The bank holiday weekend was busy with our May Misrule event. Lots and lots of things were going on, and I was in the gallery running art and craft sessions where we made Tudor ruffs and there were replica Tudor clothes available to try on.

Just a quick note to let you know that something special is afoot at St Fagans.
Keep an eye out on Wales Today, BBC1 Wales, at 6.30 tonight for more information!

The Acts of Union

At long last the female has been seen carrying food into the nest so we know at least one egg has now hatched.

As the eggs are incubated as soon as she lays them the others should hatch at 1-2 day intervals.

After 18 months the Natural History galleries have finally reopened. The seacliff and woodland dioramas have received a thorough clean and now look just as they did when they first opened in 1994.

Further back we now have a new gallery - Insight - which explores some of the scientific research which goes on in the Department of BioSyB and Department of Geology.

Beyond the Insight gallery the science education space has also received a major revamp and reopens as the Clore Learning Space.

After months of planning and preparation, the Explore Nature at St Fagans project was officially launched earlier this month. On April the 2^nd, we had a day filled with nature and wildlife activities. The weather was fantastic and hundreds of visitors to the museum participated in bird spotting, bat watching, pond dipping and arts and crafts activities. I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as we did! I’d like to thank everyone who came along, especially Daniel who can be seen cutting the ribbon at the bird hide in the photo.

As we are well into spring now, St Fagans is alive with wildlife once again! The lesser horseshoe bats have returned to the Tannery, yesterday I counted around 25 of them! Later this summer the females will give birth to their pups, as this is their maternity roost. Why not come along to the Tannery and watch them on our special infra-red batcam?

The pits at the Tannery are once again teeming with life. There are countless newts, water boatmen, pond skaters, dragonfly nymphs and much much more. The Tannery is perhaps the best building on site for wildlife. Last week saw the return of the swallows who nest here every summer. It really is fantastic to see so much wildlife so close.

As part of the Explore Nature project we will be holding events and activities throughout the spring and summer months, from early morning bird walks to evening bat walks. Keep an eye on the museum website for more information.

As the Tannery is so good for wildlife, I will be spending the day there on Saturday the 30^th of April. Come along and learn more about the bats, the newts and all the other wildlife that have made this building their home!

http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/whatson/?event_id=4792