City streets are simply buzzing
Communications officer at the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside
EARLIER this year I decided to pursue a master’s degree in urban pollinators.
Being an area of seemingly very little research, my supervisor seemed more than keen to send me out sampling the streets of Manchester with a very ridiculous (but very practical) yellow, popout net. It’s fair to say I got a few odd looks.
At first, the tiny patch of wildflowers with buses and cyclists zooming by seemed to me like the worst place to look for wildlife in the world. On closer inspection however, my eyes were opened to the complex micro-city I saw before me.
Bumble bees, honey bees, hoverflies and butterflies were enjoying the sunny afternoon, seemingly unaware of the blaring traffic and noisy streets. Before my studies I hadn’t given hoverflies much of a second thought but now I was beginning to realise how fascinating and complex they are.
Brightly-coloured and fast, it was a pleasure to watch them hover and zoom around the flowers. It was easy to forget where I was, stood on Manchester’s Oxford Road.
Looking at them then, I knew that I would find this research fascinating. I also realised that I would find identifying these speedy creatures very, very hard. The very first species of hoverfly that I was able to identify was the marmalade fly – these are a very common species that are particularly easy to spot. They have an orange body with thick and thin black bands across it. The thin bands look like little moustache shapes along their abdomen.
Hoverflies are brightly-coloured insects that generally mimic bees and wasps. There are about 250 different hoverfly species in Britain, they are generally spotted on flowers throughout spring, summer and autumn. Adults drink nectar and eat pollen and honeydew, some species feed on dead insects. The larvae are very varied and all have different feeding habits. Some eat plants, rotten wood, fungi or even parasite other insects.
So far my studies have shown me how resilient nature can be, even in a busy city. You don’t have to venture far to find wildlife. The more I learn, the more excited I am to be researching these little creatures particularly in such an unusual location. Being out in such a busy area also means that I regularly get asked questions about what I’m doing. Again, it’s pretty strange to see someone standing by the side of a road holding a net. When I show people the nature right under their noses, huge smiles grow across their face and it’s so wonderful to see the impact they have on passersby. I’m really excited to get out and do some more sampling next season – hopefully with practice it will become a lot easier too.
When I show people the nature right under their noses, huge smiles grow Ellie Sherlock
The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. It manages around 40 nature reserves and 20 Local Nature Reserves covering acres of woodland, wetland, upland and meadow. The Trust has 29,000 members, and over 1,200 volunteers.
To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www.lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust.org. uk.