As the sun beat down ferociously, Zeke and I slowly dragged our heavy bug hunting kit up Glyn Vale before emerging on to Wedmore Vale where we are greeted by a huge archway marking the gateway to a hidden world behind the houses.
The Northern Slopes are a band of low hills across Knowle West which, in spite of the suburban surroundings, have remained in keeping with their rural history. A patchwork of wildflower meadows and scrubby woodland, the south facing slope is alive with insects soaking up the rays of the latest freak heat wave – a good day for bug hunting!
A big shire horse casts a lazy eye in our direction as we pant our way up to the top of the hill where we meet our intrepid explorers for the day – two classes from Parson Street Primary School and Ruth Worsley who was in charge of proceedings.
Our mission: To explore the slope of Glyn Vale in search of invertebrates and the plants that they like to feast on! As well as valuable Bristol99 records we were specifically on the lookout for some key species to help with some big national surveys: PlantLife’s Bee Scene survey and OPAL’s Bug Count.
In a frenzy of bug pots, identification charts, sweep nets and sun cream we managed to discover 37 species in just a few short hours including some huge mounds of yellow meadow ant nests (Lasius flavus). These ants are specialists of open meadows, building nest mounds over several generations, so are a good indicator that the slopes have been used for pastoral grazing for hundreds of years.
We also collected some very noticeable tan lines.
Find out more about the Northern Slopes and how you can enjoy and protect this beautiful green space at http://www.northern-slopes-initiative.co.uk.
Thanks to BNHC’s Matt Postles, for this article.
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