Friends of Ainsdale Village Park

🌳 Keep Britain Tidy Love Parks Week is coming 24 July – 2 August!
We're planning some activities so watch this space. 👀
☀️ What’s your favourite way to enjoy your Ainsdale Village Park?
🌿Whether it’s a picnic, a stroll, walking the dog or a game of football, let us know in the comments!
Let’s celebrate these amazing green spaces together! 💚

The Ainsdale Show is on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 July.

🦋 Watch out for butterflies this July.

Here are just a few of the brilliant butterflies and moths to look out for in your gardens and green spaces this month! 🦋🌻

See how many you can spot in the Big Butterfly Count from 17 July - 9 August 👉 https://bigbutterflycount.org/

How many of these bees have you seen? 🐝

July is a special month for the Big Eight 🎱🐝

Of the UK’s 24 bumblebee species, these eight are the most common. This month, queens and workers (females) will be joined by new males 👋

👑 Bumblebee queens begin to emerge from hibernation in spring, when rising temperatures and longer days awaken them from their winter snooze in the soil.
💤 When a queen emerges, she spends some time resting in order to wake up properly.
🌷 Once fully awake she feeds on flowers to gain energy.
🏠 Then begins the search for a suitable nest site: holes in the ground, long grass, bird boxes and beneath garden sheds.
🌼 Having chosen her nest site, the queen will feed on more flowers and lay her first batch of eggs.
🐛 Little white larvae hatch, feed on collected pollen, and then develop into adult workers.
💼 These smaller females carry out work inside and outside the nest.
👑 Queens remain inside the nest, laying more eggs for the next batch of workers.
🚹 Towards the end of a nest, males are produced and leave. They do not collect pollen. Instead, they spend their time feeding on nectar and trying to mate with queens from other nests.

Have you spotted any bumblebees recently? How many species have you seen?

🔎 Brush up on your bumblebee identification skills: https://ow.ly/Oiq550Zb2hT

Left on the park today.

Great to see the Ainsdale Show being prepared.

🐝 Managed to snap a bee on our wildflower patch.

Visit Ainsdale gardens today and Sunday