Help record a day in the wildlife of Lackford Lakes

Suffolk Wildlife Trust is looking for help in ‘blitzing’ one of its top reserves to record what lives there.

The aim of its Lackford Lakes BioBlitz tomorrow and Sunday is to see how many different species can be recorded there in just 24 hours.

But they are not just talking about birds, of which more than 130 species have been recorded so far this year, they plan to record everything down to the last blade of grass.

Hawk Honey, visitor assistant at Lackford Lakes, said: “You don’t have to be an expert to join in, whatever your level of ID skills you can help. We need to record everything from blue tits and oak trees through to specialist macroinvertibrates.”

The BioBlitz is supported by Suffolk Biological Records Centre, who manage and collate all the county’s natural history records.

Ben Heather, biological records officer, will be using the new online recording system he has created for Suffolk and will be there to help log BioBlitz species.

He said: “We will have a specific online survey to capture all the records from Lackford. People will be able to log their sightings and explore what else has been recorded.”

The Bioblitz kicks off at 4pm on Saturday with bird counting, mammal trap setting and even a spot of astronomical gazing.

You’ll need to set your alarm clock if you want to be up in time to join the early morning wildlife walk on Sunday morning.

Then it’ll be off to discover what’s been captured in the mammal traps, pitfalls and moth traps.

Experts will lead sessions on Breckland plant ID and bird ringing and there will even be a family pond dipping session.

The BioBlitz is free but some of the sessions with trust experts are bookable. See: www.suffolkwildlifetrust.org/lackfordbioblitz