Picnic and Bioblitz for Blyth Woods Friends

On Sunday afternoon last week twenty-five of the Friends of Blyth Woods turned up at Grove Woods for a Bioblitz and Picnic Tea.

This year we focussed the Bioblitz on Malster’s Little Field where we hoped to see a greater variety of wildlife species following the pond restoration and some management of the rest of the field. Everyone went off with clipboards and searched and recorded for over an hour. Then John lit the Kelly Kettle to make tea and coffee and the rest of the steering group uncovered a table full of delicious picnic food. The Kelly Kettle smoked, flamed and steamed, the tea was made and trays of food offered around. Judging by the amount eaten and the favourable comments we think that we maintained our reputation of being the group that provides the best food!

There was much discussion on the finer points of identification as we looked to see what had been recorded. We were not disappointed in the diversity, many new plant species for this year were found that had germinated from the seed bank that must have been in the mud at the bottom of the pond. Some were found in the spoil that had been spread over part of the field and more at the pond edges and in the pond itself. Everyone commented on the large numbers of dragon flies and damsel flies all around the area.

A full list of what was found will be in the next Friends newsletter and will be posted on the website.