The Sid Valley Biodiversity Group Encourages People To Take Part In Citizen Science Projects Across The Year, Next Week It Is The Turn Of The BSBI New Year Plant Hunt. What Better Way Is There To Recover From Christmas Than Taking A Walk And Seeing Which Plants Are Awake And Flowering To Greet The New Year.
Just Google BSBI NYPH and their website sets the scene. Originally the main aim of the New Year Plant Hunt was to provide a fun and engaging project for wildflower enthusiasts during the winter months when few botanical activities typically take place. More than a decade on, it now also provides valuable insights into how many species normally flower during the winter and, along with initiatives such as the Woodland Trust’s ‘Nature’s Calendar’ project, it is helping to build up a picture of how our flora is responding to changing weather patterns as a consequence of climate change.
The project asks people to go for a walk over the new year period and make a note of the plants with open flowers. There is a very helpful app that can be downloaded to your phone, or you can make a note of what you see and then enter it online when you get home. You don’t need to be a botanist to enjoy wild flowers, the app and the BSBI website offer plenty of support with identification.
Sidmouth is a particularly good site for a winter flower hunt because of our very mild climate. As we have written about before, there are plenty of plants flowering throughout the year around our valley. You don’t even have to get your boots muddy, the heat island effect of the buildings and the moderating effect of the sea mean the best place to walk and search is around the town.
Last year we found nineteen different plants in flower during a walk that didn’t take us more than 500m from the parish church. This year we will lead a group walk on a different route taking us through Glen Goyle and along Bickwell Valley which is always a good hunting ground for wild plants. It will be interesting to see how many of the seventy species we have recorded on the route across the year will be in flower.
The project runs for four days from Sunday 29th December to New Year’s Day. Individual Biodiversity Group members will be walking in different places on the four days but the accompanied group walk to Bickwell Valley will be determined by the weather forecast and the date will be advertised by the Saturday, keep an eye on our website and social media pages.
When the plant hunt is done, then get ready for the next citizen science project, the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch at the end of January, for that one you don’t even need to leave the house.
SVBG is a not for profit organisation dependant on volunteers, grants and donations. Without funding we cannot operate and many of our biodiversity projects will cease.
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