On Wednesday and Thursday last week, we carried out some important biological recording in order to gain a better understanding of the wildlife that exists at the sites where we were working. The sites we recorded at, were the Bonnyfield Nature Reserve and the Roughcastle/Antonine Wall area, near the Falkirk Wheel. We will no doubt have provided these sites with valuable recording data, relating to the species that exist at these two sites.
On the Wednesday, we recorded wildlife at the Bonnyfield Nature Reserve in Falkirk. This site provided us with a wide variety of habitats, within which we could look for a wide array of invertebrates, birds, wildflowers, trees and mammals. Also, the wetland areas of this site allowed us to look for amphibians and other aquatic creatures. At this site, we were lucky enough to record two species of dragonfly: the Hawker Dragonfly and the Common Darter. Other findings at this site included: a Whirlygig beetle, Field Vole, Wood Warbler, an Osier Willow and what we eventually agreed after much deliberation, was a Tea-leafed Willow.
At Roughcastle last Thursday, the glorius sunny weather allowed us to record many of the common butterfly species including, the Small Tortishell, Red Admiral and the Peacock. Other species that we recorded at this site included wildflowers, such as Sneezewort, Eyebright and Common Tormentil. As for invertebrates, our exciting discoveries included two species of beetle; carabus problematicus and cychrus caraboides, which we all agreed were our best finds of the week.
Hopefully in the future, we can maintain our recent biological recording efforts and record many more speices.