As always this month has been hectic. Despite being away on holiday for two weeks, I have managed to pack in a lot in my work time this month!
A Focus on Nature Insect Workshop
I sit on the committee for A Focus on Nature a group that brings together people between the ages of 16 and 30 in Britain that have an interest in wildlife. I was asked to lead some workshops for other young naturalists at an insect weekend, based at the Old Sulehay Nature Reserve in Northamptonshire. My first workshop was on dead wood invertebrates, where I introduced this group and spoke about how people can get involved with recording easily recognisable dead wood dependant species such as longhorn beetles. My second workshop was on bees, which was really enjoyable as I love bees and it is great to be able to show people that there is more to the world of bees than honey bees and bumblebees. Unfortunately when we went out into the field in order to try find some solitary bees, we couldn’t find any so had to make do with bumblebees. The value of pinned specimens was highlighted here though as it enabled me to show the group the key features of solitary bees and highlight just how diverse and wonderful this group is. I really enjoyed leading workshops at this event and also learning more about other groups which I know less about. Since then I have been finding lots of Orthoptera (Grasshoppers and Bush Crickets) to survey!
Myself teaching bee ecology
Reference specimens are essential, especially when you are learning a new group. These are some of my bees to help highlight British bee diversity.
Blenheim and Woodwalton Surveying
I am still continuing to survey for dead wood beetles at Blenheim Palace and Carabids (ground beetles) and Staphilinids (rove beetles) at Woodwalton Fen. I have 2 months or so left of sampling and then I will be busy getting everything identified before I write everything up and get it published (hopefully). The reference collection I am building will also be a great starting point for any survey work that I do in the future.
Countryfile Live
This years Countryfile Live event took place at Blenheim Palace, where I do my dead wood beetle surveys. I went along to the event to help Buglife with a stand showcasing this great charity. The stand was a bug hotel which left many people inspired and want to build one of their own. I was also there to be filmed for Countryfile about my project, which was terrifying but gave me a real buzz when it was over and it was great to meet Anita Rani too. This was due to form part of the show aired on Sunday the 21st August however it was unfortunately no longer included in the show.
Bumblebee Transect
Although I have been doing lots on beetles this year, I have still maintained my interest and passion for bees and wasps, so jumped at an opportunity to do a bumblebee transect for Buglife at Canvey Wick Nature Reserve in Essex. This site has lots of rare bees and wasps. My main focus of this trip was to survey the brown banded carder bee (Bombus humilis) and shrill carder bee (Bombus sylvarum), neither of which I had seen before. I found quite a few of each species and was able to note the plants which they were visiting, and therefore help conserve these species on this remarkable site. While I was there I also saw lots other cool bees and wasps too, including the pantaloon bee (Dasypoda hirtipes), bee wolf (Philanthus triangulum) and the wasp Astata boops, all sand loving species.
Canvey Wick Bees and Wasps
Outreach
I have been engaging with the public in a number of ways this month. Firstly my article for the National Forum for Biological Recording came out this month, you can read about it here. Secondly I co-led a moth trapping session at Ferry Meadows in Peterborough, this was great fun and allowed me to engage children (and their parents!) with moths. I was also at the Buglife stall on the Saturday of this years Birdfair, which brings together people with an interest in Natural History. This was a useful experience and taught me a lot about engaging with the public. I also listened to a number of talks including great ones by Nick Baker and the inspirational Jess French who both spoke about engaging younger people with nature, including invertebrates. It was a great chance to meet up with other members of A Focus on Nature, the youth conservation network.
A Focus on Nature, bringing together young people in Britain interested in Wildlife. Photo: Beth Aucott
Don’t forget you can follow my traineeship on my personal Twitter account and the Natural Talent Twitter account.