To bee or not to bee?
Victoria Park: Victoria Park Action Group (VPAG) in conjunction with Urban Buzz/Buglife are proposing some more wildflower meadows in 2018. They aim to introduce more native wildflower species into the boggy long grass area that faces Hill Avenue. It is already a long-grass triangle, but a bit poor in species being mainly coarse grasses with bare patches from flooding. Appropriate plants will attract butterflies, hoverflies and bees. This area will look different to the mini-meadow strips already created elsewhere in the park and make the boggy area more interesting to people, but also to the small creatures that rule the world.
The butterflies are coming
It’s now official! Spring is here! Butterflies could appear at any moment. Among the creatures that you might see early in the year are Holly Blue, Speckled Wood, Orange Tip and Brimstone. And, perhaps, Red Admirals. Good luck!!
Winter garden birds
Please forward your bird lists to MyWildBedminster@virginmedia.com or to My Wild Bedminster, Southville Centre, Beauley Road, Bristol, BS3 1QG as soon after March 31 as you can, so that we can begin our analysis. Please let us know if you want to help with this analysis. The next Winter Garden Bird survey will start on October 1, but there’s no reason why you can’t do a summer survey, if you want.
Butterfly nets
Nets and other butterflying equipment can be secured from several places e.g. I recently bought a net from www.watdon.co.uk for around £20 including postage. Hours of fun for all ages and no harm done to the butterflies!!
Hedgehogs
These will be waking up around now, so keep your eyes peeled. We are fairly sure that there are populations in Victoria park, but not sure about smaller green spaces. We don’t know how strong the Victoria Park colonies are or how we might strengthen them. Any ideas? There are probably populations within the allotments. Hopefully, we can confirm that during 2018. Windmill Hill City Farm?
Please pass this information on to others and invite them to join the BS3 wildlife Group.