Gellideg event

9 June 2016

Thursday 9th June saw the Mary Gillham Archive Project join OPAL, Merthyr Tydfil Country Borough Council and the Gellideg Foundation to host a wildlife event in the fields alongside the Gellideg Estate in Merthyr.

Supported by a number of enthusiastic wildlife recorders the event boasted freshwater sampling, bug house making, sweep netting, seed bomb creating, wellie boot planting, marshmallow toasting, den building, bug hunting, bird watching and a BBQ!

Around 150 people came along and we managed to record around 80 different species during the event (list at the bottom)! Thanks to everyone who came to help out and the Gellideg Foundation for organising it!

Invertebrates
Common Blue Damsefly (Enallagma cyathigerum)
Common green grasshopper (Omocestus viridulus)

Large Skipper (Ochlodes Sylvanus)
Small heath butterfly (Coenonympha pamphilus)
Burnet companion (Euclidia glyphica)
Zygaena filipendulae (6 spot Burnet)

Leptopterna sp nymph
Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea)
Click Beetle (Agriotes sp)
Click beetle (Ctenicera cuprea)
Dor beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius)
Freshwater shrimp (Gammarus pulex)
Cranefly (Tipula vernalis)
Hover fly (Chrysotoxum bicinctum)
Sawfly (Tenthredo sp)
Scorpion Fly (Panorpa sp.)
Snipe Fly (Rhagio scolopaceus)

Bilberry bumblebee (Bombus monticola)
Common carder bee (Bombus pascorum)
Early Bumblebee (Bombus (Pyrobombus) pratorum)
Honey Bee (Apis sp)
White-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lucorum agg.)

Mammals
Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Fungi
Chicken of the woods (Laetiporus sulphureus)

Birds
Buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Carrion Crow (Corvus corone)
Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)
Common Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)
Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Eurasian Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Eurasian Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus)
Eurasian Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis)
Eurasian Jackdaw (Corvus monedula)
Eurasian Magpie (Pica pica)
Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus)
Pied Wagtail (Motacilla alba yarrellii)
Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)
Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus)

Plants & bryophytes
Barren brome (Anisantha sterilis)
Bedstraw
Betony (Stachys officinalis)
Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus)
Birds foot trefoil (Trifolium ornithopodioides)
Bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta)
Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum)
Broad buckler fern (Dryopteris dilatata)
Chickweed (Stellaria media)
Cleavers (Galium aparine)
Clover sp (Trifolium sp)
Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata)
Common Bistort (Persicaria bistorta)
Common cow wheat (Melampyrum pratense)
Common Haircap (Polytrichum commune)
Common nettle (Urtica dioica)
Common sorrel (Rumex acetosa subsp. acetosa)
Common spotted orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)
Creeping bent (Agrostis stolonifera)
Creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens)
Enchanters nightshade (Circaea lutetiana)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)
Germander speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys)
Greater stitchwort (Stellaria holostea)
Herb Robert (Geranium robertianum)
Hogweed (Heracleum sphondylium)
Knapweed (Centaurea nigra)
Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla xanthochlora)
Lesser stitchwort (Stellaria graminea)
Male fern (Dryopteris filix-mas)
Red campion (Silene dioica)
Redshank (Persicaria maculosa)
Ribwort plantain (Plantago lanceolata)
Rosebay willowherb (Silene dioica)
Spring sedge
Sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum odoratum)
Tormentil (Potentilla erecta)
Wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa)
Wood sorrel (Oxalis acetosella)
Yellow iris (Iris pseudacorus)
Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus)

81 species
Recorders: Barbara Brown, Liam Olds, Chris Lawrence, Paul Seligman, Adam Rowe, Al Reeve, Sue Ansell, Emma Williams, Sean McHugh

Photos on this page © Chris Lawrence - Shieldbug Photography