A little rain, a lot of records

After a good start last night we went to Brockholes with anticipation of a good day. On arrival we saw Zach who had had a cuckoo before 0700. For us the first task was to empty the moth traps. Clinging to both the outside of the trap and the gazebo were two examples of what turned out to be the moth of the day, - Eyed hawk moth. It was a stunner.

 We also had barred straw, dark arches and an ermine. From here we then went to check our mammal traps. A slightly dissapointing start was soon forgotten when we found a wood mouse, a bank vole and a common shrew. Setting the traps again we proceeded to help folk set up a variety of gazebos. There were representatives from the Lancashire Badger Group, The newly formed Mammal Group, The Preston Society, OPAL and folk who were from Brockholes itself helping with moths, bugs, flowers and birds. The most important one as far as the day itself was concerned was the Lancashire Environmental Recording Network. The Bioblitz was all about gaining lots of records for Brockholes.
I accompanied David Earle, BSBI recorder for VC59 on a trip to find vascular plants.We walked along the river for a short distance and for me the good finds were welted thistle and cuckoo flower still in bloom. I then had to leave David to return to the Badger stall. He carried on round the reserve. I then heard about the best flower of the day - Climbing Corydalis. The constant gentle rain seemed to put off many visitors, but for those who attended it was a superb day. We also had worm catching, more wildflower walks, bug hunts, bird watching and small mammal trapping. The second time we emptied the traps we had two more common shrews, which I felt were the mammals of the day. Most of the birders said that the bird of the day (1600 on Friday to 1600 on Saturday) was a grey partiridge seen Friday evening. Thanks to Lorraine for organising this. Can we have another one please? but not on Glastonbury weekend, it always rains.