Thanks to Isabel for forwarding on information about these 2 surveys which will probably interest a lot of our members and readers:

Bee Wild West Wales Bumblebee Survey 2018

Here at Bumblebee Conservation Trust Wales we are looking forward to a busy season delivering the next phase of our Bee Wild West Wales project. Part of this will involve bumblebee surveys on new sites in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. We will be identifying sites of potential value for bumblebees, followed by site visits to survey for common species such as the Buff tailed bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) and rarer species such as the Moss carder bee (Bombus muscorum) and the Brown banded carder bee (Bombus humilis). 

If you have a flower rich meadow or similar habitat which you feel may be of value to bumblebees and would like it to be considered for survey please do get in touch. We can’t promise to visit every site but we will do our best to cover as many as possible.

You can contact us at buzzingwales@bumblebeeconservation.org. Many thanks.

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Secondly a chance to contribute to surveys of frog and toad spawning. I guess many members with ponds will always look forward to the first sightings of spawning frogs and toads. Last year our frogs were off the mark really early, in the first week of February, but our toad numbers, which always spawn later, seemed very low indeed. How will things be in 2018?

PondNet Spawn Survey Wales 1st Feb – 31st May

Freshwater habitats Trust would like your help in reporting frog and toad spawn in your local or garden pond. You can do your bit by taking part in the PondNet Survey Wales. (https://freshwaterhabitats.org.uk/projects/pondnet/spawnsurvey2018/)

The results will help map out the distribution of frogs and toads in Wales. The survey runs form 1^st Feb to 31st May.

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Thanks for reading, and remember I’m always happy to receive any suitable articles or photos to include as blog posts. Please send them to me…

Julian Wormald… website@carmarthenshiremeadows.com