Its Buglife

The birds on the island are what draw most peoples attention but there is much more to the place. For the last 3 days we have been happy to host a team who though interested in the birds were really here to looks at the Bugs. Craig Macadam brought a team of staff and volunteers from the organisation Buglife with the twin purposes of take a long overdue look at the species list for the Isle of May which hasn't had any additions for many years but also to give training for staff and volunteers alike.  Luckily they brought fantastic weather and so spent the time with their bums in the air searching for the small creatures of the island. Pools were sieved, rocks searched under, nettles swished with nets, moths traps lit and pitfall traps set.  Just some of the insects looked at included hoverflies, carrion beetles, chafers, spiders, leeches, harvestmen and seed bugs. It will take time to identify most of these but one high light was only the second green carpet moth recorded on the island. I can't wait to get a look at the final list.