Late summer has bought with it wonderful experiences and opportunities to broaden the work and experience I have developed this year. At the start of August I was fortunate enough to visit some of Buglife’s large scale meadows down in Yorkshire and learn all about how they have been working to improve them for bugs and plants. This sort of work is vital if we are to start turning the tide on the sort of agricultural management that does little to support the UK’s plant and bug diversity. Below is a picture of one of the meadows I was lucky enough to visit, courtesy of Leanna Dixon from Buglife:
Buglife B-Lines meadow in Stonegrave, Yorkshire. Photo by Leanna Dixon
As August rolled on it bought with it the opportunity to work with a wide range of people through bug and nature walks. I led sessions with different groups, such as 3 different ones related to Glasgow Association for Mental Health (GAMH). These sessions allowed us to explore the wondrous world of bugs and pollinators that live alongside people in central Glasgow. For example, just outside the Kelvingrove Museum we searched around on a patch of beautiful wildflowers and found a number of pollinators foraging for food, including Common Carder Bumblebees, Sun hoverflies, Marmalade Hoverflies and Honeybees. After discussing the pollinators and the plants they were using, the group was suitably impressed and we moved on to explore other areas in the park. Sessions such as these have had some really positive feedback from people, one lady who came on a similar walk at the Hidden Gardens told us she was fascinated to see “how many different species of bees and butterflies there are right under my nose!”
Bee and Butterfly walk at the Hidden Gardens
Bug walk at Barrhead Waterworks with Grow Wild Scotland
A Willughby’s Leafcutter Bee found at the Hidden Gardens. These fantastic bees use bits of leaf to line their solitary nests. Note the fluffy face and front legs.
Towards the end of August I lead a session at Gartmore walled garden, near Aberfoyle, a site that is used by the charity Green Routes to teach horticultural skills to people with additional support needs. During the session, we started to build two fantastic bug hotels out of recycled palettes and scavenged materials. These structures will provide a home to a variety of important and interesting bugs; from Orb Weaver spiders which will predate on a myriad of small beasties, to hibernating ladybirds and lacewings and hopefully some solitary bees that may use the tubes we installed as nests for their young. The session was a huge success and those involved learned new skills in habitat creation for bugs, as well as how to work as part of a team to create something practical, but also beautiful.
Finally, during August, Buglife were awarded £500 by CSV Action Earth to create a ‘Marvellous Meadow’ in Toryglen. This meadow will be created in partnership with Urban Roots, who manage a community woodland in Toryglen. Over September and October we will transform a small patch of thick, monotonous grass into a small wildflower meadow. The site is next to a well used public path and we hope that local residents will benefit from the increased beauty and wildlife that the meadow will bring. We will work with local volunteers to transform the patch in September; the wildflowers will then establish their roots before winter sets in and then burst forth into a full bloom next spring and summer! More photos of the coming transformation will be put up next time.