We hosted a AES www.amentsoc.org ,Big Bug Hunt on the farm here yesterday. We had a couple of experts from the Oxford Natural History Museum www.oum.ox.ac.uk , and the London Natural History Museum www.nhm.ac.uk with us. At 11am we all went with equipment gratefully burrowed from Oxford Natural History Museum like a group of budding explorers setting off into the Great Amazon Basin. It was slightly cloudy and breezy but our first stop was to check pit fall traps in the beech woods and beat the trees and bushes into trays .The beating was extremely popular with the children and they were extremely enthusiastic in their efforts! Specimens collected and noted and it was time for a quick pit stop of sarnies and drinks before heading out to the grassland. Pit fall traps here yielded well too and the local grasshopper and cricket species provided plenty of excitement for young and old alike. Checking sweep nets is a very serious business and sometimes you just have to get right in there! Specimens again collected and logged, it was back into some more woods for pootering with leaf litter trays and checking out decaying logs. Back home for a much deserved BBQ and then starting the process of identification. The children were extremely good at identifying a lot of species but really loved the pinning workshop with the Violet Ground Beetles, Carabus violaceus, surplus from the pit fall traps. We had pins being put in to set the specimens with deep concentration and in deadly silence. Fantastic day with some specimens being taken back to the museums for further identification. It is exciting because we are still making new discoveries in our own back gardens and there is so much still to learn. By the way, it is often children who spot something special and many new species have been discovered by them.
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