The Recording Team

Tom’s Paddock - the view from the gate. Photo: Mike Griffiths

Our recording team survey some lovely sites round Wirral. Mike Griffiths did a survey of Tom's Paddock last year, a small species-rich grassland next to Foxes Wood, Thornton Common Road, Clatterbridge. If you are in the area, do stop and look over the gate into the field. The orchids are a hybrid swarm of southern marsh, common spotted and everything in between – a taxonomic nightmare!

Scorpion fly. Photo: Mike Griffiths.

Mike is skilled in naming various insects as well as plant identification. He found a bee new to Cheshire, delightfully named the sleepy flower bee (Chelostoma florisomne), as reported in our Spring 2014 newsletter. He also took some photos of other invertebrates - look out for similar ones in your patch this summer. They include a scorpion fly (Panorpa communis), lacewing (Chrysocopa perla), cardinal beetle (Pyrochroa serraticornis) and Silver-ground Carpet Moth (Xanthorhoe montanata).

Lacewing. Photo: Mike Griffiths.

Tom's Paddock is managed by Tom McCullough, with help from Wirral Countryside Volunteers. A third of it has to be scythed and cleared every year to keep the flowers thriving. If you would like to help, do get in touch by email or through Wirral Countryside Volunteers or ring Hilary on 0151 327 5923.

Cardinal beetle. Photo: Mike Griffiths.

If you would like to train as a biological recorder with our volunteers, contact Ed Samuels on 334 4617 or by email.

Silver-ground carpet moth. Photo: Mike Griffiths.

Hilary Ash