Nature in Harmony: A month of discoveries
Hi all, project ecologist, Alex here :) , June was a really great month for citizen science and wildlife spotting, here’s a round-up of what went on…
Wildflower walk (5th June)
It started with a wildflower walk event in harmony woods* on Saturday 5th. I took members of the community on a guided walk of the woods and meadow and helped them to learn around 15 new plant species and the common characteristics between the plant families. We had a great range of visitors, from a toddler to an octogenarian and all ages in between.
*Nature in Harmony project calendar of events is funded by the Nineveh Charitable Trust
ATU youth team camps out! (12th June)
Over the following weekend, the ATU youth team had an overnight session as part of the Nature in Harmony Exchange Project, and which contributed to their John Muir Discovery award.
We had an absolutely brilliant time catching moths and detecting bats. We must have caught at least 40 different species of moth, including the very fluffy Puss Moth and the cryptically cool Buff-tip Moth. The bats were swooping down over our heads and we were picking up echolocation calls at a wide range of frequencies. We think they must be using the nearby old lane and hedgerow as a corridor to and from the woods.
Next month on July 11th, the ATU youth team welcomes family, friends, volunteers and any other visitors to attend their walks and talks event, where they would like to show visitors around the site and present some of their discoveries from the past year - details to be decided this week! (please note, booking will be required)
School visit to explore the Nature in Harmony (22nd June)
The week after, Harmony Woods was visited by ATU partner school, Appleshaw St Peter’s CofE. The children became scientists for the day and helped me to discover what lives and grows in Harmony Woods. They learned to identify trees, flowers and birds - and I have to say they were experts at it! To recognise the differences and similarities between species, and the different kinds of habitats that they live in.
•Funded by JGI Roots & Shoots - Gombe 60 project
They then collected some data of their own. Armed with quadrants and species ID skills, the children helped us to record species diversity within the new soon-to-be-developed Habitat’s Trail area. This is so that we have a baseline dataset of what lives and grows there before we create the pond extension, chalk scrape meadow, and new banks and ditches.
The baseline dataset will be invaluable in allowing us to record any changes in species richness and abundance that result as a consequence of the land management work.
*Habitat’s trail project is funded by D’Oyly carte and Chapman Charitable Trust.
Bioblitz #02 (26th June)
We then get to the second Bioblitz of the year! It was a beautiful sunny day and yet again the recorders identified a great range of plants and animals - including several new insect species such as the whiplash beetle, a wasp-mimicking hoverfly, and most excitingly, a Marsh Fritillary butterfly! - never before seen in Harmony Woods - this sighting has been sent to a Marsh Fritillary expert to see if they have any idea why one was spotted in Harmony Woods, as there are no known colonies nearby.
*funded by the Nineveh Charitable Trust
A weekend of discoveries
But that wasn't the only exciting butterfly spotted this month. Last weekend, I went out in search of the elusive Marsh Fritillary, and although I didn’t find it, I did witness something else that was pretty amazing.
I saw a female Small Blue butterfly ovipositing (laying eggs) on a patch of Kidney Vetch.
Kidney Vetch is the sole food plant of the Small Blue - the caterpillar lives on the flowerhead and feeds on its developing anthers and seed.
Over the past 5 or so years, Andover Trees United volunteers have been sowing, growing and planting important wildflower species in order to increase the biodiversity of the woods - including the Kidney Vetch. It is thanks to all their hard work that Harmony Woods now supports a colony of the rare and declining Small Blue butterfly. Community conservation in action! :)
Since then, I have also seen the Small Blue caterpillars on the Kidney Vetch flowerhead (see pic below) - so I’m very excited to know that a breeding colony on site is now confirmed!
Get involved!
July 17th, 10am - 12pm, is our next Nature in Harmony survey activity - the big invertebrate search. Book yourself in to help me find and record as many land invertebrates (animals without a backbone) as possible. Insects, spiders, snails and more.
There is still time to sign up to join me on my weekly wildlife surveys.
If you are aged 14-17 or know someone who is - now is the time to sign up to join the Nature in Harmony Exchange Project! (link) - Join the ATU youth team and gain new skills, friends, qualifications and opportunities surrounding conservation and ecology.
