Bioblitz Report Final.Pdf
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Final Report 27th - 28th September 2019 By Coral Smith, Nicholas Helm and Jack Sewell The 2019 Wembury BioBlitz took place over the course of two days on the 27th and 28th September 2019 with over 600 participants taking part. A BioBlitz is an intensive survey of all wildlife living within a set area (see map below) in a roughly 24-hour period (including overnight) conducted by scientists and naturalists, with the support of the local community and volunteers. Lead partners, Devon Wildlife Trust (DWT) and the Marine Biological Association of the UK (MBA), have extensive experience of delivering BioBlitzs’ and this year’s event was a combined celebration of the 25th anniversary of DWT’s Wembury Marine Centre and the 10th anniversary of the MBA’s annual BioBlitz, the first of which took place at Wembury in 2009. BioBlitz events are citizen science events, which attract participants from all sections of society, including those who may not normally get involved in conservation or ‘science’ activities. They are a brilliant way to bring together a whole community to discover wildlife, learn new skills and be inspired to protect their local environment. DWT and the MBA were joined by numerous local and national partner organisations, whom supported the event through the delivery of activities, schools’ sessions, providing equipment and/or hosting interactive stands. This report summarises the main outcomes of the event and has been produced by staff and volunteers from Devon Wildlife Trust and The Marine Biological Association of the UK, with contributions from partners. Thanks to the following for providing the photographs, and figures for this report: Jack Sewell Marine Biological Association Coral Smith Devon Wildlife Trust Karen Williams Devon Moth Group Adam Davison South Devon AONB Nicholas Helm Marine Biological Association Map of 2019 Wembury BioBlitz survey area distributed to participants St Pirans Hermit Crab - Clibanarius erthyropus Logos of partner organisations which were added to the back of the BioBlitz T Shirts for staff and volunteers Schools activities A total of 283 school pupils took part in the BioBlitz event, including every child from the local Wembury Primary School, as well as classes from two other local primary schools. A ‘Mini BioBlitz’ was held up at Wembury Primary School for Key Stage 1 pupils, with staff/volunteers from Devon Wildlife Trust, the National Trust and Devon Moth Group leading activities. Sessions were based around Bird Sound, local Moths and Butterflies, and the fascinating lives of Minibeasts. Key Stage 1 pupils enjoying the mini BioBlitz in their school grounds & Privet Hawk Moth Key stage 2 pupils walked down to the main BioBlitz basecamp at Wembury Beach, ready for a full day of exciting activities delivered by partners from DWT, the MBA and South Devon AONB. The Wembury pupils were joined by two classes from Oreston Primary and Dunstone Primary Schools (see timetable below). The children also had a chance to look around the Basecamp and meet expert scientists and environmental education practitioners from numerous organisations around Devon and the wider region. Wembury Explorers Timetable of school activities for KS2 pupils down at the beach/basecamp. The school groups in front of base camp receiving a safety briefing from Jack Sewell from the MBA and Adam Davison from AONB. The unusual find of a green ormer shell (right). Local Community Engagement One of the most important outcomes of this project was to engage and involve the local Wembury community. A pre-event evening talk was delivered at the local village hall on September 5th by staff from DWT and the MBA, along with guest speaker, local underwater photographer, Chair of the Wembury MCA Advisory Group and marine biologist Dr Paul Naylor. Residents were introduced to how a BioBlitz event worked, what activities would be taking place and how they could get involved, as well as learning about the fascinating marine wildlife which also calls Wembury home. Participants were encouraged to register via Eventbrite and by the time the event came around on September 27th, there were 115 volunteers registered to help, many of whom came from the local Wembury community, as well as students and volunteers from the wider Plymouth/South Hams area. In order to thank volunteers for giving up their time to support the event, the funding allowed for dinner and breakfast to be provided free of charge, as well as the purchase of Wembury Bioblitz T- Shirts for volunteers to wear during the event and then keep afterwards. These T-Shirts helped the public quickly identify helpers and activity leads. Dinner was provided by local caterers/volunteers, thereby keeping the emphasis on supporting and including the local community in all aspects. Poster for the evening talk at Wembury Village Hall, an enthralled audience listening to Dr Paul Naylor & a copy of his most recent book cover, which features many species from Wembury Bay. Public Events A programme of activities kicked off at 10am on Friday 27th September and ran through until 4pm on Saturday 28th. Activities were open for participants of all ages to attend and expert naturalists led walks, talks and surveys, covering a wide range of species and habitats, including shore safaris, woodland and meadow wanders, dusk and night-time wildlife wanders. A total of 205 members of the public registered and a total of 250 took part in the events below (see timetable below). Public events timetable as distributed to participants, showing activities taking place throughout the 24-hour survey period. Churchwood Woodland Walk Phil Sansum and Alex Worsley from DWT Devon Biodiversity Records Centre led the first terrestrial walk of the BioBlitz up into Churchwood Valley woodland, accompanied by local naturalists and volunteers. A highlight was the non-native Species, Favolaschia calocera (Orange Pore fungus), found growing on sycamore woody debris on the woodland floor. The species was first recorded in Madagascar and now found in many other countries globally. There were 28 species of fungus recorded during the walk and 155 species of vascular plants and bryophytes. Numerous species of fungus and lichen were recorded during the BioBlitz, the total came to 105 species as of 21/11/2019. Fish & Plankton Netting Although the waves were particularly wild on the day, ‘Team Fish’ managed to get a Seine net in the water, catching some interesting species. There were the regulars such as Turbot and Blenny, but also an injured Conger eel, which could have had an encounter with a nearby Grey seal! Other species such as plaice, sand smelt, dragonet and several goby species were also recorded through the event. Doug Herdson (Marine Fish Information Service) examining the catch and a rather wet and windswept Richard Ticehurst (University of Plymouth) after filming seine netting with BBC Countryfile. Meadow & Churchyard Wander and Moth Reveal Despite the incredibly strong winds and poor weather experienced on Friday 27th, a meadow and churchyard wander led by Barry Henwood, Amy Walkden and David Gibbon from Butterfly Conservation/Devon Moth Group, combined with overnight moth trapping, yielded a significant number of invertebrate species to add to the count, with the final invertebrate count coming to 536 species. Fox moth larva and Silver Y Moth recorded during the Meadow and Churchyard Wander led by Barry Henwood and Amy Walkden; and an Unarmed stick insect recorded in Down Thomas during the 24-hour survey period. Dusk Walk Friday evening’s Dusk Walk into the surrounding wooded valley was led by Ed Parr Ferris from Devon Wildlife Trust, along with freelance ecologist Adam Chambers. This was a very popular event and many local families came along with lots of excited children! Following the event, Ed reported: “The bat walk was very popular with 44 people of all ages joining us. With such high winds, we weren’t that optimistic of getting any bats, but the valley woodland was the best chance. As we were explaining how the detectors worked, we started to get common pipistrelle flying around us. There were at least four or five individuals and we heard their feeding buzzes – which was exciting. We thought we may have picked up soprano pipistrelle too, but hard to separate from common pips as there was so much activity. With everyone happy that we’d heard and seen bats, we headed back down the valley to see if we could pick up any bats using the strandline. Unfortunately, it was so windy that there were no bats and it was hard to hear each other! We didn’t get any more bats but the detectors picked up a fair few crickets in the hedges. Happy, windswept and feeling like we’d had some fun, those few remaining went back for a cuppa.” The large group heads out through the meadow into Churchwood Valley woodland; Alex and Tom talk about the local nightlife; and the weather conditions on the beach prove too windy to pick up any bats using special detectors. Night-time Rockpool Safari Arguably the highlight of this year’s BioBlitz, a midnight ramble across the Wembury Shore revealed a suite of species not normally seen in daylight hours. Sightings included two individuals of the very rare Giant goby, as well as a snoozing Corkwing wrasse, whom in a dazed state allowed us to get close enough to collect several parasitic isopods (blood sucking relatives of woodlice) from its body! The focus provided by searching with torchlight enabled participants to find other smaller, more unusual shore inhabitants, including stalked jellyfish, nudibranchs and sea spiders. Using a UV torch highlighted the beautiful florescence in several species, including snakelocks anemones (see photo). The change in how everything behaved under cover of dark was very noticeable, with crabs scuttling over feet and limpets openly grazing on seaweed and many other species, usually confined to holes and crevices, actively foraging and grazing around pools and over rocks creating a symphony of sound.