Castell Coch

On boxing day i went to forest fawr next to castell coch .

It was very cold.

I saw a number of fungi including

lacquered bracket, oak mazegill,

dead man's fingers, candle snuff,

birch polypore,

oak curtain  crust and lumpy bracket. 

The Blorenge

 We went to the Blorenge, a hill overlooking Abergavenny. On the opposite side of the valley is Sugar Loaf which i have also climbed. 

During the walk we found lots of fungi including the meadow waxcap and blue edged pink gill. We also  found lots of other fungi however we did not identify them.

Just before we reached the summit of the hill we passed a group of wild horses.

This is a picture of them.

 

I went APE!!!!!!

On my birthday I went to a place called Go Ape, in the Forest of Dean.

Its lots of platforms ropes zip wires and swings high up in the trees.

This is a picture of me on the Tarzan swing. You had to jump off a high platform and swing across into the cargo net. It made my stomach feel funny as you dropped.

The rules of Go Ape are simple.

1. Longy (Longy is the long rope you have attached to yourself) loves the tree.

2. Always attach your clips the opposite way.

3. Enjoy yourselves.

 

Finally whilst in the woods we also found a Giant Funnel fungi. 

These are my Giant African Land Snails, they are called Apple and Cabbage.There are some British Garden Snails in the picture to show how large they are.I got the snails in mid May from Cardiff Museum, when I got them their shells measured 4.5 c.ms but now the biggest one is 8.2c.ms and the smaller one is 6.5c.ms.Their favourite foods are cucumber and lettuce and they love Cuttlefish bones. They eat Cuttlefish bones for the Calcium which keeps their shells growing, they can grow as large as 20c.ms from head to tail.They are from the rainforests in East Africa especially Kenya and Tanzania but mine seem to be living quite happily in their tank.

This is my dog Wag on a very hot day at Goldcliffe, Newport. She is fourteen
years old but she looks much younger.
Wag likes nice long walks and she is always gobbling up titbits which we give to
her.She particularly likes bones, chicken and other types of meat.In fact she likes most things but does not like lettuce. She likes playing ball with me and my Dad and she likes her friend Ozzy the Border Collie.

Badgers in Wales.

On Saturday 28th June over three hundred people went to the Welsh Assembly building to protest against Badger culling in Wales,including my friends William and Catherine. Farmers believe that Badgers pass T.B on to their cattle, but recent research has found no evidence to support that belief.The Welsh Assembly is planning to trial culling in certain areas even though Badgers are a protected species and are endangered.The good news is that the National Trust will not allow Badger culling on their land. I think Badgers are very beautiful creatures, I think it is very wrong to harm them.

My friends and I went to take part in a river clean up, in Caerphilly South Wales.We wore gloves and used litter pickers to collect the rubbish.We found part of a highchair,part of a freezer,lumps of concrete,bits of metal and wood and lots of plastic.It was good fun to do, but it is a shame that there was so much rubbish in there.
We found Caddis fly larvae (which Dippers like to eat),they make their own shells from sand and dirt.There was a lot of life in the river and this means it is a healthy river.

Graig Wen

We camped at Graig Wen in Snowdonia National Park.This is a picture of the Bridge which crosses the Mawddach Estuary from Fairbourne to Barmouth.
Graig Wen is next to the Mawddach Trail which runs along the estuary.At the campsite there is a car free field, we camped there.There were sheep all around and it felt like wild camping.You could have a fire which was very helpful in keeping the midgies away and good for cooking and light.It was very beautiful and up until the last day we had the field to ourselves.You could always hear Cuckoos from our tent and I saw lots of other wild life including; rabbits,cheeky food pinching squirrels,loads of Herons and Oystercatchers, Sandpipers,bats,Red Kite and a Tawny Owl.They had built a compost loo on the site it was very clean and environmentally friendly.
We visited Snowdon on the way back but didn't climb it, maybe next time, we were at the start of the Watkins Path which is the longest route up to the peak.

Blackvein Risca

this is a gravestone in memory of a pit accident that happened in Risca during the 19th century.
Over 100 men and boys died down the pit.

I am glad i don't have to work in the mines.

this is a video of a steamer at newport station.

candles

This is a picture taken during earth hour, we switched off all the lights and anything else which used electricity. We made a fire and lit lots of candles. If you look carefully you can see my dog Wag lying on the chair.
The Welsh Assembly switched off all the power in their building for the hour.

My Rats

This is one of my rat pets, her name is Bouncy and her sister is called Sniffy. Sniffy likes to clean herself and Bouncy is very good at jumping.I enjoy watching them hiding their food in their tank. Rats are very intelligent and my rats are toilet trained, they like to play on bookshelves and run up and down the stairs.Sniffy and bouncy are six months old.

bracket

This is some bracket fungi i found recently.

I think it looks like two hands coming out of the tree.

Barry Beach

This is me at Barry beach in Wales, you can find a lot of fossils there; Ammonites, Devils Toenails, Crinoids and Shells.It is lots of fun to climb over the rocks, there is a big sandy beach and further along a rocky one.There are lots of nice rock pools with Sea Anenomes and small fish.
On Barry Island there are Amusement Arcades that I like, my favorite slot machines are the ones which flick two pence coins into the air.

Earth Hour

On March 29, 2008, San Franciscans will join millions of people around the world to "turn off the lights" for an hour from 8-9 p.m. - making a bold statement about climate change. Earth Hour will demonstrate that by working together, each one of us can make a positive impact on this global issue. Governments, business, communities and individuals on six continents will participate in Earth Hour and agree to make changes that will curb their carbon dioxide emissions.

Beach

This is my dad and I on the beach at Llantwit Major last Saturday.

As you can see the tide is very out.

We had a really good game of 'rounds' and I loved skimming over big rock pools, and skimmed a stone all the way to the other side.

For those people that do not know, skimming is throwing thin rocks that bounce over the water

Introduction

Hello!!!

My name is Isaac and this is all about things i like.

I am nine years old and I live in Newport, Wales.

I am very interested in our environment, I particularly like fungi, fossils and exploring the coast and woodlands.When ever possible i like to go out and find out about these things