Rocka-blitz!

Last week we had our own mini-bioblitz on Rockabill! To mark 'International Biodiversity Day' on May 22nd, the National Biodiversity Data Centre invited people to spend some time over the weekend recording the wildlife in the garden, locality or nearest wildlife site, and set a target of 50 species per individual with the hope of receiving 1,000 records per day. Now it just so happens our garden, locality and nearest wildlife site are all the same thing at the moment - the small island of Rockabill, and both being Zoology graduates we liked the idea of learning a bit more about what biodiversity we share the island with. And before anyone asks we didn't count birds in our 50 species - we felt that would be cheating! Or Andrew did at least......

Rockabill, in all of its uniqueness, has a mix of flora and fauna that you would find on rocky intertidal seashores, coastal habitats and your average garden or house - don't forget this was home to the families of the lighthouse keepers for many years, who grew their own vegetables and planted flowers and hedges out here. Like I said, unique!

After much hard work we managed to break the 50 species target! There are definitely species we missed (you'd be surprised how many different types of seaweed there are...), but here's what we got....

You'd be surprised how many plants and animals you can find in even a small rock pool like this - just spend some time, and get a closer look!

Rock Pool Fauna and Fish

1. Common Limpet

2. Dog Whelk

3. Blue/Common Mussel

4. Beadlet Anemone

5. Acorn Barnacle

6. Common Sea Urchin

7. Common Starfish

8. Common Shore Crab

9. Common Blenny

10. Sandeel

12. Pollock

13. European Sprat

Common Limpet and Acorn Barnacle

Sandeel (a.k.a. Tern food!)

Spot the Blenny! (A. Power)

Seaweeds

14. Bladder Wrack (Fucus vesiculosus)

15. Harpoon Weed (Asparagopsis armata)

16. Kelp (Laminaria digitata)

17. Sea Lettuce (Ulva spp.)

Marine Mammals

18. Harbour Porpoise

19. Grey Seal

20. Common Seal

Harbour Porpoise (A. Power)

Grey Seal

Plants

21. Tree Mallow

22. Sea Campion

23. Mayweed

24.Scurvy Grass

25. Hottentot Fig

26. Common Dandelion

27. Prickly Sow Thistle

28. Blue Heebee

29. Sea Beet

30. Rock Sea Spurrey

31. Sorrell

Tree Mallow - it's quite pretty when it's not completely taking over the island.....

Invertebrates

32. House Spider

33. Garden Spider

34. Woodlouse Spider

35. Garden Snail

36. Common Garden Slug

37. Earthworm

38. Common Centipede

39. Common Woodlouse

40. Common Earwig

41. Ground/Black Click Beetle

42.  Fruitfly

43. Bluebottle fly

44. Sandhopper

45. Landhopper

Garden Tiger Moth larva

Common Quaker Moth larva

Ichneumon Wasp

46. Green-veined White

47. Small White

48. Peacock Butterfly

49. Garden Tiger Moth

50. Common Quaker Moth

51. Ichneumon Wasp (Pimpla spp.)

53. Buff-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

Overall we felt it was a great initiative from the National Biodiversity Data Centre that gave us an excuse to find out more about what species we share the island with - as well as highlighting some species groups we need to brush up on...

If we can find 50+ species in a day on a small, isolated patch of land like this then it should be easy to get the same amount of species in most gardens up and down the country - so get outside and get looking! Don't forget to submit your records too, and  that it's just as important to record the common species as the more unusual ones!