Somer Valley Rediscovered

70 people, including families and children, recently attended a ‘bioblitz’ event at Haydon Batch to record as much wildlife as possible for the City Nature Challenge, West of England, 2023. The event was organised by Somer Valley Rediscovered and the Natural History Consortium and supported by Cam Valley Wildlife Group. There were experts on hand to help with plant, insect, and bird identification but due to the somewhat inclement weather, it was mainly plants that were identified on the day. Plants spotted included Birds Foot Trefoil, Viper’s-Bugloss and Field Wood Rush. Overall, nearly 200 different species of plants were recorded, which really does show what an important site this is for its grassland and associated wildlife.

Participants were encouraged to download the iNaturalist app and upload any pictures of wildlife spotted. The app works by submitting a photo of the wildlife seen, giving identification suggestions of what it thinks you have so you don’t need to be a wildlife expert to use it! Once the record has been verified by a team of online scientists and wildlife enthusiasts, it can be used to inform local and national wildlife conservation work. For more information and to download the app, go to uk.inaturalist.org

Somer Valley Rediscovered will be running more events at Haydon Batch over the coming months. Keep in touch by following us on Instagram and Twitter @somer_valley and keep an eye out of our new website coming soon, www.somervalleyrediscovered.co.uk

We will also be looking for volunteers to get involved with practical conservation projects and wildlife monitoring. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact our Volunteer Co-ordinator, emma_carlisle@bathnes.gov.uk