Biological Surveys at Hunsbury Hill Country Park 2018
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FRIENDS OF WEST HUNSBURY PARKS BIOLOGICAL SURVEYS AT HUNSBURY HILL COUNTRY PARK 2018 Ryan Clark Northamptonshire Biodiversity Records Centre April 2019 Northamptonshire Biodiversity Records Centre Introduction Biological records tell us which species are present on sites and are essential in informing the conservation and management of wildlife. In 2018, the Northamptonshire Biodiversity Records Centre ran a number of events to encourage biological recording at Hunsbury Hill Fort as part of the Friends of West Hunsbury Park’s project, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Hunsbury Hill Country Park is designated as a Local Wildlife Site (LWS). There are approximately 700 Local Wildlife Sites in Northamptonshire. Local Wildlife Sites create a network of areas, which are important as refuges for wildlife or wildlife corridors. Hunsbury Hill Country Park was designated as a LWS in 1992 for its woodland flora and the variety of habitats that the site possesses. The site also has a Local Geological Site (LGS) which highlights the importance of this site for its geology as well as biodiversity. This will be surveyed by the local geological group in due course. Hunsbury Hill Country Park Local Wildlife Site Boundary 1 Northamptonshire Biodiversity Records Centre (NBRC) supports the recording, curation and sharing of quality verified environmental information for sound decision-making. We hold nearly a million biological records covering a variety of different species groups. Before the start of this project, we looked to see which species had been recorded at the site. We were surprised to find that the only records we have for the site have come from Local Wildlife Site Surveys, which assess the quality of the site and focus on vascular plants, with some casual observations of other species noted too. So, we know a fair amount the plants that are present on the site that make up this variety of habitats, but little was known about what other species were present on site. A total of 143 species had been recorded on the site up to the start of 2018 (fig 1). Knowing which other species are present on the site is essential to be able to take them into account in the management and also to highlight the importance of the site to the general public to help them engage with it and protect its natural heritage. Grasshoppers, 1 Flies, 2 Bees, 1 Reptiles, 1 Damselflies, 1 Butterflies, 3 Birds, 9 Vascular plants, 125 Figure 1: Species recorded up to the start of 2018 In 2018, Matt Johnson from the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire carried out a habitat survey as part of the Friends of West Hunsbury Park’s Lottery Funded Project. The report from this survey is available on the Friends’ website. This habitat survey generated records for a large number of vascular plants, and a 2 number of other species, many of which were new to the site. All of these records will be included in the records centre database. Encouraging Biological Recording in the Country Park Volunteers collect the majority of biological records. The records centre is reliant on these volunteer recorders to provide us with the data, which forms an evidence base so that biodiversity is taken into account in decision making. As the records centre is so reliant on volunteer recorders, the WILDside Project was launched in 2017. This project is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and runs until the end of 2019. This project is all about encouraging and supporting biological recording in Northamptonshire. Throughout this project, we have been learning how to support biological recording more effectively and used what we had learnt to shape the activities we thought would help biological recording in the country park. We wanted local people to know that they could make a difference so gave a talk to the residents about wildlife recording and followed this up with a training day. We also had a BioBlitz to engage the public with the site and the wildlife present there. Hunsbury Park School backs onto the Country Park so it was important to engage the primary school children there with the site so we ran a session for them too. Myself giving a talk to local residents about biological recording 3 Biological Recording Training Day Following on from analysis of records in the database which showed that the Local Wildlife Site was under recorded in terms of the species that are found there, a training day was developed to teach participants how to generate high quality biological records. The focus was on species other than vascular plants as these have been covered by previous surveys. A presentation in the morning outlined what biological records are and their importance. A walk in the afternoon put this into practice with participants walking around the site and recording the species that they encountered. Lots of biological records were made on the day, with the majority of species encountered new for the site. All of these records are now in the records centre database. Myself showing participants an insect we found during the survey. They then looked up the species in the book and filled in the recording form. 4 One of the recording forms which participants filled in on the day The feedback from the day was positive as the day highlighted the importance of recording, the lack of records for the site and the wealth of wildlife that there is on the site. Following the workshop, it is hoped that local residents continue to monitor wildlife on the site and submit records to the records centre. Forest School Day On the 28th June, Ryan Clark and Rosalind Johnson ran an afternoon of activities with students from Hunsbury Park Primary School in the Local Wildlife Site. The school backs onto the county park area so the main aim of the afternoon was to teach the children about the wildlife in the area so they become more connected with it. An additional aim was to teach them basic identification skills and get them to look closer at the natural world around them. 5 The children could: Draw species Use identification charts to identify species Hunt for leaves, grasses and wildflowers to see what species they could find Use magnifying glasses to see species up close Using pooters to pick up insects without hurting them Pretend to be mice and have to be quiet and sneak around ‘the owl’ The children were shown the different activities and the ‘recording boundary’ and then given the freedom to choose which of these activities they wanted to do and change whenever they felt like it. This was so that they could feel free to explore the natural world around them whilst being safe. Some children drew insects they found 6 Some students drew and identified wildflowers Some students collected and identified wildflowers and leaves 7 The feedback we received from the day from both students and staff was very positive. The students learnt lots and had a great time while the staff picked up a few ideas for activities they would run again. Jacqueline Hughes, the forest school leader for the school said ‘Thank you so much for such an amazing afternoon. You inspired the children AND the adults to want to look more closely at the woodland and grassland areas. We were all so excited using the pooters...I feel I may have to buy some for school. It was a joy to see the children working so independently either on their own or in groups. Some were so focused on their tasks - and for many children this does not happen in the school environment.’ All the species that the children found were identified where possible and recorded. BioBlitz A BioBlitz is an intense period of biological recording, often in a public space. The aims of this BioBlitz were twofold. First, we wanted to generate robust data that highlights which species use the area. Secondly, we wanted to engage local people with the hillfort and highlight the wealth of wildlife around them so they appreciate and protect it. Traditionally a BioBlitz takes place over a 24 hour period so we split the event into an evening and a daytime session in order to maximise the number of species recorded. 8 31st August 2018 On the 31st August we had two evening sessions where around 20 members of the public joined us to do a bat survey and take part in moth trapping. The bat walk was really popular and allowed participants to see, and hear, three species of bat – the Common Pipistrelle, Soprano Pipistrelle and the Noctule. We then went back to see what the moth traps had attracted. The public loved seeing the 30 moth species that we recorded and a selection of these moths were kept overnight to show the public the following day, before being released. The moth traps also attracted a wide variety of other species, which generated more records for the site and engaged the public with these species too. One participant commented on how nice it was to see hornets up close. A full account of the moth trapping can be found in Appendix 2. Other feedback from these walks was very positive. With one participant saying that it is was a ‘Fun group activity suitable for all the family. We enjoyed learning a bit about bats at the beginning before going out. Also enjoyed the opportunity to do moth trapping as well.’ Others commented that ‘I had 2 young children with me and I felt that it was perfect for them and they had good interaction with the radios pictures and walk.’ Broad-bordered Yellow Underwing.