Summer Ecology - Bugs and Beasties
Whilst our Bird and Flora surveys take place in the Spring (from March to June), the warmer summer weather is really needed to survey the colder blooded fauna on Bryn Arw. This becomes a challenging task as our ability to walk the hill is increasingly hindered by the taller and taller Bracken. In the areas where Keith doesn't mow, the Bracken quickly gets away and makes navigating near impossible without a compass! Trying to spot any wildlife is even harder...
However, we do like to keep an eye on what's going on, and Sheelagh and Rachel went up on the hill to reconnoitre a new route for an 'insect walk' a survey we'll do when a full Lepidoptera survey isn't taking place. It's been a bit tricky to catch a sunny day this year (!) but they did get out this week and Sheelagh sent me a short report from the hill.
We'll run this a couple of times a year, and we're also going to do some general bug spotting days at the nursery. So get in touch if the bugs and the beasties are really your thing and you'd like to be involved!
"Rachel and I did a Bug Walk on Bryn Arw this afternoon [17th July 2024].
After a sunny morning it was overcast unfortunately (but warm). We didn't see many butterflies (3 Meadow Browns and 1 Small Heath) but quite a few White-tailed Bumblebees and lots of Grass-moths (several species).
There were Yellow-spotted Tortrix swarming around a beech tree and Common Marble Moths amongst the bracken on the bottom path.
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Common Marble Moth |
We saw several Scorpion Flies (there are 3 UK species, difficult to tell apart without a very close look).
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Scorpion Fly |
Three lizards were seen in the tree planted area and a lovely basking adder in the field on the way back."
Sheelagh Kerry