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It didn’t matter that it rained (again!) for the annual and hugely popular ‘Under the Pier’ event in Ryde led by the team at  Arc and Artecology. A steady stream of folks armed with nets and buckets set off (more…)

Sunday 2nd July saw the gathering of folks from across the Island with an interest in species recording and identification for an afternoon of fieldwork and workshop sessions to explore and examine the diverse and surprising flora and fauna of The Bay at the first IWNHAS Summer Recorders Event.

With Dinosaur Isle as our base, we set off on three different fieldwork sessions to collect grasses, sedges & rushes with Colin Pope, Insects with Ian Boyd and check the overnight moth trap with Iain Outlaw. (more…)

Just a few days left until the very first IW Summer Recorders Event takes place at Dinosaur Isle, Sandown on Sunday 2nd July 2pm – 5pm, so please register and book your place asap.

This is a great opportunity to brush up your species identification skills as we explore the surrounding habitats to collect specimens and return to Dinosaur Isle to examine and identify them. (more…)

This Friday 2nd June sees the 7th Annual BioBlitz being held this year in Parkhurst Forest, Newport 10 – 4pm and brings amateur and specialist wildlife spotters together to record our treasured natural heritage. (more…)

Wight Swifts is a new group set up on Facebook by Jim Baldwin – our IW British Trust for Ornithology Officer. (more…)

This month iWatch Wildlife are asking for records of the magnificent Stag Beetle (Lucans cervus)

Stag beetles live in woodland edges, hedgerows, traditional orchards, parks and gardens throughout Western Europe including Britain (more…)

House Martin (Delichon urbica)

Last month iWatch Wildlife asked for Brown Hare sightings for ‘Species of the Month’ – and we’ve had a great response with Hare records still coming in!

This month we are asking you to tell us about House Martin nest sites.

Upon returning to the UK from Africa each spring, the House Martin used to be a regular summer sighting in every town and village. Sadly, during the last 40 years, the population in England has declined by 69% and now nest sites are mainly associated with village locations. This recent decline means they are now at Amber status on the list of Birds of Conservation Concern.

Surprisingly, despite their close association with mankind by building their mud nests mainly on houses and bungalows, very little is known about House Martins or why there has been such a decline; here is where citizen science can step in and help – we need your observations please!

It would be brilliant to boost the current records for House Martin nest sites on the Island, so please let us know if you spot a nest, or are lucky enough to have a nest where you live – photos would be an extra bonus!

If you can spare a little extra time, Jim Baldwin our local British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) representative is looking for help with monitoring House Martin nests. All you need to do is spend a maximum of 15 minutes observing it once a week throughout the breeding season from a safe distance to minimise disturbance to the birds. Regular observations over a period of time can be invaluable, so please do get in touch with Jim on Facebook @wightbto or email: wightbto@hotmail.com and he can tell you everything you need to know and help you get started.

Identification: a small bird with glossy blue-black upper parts and pure white under parts. It has a distinctive white rump with a forked tail. It spends much of its time on the wing collecting insect prey.

Good to know: They return to the UK in April. Originally, nesting on cliffs they soon took to nesting on buildings, attaching their mud nest cup under eaves; each cup takes up to 10 days to build, and over 1000 beak sized pellets of mud – incredible!

More info here:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/…/bird-and-…/bird-a-z/h/housemartin/

https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/house-martin-survey

In March, iWatch Wildlife took part in a special event called Discovery Bay led by Arc Consulting as part of British National Science Week. (more…)

If you missed the conference or wish to look back on the presentations, you can now find them at http://iwnhas.org/presentations-from-the-2017-recorders-conference/

Biological recording and its influence on wildlife conservation at Briddlesford

A presentation given by Jonathan Cox to the 2017 Isle of Wight Recorders’ Conference

Artificial structures and ecological enhancement

Presentation by Roger Herbert and Alice Hall to the 2017 Isle of Wight Recorders’ Conference