We were blessed with perfect weather for Go Wild in the Woods, our special biodiversity celebration day on 2nd June at Firestone Copse.

The day started bright and early at 5am with a dawn chorus walk followed by lots of other great wildlife activities throughout the day including pond dipping, woodland crafts, wildflower and butterfly walks, tree climbing, canoe safaris and outdoor art, drawing to a close with night time bat walks and moth trapping.

Many environmental organisations took part and all were kept very busy with a continuous stream of families and other interested participants. Many families found enough to keep them occupied all day.

Also happening during the day was the Island’s very first BioBlitz, one of a host of such events taking place this year throughout the country. The National Bioblitz is all about volunteers, scientists, naturalists, wildlife enthusiasts and members of the public working together to find as many species as possible all within a twenty four hour period! The event saw experts seeking out everything from lichens to spiders and beetles and pond life. Stream dipping, moth trapping at dusk and the dawn chorus walk provided cooler diversions from the hot sunny weather.

At the end of the 24 hours, a staggering 431 species were recorded from Firestone Copse. This is an impressive score for our first Bioblitz event. Amongst the more unusual species were a nightjar clearly seen at dusk, wild service trees growing along the water’s edge, red and black froghoppers and flounder and grey mullet in the creek.

A huge thank you to everybody who took part in the day!