Monday 20 October 2014

wildlife moment of the month

My new goal for paddling in puddles is to blog regularly about my favourite wildlife moments! This week for the first time ever, I caught a gimpse of a pygmy shrew! The pygmy shew Sorex minutus is a small mammal that weighs between just 2.4 - 6.1g, these tiny mammals must eat 125% of their body weight daily! Therefore consuming regular meals of woodlice, insects and arachnids. They are widespread across Britain and Ireland and are found in grassland, heath land and in hedgerows. These little mammals are active throughout night and day.
It was a real treat to see a pygmy shrew, and as with many species across the globe, they are in decline; although exact figures are unknown. They do not currently hold any special protection.
For more information about the pygmy shrew provided by The Mammal Society, please click here.

Here are a couple of my photos from my sighting of the tiny pygmy shrew.



See you soon! 
Lauren


butterflies & moths of the summer

It's been a little while since I last blogged! In the last 5 months I have graduated from my degree in Environmental Science and I am now working on a nature reserve on the south coast!
I am absolutely loving working on a nature reserve and this has given me the opportunity to see many species that I have never seen before as well as some old favourites. As we move into autumn I thought it would be nice to share some of the vast variety of different moths & butterflies and that we have on the reserve. Here are a few of my favourite finds from this summer.

 Large skipper Ochlodes sylvanis

Emperor moth catperillar Saturnia pavonia

Bagworm moth caterpillar

Cinnabar caterpillar Tyria jacobaeae

Privet hawk-moth caterpillar Sphinx ligustri


Silver-studded blue Plebejus argus

Brown argus Aricia agestis

Comma Polygonia c-album

Red admiral Vanessa atalanta

Even though summer has come to an end, I am loving autumn and will endeavour to keep you all updated with all species big and small that come my way!

'Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower' - Albert Camus