Bees, Bees everywhere- how many do you think?

Hi everybody,

April blog is here and this has been quite a busy month for organising training, events and projects but also for discovering more about the local wildlife in my area.

A major part of this month was deciding on the projects I want to work on throughout the rest of the placement. The first project decided on was a study of the pollinator species of Portstewart Strand in particular butterflies, hoverflies and bees – possibly moths as well. The main goal of this project would be to create a list of all the pollinators at the site. The group I think I will have most difficulty with is the hoverflies but I will be attending an identification training day on the 20th of May to become better at identifying the species within this group. The second project decided on was a study of the Narrow-mouthed whorl snail (Vertigo angustior), a priority species that lives on the North Coast at and near the Giant’s Causeway. For these projects I would like to be out in the field as soon as possible to take advantage of the warmer weather so I’m just waiting on confirmation that I can access the sites from the National Trust and then we’re good to go.

Beautiful scenery at Murlough National Nature Reserve- the site for the National Trust’s second Bioblitz this year (3rd and 4th July); the first is at White Park Bay in County Antrim (19th and 20th June).

The 2015 Bioblitzes are almost here and the organisation is already well under way. Pauline Campbell and I attended a Bioblitz meeting with the National Trust at Murlough House in Co. Down on the 21st of April to discuss ideas for the upcoming Bioblitzes. On the day various events will be taking place to get members of the public interested in their local wildlife and recording, such as butterfly walks and bug hunts and I hope to lead an event at each Bioblitz. I attended a training day at Clandeboye Estate aimed at giving people the skills to identify woodland plant species in particular those that indicate ancient woodland and also in animal tracking. However this event was also a great opportunity for me to see how a training day is managed and I have taken on board some ideas for my own events.

I will be assisting Simon Gray- the National Networks trainee- with an after school’s event in Fermanagh on the 29th of May and as part of this event we will be organising a talk, leading butterfly walks and doing a moth trapping demonstration. Another TCV event that I hope to assist with has been planned for the 30th of May in Kilkeel, County Down and I will probably be running a moth trapping or basic ID session which will contribute to a mini Bioblitz for the site.

The large beetle is the first Carabus clatratus I have seen while sorting through pitfall traps- so a nice find.

In April I continued to sort through pitfall traps and identify spiders and I have also moved on to ground beetle identification and will be sticking with this for a while. Another group I have become interested in is bees in particular solitary bees. This is thanks to the National Biodiversity Data Centre’s Bumblebee Monitoring scheme, which I am completing transects for. I completed my third transect and so far have found four different species of solitary bee as well as the common bumblebee species. I find this amazing as all of these species were right on my doorstep and I never even knew it! It goes to show what you can discover when you take your time to look. I attended a bumblebee identification training day on the 9th of May and I feel much more confident in identifying these species as a result, however I hope to increase my identification skills of the solitary bees as well in the coming weeks. I have also started completing my weekly Butterfly transects for Milford Cutting Nature Reserve.

Ashy mining bee (Andrena cineraria)- a ground nesting species of solitary bee.

To finish up, I’m looking forward to getting the projects started and getting out into the field to do some survey work. I also can’t wait for the Bioblitzes- fingers crossed the good weather stays! I will be keeping an eye out for any more species of solitary bee on my transects – I have issued a challenge for myself and anyone else who is interested 🙂 “How many species of bee can we find in our local areas?”- and I’ll let you know how I get on.

To find out more about the Natural Talent Traineeships, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, CEDaR, National Trust and the National Biodiversity Data Centre please follow the links below: