Monday 9 June 2014

2014 Garden Bio Blitz

On 31st May, I took part in the Garden Bio Blitz survey, which is basically an activity where you set yourself a time period (over 24 hours) to record as many wild species as you can in your garden or in a park; plants, birds, insects anything like that. I did this for the purpose of further examination of the wildlife in the garden, as I had no where near an accurate idea of what exists there; and I was pretty pleased with the turn out.

Our grass that we have let grow wild this year

My garden is a relatively small area, however I try to attract as much wildlife as possible and I was pretty pleased with the turn out of wildlife. As I went on an adventure round the garden I came across some rather wonderful species I didn't even know existed here; i.e yellow slugs, Hedge Mustard, Honesty Plant and some other really extraordinary things.

Honesty Plant

So a little lesson is to be learnt here. Even though you may have a small garden, you never know how much is living there, in fact, like me you would probably be really surprised.

Tree Bumblebee

Buff Tailed Bumblebee

At the end of my count from starting at 9 a.m and finishing at 9 p.m, I counted a total of 111 different species, all of which I have entered on to iRecord as part of the count.  

Yellow Ophion

So next year I advise all of you to at least have a little go at the Garden Bio Blitz. Or maybe try it now and see just how many creatures and plant life you are giving a home to.

Cuckoo Spit (inside is a Frog Hopper)

Even though I saw all this wildlife I reckon there must at least 4 or 5 times as much lurking somewhere in the trees, under the logs, in the plant pots or in our long grass.

Blue Tit Fledglings

And the day was made even more special by being joined by lots of fearless fledglings.

12 comments:

  1. how neat for a naturalist like you! love the fledglings. :)

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  2. I like the idea of blitzing the garden with my dogs I am always surprised at what I find (cuckoo bee the other day).
    The Blue Tits are cure. ..I bet like mine they're noisy!

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  3. I've got a garden just like you, there are hedgehogs, frogs, dragonflies and many more. I love your garden, full of natural things, keep it right, don't let people tell you otherwise.

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  4. You obviously have some great diversity even though the garden is not huge. It's good to see you're turning into an all round naturalist Findlay, and not just a bird freak like me.

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  5. The fledgling birds are especially beautiful. Great photos from your garden.

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  6. The fledglings....awesome.
    You've met your challenge and I must say, well done Findlay

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  7. You have a beautiful garden. I really loved that Honesty Plant. :)

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  8. Cute fledglings and lovely flowers. Congrats on your garden blitz. It actually sounds like fun! Have a happy week!

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  9. have not seen any blue tits fledglings yet. Nice to see yours. :)

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  10. HI Finlay Well done on the number of things found in your garden. that was certainly worth doing and perhaps next year you may have even more. The fledglings are really cute.

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  11. What a fabulous idea! You discovered so many things! Love the blue tit fledgelings!

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  12. Your level of awareness & commitment as a young person gives me hope for the future of global wildlife when the challenges often seem to outweigh the gains. I will look for your profiles on social media to promote your enthusiasm to young people I know.
    Mr. Wilde you are well-named. May the universe reward you 100 times over for your heart and hand work.
    Namaste.

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