Bioblitzes are a tried and tested form of community event where volunteers and member of the public come together to record the wildlife present on a site. Our Bioblitz at Hardwick Green Meadows was held over a weekend; the Saturday being for volunteer expert naturalists, the Sunday advertised as an open day for members of the public to come along and join in.

Seven naturalists came to record flora and fauna over the whole of Hardwick Green Meadows site on Saturday 8^th June. The weather had been a little unpredictable leading up to the day, which turned out to be windy and cool but dry. Despite not ideal conditions for the time of year, our intrepid naturalists recorded an impressive range of creatures and wildflowers.

The following day, Sunday 9th, the skies threatened rain for our public open day but people braved the weather to have a look at the meadows in all their glory. In the welcome gazebo near the gate we served light refreshments and had a display collated by the Hardwick Green Meadows historical research group for visitors to look at.

Visitors headed to the Pit Field where a second gazebo had bugpots, sweep nets, identification books and leaflets that were lent out to budding wildlife enthusiasts so they could gain skills in wildlife identification. The six naturalists on hand led guided walks or answered wildlife queries. It was interesting that two of our visitors were people who had taken part in the oral history interviews and many of the others were local people/families enjoying the opportunity to have a good look around. Just as the last visitors left, a rumble of thunder indicated it was time to get the gazebos packed up while they were still dry!

Over the two days we recorded an impressive list of over 250  species, indicating how wildlife-rich this site is.

On 12^th June we ran a School’s Day for Pendock and Eldersfield Lawn Primary Schools, where 75 children learned about the importance of this rare habitat and played a germination game, looked at the variety of plants and had a go at sweep-netting. We had some lovely feedback from the schools on social media afterwards!