If you were walking through Grove Farm last Saturday, you may have seen a group of people waving nets around. We were searching for pollinators - focusing on bees, wasps & flies. We welcomed Tony Madgwick to lead a pollinator recorders day at Grove Farm yesterday & nine people joined us to find pollinators & learn about identifying their species. The event was run by Kieran Brown of the Biological Recording Company and was sponsored by the Mayor of London through our Rewild London grant.

As a complete novice, we've learnt pollinators are much harder to tell apart than you think. Whilst we all recognise a bumblebee and your common fly, there are so many different species and some new look like flies etc. Thankfully Tony was on hand to provide ids where it was possible to do so in the field. Some can only be identified by looking at microscopic differences. Some of the species seen were the following (with thanks to Alex Worsey):

Although this is only a snap shot, the records will help us know something about what pollinators we have on site & develop our management plan.

If you’d like to learn more about recording species & biodiversity - we will be running a training program this summer to build up the Grove Farm Bio-Recorders Network. Please see details below.

Become a Grove Farm Bio-Recorder!

Unleash your inner naturalist! Join our exclusive, free training programme this summer and learn to document the diverse species that inhabit our local nature reserve. No prior knowledge required - every record contributes to preserving our natural world.

Why join?

• Contribute to vital conservation efforts

• Learn new skills and deepen your understanding of nature

• Join a community united by nature

Spaces are limited. Don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to connect with nature!

To register your interest e-mail us by 30 June at friendsofgrovefarm@gmail.com