Archnetwork and EU Leonardo da Vinci Programme Nature Exchange

Poland

Hosted by the Society for the Coast (EUCC - Poland)

13th to 20th July 2009

Exchange participants

Adam Fraser

Uplands Advisory Officer
RSPB Scotland
Inverness

Alison Phillip

Black Grouse Project Officer
RSPB Scotland
Glasgow

Andrea Williams

Information and Education Officer
RSPB Scotland / Forestry Commission Scotland
Aberfoyle

Craig Nisbet

Reserve Officer
Scottish Natural Heritage
Loch Leven National Nature Reserve

Michal Sur

Assistant Warden
RSPB Scotland
Islay

Rebecca Johnson

Conservation Officer
RSPB Scotland
Dumfries & Galloway

Host

Dr Kazimierz Rabski

Society for the Coast (EUCC)
Poland

‘Archnetwork is a Scottish Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) promoting learning and development in natural and cultural heritage between Scotland and other European countries.’

In this exchange, six members of staff from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Forestry Commission Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage visited north west Poland, a region of wetlands, meadows, forests and farmland dominated by the Odra Delta.

During our week, we were given an introduction to the region by our fantastic host, Dr Kazimierz Rabski from the Society for the Coast (EUCC - Poland), an NGO based in Czarnocin. Kazimierz, along with staff and researchers at the many sites visited, provided us with a fascinating insight into conservation in this biodiverse corner of Poland.

It was fascinating to visit an area where extensive agriculture has created a farming landscape which still supports a huge variety of wildlife. It was truly ‘landscape-scale’ habitat management, with thousands of hectares of low-intensity grassland systems and wetland habitats. Though each site we visited faced a variety of pressures, such as habitat fragmentation, fluctuation in water levels, and levels of public access, it seems that stakeholders are coming together to find solutions to these problems.

We would like to offer our thanks to Kazimierz and everyone who took the time to speak us, show us their sites, and generally make us feel very welcome during our exchange. We would also like to thank to everybody from Archnetwork for organising this exchange for us, particularly Libby Urquhart, and the Leonardo da Vinci programme for funding the scheme.

Tuesday 14th July

Warta Mouth National Park

After our arrival the previous afternoon, our first full day in Poland took us to Warta Mouth National Park (Park Narodowy “Ujscie Warty”). On arrival renovations were being carried out to the visitor centre which housed an impressive watchtower which overlooked the park and looked to be a perfect spot for bird watching. We were introduced to the Director of the Park, Mr. Konrad Wypychowski, who gave us a quick introductory presentation about the national park.

The park is over 8000 hectares in size and is made up of mostly wetland habitats including floodplains and wet meadows. The Slonsk reserve was first established in the area in 1977 and became a RAMSAR site in 1984 which afforded it international protection. In 1996 the area was extended around the reserve and it became the Warta Mouth Landscape Park. In 2001, the area was extended once again and the site became a national park which provided even greater protection measures.

The park is a semi natural lake and used to be an inland delta with the culmination of two rivers: the Warta and the Oder. The Oder’s catchment area makes up thirty percent of Poland’s total area with the Warta’s catchment being seven to ten percent of this. This sometimes gives rise to a thirty to forty centimetre difference in the water table on a daily basis and thus it is very important for water management.

When we arrived, there had been extensive flooding due to heavy rains and approximately 5000 hectares of meadows and pastures were underwater. Where we would have normally taken trails and tracks through the park, we now had to travel by boat (much to our delight).

Our boatman had many years of experience on the water and was reputed to have been born on it! This showed in the skilful way he manoeuvred around the often difficult waterways. Due to the flood waters we were often negotiating our way over floating logs, through tree canopies and ducking to get under low lying branches. The latter left us with a wealth of invertebrate life in the boat including harvestmen, spiders, beetles and flies. Our boatman often spotted the white tailed eagles long before us and managed to get us to within ten metres of one these magnificent birds (much better viewing than the long distance scope on Mull). What a way to start a boat trip and it only improved with sightings of black stork, whiskered tern and black tern, all of them a first for me.

The park is an important site for birds with 254 species listed, with 174 of these breeding there. The site is also an important site for moulting birds and it is estimated that around 10,000 to 14,000 birds come there for this reason alone. The bean goose is the logo for the National Park and with good reason. In 1998, 200,000 geese were recorded in the park and 75 percent of these were bean geese (with the rest being largely white-fronted goose). Artificial platforms have been built for the geese but these have been easy targets for mink and raccoon. Whooper swans are also very important in winter, with over 3000 arriving.

The extensive wetlands of the park also give rise to many interesting water plants such as the white water lily, marsh spurge, water avens, yellow iris and marsh marigold. Other wildlife in the park includes field frog, toad, grass snake, rudd and broad bodied chaser. There is also a small area of forest which accounts for one percent of the park but this is not natural. Beaver is a protected species but can cause problems with the building of their dams. About ten to fifteen families of otter inhabit the park and also wild boar. The latter along with racoon or raccoon dogs are often found stranded on islands or in trees as the waters rise.

Extensive farming is extremely important in the area as they use horses and cows to graze 2000 hectares of the park. However, 2009 has not been the best year for farmers since most of their grazing land is underwater, which meant there were 4000 “homeless cows” when we visited.

I was quite surprised how involved the conservation organisations were with the farmers and how they seemed to work hand in hand to achieve their goal. It seemed to be ‘expected’ that the farmers would graze their livestock on the required areas. From my experience In Perthshire, it was often difficult to get farmers to graze wetland areas due to the risks to their stock but also hard to get the appropriate stock density and timings. The special partnership with farmers was reflected in the fact that the park held a special celebration day for the graziers called Cow Day, where they often had over 1000 people attend.

There is no building allowed inside the park, just roads and bridges for visitor access and even this is restricted to certain areas of the park. Most education groups take advantage of the 25 to 50 kilometres of trails and use bicycles to explore and learn. The park gets about 50,000 visitors per year and 10,000 are students that use the watch tower. Konrad felt that this number was sufficient and any increase would put too much pressure on the habitats.

Later that evening, after our exhilarating boat trip, we went on a search for the aquatic warbler in the northern part of the park. It was a beautiful evening although the mosquitoes were prevalent. Konrad played the call of the aquatic warbler from his mobile phone but unfortunately we didn’t hear any on our walk. However, we did see a marsh harrier, hear a water rail and sighted a fox on the path up ahead. As the sun began to set common cranes came in to spend the night followed by flocks of greylag geese. Several species of moth were on the wing, including latticed heaths, shaded broadbar and wainscots. As we walked back, we were treated to beautiful tree and bird silhouettes cast against the pink sky of the setting sun.

Andrea Williams

Wednesday 15th July

Invasive species management

Back at Warta Mouth National Park, we were introduced to Eva Baraniewicz, a scientist currently involved in monitoring invasive mammals to the Park. Three main invasive species are present in the park: American mink, raccoon, and raccoon dog. Eva’s work focuses mainly on raccoons, although all three species pose a threat if the populations increase. They currently know that the population of raccoons is small, having crossed the Odra River from Germany. 3000 raccoons have recently been shot in the Brandenburg region of Germany, so with a larger population across the border there is concern that this could impact significantly if there is a large increase in movement.

The project was established in early 2009, and aims to assess the impact of invasive predators on ground nesting birds. A series of live traps have been located at various points along the Warta River and around the visitor centre. Trapped individuals are caught, checked for bovine TB and rabies, measured to ensure suitability for tracking, fitted with a GPS collar, then released. This is a refreshing approach to dealing with the early onslaught of an invasive species. Gaining knowledge on its movements and habits will help staff to focus their efforts on particular corridors that raccoons are using as they disperse through the park. The collars emit two records per day, and have an estimated lifespan of 18 months. Searches for tracks and signs such as claw marks on trees and footprints also take place, and initial results from nine collared raccoons suggest that distribution is mainly limited to the Warta River.

Scat samples taken in the early stages of Phase 1 have revealed that a large proportion of the raccoons’ diet consists of invertebrates, berries and frogs. While raccoons seem less interested in bird predation, American mink have been known to destroy entire gull colonies in a matter of hours, so their tracking is also an essential part of this project.

While the current population of predators is low, monitoring their movements will mean species control during Phase 2 of the project (due to start in 2012) will be more focussed on key sites, and therefore more likely to be successful. With mink posing a greater threat to ground-nesting birds, they are being systematically eradicated as and when caught, as it is thought that the population may be higher than raccoon and raccoon dog. A nearby mink farm had recently reported the escape of up to 500 individuals at once, so they obviously pose a much greater risk to native wildlife. Mink have caused problems following the installation of mallard boxes and goose rafts, both of which provide them with an easy food source.

Journey to Slonsk

Further exploration of the north took us toward Slonsk, where the largest of the pumping stations is situated. The road runs along a land barrier to ensure that the water level can be controlled on both sides. The effect was clear, with large a large expanse of wetland on one side being used by waders including lapwing and wood sandpiper, and the other grazed side being patrolled by marsh harrier and red kite.

Laki Museum

Later in the afternoon we visited the Laki Museum, managed by Ecological Agriculture (Rolnictwo Ekologiczne). It is run by local farmers whose sheep graze the xerothermic grassland meadows which characterise the valley. The museum promotes these and other grasslands of the world and through Polish and English interpretation signs educate visitors on the importance of traditional management techniques like mowing and grazing to maintain biodiversity in these botanically rich sites. The message from the organisation was clearly that in order to maintain grassland habitats, effective management techniques must be employed to avoid natural succession diminishing the ecological value of them, and for the wildlife that relies on them.

One of Poland’s many active telegraph pole white stork nests outside the main door also provided all with an ideal photo opportunity.

Craig Nisbet
Thursday 16th July

Structure of nature conservation

Polish nature conservation is focussed heavily on the protection of selected areas through state involvement. A network of 24 large national parks provides the backbone, with strict rules on the protection and conservation of all nature within them. Further designations include landscape parks, nature reserves and areas of protected landscape and, although most are underpinned by Natura 2000, each has varying levels of protection afforded. The total coverage is significant (20 to 30 percent of Poland) and habitats and species of all types are included.

NGOs provide an important lobbying tool for the protection of both existing and potentially important areas, with 160 certified organisations. NGOs in Poland seem to face similar problems to those in Scotland – gaining support and credibility relies on a willing and interested public - and many are seen as single focus “nature fundamentalists”! For private landowners and farmers, there are agri-environment grant schemes, but there appears to be little interest or understanding despite funding rates being very attractive. Some NGOs – including the Society for the Coast, are engaged in raising awareness whilst attempting to model and demonstrate management on their own landholdings. The Society for the Coast also appears unique in its holistic approach to environmental, social and economic sustainability – a message that aims to encourage consideration for the natural world, whilst rewarding those who help financially and through social projects.

In summary, the process for nature conservation in Poland appears to be still in a state of infancy, with the state being responsible for much of their biodiversity and conservation strategy and a relatively weak legal structure with which to implement this. However, there is a significant body of enthusiastic and driven conservationists, both at state and NGO level, who see a promising future. Whilst we often get bogged down in Scotland with multiple stakeholder involvement, the pressures on our landscape and continuous intervention, there is a clear will to cut through this in Poland and cement nature conservation as a building block for sustainable development.

The Battle of Zorndorf 1758

A brief visit was made to the site of the Battle of Zorndorf, fought between the Prussian and Russian empires as part of the Seven Years War in the 18th century. There is no memorial, despite 30,000 deaths in just one day (for comparison the Somme claimed 20,000 lives), and the site is now hidden under agricultural practice. A discreet sign details some of the aspects of the battle, one that was crucial in determining Prussian survival in the war. Whilst the result of the battle is disputed – casualties were even on both sides but the Russians held the battlefield - the subsequent retreat by Russian forces prevented them reaching Austrian allies and paved the way for Frederick the Great and his Prussian empire to claim a tactical victory. The war lasted a further five years, with the Prussians repeatedly defeated but ultimately saved by many of their foes losing stomach for the fight and facing severe financial crisis.

Adam Fraser
Friday 17th July

Wolinski National Park.

We travelled up to Wolinski National Park where we met the director of the park who discussed the main issues of the park with us. We also visited the Natural History Museum in Miedzyzdroje and the highest sea cliff in Poland for a great view over the Baltic.

National parks constitute the highest level of nature protection in Poland and they protect an area distinct for its unique scientific, natural, cultural and educational values.

Wolinski National Park is the first maritime national park in Poland. The vision of establishing the park began after the Second World War, when Poland recovered 500 kilometres of the Baltic Coast. It was the 1960s before it became properly established, with 4500 hectares being designated at first on Wolin Island - the largest island lying entirely within Polish boundaries. In 1996 the park was extended to include areas of the Baltic Sea basin and coastal zone of Szczecin Bay. It now covers 10,937 hectares with beech forests dominating the mainland area, and aquatic ecosystems including a one-mile wide coastal zone, Szczecin Bay, river floodplain and numerous lakes.

As Wolinski is the first national park in Poland to include coastal zones, problems of how to manage this area are currently being faced. Coastal areas come under the management of three different departments of the Government; environment, infrastructure and agriculture. It would be very complicated to change the national legislation, so the solution here has been to have a local agreement between the National Park, Maritime Office and the fishing co-operative.

Funding seems to be a major issue for the Park. Through its status as a national park, it was necessary to gradually remove all of the businesses within the boundaries to reduce the conflicts between humans and nature. The buildings still exist though and finding a role for them in nature conservation is a continuing issue. An old military headquarters has been donated to the park, but again funding is an issue and co-operation with partners such as the university is vital so that the buildings are restored and used in a way that is compatible with nature conservation/education.

With funding in short supply, the ideal aim is to leave the Park as natural as possible with no management and only monitoring needed, but first the habitats have to be restored. This idea of as little active management as possible seemed to be a recurring theme throughout the trip and it was great to experience a site where this is still achievable. I feel the UK’s smaller land mass, and the massive influence humans have already had on it, means that this would not be possible to the same extent as it is in Poland. Plantations of pine still exist within the Park, and the aim is to clear these by 2014 although this will lead to another loss of revenue.

Compared to Warta Mouth National Park, Wolinski experiences much higher visitor numbers and therefore pressure. 400,000 visit the park each year although more than a million pass through the area. Miedzyzdroje is a popular beach holiday resort and there are many towns surrounding the park. Tourism is a much-needed source of income for the Park. The Natural History Museum in Miedzyzdroje and Bison Reserve act as draws for tourists, and this is a good example of easing visitor pressure in more sensitive areas. The most sensitive areas of the park are strictly protected and access is prohibited.

Alison Phillip
Saturday 18th July

Odra Delta Nature Park and sustainable development

Czarnocin Basin is the largest site owned by the Society for the Coast and was identified as far back as the 1930s as an important stop-off point for migratory birds. After a decade or so of neglect, the site is being bought back into active management, and is being set up as a demonstration site for wildlife-friendly agricultural practice in the region.

Czarnocin Basin, along with National Forestry and Maritime Office land, makes up the Odra Delta Nature Park, 4000 hectares of coastal wetlands, meadows, forests and waters. The Odra Delta project, funded by the Dutch government, is “a demonstration of active nature management as a path to sustainable development”, which aims to develop and implement the establishment of the first private, fully organised, protected Natura 2000 site in Poland.

Conservation staff involved in the Nature Park, particularly the Society for the Coast, are encouraging local people to take ownership of nature conservation, which has traditionally been seen as the responsibility of the state. Promoting conservation as a tool for sustainable development is seen as the key to long-term success here, linking in with agriculture, fisheries, forestry, education and tourism.

Funding has been obtained for projects to work towards this goal. Project SAMI SOBIE, “We for Ourselves”, funds small projects which are implemented by members of the local community, encouraging ownership. As a separate project, a leaflet has been produced for tourists, containing information on visiting the Odra Delta Nature Park, linking to local businesses and attractions in the area. (An identical project is currently underway on the Red Kite Trail in Dumfries & Galloway.) A number of bicycles have also been purchased and distributed around local businesses and schools, to allow people to visit the Park without causing disturbance. Through these schemes, the local community sees the benefit of the Nature Park designation.

Management of Czarnocin Basin

Breeding Bird Surveys carried out annually by Dutch volunteers show that bringing the site back into active management is having a positive impact on bird numbers. A management plan for Czarnocin Basin was written recently in association with stakeholders, including local people, farmers, partner NGOs, and local and regional Government. Light grazing by private herds of Limousin and Highland cattle, and horses, is used to maintain a favourable sward structure in selected fields. Grazing is offered free on the site as long as the grazing regime outlined in the management plan is adhered to. Conservation grazing is currently being researched on site using trial exclosures, as part of an ongoing PhD studentship.

Hay cutting in August is carried out in other fields, with the cut used as feed or processed into pellets for use in a nearby power station. This management is mirrored on the surrounding private agricultural land, with many farmers carrying out late cutting through profitable state-funded agri-environment schemes.

An inventory of the Czarnocin Basin’s hydrological system is currently underway to provide a better understanding of the dykes, pumps, and channels around the site, which will allow a full wetland management plan to be drawn up. Simple windmill-driven pumps are currently being used to maintain water levels on wet pasture fields.

Problems have been experienced at the site, such as vandalism and theft, and an ongoing lack of volunteer resources due to the socio-economic situation in Poland. The staff, however, maintain an optimistic outlook, and continue to make progress with the development of the site, and have exciting and innovative plans for the future such as the development of a bird-watching centre with laboratories, accommodation and educational facilities.

Ending our day celebrating the completion of the new watch tower with staff, contractors and local people was a highlight for all of us.

Rebecca Johnson

Sunday 19th July

Wolin - The centre of Slavs and Vikings

In the morning we visited “The Centre of Slavs and Vikings” near the town of Wolin. In the eighth century, Wolin was a simple fishing village, but by the eleventh century, Wolin was one of the biggest cities in Europe with more than nine thousand inhabitants. It retained its importance until the eighteenth century.

The Centre of Slavs and Vikings is a small museum located near the town. Walking amongst the wooden dwelling houses and workshops thatched by reeds, one could easily imagine how people lived thousands of years ago. Every wooden hut had an open fire in the centre, simple furniture, and a selection of tools and utensils of daily use. In the middle of the replica village, there was a playground where children could try a “middle aged battle” with replicas of swords, spears, axes, helmets and shields. It was interesting to watch small children playing with all the weapons, with only their parents to make sure they did not hurt each other - a different approach from the UK where an owner of such a place would not be willing to risk this for fear of being sued! Apart from mock fights, visitors can be involved in all sorts of events where they can try the old crafts, hands-on.

Row peninsula at the north of Odra Delta Nature park

Later that morning we visited the Row Peninsula – the northern part of Odra Delta Nature Park. The main habitat on the peninsula is coastal reedbed. Much of the peninsula experiences occasional heavy flooding by the brackish waters of Szczecin Lagoon. The peninsula is an important place for birds like greylag goose, shelduck, gadwall, marsh harrier, hen harrier, Montagu’s harrier, spotted crake, corncrake, bearded tit and Savi’s warbler. The peninsula was extensively farmed before the Second World War, and after the war was mowed for reeds. Now, about half of the peninsula is mowed for reeds for roofing and about 50 to 70 hectares is grazed by 50 cows and 25 horses, from April until October. A local farmer grazes the area with his livestock free of charge. Kazimierz told us about how the grazier was once forced to quickly evacuate all his animals because of sudden flooding. It is a good example of how important it is to maintain a good relationship with your grazier, as not everyone would be willing to put their livestock in a place that so prone to unexpected flooding.

We visited was a little campsite on the shore of a small lagoon with simple facilities (little shop, toilets). In the near future it will be developed to bring in more visitors but still a relatively small number due to the sensitivity of the area. There was an intention to build a trail 2 kilometre into the peninsula but the plan was abandoned. Instead, there will be a Viking-style watch tower built overlooking the lagoon and the peninsula. People will be able to book a guided tour in the peninsula depending on the state of flooding.

Baltic Sea

In the afternoon, we visited one of the beaches on the north coast where some of us went for a swim in the Baltic Sea (much warmer compared to the west coast of Scotland…). The beach was empty after a short thunderstorm, but Kazimierz pointed out that even on busy days you might still only meet only a few families along a couple of miles of sandy beach. This was a massive contrast to the beach near Miedzyzdroje, where we saw hundreds of people occupying every square inch of sand. This beach is not advertised and Kazimierz mentioned that they want to keep it that way, as it is within a sensitive area. Tourists are attracted and directed to the beach at Miedzyzdroje with all the facilities.

Michal Sur

Sunday 20th July

White tailed eagles

On our final morning we set off on a boat trip in two small fishing boats to see white-tailed eagles fishing in the lagoon. Two local fishermen took us around the lagoon to the places where the eagles are known to be. The trip took about two and half hours and we saw about 15 different eagles. The fishermen were throwing them fish that they caught earlier in the morning. Most of it was eaten by gulls but on four or five occasions the eagles managed to snatch a fish that went unnoticed by the flock of hungry gulls and came close enough to be photographed. We also passed a big cormorant colony. Apparently, there are about 5000 cormorants present around the lagoon. We did not count them but it was quite a sight to see the massive flocks. The whole trip was a fantastic experience. None of us had had a chance before to observe white-tailed eagles from such a short distance, even binoculars were not necessary.

There are 150 breeding pairs of white-tailed eagles in Odra Delta, about 25 percent of the Polish population. This trip was a good example of engaging local people in eco-tourism as Kazimierz mentioned earlier in the week - locals need to learn to see the nature as a commodity.

National Forestry Education Centre

Later in the day, just before we flew back to UK, we visited National Forestry Education Centre in Kliniska (Osrodek Edukacii Przyrodniczno-Lesnej, Lesny Kompleks Promocyjny – Puszcza Goleniovska). The centre was opened in 1996 to provide information about forest ecosystem and the work of foresters.

The centre is targeting not only wider public, but also organises workshops for teachers, events for school kids, and courses for foresters. They also organise conferences and engage in international projects. We were told that last year over 30,000 people were involved in some sort of training or education here.

Here we had a brief presentation about the Polish forestry, which is very different from UK forestry. More than 80 percent of Polish forests are owned by the state. The total area covered by forests in Poland is 8.7 million hectares (28 percent of Poland). In general, Polish woodlands are more natural. Since 1950s, there has been a trend to get rid of plantations and non-native monocultures and replace them with mixed forests of native species. To achieve this, the Polish foresters are using gene banks and nurseries for growing seedlings of local provenience. Timber production is not the only purpose of the Polish woodlands. There are many others functions (soil protection, water protection, recreation value, value for wildlife, etc.) that are known and recognized and whole management depends on these. In the near future, there are plans to increase total forested area to 30 percent as well as to increase the diversity and average age.

After the presentation, we had a look around the centre, information panels outside and trail. The outside of the centre is organised to provide different levels of information. There is a little area for tourists just passing through if they do not intend to spend much time there with several information panels. Next to this was a little playing area for kids, sheltered area for barbecue for several families with information panels about different types of wood. The next stage was 2.8 kilometre trail with 11 information panels for those who had more than an hour to spare.

After this visit, Kazimierz took us for our final Polish meal in the same restaurant that we had visited when we arrived. Here we realized that the whole trip did actually seem to have lasted longer than a week. It was a great experience - seven days packed with lots of new information, meeting people, seeing places, learning about polish culture, history, cuisine, beer, and having little sleep. There was no time to be bored!

Michal Sur

Species Lists

Birds

Great-crested grebe

Cormorant

Little egret

Grey heron

Black stork

White stork

Mute swan

Greylag goose

Mallard

Tufted duck

Red kite

White-tailed eagle

Marsh harrier

Goshawk

Sparrow hawk

Buzzard

Kestrel

Water rail

Moorhen

Coot

Crane

Lapwing

Redshank

Snipe

Wood sandpiper

Black-headed gull

Common gull

Lesser black backed gull

Herring gull

Yellow-legged gull

Common tern

Whiskered tern

Black tern

Wood pigeon

Collared dove

Cuckoo

Swift

Hoopoe

Green woodpecker

Great-spotted woodpecker

Sand martin

Swallow

House martin

Pied wagtail

Wren

Dunnock

Robin

Black redstart

Blackbird

Fieldfare

Mistle thrush

Grasshopper warbler

Garden Warbler

Savis’ warbler

Reed warbler

Marsh Warbler
Sedge Warbler
Green Sandpiper
Spotted Flycatcher

Blackcap

Chiffchaff

Willow warbler

Bearded tit

Long-tailed tit

Blue tit

Great tit

Nuthatch

Tree creeper

Golden oriole

Red-backed shrike

Great grey shrike

Jay

Magpie

Jackdaw

Hooded crow

Raven

Starling

House sparrow

Tree sparrow

Chaffinch

Greenfinch

Goldfinch

Linnet

Scarlet rosefinch

Yellowhammer

Reed bunting

Corn bunting

Dragonflies/Damselflies

Small redeye damselfly

Azure damselfly

Common blue damselfly

Blue-tailed damselfly

Banded demoiselle

Beautiful demoiselle

River clubtail

Broad-bodied chaser

Emerald dragonfly

Black-tailed skimmer

Vagrant darter

Black darter

Emperor

Butterflies

Brimstone butterfly

Peacock

Painted lady

Red admiral

Purple emperor

Swallowtail

Comma

Large white

Small white

Green-veined white

Marbled white

Small copper

Scarce copper

Common blue

Holly blue

Small skipper

Meadow brown

Speckled Wood

White Admiral

Moths

Dark arches

Herald

Large yellow underwing

Peacock moth

Latticed heath

Shaded broadbar

Beetles

7 spot ladybird

Hogweed bonking beetle

Striped shield bug