The Great Heath Count

Local people and wildlife experts joined forces to record hundreds of species at The Devil's Spittleful...

Community outreach stall: a smiling woman leans over a table of coloring pages, markers and jars while a man holds an insect net and a young child shows a clear container and sticker beside a purple outreach van.

The Saving Worcestershire’s Heathlands project has made great progress in transforming an area of arable farmland into a wonderful nature reserve with a nature trail, habitat improvements, way markers and a richer diversity in plants and wildlife.

However, the story doesn’t stop there. Our project events programme informs local people about the importance of heathland and their local wild spaces. Our events are split between those we set up and organise on our Sandlands and large-scale events we attend within local communities.

We recently put on an event called The Great Heath Count at The Devil's Spittleful. The day brought families and wildlife experts together to explore the Dropping Well Farm fields where much of the habitat restoration had taken place. Bug hunting kits, identification charts and magnifiers were provided in abundance with key ‘hunting zones’ identified on maps for people to focus on. The team (Amy, Mary, Ion and I) guided walks on birds, reptiles and bugs, which were all well attended and many people stayed all day.

The aim of the event was to find 200 species onsite - a good baseline for understanding whether the site is doing well for wildlife or not. On the day, 32 local people and 24 wildlife recorders attended, creating a great atmosphere and bringing together those who have never attended a wildlife event before, young children and some of the counties most active and knowledgeable wildlife experts.

The results of the day were inspiring, with 423 records and counting. This included 51 species of birds, 102 species of insects, 110 species of plants, nine species of mammals and 120 species of moths.

An Essex skipper on a bramble flower. It's a small, orange butterfly with black-tipped antennae

The top 10 highlight finds of the day include:

Birch clubhorn sawfly (Britain’s largest sawfly)
Adonis ladybird
Tawny owl
Sparrowhawk
Skylark
Tower mustard
Deptford Pink
Red-belted sand wasp
Hummingbird hawk-moth
Essex skipper

The day was a success, with families supporting the recording efforts and helping to find many species. The species lists help us to refine our management plans for the site to ensure we are doing the best we can to help local wildlife. A big thank you to everyone who attended!

Over the past few months, we've also attended a range of community events, including the Stourport Greener Living Fair, Sustfest and Bewdley Carnival, while also leading guided walks, working with groups of young people and delivering workshops, volunteer work parties and pop-up sessions on site.

Staff member holding a flyer next to a board titled "Greener Living Fair," promoting a sustainable living event with shoppers and red-brick town centre buildings visible in the background.

Our community engagement work aims to help as many local people as possible discover the wildlife on their doorstep and inspire them to play a role in protecting it. By building this connection with nature, we hope the legacy of the Saving Worcestershire's Heathland project will continue long after it comes to an end later this year, with local communities championing and caring for these special places.

In August we will be attending events with the Kidderminster and District Youth Trust, events in partnership with the Active Youth Outreach Service, joint events with the Burlish Bike Park and pop-up sessions throughout the summer holidays on The Devil’s Spittleful. We would love to continue to engage and connect with more people in Bewdley, Stourport and Kidderminster area, so please come and say hello if you would like to work together to support local wildlife.