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Hi everyone KiW Trainee Max here! Yesterday, KiW Trainee Lauren and I got to visit Camley Street Natural Park! It's a nature reserve hidden behind Kings Cross station and honestly feels like a hidden piece of paradise. It has so many habitats - wetlands, ponds, rivers, meadows, forest - it was gorgeous. We even got to see coral fungus which was really exciting.

Keeping it Wild Trainee Max - Hi everyone! Earlier this week, all of us trainees went to Walthamstow Wetlands. Lauren and I started the day with Alison and we had a little lesson on rosehip foraging. It was incredible! We were so surprised to learn that rosehips have a higher vitamin C content than oranges. They were also delicious of course!

Keeping it Wild trainee Max here - all of us trainees visited Kidbrooke Village to see the awesome sites and surrounding area. After lunch, we went to Birdbrook Nature Reserve to carry out conservation work. When we got to Birdbrook, we had a short guided walk and were told about the species that lived there. At the end of the walk, we found some refuge and Fay told us that perhaps we could see a slowworm if we were lucky. Fortunately, we saw a slowworm! We also saw an invasive species - an alpine newt. When carrying out the conservation work, a common lizard appeared much to our surprise. We also saw a wall lizard and great spotted woodpecker. It was an excellent day and we were very lucky to see such a range of species in central London!

Hello everyone, Keeping it Wild trainee Max here. Last Thursday all of us trainees went to Old Lodge Farm to learn more about conservation grazing and how it benefits habitats, especially chalk grasslands! We met with Sean from the Downlands Partnership and we were trained on how to give sheep an MOT to ensure the sheep's health was in good form. It was an awesome experience to get hands on with the sheep!

The decomposition of sludge and the organic part of silt reduces oxygen levels in the pond. The resulting anaerobic conditions can then begin to kill everything living there. A combination of manually removing the sludge and applying Siltex can massively improve the condition of the habitat.

Yesterday was Tree Day so I spent the day at the Centre for Wildlife Gardening hanging out with Hamish the cat, doodling on wood with pyropens and using a saw and axe to make a mallet out of holly wood!

Yet another fungi...

The photos show two different stages in the life cycle of the same fungus - Coral spot. The light pink blobs grow in spring/early summer and are then replaced by hard, dark red growths that will survive through winter. Classed as a plant pathogen, coral spot is usually too weak to infect healthy trees and tends to be found on damaged or previously infected branches.