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We are helping in a national project surveying pollinators and their habitats called Polli:nation. We will learn about pollinators and how to help them in Tayport Community Garden. The scientists will use our information to answer important questions.

Find out more about the project here: http://www.polli-nation.co.uk/

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Here is the story of what the Garden team found in our first survey site at the willow tunnel

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Here is the story of what the Garden team found in our first survey site at the willow tunnel

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http://tayportgarden.org/2017/05/01/flying-start-pollination-surveys/

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The students helped with pollinator habitat mapping of our second survey site today. Here is what we found

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We found some flowers that pollinators can feed on

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We found some flowers that pollinators can feed on

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Daisies and dandelion flowers in the short mown grass give pollinators some pollen and nectar

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Broadbeans were in flower and we found a common carder bee feeding on them! But she flew away before we could take a picture.

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Flowering herbs also provided some pollinator food. The herb bed will be a great buffet for the pollinators when it is all in flower

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There was a lot of bare soil in the Garden beds which makes for excellent nesting sites for some bee pollinators. But there was a lot of short grass which is not very pollinator friendly

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Outside of our square we also found a bug hotel and a compost bin, both of which provide a place to nest and shelter for pollinators.

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we found the burn on the boundary of the garden which is one of the wet places which pollinators like

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We thought the main path was not very pollinator friendly but great for walking on!

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With Lucy's help, the 4 teams made a start on the map of our second survey site

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With Lucy's help, the 4 teams made a start on the map of our second survey site

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Team 3

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Team 3

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The habitat map made by the teams

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Members of our Garden team, Lucy and Kaska, finished the map by the end of the day

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Members of our Garden team, Lucy and Kaska, finished the map by the end of the day

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The red bits are the Garden beds and the green bits are the lawn.

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They also did a pollinator survey but did not find any in our survey quadrants...

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They also did a pollinator survey but did not find any in our survey quadrants...

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But they did see some pollinators on the day

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But they did see some pollinators on the day

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Apart from the carder bee on the broad bean  flowers, they also spotted an orange tipped butterfly, other bumblebees and a honey bee! The honey bee did not manage to get away from the camera😀

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We first learned to recognise our pollinators...

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And then we went looking for them around the garden. We found some pollen beetles on a weedy cabbage flowers, hover flies over the strawberry patch flowers, solitary bees, bumblebees and butterlies flying around. It was a nice, warm sunny day with very little wind so lots of pollinators were out looking for food!

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Learning to recognise different pollinators. Butterflies and bumblebees were easy but solitary bees were a little trickier...

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Counting pollinator visitors in our quadrants in the low garden bed area.

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Counting pollinator visitors in our quadrants in the low garden bed area.

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We started with the herb bed which had some plants in flower...

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We watched each 1 by 1 m quadrant for 2 minutes and recorded all pollinators entering the square

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We spotted lots of bumblebees ....here is one in the strawberry patch next to the herb bed. They were tricky to photograph!

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Bumblebees really liked the chive flowers...

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One of our quadrants was over the broadbean patch in flower...

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...and the bumblebees seemed to love them too!

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We also had a look at our second site at the willow tunnel. There were lots of buttercups in flower but much fewer pollinators...

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...all we spotted here were a couple of flies visiting the flowers.

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Another day with perfect pollinator weather! We had fun learning to recognise pollinators and spotting them around the garden.

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We saw lots of bumblebees! They really loved the chive flowers in the herb bed. They must produce lots of lovely nectar for them to feed on. The students managed to take some great photos too:)

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We also found a pollen beetle on a strawberry flower ...munching away on the pollen. And a couple of hoverflies which were too fast to catch on camera...