Flowers at Kings Weston House

The sun is out and the flowers are enjoying the opportunity to attract some insect pollinators. Check out these beauties that we’ve found at Kings Weston House.

What flowers have you spotted?

Up with the larks!

Well it was a bit of a damp dawn chorus walk this morning as part of the Bristol BioBlitz at Kings Weston Estate.

We started out at 6am and took a short stroll into the woods to place ourselves under a tree and pricked up our ears for the first set of bird calls.

Led by naturalist Trudi Clarke we heard over twenty song & contact calls (the difference between the song & contact call are surprisingly different). The usual suspects were around, robins, blackbirds, blue tits & great tits but we also heard a green woodpecker, a great spotted woodpecker, a nuthatch, a white throat & a black cap.

We continued our walk through the rain and came to a clearing which not only provided us with a host of other bird calls but some spotting took place as well. We were fortunate to see a goldcrest, a chiff chaff & a tree creeper & to announce summer is here, a swallow! We also heard a long tailed tit, a jackdaw, a jay & a wood pigeon.

After two hours it was back to the house for some well earned bacon sandwiches before the rest of the activities started at 10am.

The signs are out there!

Mammal expert Gill Brown has been giving us the lowdown on the best signs to look for when scoping out mammals on her upcoming mammal walk. The furry critters themselves can be difficult to catch sight of but they can be identified by the signs they leave behind such as footprints, teeth marks and poo!

Watch our video later of Gill explaining the signs and differences between various mammal species.

Roving reporters!

Our roving reporter Kathryn is out and about bringing you the latest action from BioBlitz 2013! The Wildscreen Media Team are now busy editing the footage at BioBlitz headquarters, so watch this space.

If you discover an interesting species, or have a fantastic wildlife tale to tell about Kings Weston House, let the Wildscreen Media Team know!

Roving Reporter Kathryn

Kathryn in action

Interview with bird box specialist

What’s on today at BioBlitz 2013

If you fancy a foray into the world of BioBlitzing, take a look at what’s on today. You can hunt down creepy crawlies and, if you’re feeling brave, get up close and personal with spiders! Or play it safe and enjoy one of our guided mammal and woodland walks. We’ve also got naturalists on hand to answer your questions.

And if you feel like exploring under your own steam, come and borrow some equipment from our field lab and see what you can find!

Build a bird nestbox!

Come and build a bird box or bee home at BioBlitz today!

We’ve also been chatting with with Keith and Linda from Specialised Nestboxes, you can catch up with their exciting interview later today.

Welcome to day two and a new tally!

With a night of venturing into the nocturnal world of bats, moths and other mini-beasts, our BioBlitz 2013 total has increased again! We have now discovered a fantastic 321 species here at Kings Weston House. And with our naturalists raring to go this morning, the tally is looking set to increase.

So come down and join us!

The new tally