24hr 'Bioblitz' in the Shire Brook Valley
“It’s a record BioBlitz!”
After 24 hours of energetic activity, wildlife enthusiasts recorded an amazing total of 547 different plant and animal species on Sheffield’s Shire Brook Valley Nature Reserve. Even more excitingly, 259 were for species never recorded in the Valley before, several of which are on Britain’s endangered list. Local experts left the site yesterday jubilant at having easily reached the 500 species target that was set and went away focused on identifying another 100+ specimens which were too difficult to identify on site! It is hoped the final results will take the total number of plants and animals recorded on this great urban Reserve to over 1,000!
The Shire Brook Valley played host to a BioBlitz survey event, starting at 4pm on Saturday and finishing on 4pm Sunday. Throughout the 24 hours, members of the Sorby Society, the Sheffield local RSPB group and staff from Sheffield City Council’s Ecology Unit led a series of workshops and guided walks for local people, sharing their expertise and enthusiasm for the Shire Brook Valleys fantastic natural heritage. Everyone involved in the event used various methods to scour the area in a bid to spot as many different species as possible to add to the list!
Event organiser, Chris Smith, Parks and Countryside Ranger said, “It was an amazing 24 hours. An incredible 66 different species were recorded in the first hour between the Visitor Centre and the Stone Lane Car Park! Excitement continued to rise as each new species was added to the list. At 4pm on Sunday the Visitor Centre was buzzing with excitement as the final records were added. There were groans when it was found that a species had already been recorded, great cheers when new records were added and a big celebration when the final total was reached! I don’t think I have ever witnessed such fantastic enthusiasm for wildlife before. My thanks go to everyone who took part and made it such a successful event, really helping to keep this beautiful and abundant nature reserve firmly on the biodiversity map.”
More information about the results of the “BioBlitz” will shortly be available on the webpage so keep looking!
or by contacting, Chris Smith, 07974 943549,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
