Susanna’s Wildlife Watch July
In St John's Garden in the last couple of years we have recorded two glorious Holly Blue butterflies, and a sweet dainty Small White, and have seen velvety brown Commas, and in the last few days a ‘cabbage whites’ have been seen dotting around near Kurt Geiger’s windows and high in the sunny foliage at the top of the park, moving around too much to identify. As part of the Clerkenwell Pollinator Path project, we have planted vegetation in St John’s Garden to suit three butterfly species in particular: the Holly Blue, Comma and Red Admiral.
Red Admiral Butterfly in St John’s Garden
Next Friday during Open Toolshed 9-10am we shall be taking part in Butterfly Conservation's Big Butterfly Count, an annual UK-wide survey. Last year, butterfly numbers across the UK as a whole were a vast improvement on 2024’s record lows, which was good, but it was definitely not a bumper summer. I wonder what will emerge from the survey this time. We shall get out there and count! and send in the data... Come and join in! No experience required!
I said at the top that we have "recorded" two Holly Blues, because that is what we are doing - recording wild things of all sorts, all year round, in St John’s Garden. We use eBird to record birds, and for everything else we use iNaturalist, a global nature app. Click here to see the observations we have made over the past couple of years - gorgeous golden sunburst lichens, cute-as-a-button ladybirds, stripy snails, moss micro-jungles, and funky fungi with brilliant names like King Alfred's Cakes and Warty Knights… Observations recorded on iNat can be used by us ourselves - learning about nature in our own back yard, and trying to track whether the things that we are doing to improve St John's Garden are having an impact. But recording also helps protect nature at a national and international level, because the observations on the app flow into databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and Greenspace Information for Greater London, which is our local environmental records centre. ‘Quality control’ by experts is part of the iNat system, so we don't need to worry about “not knowing enough” or about making mistakes. Anyone can get involved. No knowledge required, just a smartphone! The more of us record what is happening - especially as we now seem to be sweltering through one scorching heat wave after another - the better it is for the scientists and policymakers working to manage climate change, and help nature.
If you want to join in, come along to a hand-on Discover iNaturalist workshop on Weds 29th July 5-7pm at the Charterhouse. The workshop is being run by Joss Carr, entomologist, naturalist and biological recorder. We’ll learn about the iNat app, and get everyone 'set up' to use it confidently to identify and record wildlife observations here in our own patch, or anywhere! Maybe on holiday this summer, if you are going away. Come with comfortable shoes, weather-appropriate clothing, a water bottle - and your phone! We are grateful to Clerkenwell Pollinator Path, Biological Recording Company, Islington Borough Council, and the Charterhouse for helping make the iNaturalist workshop happen. Sign up here!