Lockdown

Having been locked down avoiding Coronovirus for 6 weeks i have been avoiding recording wildlife. One of the great enjoyments for me are the fantastic habitats and environments that wildlife flourishes. Unfortunately my garden doesn't count as one of them so my interest has been on hold for a short while. However today i took a walk to Harlestone to see if the wild garlic (Allium ursine) was out and it didn't disappoint.

That fantastic smell, i know it is not for everyone but is brilliant in the woodland setting and the dainty white flowers against the plain green leaves is just so pretty.

There is a notable hoverfly called Portevinia maculata whose larvae feed on the bulbs of the plant during the winter with the adults making a brief appearance from Mid May to early June co-inciding with the flowering period. The adults sun themselves in the dappled light on the leaves and flowers with their wings out in a delta shape. They fly quite close to the ground in and out of the plants and can easily be overlooked.

Skippers

A lovely sunny morning today started to bring out a few more butterflies as i wandered round the gullet at Priors hall near Corby. First up were the Common Blues, Small heath and some brilliant Grizzled Skippers.

As it warmed up there we more on the wing and we saw this Green letter hairstreak. They are fantastic and charismatic.

Then finally we picked out the Dingy Skippers as well as Green Tiger Beetles running, jumping and flying as we walked down the track.

Unfortunately there were not too many Hoverflies but a great morning anyway.

Loggerhead turtles

While on holiday in Santa Maria, Cape Verde - just between the hotel and the beach we stumbled on a Turtle hatchery.

They walk the beaches of the islands at night and remove any eggs that might be in danger and relocate them here.

They bury them here and then monitor it every night with a band of volunteers to deter any predators which mainly stray dogs. As they hatch they collect them up and relocate them to a safer beach and release.

They also then open up the nests the day after they hatch and help any stragglers but also collect data on the numbers that hatch and don’t. We managed to witness this which was amazing and while there were a few written eggs and a few that didn’t make there were also those that were rescued and would be released with the others.

What a brilliant experience.

UK Bioblitz

Graham and i took part in Chris Packham's UK bioblitz today at Papley Grove farm, Eltisley in Cambs. Kept away from the camera's as much as i could but was impressed how he is trying to make a difference for wildlife and support and promote areas and organisations that don't have a big voice. The only bug of note was Aquarius paludum - a massive pond skater that was on both of the woodlands ponds. A really good record and no many having been recorded in Cambs before.

Summer Butterflies

A few days off work and i was hoping for sunshine and a some Summer Butterflies. Out with Phil, the weather wasn't great but we still managed 15 species and completed my last WCBS survey square for July. At Tottenham the Chalkhill Blues were out in force with many mating.

A Bucknell Wood this morning it was great to see a some wood whites sill on the wing in the rides. The colder weather meant that they were not flying all the time so when spotted we managed to get some good photo's as they settled.

I was surprised how many Red Admiral's we saw. I have also seen really good numbers this year. They conditions must be suiting then and having a really good year, the look really striking when they are fresh.

WT Ecology groups conference

Was luck enough today to present some of the results from our Aquatic Invertebrates project for the BCN wildlife trust.

We are starting to generate some really good data now to help the reserve management and it was great to demonstrate that.

It was a great event well attended and met up with a number of people we hadn't seen for a while. The presentations were extremely interesting and was a a show of the diversity of monitoring from Butterflies, reserves, Birds, Dormice to aquatic insects.

Whipsnade Zoo

We were invited by the Beds Natural History society to survey at Whipsnade zoo and see what local species we could find. It was a strange place that felt a bit like Jurassic Park as we walked through fields of wallabies, Chinese water deer, Emu's etc. Fortunately the Elephants had been moved to another field as we surveyed Elephant pond.

These two were backing the path, puffing up their feathers and grunting so i cautiously went round them.

Fortunately this one was still in it's cage as i swished a few flies from around her.