Autumn 2009
Hello JPRs!
Autumn Fruits
I hope you all had a great summer and managed to get out and enjoy one of the great parks we have in Swansea.
Having been pollinated by Bees and other insects during the summer, many wild trees and plants bear fruit in the autumn.
The Junior Park Rangers Club is going from strength to strength and we now have a record number of new members.
These contain the seeds that will grow into the next generation of trees. Many fruits and seeds are very colourful and look very tempting to eat. In fact this is one of their main purposes because animals will eat the fruit and, in turn, spread the seeds.
Autumn is many people‘s favourite part of the year, as the leaves change colour we are treated to a great show of reds, yellows and browns. Take a trip to your local park and see how many different colour leaves you can collect. Over the next few months birds such as swallows will be flying south to warmer climates travelling hundreds of miles from Europe to Africa. You might be surprised to learn how many other birds migrate too. Even the blackbirds in your garden in January could well be winter visitors from Eastern Europe. At our November JPR event we’ll be showing you how you can help the birds in your garden.
Contents... Autumn Fruits.......................................1 Cygnets in Brynmill Park......................2 Poster Competition Result...................2 JPR Autumn Events.............................2 It’s Halloween! .....................................3 Be a nice guy .....................................3 Cress heads........................................4 Fun & Games / Competition ..............4
Whilst some fruits and seeds such as Blackberries and Hazelnuts are very good to eat please be very careful if you go out picking them. Always go with an adult as many berries can be harmful and are easily confused with poisonous varieties. Other seeds such as Sycamore and Horse Chestnuts can be great fun. Just throw a sycamore seed head in the air and watch it float slowly down to the ground and spin like a helicopter. Alternatively use the Horse Chestnut for a game of conkers. If you have a game please only use conkers that have fallen to the ground and be very careful when playing.