Martin WW

Bumbling about

This morning we learned how to survey bumblebees for the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme run by The Bumblebee Conservation Trust https://www.bumblebeeconservation.org. The Cluster survey involves walking a 1km ‘transect’ every week for 6 weeks, which is easy enough. The tricky bit is identifying the species of bumblebee. Luckily we have some very willing volunteers helpingContinue reading “Bumbling about”

Tree tubes be gone.

Yesterday saw an enthusiastic group of National Park volunteers removing about a thousand (?) tree shelters and stakes from one area on the cluster. The old shelters and plastic ties will be recycled by Tubex, who originally manufactured them. Only a few hundred left to do!

Cowslip survey.

https://www.plantlife.org.uk/uk/discover-wild-plants-nature/cowslip-survey Plantlife are running a cowslip survey to determine the quality of the grassland where they are found. Apparently there are two sorts (morphs) of cowslips and a roughly equal number of both signify healthy grassland. It’s a very easy survey to do with full instructions provided and you record your results on the associatedContinue reading “Cowslip survey.”

A silent spring.

It’s May the 8th. We have seen snow today. April was the coldest one for 99 years, it was also very dry. We have had a lot of dry springs recently. Very few swallows have arrived back here. No house martins noted and no swifts. The pattern is similar throughout the country. It is ‘quiet’.Continue reading “A silent spring.”