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Seven members met at the beginning of the cycle path in Thorley Road for a walk led by Toni Goodley to Barnfields. We were very fortunate as the threatened rain held off until towards the end of the walk. Our first stop was the flooded area on Rofford Marsh where we saw both Black-headed Gull and Herring Gull, Wigeon, Mallard, Shoveler, Teal, Moorhen and a Little Grebe. There were also 28 (more…)

Nine members met at the National Trust visitor centre car park for a walk on the reserve led by Nicky Falconar. It was a beautiful morning with bright sunshine although the sun was low in the sky making bird watching at Causeway Lake rather difficult to begin with. Two Mistle Thrush made an appearance in (more…)

The Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust are looking to update the current Waders & Brent Goose Strategy. They are looking for volunteer surveyors to identify the network of sites that are of high importance. The plan is to cover the north coast of the Island and the Medina. If anyone is interested please contact Jamie Marsh jamie.marsh@hiwwt.org.uk or Ruth Kernohan at ruth.kernohan@hiwwt.org.uk.

Issue 4 of ‘Recording Now’ featuring species recording news, events and updates from the Isle of Wight by iWatchWildlife and the IW Local Records Centre is now available to read / download here.

Under a very hot sun eight members met for a walk around the Pan Mill Meadows site where 19 species of birds were recorded.

As we headed north from the meeting place at Shide, a Woodpigeon was seen taking nesting material to a nearby roof and we were lucky enough to see four Jays and a pair of Collared Doves. In the River Medina parallel with Medina Avenue were several Mallards and one duckling as well as a Moorhen with three young in tow. (more…)

Ten members turned out for the evening Nightjar walk meeting in the main car park. It was a misty evening and I was not very hopeful of good outcome. We did a circular walk and heard Blackcap, Blackbird and Song Thrushes singing in the evening air and also saw a Jay. We saw approximately five (more…)

405 species were observed and named – with possibly another name to come.  It was a great team effort; many thanks to all who submitted records, stayed up late and/or got up early, and persisted with identifying or confirming unusual species!

A full report and photographs of the day:  https://iwnhas.org/bioblitz-2018-the-results-are-in/

The final species list: Bioblitz Species List 2018

Eight members and four guests met at the National Trust chalk pit car park at Totland for a walk up to the downs. It was a cold and blustery morning but we did see or hear some summer migrants including Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat in the woodland either side of the track. Jay and Buzzard were overhead in the car park and a Pheasant was heard periodically calling from the nearby (more…)

This year the IW Bioblitz  is planned to be part of a larger community event Hullabaloo in The Bay during the weekend of 12^th and 13^th May 2018.

The 12^th is the principal Bioblitz slot – where we’ll be recording 10am to 4pm for the majority of groups, with the evenings (Fri 11th & Sat 12th) available for those of you specialising in nocturnal species.

There are 2 main survey areas to explore:

·        The reedbeds and grazing marshes, wet woodlands and ponds and ditches (plus the boating lagoon), around Brown’s and off behind the zoo

·        The foreshore, intertidal and soft cliffs from the Sandown library to Culver – including several large areas on the red cliff where you can easily get up into the wilder parts from the beach below or from the coastal path above. Low tide is at about 3.30pm on Saturday.

The Recording Hub will be based in the vicinity of Dinosaur Isle as part of the ‘Discovery Bay’ area (look out for the IWNHAS & iWatchWildlife Flags). There will be a supply of recording sheets as in past years for those who wish to use them, and also plant recording cards, ID charts and books plus some field equipment and microscopes.

Please do contact Anne Marston – anne.marston@iow.gov.uk to confirm if you would like to come and be involved in the recording effort as we need to arrange car park passes asap.

If you are part of a group who would like to contribute some walks or other activities during the event, it would be best to contact suggest you Ian Boyd –  ian@arc-consulting.co.uk directly if this isn’t already in hand.

Marine life ID by Arc Consulting

Looking forward to seeing you there and making some records!

Wildlife recording

Nine members met at Newtown NT car park for a walk led by Nicky Falconar on the Nature Reserve. The weather forecast was for sunshine and showers and rain was threatening as we left the car park. Someone was just leaving and advised us that a pair of Goosander were in the Scrape so we headed down there. We arrived within ten minutes and what we saw was a pair of Red Breasted Merganser (more…)