Hello everyone,
This last month has flown by and I am now getting rather stuck into my two projects and am surrounded by pots of insects to sort and identify. I have been starting to learn how to identify some of the more tricky species groups of beetles, such as the rove beetles (Staphylinidae). I have also been using some different techniques at Blenheim Park such as bone traps, which are made up of chicken bones wrapped in grass cuttings. These are designed to replicate nests/ carrion in trees and attract dead wood dependant species, however they don’t seem to have worked very well on this occasion, not producing that many beetles. I am yet to identify the catch though so we will see! I can’t wait to get back to Blenheim on Friday and see what my vane traps have caught too as I am hoping the warm weather will have helped. I have identified just over 30 species of dead wood dependant beetle from Blenheim now and hope to at least double that. I have also been to some other sites such as Parham Park in Sussex to look at the dead wood resource and invertebrate species that they have there. We found a number of notable species on our daytrip there and I have a lot still to identify.
Getting ready to put out bone traps
The ant beetle (Thanasimus formicarius) , a rather cool species from Blenheim
My work on ground beetles at Woodwalton Fen NNR also continues to be productive and I am now getting to grips with the species that turn up regularly in my pitfall traps. Some of these species have only been recorded once before on the site so my data is mapping some of the key areas for some of the rarer species. With the assistance of Brian Eversham who came out for a day in the field with me, I have added some more species by hand searching. Brian is CEO of Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire and I learnt a lot from him about surveying and identifying ground beetles.
Blethisa multipunctata, a rare wetland ground beetle
Chlaenius nigricornis, another rare wetland ground beetle
I can hardly believe it, but I am now half way through my traineeship and will soon have to start to use my new skills to apply for jobs again. I attended a catchup with my other Natural Talent trainees and the Natural Networks trainees in Leeds. There I spoke about my traineeship so far and gave a quick workshop on solitary bees. These two days were really good as I could catch up with my peers, here about what they have been up to and we could share our experiences so far!
Myself, Imogen and Lorna (fellow NT trainees)
I have also visited the TCV group in Leicester when they were doing a task at ‘The Orchard’. This site is a hidden gem in the centre of Leicester and I showed the volunteers why their work matters in terms of providing habitats for invertebrates. I hope to go back soon to the site to provide a days training for the volunteers there and show them how to survey insects and how to recognise some key groups and species. I find this really rewarding so look forward to it.
This next month will fly by again I am sure! You can follow my progress more quickly on my personal Twitter account and the Natural Talent Twitter account.