We set off for Kimmeridge where we met Andy who talked about the different rock strata across the area. He set a piece of the oil shale alight which was very interesting to watch. We then headed to Lulworth Cove were we walked up to the Fossil Forset. This was particularly intesresting as you can see the fossiled remains of several, very old tree stumps.

We then moved on to Studland and walked over the dunes to Little Sea were we collected some more water samples. On the walk back towards the beach we came across a nest of wood ants. Cameron and Paul (both entomologists) told us about the different roles of the ants in the colony - a very complex and interesting population.

On the beach we took samples of the sand, that we sieved through a very fine membrane to look for nematodes and other microorganisms that live in this habitat. We had a look at these under the microscope in the evening.

We had a great day which began on Hartland Moor just North of Corfe Castle. Here, we were looking at different grasses, Bryophytes (mosses), Pteridophytes (ferns) and other plants that grow on the Heathland. We walked up to a boggy pool and the ground became graduately less solid. We were standing on Sphagnum moss that had formed a thick shelve over the water, surprisingly there were very few soggy feet.

We collected water samples from the pools which we looked at under the microscope in the evening to find all sorts of organisms including many Diatoms.

This weekend we have a group of PhD students from the Natural History Museum staying at the Old Malthouse. They are all from different areas of the museum - Botany, Zoology, Entomology, Mineralogy, Paleontology and Geology. Over the weekend they will be heading to a number of local areas and exchanging field collection techniques.