dive at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour! They do this in air, but you could try diving in if you go swimming.  
  • Otters can be found in Colchester, but they are quite secretive. They can dive up to 300m deep and hold their breath for up to 4 minutes under water. If you go swimming you could try diving down to the bottom of the pool. 
  • Swallows can travel 200 miles in one day. Try taking some long walks and mapping them or measuring them. How many miles have you travelled in a day?