Nearly 200 different species of plants animals and insects were recorded in Newport during the village’s first bioblitz.
A bioblitz takes a snapshot of an area’s biodiversity by attempting, in a short period of time, to record all species living there.
The Newport event was organised by Newport for Nature, a project run by Newport Area Environment Group, working with the West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre.
Members of the public, with the help of ecologists and conservation experts, spent more than 12 hours bioblitzing the area.
Since then, the data has been analysed, revealing that 183 species were recorded during the day.
The blitz started at 8am when two moth traps set up the night before near Newport castle 25 different species of moth, including the delicate and delightfully named True Lover’s Knot and the magnificent Poplar Hawk Moth.
A walk tAfter an introduction to the day and to the importance of wildlife recording from Carys Williams from WWBIC, pao Newport’s iron bridge then rewarded participants with 33 species of birds.
In the afternoon a leisurely meander through the leafy Newport lanes searched for bumble bees, solitary bees, hoverflies and other plants and insects.
A highlight was realising how many small solitary bees can be found on sunny wall surrounding the churchyard.
Finally, as the sun set a small group met to seek out bats. Kindly invited to explore the castle grounds and then Feidr Felin, the bat detectors picked up five species of bat, including both species of Pipistrelle, a noctule bat and a greater horseshoe bat.
Over the day 183 species were recorded, including 57 invertebrates (including 25 moths, 10 butterflies and 10 different species of bee and hoverfly), 54 flowers, 13 trees, eight grasses and seven ferns.
“Really, the Bioblitz was intended to be just a start,” said Newport for Nature’s Naomi Hope. “It is often the commoner species that are under-recorded and everyone can help to build a fuller picture of the wildlife in the area by downloading the WWBIC app and uploading your wildlife sightings.”
The event was made possible thanks to the support of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park’s Sustainable Development Fund and Awards for All.
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