The Magor Marsh Family Bioblitz went ahead on Saturday 16th June from 1-4pm. 18 volunteers and 7 staff members were present undertaking a thorough biological audit of the site. They were also joined by 10 enthusiastic members of the public at the event. Between them , they managed to record several hundred species of plants and animals including the poplar hawkmoth, golden-bloomed grey long horned beetle, common carder bee and a cupboard spider (a false widow spider that is rarely recorded in Gwent). The weather and other events may have reduced the visitor numbers but didn’t dampen our enthusiasm for learning more about nature.
Feedback about the event was very positive, all said they had learnt very specific things about nature and learnt a lot from each other too. One of the volunteers reported that they can now identify a shrill carder bee and has learnt how to catch bees safely so that he can now show others how to do this and undertake a bumble transect on other sites. One boy turned to his Dad at the end of the day and said “ Can we buy a moth trap please”. Great stuff – we’re so pleased to be creating more ambassadors for the fantastic nature and wildlife of the Gwent Levels!
