Gatwick Bioblitz
Barry Wildish
Gatwick Greenspace Partnership Officer
We recently hosted a day of discovery at Gatwick. The aim was to bring people together to identify as many species on site as possible.
On Friday evening, some of our hardcore surveyors and staff camped out to prepare for the following day. They set up the moth and mammals traps and were treated to a bat walk with Martyn Cook along the Gatwick stream. Common Pipistrelle were putting on a show along the river.
First thing on Saturday morning, Ecologist Tom Forward led a dawn chorus walk around the back of Rolls Field and out onto the flood attenuation (this means an area of floodplain that is sometimes allowed to flood from a river or stream).
Tom was accompanied by a gathering of early birds (of the human kind), with four young cousins who were mesmerised by his bird calls. Tom can literally charm the birds out of the trees with his mimicking. He even managed to trick the Merlin app with some of his bird calls. We were treated to many birds, including a flock of mixed tits and swallows gathering above us to a call played through Tom’s phone. A flock of Mallards got a huge cheer from the cousins, much to the delight of everyone attending.
The count had started. Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre and Sussex Wildlife Trust set up stalls. Gatwick staff helped book people in and ensured the day ran smoothly and that everyone had fun.
Ecologist Rachel Bicker then followed up with a small mammal survey, checking Longworth live traps set strategically around Rolls Field and the flood attenuation. The small mammals proved difficult to catch, although Rachel did give us lovely views of a Bank Vole and Wood Mouse, while explaining the traps, the process of surveying and data that is recorded when she undertakes these surveys.
Ecology Manager, Jake Everitt, then opened the moth trap for the big reveal. Numbers had swelled and Jake presented a wonderful talk about the different moths and how to identify them, while passing around the moths for people to get a good look. He also let the kids release them, and, due to the weather cooling off, many of the moths sat on the hands of the children, seemingly posing with their new-found friends. The children loved finding the perfect sheltered spots to safely release the moths.
Throughout the day, the Gatwick Greenspace staff and members of the Sussex Wildlife Trust Communities Team staffed a new Communities gazebo, with activities for kids and wildflower seed bombs for all to take home. The new shelter proved very popular, especially when the rains set in. Thankfully the showers were short and didn’t seem to dampen any enthusiasm.
Sadly, the weather was not conducive to a guided butterfly walk planned with Ecologist Darcey Haldar, so instead we carried out an extended invertebrate blitz with the public given sweep and butterfly nets and encouraged to go out into the flood attenuation and catch invertebrates to bring back to be identified and added to the growing list of finds for the day.
The final activity was a plant count, with nearly 50 species of plants added to the list.
The count of total species found was over 180, which gives us a baseline survey to compare as we continue to monitor the habitat over the next few years.
Samples were also taken by Nick Aplin from the Sussex Fungi group, who also visited, so the final tally will still increase.
Thank you to all who attended, especially those who helped organise, supported and volunteered at this event, Gatwick Greenspace Partnership, Sussex Wildlife Trust, Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre.
Special thanks to Darcey Haldar and the whole Gatwick Environment team and Gatwick Airport London for hosting such a wonderful event.