First News: Space to nest

First News is a 28-page weekly newspaper for young people delivered into homes across the UK every Friday. Find out more at firstnews.co.uk/1free

Space to nest

A new report from the RSPB has found that nesting birds do better when they are given space to raise their chicks.

During the 2021 breeding season, the RSPB monitored nesting sites on 222 nature reserves across the country. Species that had safe spaces to raise their chicks had much more success than those species that could be easily disturbed by members of the public or dogs.

While some species didn't do so well as expected in 2021, some tern species saw record-breaking numbers, including roseate, Sandwich and common terns.

The report has been released ahead of the 2022 nesting season in the hope that members of the public will give nesting birds space if they see them.

YOUR NEWS

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World Book Day

by Lex, Hillfield Primary Academy

For my school's World Book Day, we chose to focus on the book The Moose Belongs to Me! by Oliver Jeffers.

Most schools just tell us what their chosen book is, then you buy a costume and wear it for one day, and don't wear it again. Well we made our costumes at school! Our teacher, Sarah Eisenhauer, said we could bring in some toilet rolls as the moose antlers, and we did!

We cut our headbands and stuck them on the toilet rolls to make antlers. Some people, including me, cut antlers out of paper and made masks. We then had an assembly.

Later, we did some World Book Day maths, and at the end of the day, you guessed it, we read a book! But what I want to point out is that our customers were entirely made by us. This meant our World Book Day was good for the planet and our parents did not have to spend any money on costumes. I enjoyed it very much!

DIARY DATES

WEAR A HAT DAY

25 March

Don your favourite hat and help to raise vital funds for Brain Tumour Research.

WWF EARTH HOUR

26 March

Join millions of people across the world and switch off your lights at 8:30pm for one hour. The event aims to show support for nature and the planet.

BRITISH SUMMERTIME STARTS

27 March

The clocks go forward one hour at 1am.

WOW!

A giant potato found in New Zealand isn't actually a potato at all! The super-sized vegetable was believed to be the world's largest potato, but after some scientific testing, Guinness World Records discovered it was in fact the tuber (swollen stem) of a guord (type of fruit) instead. D'oh!

WEEKLY PUZZLE

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