Here are our two Mosaic Project Summer newsletters with tips on how to make your allotment, garden, or greenspace more wildlife friendly, results of our workshops and mini-bioblitzes and links to the Lewes Mosaic Map
As you pull out weeds in the garden have you ever thought that it might be the food of your favourite butterfly’s larva? Ecologist, Helen Sida led a free workshop at Lewes House Garden on the 17th June considering just this. The Small Blue butterfly caterpillar only eats Kidney Vetch. We found some growing in the wildflower circle that has been cut into the lawn and sown deliberately with wildflower seeds. A few Kidney Vetch plants could be a vital stepping stone for this species.
Adult butterflies are less specialised but can spend a lot of energy seeking out the right flowers with nectar they can access. Growing larger clumps of pollinator friendly flowers means insects spend less time flying around seeking a new source. This is what we mean about ‘editing’: choosing when and by how much to reduce (but not eradicate) unwanted plants and encouraging others to grow more abundantly.
Teasel has self sown for the first time in the garden, we learnt that the flowers are a favourite of bees, hoverflies, moths, and butterflies, particularly Brimstones. They are also a source of water for insects - the leaves at the base of the stem form a cup, collecting rain drops that could also be a source of drinking water for insects.
Our next free workshops at Lewes House Garden are “Shrubs, hedges, climbers and small trees for a wildlife garden” on Tuesday 15th July 4.00 to 5.30pm and “Welcoming hedgehogs, toads and lizards in your garden” on Tuesday 12th August 4.00 to 5.30. There will also be a mini-BioBlitz at South Malling Church on Sunday 20th July 1.00 to 3.00pm and at All Saints Community Centre on Tuesday 5th August 11.00am to 1.00pm. All welcome.
We had a fascinating time at Landport Community Garden recording the wide variety of wildlife found in this lovely walled garden on the edge of Lewes.
During a sunset survey on the 6th June we watched the UK’s largest bat, the Noctule, swoop over the garden and found Smooth Newts in the small pond.
The next day, on the 7th June, we recorded 46 different species of animal, the highlights being a grass snake, many slow worms, caddis fly larvae, dragonfly nymphs, mullein moths and a rose chafer beetle in a rose!
Click here for information about Free Gardening for Wildlife workshops at Lewes House Garden or take part in a ‘Mini-BioBlitz’ and identify wildlife in a green space in Lewes near you June to August
Click here for the Spring 2025 Lewes Mosaic Newsletter
Watch out for hibernating animals such as slow worms, grass snakes, toads, frogs and lizards in your compost and many more Spring tips
Flower photos by Helen Sida
Click here for a link to our Lewes Mosaic Allotment Autumn Newsletter
What food resources is your allotment providing for wildlife this autumn?
Photos by Helen Sida
Wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation has declared a national ‘Butterfly Emergency’ after the results of this summer’s Big Butterfly Count showed a marked decline in butterfly numbers. Overall, participants spotted just seven butterflies on average per 15-minute Count, a reduction of almost 50% on last year’s average of 12, and the lowest in the 14-year history of the Big Butterfly Count. Butterflies are a key indicator species and their absence suggests a general decline in biodiversity.
Butterfly Conservation point the finger at the use of agricultural chemicals, and particularly the insect killing neonicotinoids, and are calling on the Government for a complete ban on the use of these insecticides. You can sign their letter and call on the Government to act now.
The Lewes Mosaic Project’s Allotment Biodiversity Advisor, Helen Sida, and volunteers carried out two timed 15 minute Big Butterfly Counts on the 2nd August at Haredean allotments. The warm and sunny conditions were good for butterflies and during one of the counts they spotted 22 butterflies and 7 different species (18 butterflies and 6 species in the other).
In a related report from Brighton based Pesticide Action Network, researchers found that since leaving the EU, safety limits of pesticide residues in food in the UK have been weakened, giving an incentive to countries that export food to the UK to increase the use of harmful pesticides like neonicotinoids, increasing the damage these chemicals cause worldwide:
“The changes [in safety limits] also pose a risk to the environment in countries where our food is grown. Strict safety limits force foreign growers exporting to Britain to keep pesticide residues to a minimum, or risk their exports being rejected for not meeting GB legal requirements. Under these latest changes wheat and oats are allowed to contain far larger amounts of neonicotinoids, the pesticides notorious for driving global declines in pollinator populations. In contrast to the UK, neonicotinoids remain legal in most major oat producing countries (such as the US, Canada and Australia) and weakened UK safety limits risk driving an increase in their use and associated harms.”
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Surveying wildflowers at Haredean allotment site in July, new Mosaic project logo, dock bug at Landport allotment site in July taken by Peter Varnham
12 noon, sunny 23 degrees C, moderate breeze.
Helen Sida, Lesley Healey, Dave Harris, Emma + 2
True bugs (Heteroptera) have been included, mainly because we enjoyed finding them. These are not necessarily pollinators but may do some pollination accidently. Dragonflies included 5 large red and 1 southern hawker.
There were plenty of floral resources for pollinators and weather conditions were good, many more butterflies were spotted than previous surveys this year.
We caried out 2 timed 15 minute Big Butterfly Counts during the survey (included in the pollinator list)
Photos: Thick-Legged Flower Beetle, credit: Peter Varnham. Carrot Wasp, credit: Peter Varnham. Small White Butterfly (Pieris rapae), credit Adobe Stock. Large Red Damselfly, credit: Peter Varnham.
All sightings were recorded without entering people’s allotments, unless permission was given from owners
Highdown Allotment Nature Walk, 21 June 2024
We looked at wildlife friendly practices and recorded as much as we could
The most striking thing was how few insects there were. The wind must have been a factor but we felt even so there should have been more. Certainly there were resources (flowers etc) available for them.
Where possibly sightings were submitted on iNaturalist. Birds were ID'd with the help of the Merlin app. Where species could not be ID'd they were recorded by Genus
Plant survey, at Highdown Allotments, 22 June 2024
Flower Visiting Insects survey at Paddock Road Allotments
All sightings were recorded without entering people’s allotments
Bat Transect 4 June 2024
Haredean allotment site, Lewes, 8.00 to 10.00pm
The weather was cool, damp and windy which meant there were fewer insects about and so fewer bats out feeding.
Surveyor: Perry Hockin accompanied by Topsy, and allotment holders
Following a fascinating introduction by Perry on bats and bat surveying a bat transect was made. Bat detectors were used to locate and identify bats by their sound frequency.
The following species were identified. Numbers are difficult to pin down.
Species identified
Soprano pipistrelle
Common pipistrelle
Myotis species
Bat boxes
Bat boxes have an 80-90% occupation rate in the first year of installation. This is much higher than bird boxes. Ideally locate the box on a tree with a clear ‘flight path’ about 4.5m high, facing north or east.
Here is a reminder of the June surveys
Tuesday 4th 8.45pm BATS Haredean
Friday 14th 1.30pm AMPHIBIANS & REPTILES Landport
Saturday 15th 8.00am BIRDS Highdown (re-scheduled from last month)
Friday 21st 4.30pm NATURE WALK BIOBLITZ Highdown
Sunday 23rd 11.00am WILDFLOWERS & TREES Highdown
Monday 24th 1.00pm POLLINATORS Paddock Road
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