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The Great British Bee Count (and App) - 2018.

The Great British Bee Count (and App) – 2018.

by Chris, 19 May, 2018, 3 comments

This week saw the start of the 2018 Great British Bee Count.  The aim of the count is to estimate the number of bumblebees and solitary bees that are buzzing around this year.  As the woodlands blog has reported on many occasions, bees and bumblebees are threatened by viruses, mites, pesticides*, inclement weather, habitat loss etc - so a count across the country (from John O'Groats to Land's End) is a 'good thing' informing, for example, the Pollinator Monitoring Scheme how bees and bumblebees are faring across the country.  The information also contributes to the  National Biodiversity Network Atlas  (NBN), which records the current status of all species in the U.K. To help with this, there is a smart phone App - available for either iPhones or Android Phones.  The App enables you to submit sightings of bumblebees and bees (with photos where possible) Read more...
Bees and bumblebees : the threat of extinction.

Bees and bumblebees : the threat of extinction.

by Lewis, 11 April, 2015, 10 comments

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) publishes the Red List.   It is a list of species that are under threat in different parts of the world; it goes back to 1964 when it published the ‘list of threatened plants’. By 2012, the IUCN assessed a total of 63,837 species and reported on their status in the following terms: Extinct (EX) – No known individuals remaining. Extinct in the wild (EW) – Known only to survive in captivity, or as a naturalised population outside its historic range. Read more...
Bees and butterflies - again

Bees and butterflies – again

by Lewis, 28 July, 2013, 3 comments

Last year, the blog commented on how the weather was affecting bees, butterflies and bumblebees, and how this in turn was affecting fruit crops etc.  Fortunately, the picture seems to be somewhat better this year - despite the extended Winter / cold Spring.  Bee keepers are reporting that the populations in their hives are on the increase (Sunday Times 28/7/2013), and the Butterfly Conservation Trust are more optimistic about the recovery of a number of butterfly populations. Preliminary information from the Big Butterfly Count 2013 suggests that the numbers of small tortoiseshells and peacocks are on the increase -as are some rarer species. Read more...
bumble bee

Bees and bumblebees – neonicotinoids

by Lewis, 21 February, 2013, 11 comments

DDT was used an insecticide at the onset of WW2, with great success in terms of controlling malaria and typhus among civilians and troops. After the war, it was available as an agricultural insecticide.  However, within a few years, there were warning signs that not all was well and in 1946, the Soil Association journal read as follows "By the wholesale use of powerful insecticides of which far too little is yet known, we may well be upsetting the whole balance of Nature. We are like schoolboys rat-hunting in a munition dump with a flame-thrower." Some years later (in 1962),  Rachel Carson published ‘Silent Spring’ – which seriously questioned the use of organochlorines, such as DDT and warned of the dangers of the indiscriminate use of insecticides.  The use of these chemicals continued Read more...
Cuckoo Trouble

Cuckoo Trouble

by Chris, 26 March, 2010, 0 comments

Compiled in the UK by organisations such as the RSPB and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO ), the Red List records birds that are considered critically endangered.  Over the last few years the number of birds on the Red List has grown from 40 to 52, including the yellow wagtail, the lapwing and the wood warbler.   A recent addition is the cuckoo.  Read more...
Woodland Birds in Decline?

Woodland Birds in Decline?

by catherine, 22 August, 2008, 3 comments

The latest Breeding Bird Survey for the British Trust for Ornithology in partnership with The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, has highlighted a significant decline in woodland bird species.  The annual survey has revealed numbers down by more than 50% in several species, the worst hit being the willow tit down by 77%.  Read more...
The Dawn Chorus

The Dawn Chorus

by Tom, 23 May, 2008, 1 comments

When did you last listen to the 'dawn chorus'? April and May are the best months for hearing it, but if getting up early is a bit too much to ask, then you could pay a visit to the Breathing Places site at the BBC, where you can select a location and listen to a recording of the 'dawn chorus'. Alternatively, you can download their excellent guide to the dawn chorus and bird song. Read more...

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