On 21 June, volunteers and visitors gathered at Dumbarnie Links – a coastal grassland reserve in the East Neuk of Fife – for a BioBlitz-style day of wildlife spotting and recording.

The aim of a BioBlitz is to generate a snapshot of biodiversity in a given area, by identifying and recording as many different species as possible within a short timeframe. On the day, we were lucky to be joined by colleagues from the Fife Coast & Countryside Trust and local experts in birds, wildflowers, grasses, invertebrates and more, who offered their ID skills and enthusiasm on a muggy Saturday afternoon, narrowly avoiding the rain that kindly only arrived as we were wrapping up.

Joined too by members of the public, the group got stuck in to tracking down the wide variety of flora and fauna around the reserve, eventually identifying 128 unique species in the space of just five hours. One of the main highlights was a group of three newly-emerged narrow-bordered five-spot burnet moths – a rarer beast than their more common six-spot counterparts, as well as the unusual sight of a cuckoo being mobbed by a group of swallows!

Surveys like this provide information that can help inform management decisions about how best to look after the habitat in that particular area, but it’s also an opportunity to inspire people to take part in citizen science initiatives in their day-to-day lives, through nature recording apps and schemes. If this sounds of interest, why not look out for BioBlitz events happening in your area?

You might be surprised at what you find when you look closely…

-Patrick Endall, East Central Ranger