So it's been a bit of a while since the last post, a full month in fact, but I have got a very good reason for that. I've been on my jollies 😀 In fact I've actually been away twice! First I had a lovely, peaceful, relaxing week away with Maria in Gran Canaria where we did absolutely nothing but chill for the whole time we were away. Then I had an exciting week in Tarifa with friends observing bird migration in action as thousands of individuals headed north from their wintering grounds in Africa to spend the summer months in Europe. Two completely and utterly different holidays but both excellent in their own way. If I get round to it I may do a separate post about the Tarifa week but time always has its own ideas........
So workwise, away from typical day to day Ranger duties, our 2023 Nature Events program has begun. As always we've got a long list of Events booked in for the year ahead covering a whole range of different wildlife from birds to moths and sealife to pondlife.
This years program kicked off at Souter with a visit from a local scout group who wanted a general nature day followed by a tour of the lighthouse. When we arrived on the morning the weather conditions were awful, it was cold, wet and windy and truth be told it was not the best of days to be looking for wildlife, but when the kids arrived they were full of excitement and expectations which was not only infectious but exactly the right attitude to have! Thankfully the rain had passed through when we began the event at the moth trap, which Nick had kindly switched on while I was in Gran Canaria. As myself and Neil approached the trap we both doubted there would be much, if anything in due to the poor weather but it turned out we were both very pleasantly surprised. As we went through the egg cartons one by one the number of moths steadily grew until we ended up with 40 individuals. The bulk of them were Hebrew Characters, a pretty common species at this time of year, but they were joined by three other species, Clouded Drab, Early Grey and Common Quaker. So definitely a better start to the day than we were anticipating but alas that didn't continue for our next stop. While myself and Neil were at the moth trap, John and Michelle had put the nets out ready for a mini bird ringing demo. By the time we joined them at the ringing hut they had only caught one bird, again, the weather having a negative impact on proceedings. But we talked the kids through the process of catching and ringing birds and the reasons of surveying etc so they at least learned something despite not seeing any birds in the hand. It was a shame but there's very little we can do when the weather is so bad. The last part of the event was a general nature walk around the Coastal Park, but as expected wildlife was a bit thin on the ground. We managed to see a few species of bird but no bees or butterflies etc Thankfully we had a better time checking the ponds in the Nature Reserve as there were both frogs and toads out, meaning the kids had something fun to see close up. The day ended there for myself and Neil as Vicki then took the group for a tour of the lighthouse, but before we left the Scout Leader thanked us for a great session. Despite the miserable weather the kids had had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed the day. And to be honest so had we 😀
Hebrew Character moth
Common Frog
The second event was on Easter Sunday as we had our first Rockpool Ramble of the year, again at Souter. Rockpooling is by far the most popular event we do, and personally an absolute favourite of mine and I look forward to each and every one of them. Thankfully the weather wasn't at all an issue for this event and we enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours. Myself, John and Neil were joined by a new member of the team Hayley, who, to our surprise, had never been rockpooling before!!! So it was a great learning experience for her and she seemed to really enjoy the session. Of course what helped was finding lots of wildlife! In previous years we've tended to get off to a relatively quiet start but on this occasion we actually had lots to see. Everyone loves to find crabs when rockpooling, and in this session we found five different types! We also had fish, Squat Lobsters and Starfish, but the highlight for us were the couple of Blue Rayed Limpets we found, a beautiful little mollusc that we really don't find that often. One of them was actually found by Hayley, so she can definitely come back!
Blue Rayed Limpet
Common Starfish
WORKPLACE WILDLIFE CHALLENGE
Well as Spring starts to really kick in so too does the list start to grow. As we see the last of the winter birds leaving we begin to welcome the arrival of the birds that are here for the summer. One of the first to arrive, as always, is the Wheatear and for birders it's always exciting to get your first of the year as it tends to indicate exciting times ahead. We've also seen the first Warblers arrive for the summer, including Chiffchaffs, Blackcaps and an early singing Grasshopper Warbler. Away from birds, the rockpool event added a nice little amount to the list. A couple of unexpected Palmate Newts were a nice find at the farm and the switching on of the moth trap at the lighthouse should see the moth numbers shoot up in the coming weeks. This is when it gets exciting!
SPECIES LIST
102. CHIFFCHAFF - Phylloscopus collybita
103. WHOOPER SWAN - Cygnus cygnus
104. WHEATEAR - Oenanthe oenanthe
105. GRASSHOPPER WARBLER - Locustella naevia
106. BLACKCAP - Sylvia atricapilla
107. SAND MARTIN - Riparia riparia
108. COMMON FROG - Rana temporaria
109. COMMON TOAD - Bufo bufo
110. PALMATE NEWT - Lissotriton helveticus
111. BEADLET ANEMONE - Actinia equina
112. EDIBLE CRAB - Cancer pagurus
113. GREEN SHORE CRAB - Carcinus maenas
114. VELVET SWIMMING CRAB - Necora puber
115. BROAD CLAWED PORCELAIN CRAB - Porcellana platycheles
116. LONG CLAWED PORCELAIN CRAB - Pisidia longicornis
117. COMMON SQUAT LOBSTER - Galathea squamifera
118. COMMON LIMPET - Patella vulgata
119. BLUE RAYED LIMPET - Patella pellucida
120. GREY TOPSHELL - Steromphala cineraria
121. SPOTTED COWRIE - Trivia monacha
122. FLAT PERIWINKLE - Littorina obtusata
123. COMMON PERIWINKLE - Littorina littorea
124. DOG WHELK - Nucella lapillus
125. ACORN BARNACLE - Semibalanus balanoides
126. COMMON STARFISH - Asterias rubens
127. SHORE ROCKLING - Gaidropsarus mediterraneus
128. BUTTERFISH - Pholis gunnellus
129. SEA SCORPION - Myoxocephalus scorpius
130. RABBIT HUTCH SPIDER - Steatoda bipunctata
131. SNAKE BACK SPIDER - Segestria senoculata
132. CELLAR SPIDER - Pholcus phalangioides
133. BROWN HOUSE MOTH - Hofmannophila pseudospretella
134. HEBREW CHARACTER MOTH - Orthosia gothica
135. CLOUDED DRAB MOTH - Orthosia incerta
136. COMMON QUAKER MOTH - Orthosia cerasi
137. EARLY GREY MOTH - Xylocampa areola
138. RED SWORDGRASS MOTH - Xylena vetusta
139. TWIN SPOTTED QUAKER MOTH - Anorthoa munda
140. CHAMOMILE SHARK MOTH - Cucullia chamomillae
141. BLACK SNAIL BEETLE - Silpha atrata
142. CADDISFLY sp - Stenophylax sp
143. WOODLOUSE sp - Philoscia sp
PALMATE NEWTS
NAUGHTY TOADS
BLACK SNAIL BEETLE
CHAMOMILE SHARK MOTH
SQUAT LOBSTER
LONG and BROAD CLAWED PORCELAIN CRABS
BEADLET ANEMONE
