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Wednesday 30th July

As from Monday 28th July River Cottage is welcoming a group of biologists from the University of Gloucestershire, led by Dr Adam Hart, (Course Leader Biosciences), to carry out a biodiversity study.  They will be looking at the plants and animals on the farm, identifying the different species and getting an idea of their abundance.  They will be writing their own blogs for our website and let you know what they have found which will also have links so that you can find out more about some of the discoveries they make.

When they've finished, they will create some information boards to go up on around the farm and some suggestions on how to keep, and increase, biodiversity.  For those of you who have yet to visit us at HQ they will also suggest ways that everyone can increase biodiversity in their gardens.  One way would be to have your own pond - but don't think you need to dig anything too big, a ceramic basin sunk into the ground (put the plug in first!) can attract all manner of plants, creepy crawlies, frogs, toads, newts and birds to your garden.

A relatively warm but overcast, and windy day meant that many creatures were a little quieter today. However, a 7am start checking the traps led to the first mammal trap success - a pygmy shrew. In the pitfall traps, a lesser stag beetle was found (not as rare as the larger stag beetle but a nice find nonetheless), as well as several ground beetle species. Some sampling of the plant life around the meadows and wetter areas revealed a great many meadow and marsh species as well as some buntings to add to the growing bird species list. Woodlarks, a species on the Devon Biodiversity Action Plan, were also found. With only a few days left it is time to move the mammal traps, hopefully to more profitable locations, and to do some bat detecting as the evening approaches. A warm and dry night will also allow some more moth-trapping and some nocturnal observation of wildlife around the farm.

If you are interested in helping birds in your garden then why not visit the RSPB’s website? There are lots of useful tips on getting more birds visiting your garden and giving them a helping hand with food, water and nest sites.

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