For this month’s Ramble & Chat we’ll meet on 10th March at 2pm, at the grass area next to Livingston FC Community Club, in Eliburn Park, Livingston (what3words: page.soup.youth). Ramble & Chat is a social nature walk usually held on the 2nd Sunday of each month. There will sometimes be experts with us on these walks and we’ll always try to link with various citizen science projects. The walks will move around West Lothian month to month so check the blog for details
Tree ID workshop – A relaxed, informal Tree ID workshop on Saturday 23rd March, 2-4pm in Livingston Village Park. This is a free event but spaces are limited and booking via Eventbrite is required
BeeWalk – taking place on the last Saturday of the month, from February until October, at 11am in Livingston Village Park
Count your plastic for one week – 11-17 March 2024
Nearly 100 billion pieces of plastic packaging are thrown away by UK households every year, and just 12% is recycled in the UK. LET’S INVESTIGATE TO STOP THE PLASTIC CRISIS. You can help by taking part in The Big Plastic Count!
Join us for a short, gentle walk in Livingston Village Park to spot, identify and record bumblebees. This is a monthly event, taking place on the last Saturday of each month from end of February to October.
BeeWalk is a survey scheme run by Bumblebee Conservation Trust, encouraging individuals to identify, count and record the bumblebees they see on a set route (chosen/set up by the volunteer) on a monthly basis. As they explain, “The information collected by BeeWalk volunteers is integral to monitoring how bumblebee populations change through time, and will allow us to detect early warning signs of population declines, aswell as contributing to important long-term monitoring of bumblebee population changes in response to changes in land-use and climate change.”
We will follow a short 1km route starting at the picnic tables near the river, at the East Side of Livingston Park. No experience, or bumblebee identification skills required; we will provide guides and work together to reach the correct identification, learning along the way to identify queens, workers and males, and the flowers they like to feast on. Later in the season, we will also look out for butterflies and record them on iRecord Butterflies.
We start at 11:00, and depending on how many bees we see, we could finish in just 30-45 minutes. It is expected that this will take longer during the summer months. This activity is weather dependent and is likely to be cancelled if it is wet or windy. Please keep an eye on our social media for last minute updates.
As with any outdoor activities, dress for the weather and wear sturdy shoes; sections of the path are always muddy. The route is mainly flat and accessible and we can include rest breaks.
The park is just off the National Cycle Route 75, so please choose walking or cycling if you can. The nearest bus stop is Quarry wood Court, from there it’s just 7 minutes walk.
Below are some free resources you can have a look at if you want to learn more about British Bumblebee Species, or how you can set up a BeeWalk in your local area:
If you want to get involved, but this is not a suitable location for you, drop us an email and we will see how we can support you to start something similar in your area, or suggest other surveys that you can contribute to.
Here’s our dates (subject to suitable weather conditions):
24 February 2024
30 March 2024
27 April 2024
25 May 2024
29 June 2024
27 July 2024
31 August 2024
28 September 2024
26 October 2024
We look forward to seeing you in one of our BeeWalks. 🐝
Many thanks to our funders and West Lothian Council.
BeeWalk Updates
March walk
In March, we recorded 5 bumblebees on our transect, mainly Buff-tailed bumblebee queens. These are the biggest bumblebees and you can recognise them by their 2 yellow stripes and buff coloured tail. They were all looking for suitable sites to build their nests, flying low, and occasionally disappearing in holes in the ground or gaps in stone walls.
April Walk Update
April did not disappoint! We recorded 11 bumblebees and 4 honeybees! During our time outside, we also spotted 2 butterflies, one bee fly and a solitary bee, although we were not able to photograph them all.
I had to return back to look for a cuckoo bumblebee we saw, but couldn’t really reach the correct identification. It was a southern cuckoo bumblebee; this species has one chestnut colour band on the thorax and a white tail with a thin yellow band. They have less hair, compared to common bumblebees, so you can easily see their black exoskeleton. They predate buff tailed bumblebees, which seem to be in abundance in the area.
Solitary beeSouthern Cuckoo Bee
May walk update
Spring is definitely here, and the bees showed us their plant preferences! 11 bumblebees recorded (4 different species, workers, males and queens) and a honey bee. Bonus observations of a male orange tip butterfly, a shieldbug and beetle (Cantharis livada). Interestingly, the great majority of bees spotted were feeding on plants in the rose family; water avens, hawthorn, dog rose and raspberry plants. Do you have these in your garden?
Photos show: water avens, a group photo (not all participants stayed for a photo this time), a common carder bee, a melanic form of a tree bumblebee worker, a male early bumblebee.
June update
In June we saw many honeybees on meadowsweet, the bumblebees’ favourite plants were roses and brambles. We found it trickier to identify what species and caste (male, worker, or queen) they were, as most bumblebees chose to visit flowers further away from the paths.
Apart from bees, we saw many hoverflies and bee mimics (flies that try hard to look like bumblebees, although if you look close enough you can see the big eyes and small antennae), heard many birds singing and spotted an ichneumon wasp! After having a cup of tea, we spend a few minutes spotting butterflies in the wildflower meadow. There’s lots of ringlets at the moment about!
White/buff tail workerRed tailed bumblebee workerIchneumon wasp
Sunday 11th February, Almond Park, Craigshill, 2-3pm
It was a grey day, but dry and fairly mild. And we had all dressed for the weather so it was a cosy walk.
There were ten of us, a good turn out for AVNA’s first event I think. And a nice sized group made up of both friends and new faces, some full of knowledge and others total beginners.
Although definitely still in winter, we were already seeing Signs of Spring – though we had to look very carefully!
“There’sno such thing as bad weather – only the wrong clothes” — Billy Connolly
There are many health benefits to walking in nature and, although our pace was slow, I felt energised by the end of the hour. It was also loads of fun to chat with new people and to share snippets of information. Andri and Sarah-Jane taught us how to identify hazel catkins – but we had to peer at many twigs before spotting the tiny red flowers
We did some “off roading” along the woodland walk, which has been further re-shaped by the wet and stormy winter. But watching our footing – and keeping hold of each other for safety – we got through without losing anyone to the river!
Although I’d seen snowdrops blooming elsewhere, it was interesting that, down there in the riverside woods, they were still mainly green shoots and buds. We had to walk for a while before spotting any fully opened flowers. Then Heather blew our minds with her snowdrop close-up!
hazel catkins – notice the tiny female flower with its vase-shaped bud and red filaments sticking outwe saw many green shoots and buds of snowdrops but only a few flowers had fully openedhave you ever seen the inside of a snowdrop? isn’t this stunning!
With AVNA’s aim of encouraging citizen science, we kept an eye out for various Signs of Spring as listed by the Field Studies Council. We were too early in the year to see most of them, but we encourage everyone to keep watching throughout the season and to log your observations on the Signs of Spring site. It will be open until June.
You might also want to register for Nature’s Calendar from the Woodland Trust which asks for more regular observations.
A huge thank you to all who came along on Sunday. Everyone seemed to have fun and AVNA has some new members already! Get in touch if you’d like to join too
Our next Ramble & Chat event will be on Sunday 10th of March, Details to come so check here on the blog for times and locations
And please follow and share our posts. We’re on various social media: @avnatureaction
Citizen science is research that involves the public, most commonly for data collection. This allows researchers to get information about the natural world from all over the country. Many conservation and wildlife organisations carry out big citizen science projects every year; RSPB’S Big Garden Birdwatch in January and Butterfly Conservation Trust’s Big Butterfly Count in July-August are some of the better known projects.
What are the benefits of citizen science?
Participating in citizen science activities not only helps researchers gather valuable data, it is also an opportunity to spend time outdoors, take a break from everyday routine, and focus your attention to the nature around you and the species you are surveying. Many people find that slowing down and noticing nature helps their wellbeing. You can connect with other people, if participating as a group, and it’s a great way for beginners and young children to learn about the natural world.
These types of surveys allow for a huge amount of data collection, covering the depth and breath of the country, allowing scientists to get a clearer picture of the state of the nature across the country, better understanding species, and the impacts of climate change. Data gathered are often compiled in bigger databases and help inform policy, conservation and planning decisions. Taking part in citizen science, of course benefits the local wildlife; it’s a simple way to stand up for the little creatures. If we don’t know about the biodiverse flora and fauna that exist in our local area, or we don’t monitor population increase/decrease, how can we protect them?
Equipment and resources The equipment and resources needed to take part, depend on the project. Many campaigns, such as RSPB’S Big Garden Birdwatch, issue guidance documents every year; from instructions on method and recording sheets, to identification guides. You can get these for free when you sign up to take part.
Other projects, such as the Signs of Spring Survey 2024 and Nature’s Calendar provide information on what should be recorded on their websites, together with photos to assist identification. So a smart phone with internet connection and a camera is all you need.
Many phone applications are available to help with identification of species (iRecord , iNaturalist, and iSpot are some examples of free to use applications), but you can find free identification sheets online which you can download on your phone, or cheap second-hand books. Finally, as you will be spending time outdoors for most of these activities, you should always check the weather forecast and dress appropriately.
Time commitment
While some citizen science projects require an ongoing commitment, many are short-term, running for a few days to a few months. The survey may be a one-off 10-15 minute recording session, like the Big Butterfly Count or the FIT survey, to a weekly activity. However, citizen science projects like the Bee Walk require monthly monitoring from March – October, but you can choose a route that you walk regularly so you can easily fit this in your normal routine. You can still make your occasional observations count by recording on iRecord, an app and website for managing and sharing your wildlife records; an easy way to contribute to science and conservation.
So no matter if you are a beginner or an expert; spend lots of time in nature, or you go outdoors occasionally, there is a way you can take part and make your observations count. This database allows you to search surveys and recording schemes for your favourite species, from earth worms to ancient trees!
If you are still unsure, why not join us on our next event to chat with us and see what is all about! On Sunday 11 February, we’ll be looking out for various signs of spring which can be recorded on the Field Studies Council’s Signs of Spring survey. This survey is open until 17 June 2024.
This weekend we were delighted and grateful to learn that our bid to the WLCAN Eco Fund was a success!
The recently establised West Lothian Climate Action Network (WLCAN) awarded grants to a number of local community groups through its Eco Fund. Although we found out about our bid a wee bit in advance, the full details were announced at the Climate Change Gathering held in Howden Park Centre on Monday. The event celebrated the newly formed West Lothian Climate Action Network Hub and introduced their staff members. There were several interesting and inspiring speakers, as well as opportunities for networking. And also cake.
🍄🍄🍄 Good news! 🍄🍄🍄 We are delighted to announce that our group was successful in our bid for grant funding from the West Lothian Climate Action Network. Blog post to follow with full info!https://t.co/5wNdC2acXu@ScotWildlife@ScotCCAN#nextdoornature
— Almond Valley Nature Action (@AVNatureAction) January 31, 2024
Almond Valley Nature Action was awarded £2,000 for work to encourage public participation in citizen science, to help educate, and to run nature walks. We plan to use this in the next few months to purchase equipment and materials, book a few experts, and upskill ourselves so we can run safe and informative events in the coming year.
In the meantime, we’ll start gently with the first of our monthly Ramble & Chat walks. This month we hope to meet up with fellow nature lovers for a wander round Almond Park, Craigshill. Combining the benefits of walking in green places with the Climate Cafe idea, this will be a relaxed social walk. But we’ll keep an eye out for various signs of spring as we go, and walkers will be encouraged to log their observations with Nature’s Calendar from the Woodland Trust and the Field Studies Council’s Signs of Spring once they get home. We’re hoping for a good blether too.
These walks will usually be on the 2nd Sunday of each month and we’re planning more special events too. Such as a bat watch and some foraging! Watch this space for future details.
AVNA is an umbrella group covering small, nature based projects throughout the River Almond valley. Formed by three West Lothian based climate activists, we currently each have projects in our own neighbourhoods:
NextdoorNature Craigshill: the community found a passion for gardening during lockdown, especially in shared greenspaces. Jane hopes to encourage those passionate gardeners to make more space for nature. Imagine if Craigshill (and Almond Park) was filled with native plants, free from pesticides, and safer for wildlife. It could be a “green highway” linking Almondell and Calderwood Country Park with other green spaces beyond!
Livingston Village Park Nature: Andri wants to engage the community to improve native biodiversity, and to take interest in nature and wildlife in Livingston Village Park and nearby areas. She already organised bulb planting in the park last season and is planning to establish a regular BeeWalk Survey along a section of the NCN75
West Calder: Heather is already part of Easter Breich Wood Community Group, helping manage part of the woodland to promote biodiversity. She also has plans to plant wildflowers and fruit trees among the houses in a neglected West Calder greenspace,
Thanks to WLCAN’s generous gift we hope to grow our membership, engage our communities, and work with existing projects and organisations to improve native biodiversity in West Lothian. Please come to our events and follow and share on the socials 🙂
Sunday 11th February, Almond Park, Craigshill, 2-3pm
A monthly social walk with like-minded folk to blether about nature, climate action, biodiversity, or whatever comes to mind. This month we’ll meet at the bridge below the rugby club and look for signs of spring. This is a free event
Meet on the 2nd Sunday of each month to explore the green spaces of Almond Valley. Check the blog for future times and locations
The health benefits of walking in nature are well known. And during our time on the SWT Nextdoor Nature Pioneers programme, we learned how good it feels to chat with like-minded people. So, we decided to combine those things into the AVNA Monthly Ramble & Chat. Starting in February 2024, we plan to walk on the 2nd Sunday of each month, and visit a different West Lothian green space each time. Check here on the blog for details of times and locations.
For our first event – on the 11th of February – we’ll ramble round Almond Park in Craigshill, Livingston. Home of NextdoorNature Craigshill
This walk will include some “off roading” on the woodland walk, but there will be an option to continue on the good paths
We’ll keep an eye out for various signs of spring as we go, and you are encouraged to log your observations with Nature’s Calendar from the Woodland Trust and/or the Field Studies Council’s Signs of Spring once you get home. We’re hoping for a good blether too.
Dress for the weather, wear comfortable walking shoes or boots, bring something to drink (and a snack if you’d like)
In the middle of a nasty lurgy in the Christmas break, a random tweet about moss caught my eye and brought about a bit of reading on these tiny plants. I knew next to nothing about moss, only that there is a big business in killing it (looking at you chemical manufacturers and roofing companies!).
Here are some of the benefits that the mosses bring to the world:
They take up CO2,
They do this all year round, even when under snow!,
They can grow in shady areas where other plants struggle to thrive,
They produce oxygen,
They retain moisture and can have a cooling effect on the air,
They stabilise soil, helping prevent erosion,
They purify air and water by absorbing and trapping pollutants,
They colonise ground,
Soil covered in moss is more nutrient rich,
It looks amazing!
The benefits of these little plants is really quite disproportionate to their size! So, why spend money getting rid of it? Is it a bad thing to have moss growing in your garden, on paths and on roofs? The answer depends on who you ask. The Royal Horticultural Society states that mosses don’t damage the surfaces that they grow on, but that they can make surfaces slippery. You might want to remove moss if it’s growing on walkways. Where moss grows in a lawn, it will compete with the grass and can make the lawn appear uneven. It is mostly an issue of aesthetics and can be easily removed by raking. Leaving it be however could have the upside of less mowing!
Several internet threads debate whether to remove moss from roofs, with as many people for it as are against. Unsurprisingly, a lot of roofing companies advise removal, suggesting its presence can damage the roofs integrity, with cracking and tile movement problems. In addition, mossy growths can cause water to be channelled under tiles causing damp conditions, fungal growth and rotting. Sounds terrifying! On the other side of the debate however, people including the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, suggest moss on roofs is rarely a problem. Moss can block guttering leading to drainage problems, but regular manual clearing would resolve the issue. Treating moss on roofs comes with the additional potential for damage to roof tiles, both from being walked on and from accidental damage from the treatment process itself.
Star moss on the shed roof
A quick check of my own 20 year old slate roof which faces east, north and west, showed no moss growing there. In the spring and summer however, the birds definitely found moss, tossing lots of chunks of it down onto the garden path. Perhaps using some for nesting material or they were rooting around for invertebrates hiding inside.
The shed roof has some patches of star moss on the west facing side, and none on the more shaded east side. I will leave the moss where it is and keep a watchful eye on the inside of the shed to see where the first leaks form – I will report back, hopefully in many years!
Feather moss on sandstone
In the garden I found fork moss growing in a plant pot (pictured at the top of the post), and feather moss growing on a sandstone block (left). I only really noticed their individual shapes after zooming in on these photos.
If you do decide to remove moss from your property, the most environmentally friendly way to do it is by brushing off with a stiff brush or treating with vinegar or baking soda. Pressure washers are another chemical free way of removal, meaning nothing harmful will reach the waterways. Whether you remove moss from a roof or not – be careful who you take advice from!
Too short for a blog post on their own, here’s a round up of some recent tweets from our ‘X’ account on plants for the garden and other tips to support wildlife.
A lot of traditional garden plants such as begonias and petunias are bred for their showy looks but don’t provide for insects. Native wildflowers such as scabious and ox-eye daisies however are a sure thing. They have plenty of accessible nectar and are a great thing to plant in large generous clumps for efficient pollinator foraging. You could also have an amazing impact for butterflies if you have an area in the garden that can be given over to a nettle patch.
Leave an area of your garden a little bit wild to help wildlife. Red admiral butterlies lay their eggs on nettles, which the emergent caterpillars then eat. Here's the face of a red admiral, photo taken when it stopped to rest on a shoe! pic.twitter.com/LkL8oV6Czb
— Almond Valley Nature Action (@AVNatureAction) December 1, 2023
This small tortoiseshell butterfly in the garden centre at East Calder helped us choose this plant for the garden in the summer. Choose flowers that are open as accessible for pollinators. Nature led gardening at its finest 🙂 pic.twitter.com/VfHCT9P8wS
Gardening without pesticides prevents harm to our insects, which in turn provides safe food resources for our garden birds and other animals. Letting things get a little wild by not being too tidy also provides shelter for overwintering bugs. Leave the leaves and old stalks and deadheads on plants until winter is over and the growth cycle begins again. Choose to protect wildlife!
It's winter, so let's think about summer ahahaa 😄 Those untidied bits of your garden are providing homes for butterfly caterpillars/eggs + you might have a bumblebee queen tucked up underground somewhere 😉 braw! pic.twitter.com/HFJtGzBO9H
— Almond Valley Nature Action (@AVNatureAction) December 7, 2023
Wintertime is the perfect time for planning for the coming seasons and for reviewing the previous ones. One of the best things about winter though are murmurations, the hypnotically beautiful flocking of birds. This one was seen on a freezing cold day near the Five Sisters in West Calder, enjoy!
😅 still figuring out posting on twitter but seem to have fixed the sizing issue! 😀 pic.twitter.com/WRJYcmodCn
— Almond Valley Nature Action (@AVNatureAction) December 5, 2023
“UK is a nation of animal lovers”. This is a statement we all hear a lot. When you consider the amount of dog and cat welfare charities in existence, this is a good indication that this might be true. But lest we forget that insects, arachnids, birds, and reptiles are animals too. A quick search in the Scottish Charity Regulator database, reveals that from the 806 charities with the purpose of advancement of animal welfare, there’s 76 charities focusing on dogs alone, compared to 35 charities for wildlife! Our wildlife deserves to have their habitats and food sources protected; and long grass is important for many species.
Long grass brings multiple benefits to wildlife; it provides food for pollinators, such us bumblebees, hoverflies, and butterflies; shelter for all sorts of insects, small mammals, and overwintering protection. Even in the depth of winter, where the colourful flowers are long gone, dried seed heads are food for birds, dried hollow stems might be homes for caterpillars and solitary bees, while insect eggs and larvae are hidden in leaf litter, waiting for warmer weather. Wild patches in our gardens and green spaces are essential, allowing many insect species to complete their circle of life.
This article from Buglife explains how leaving the grass grow long in your garden beyond No Mow May, can support species from grasshoppers, to spiders, and butterflies. We should not solely rely on conservation groups and charities to carry out this work in nature reserves; our own gardens can also be havens for many species.
Leaving the grass grow long, is not a sign of laziness. Having patches of long grass in parks and public spaces is not cost cutting, it is indeed supporting our declining wildlife.
It is time that we give more consideration to the needs of animals and wildlife, beyond animals traditionally considered as pets. Our individual actions can have a big impact on supporting biodiversity. This article explains how simple it is to grow a wild patch.
Make Space for Nature campaign provides helpful tips on steps to take in all seasons to help wildlife and biodiversity, and, on a more local level, you can check the West Lothian Council Biodiversity team’s How you can help webpage.
Where's your bee hotel hanging? If it'll catch rainy winter weather move it into a garden shed or unheated porch until spring. Keep them dry, it's the damp not the cold that can harm the occupants. Here's mine with 1 solitary bee occupant and a visiting angle shades moth 🙂 pic.twitter.com/gFtu24ILuc
Almond Valley Nature Action 