Wildlife volunteers urgently needed – The Natural History of Payhembury – a project to record the flora and fauna of Payhembury Parish
We have all heard the stories: huge declines in insect numbers over the past 50 years, moth numbers down by a third, many common butterfly species facing extinction within the next 20 years and in some places even the common house sparrow is in decline. More worrying is the news that bees are in serious trouble, as are many of our native trees.
Your help in protecting our local wildlife is needed but the trouble is how do we know what to protect if we don’t know what is there in the first place? There is now a pressing need to map out exactly what we have got.
During the first Covid lockdown in 2020 I embarked on a project to record all the flora and fauna in my garden and as of last night the total stands at 1677.
I hope that this will be an enjoyable exercise and so please do not let it overwhelm you. What we need is for you to record what you have in your garden and what you see when walking our glorious Devon lanes. I am happy to act as the village co-ordinator and to provide regular progress updates.
In terms of timescales I see the first stage lasting a fairly short time, as you should be able to list what you already have in your garden and the immediate surrounding area. Recording the local flora will obviously take longer, as we see so many seasonal changes.
Moths, butterflies and dragonflies are my main areas of expertise but I am also interested in birds, and bats and of course plants, but I really would welcome enlisting the help of anyone with good wild flower and tree identification skills.
Please do not think for one moment that you need to be an expert and do please realise that you will not be able to identify everything you see. It is always a good idea to get a photograph, as this will help you with the identification process.
Wild about Payhembury has been postponed until Saturday 20 November, so do come along to the hall between 10-12 when we can discuss this in greater detail. There is already interest being shown, so why not sign up to join the “Payhembury Wildlifers” and participate in a really worthwhile project.
Paul 841696
