Brockholes Bioblitz Begins

I was to have been surveying for bats in Penwortham but a drizzly evening made us decide to postpone for 24hrs. I went to Brockholes to assist in putting out some Longworth traps for small mammals. As I drove towards the barrier I saw my first mammal. This was not a small one. A brown hare decided to committ suicide by running in front of my car. I refused to cooperate and braked hard. I then waited in the office for my colleagues to arrive. We set off after being joined by my brother Jim who came to help with moth trapping. As we approached the area where we would set up our traps a Barn Owl flew past in hunting mode. We watched the bird for a few minutes and realised if it was hunting there, then there could be small mammals in that area. Two more hares shot past as well as a fleeting glimpse of a grey partridge. We set 24 traps up, marked with small canes so we could find them in the morning. As the mammal folk departed we were joined by lepidopterists who came to set up two or three moth traps. Another hare showed up and song thrush, curlew, oystercatcher, sand martin and whitethroat were also heard. The constant light rain meant definitely no bats. We look forward with anticipation to opening both mammal and moth traps in the morning