Wow, what a glorious day! It’s a bank holiday here but unlike most in the UK, a bank holiday with fantastic weather. The temperature is 18degC, that may not sound that high but it feels very warm and the burn factor is quite high. It’s been strange driving along listening to the radio reporting the weather in the UK which I hear is particularly bad right now. I am very thankful for being where I am!

This morning’s sampling site was Sand Bay, near Port Harriet, about a half hour drive out of Stanley. The bay opens out quickly to a wide area of sand (photo 1). The sand varies quite widely across the bay from very coarse to fine, sometimes with gravel or rocks and in other places just sand. The animals themselves also seemed to change accordingly so it was worth dotting my sampling sites around the bay.

Although at first this bay didn’t seem that much different to several of the other sites I’ve been to, a couple of the samples turned up some very different animals.

The most interesting was in a patch of the ‘solid’ sand, no stones but with some layers of old plant material as you dug down. Burrowing into those layers were a different sort of ragworm to any of those I’ve seen in any of my other samples, with striking red and white colours along its body (photo 2). I spent a while collecting several of these as they were obviously a different species to those I already had.

There was also a different type of paddleworm, the longest yet (photo 3), from one of the other sample spots. I only found one of these though.

By the time the tide turned, I had a large collection of pots from the different sites around the bay and a few animals that I already knew would be new to my list. As I wanted to get some photos of the ragworm with its colours I decided to go back into Stanley to the Fisheries lab rather than head straight out towards Darwin. I wasn’t that far away and it was worth the time. After a quick photo session I then got back on the road again, back out past where I had already been that morning and on to Darwin which would be nearly a 2 hour drive.

As it was such a warm and dry day I had the window open slightly but wasn’t prepared for just how much dust was created driving along the gravel roads. It was only when I arrived here at Darwin that I realised that the car, both inside as well as out, and myself, were coated in the dust.

I have been given instructions on how to get to the two creeks I want to sample tomorrow and hopefully they will also provide some interesting finds to end the week.

In my last post I mentioned that I would be running a drop in arts and crafts session on the 17th december in Oriel 1, St Fagans: National History Museum. We will be taking inspiration from 1950s decorations, and to get some good ideas I went around the site with my camera the other day and took these photos.

Do you have anything similar at home? don't forget to let me know your memories of Christmas decorations in your house when you were growing up too!

Back out to the shore this morning with Freya for company once again. We were only going a short distance outside of Stanley to an inlet called Mullet Creek (photo 1). This was a stream flowing down towards a sea inlet surrounded by coarse gravelly sand at the higher end, changing to a medium sand further down towards the sea. It was surprisingly less soft than I expected but still had a similar fauna to the site I sampled up at Mount Kent that had been much softer. It wasn’t quite as far down to the sea as it had been at Mount Kent, where I never even got close to finding where the sea had gone to).

I collected more of the Boccardia species (photo 2) that I thought might be different to the first one I had found which burrows into hard places such as the calcareous algae. These are very small and require a long time spent kneeling on the sand teasing them out of the surface layers (photo 3). There were also more paraonids, including more whole specimens, which is always good to find as opposed to small pieces!

The sea did still go out a long way as the inlet was very shallow. We were still heading down it when we came up to a fence that came part way out into the inlet. This was a minefield warning fence and so that was the end of our journey down the inlet. We still managed 6 separate sampling spots spaced out ranging from what would be ‘high shore’ to what was virtually ‘low shore’ so we didn’t do badly.

The sun didn’t come out for most of our sampling which kept it a little cool but also meant we were less likely to burn. It did come out as soon as we were finished though to warm us up.

A few hours back at the lab going through the samples and then a bit more formaldehyde to alcohol changing finished off the day.

The next couple of days will be quite busy. I’ll be sampling at Port Harriet tomorrow morning, a little further out from Stanley than I went today and then from there I’m heading west to Darwin for the night. Darwin is a couple of hours away on a narrow strip of land that connects the two sections of East Falkland, one northeast the other southwest, together. With sea on both sides but from completely different sides of the island, I’ll be able to sample two sites on Friday morning which have tides nearly two and a half hours apart. I’ll then head back to Stanley where I can sort the samples out in the evening. That will then be the last of the shore sampling!

Cwestiynau gan ysgolion sy'n cymryd rhan yn y prosiect Bylbiau'r Gwanwyn i Ysgolion

www.museumwales.ac.uk/scan/bylbiau

Woodplumpton Primary School
Q: We heard on the radio that someone had seen crocus bulbs that had begun to grow. They said it was very early and a sign of global warming. We were very interested and talked about how we probably would not have taken any notice if we weren't part of the project. We were also a bit worried because there is no sign of life with our bulbs!

Ans: I'm delighted to hear that you are discussing global warming and linking it to the bulbs you are growing in your school and the reports you hear on the radio. Global warming can seem like something far awar and remote, but by studying our wildlife and flowers carefully we can see that it is happening in our gardens and very relevant to us all. Don't worry about your bulbs, they shouldn't be coming up yet. Thanks Prof. P.

Bishop Childs C.I.W Primary. Q:How are we doing? Ans: You are doing really well Bishop Childs - keep up the good work! Prof P.

Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch. Pawb yn mwynhau! Falch i clywed! Athro'r Ardd.

Stanford in the Vale Primary School
Third week....crazy week of observations...warm,cold, warmer!

Woodplumpton Primary School
Q: We are very surprised at how little rain we are getting and are a bit worried about the bulbs getting enough water. Ans: If the soil becomes very dry please water them. Thanks Prof. P

Sherwood Primary School
We have just had a terrential downpour just before we sent the records - that is why Friday's rain may seem high!

Westwood CP School
Very mild since started recording. It won't be long before the crocuses start pushing through! Ans: They should start to appear in January. Prof. P

Sherwood Primary School
School was shut on Wednesday for the National Strike, so Thursday's rainfall results may be inflated. We planted a few spare daffs and they have begun to shoot! The children are excited! Ans: Wow this is early - many flowers are appearing across the country. Prof P.