AFON
Bugs at Birdfair – Ryan Clark
Last weekend I was at the Birdfair at Rutland Water, an annual event labelled ‘the birdwatchers Glastonbury’. I went to this event for one day last year and decided that I would make the most of it and go for all three days this year, camping on a nearby camp site. I was kindly invited to co-lead two invertebrate walks for the Wildlife Trusts, along with Dr Brian Eversham (@BrianE_Cambs). Aside for being CEO of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust, Brian is a great friend and an amazing naturalist. I have never co-led a walk before and was honoured to be given the chance to do so. It has been one of my aims for a while now but I have never felt knowledgeable or confident enough to do so.
The bug walkers starter to trickle in and were handed pots, sandwich bags and a sweep net. It is always lovely to see the excitement on people’s faces, young and old(er) when you give them a sweep net. We headed to a meadow area and instructed everyone on how to use a sweep net properly and safely. For the next 30 mins or so everyone spread around the meadow swishing their nets through the vegetation and beating trees and shrubs to see what falls out. We then repeated the walk on Sunday with another group of victims (bug walk participants).
Even though Nick Baker had been in the meadow before us and probably caused some invertebrates to vanish, we still found probably around 75 species per walk. Rumour also has it that our walks were just as popular as Nick’s! One of the best things about the walks for me, was the variety of people that came along. From experienced naturalists, to complete novices. From toddlers, to lots of young people including plenty of AFON people (mainly due to my tweets which is great!) and older adults. We were all united in a love for invertebrates.
I would like to thank Brian for letting me assist him with the walks and thank everyone that came along. Bring on ‘Bug walks with Brian and Ryan’ at the Birdfair in 2016. The photos below form a quiz which is also on the AFON Facebook page. Message me the answers on Facebook or Twitter (@RyanClarkNature) to take part. You have until 11:59pm on the 11th September to take part!
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