Croft Biodiversity Project Updates
- accounts7805
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
June 2026
We are a few months into the Leith Community Croft Biodiversity Project and beginning to collect some information about the rich diversity of birds, plants, worms and other species we are finding on the site. So perhaps it’s time for an update.
We are meeting about once a month to plan the various surveys and to share our findings. At a recent meeting we agreed that it was important to keep in touch with all the Crofters and share the results as we collect them.
You can contribute your own observations at any time and we will add them to the records.
Birds
So far we have spotted 17 bird species during three morning walks. The charm of goldfinches is quite often spotted and we usually see robins, wrens and great tits as well as pigeons (!), starlings, blackbirds, and flocks of sparrow – though it is difficult to determine exactly which species as they don’t sit still long enough for one to study their markings! On one walk we saw a greenfinch and we can probably now add swallows and martins. Tree creepers can be found near the Croft.
What else have you seen that we should have spotted?
Flowering plants
Some of us have been looking at the wild flowers. More than 50 species have been found already, and we have pictures of most of them.
The few fritillaries we found in spring were a surprise. How did they get there? Are they spreading?
Earthworms
The worm survey showed that we had good worm populations in many places (4 per sq m) but there were a few surprises. It looks like low worm numbers in some plots might be related to the use of soil fertilisation practices that they don’t like! For example, we have discovered that ammonia is toxic to worms (it burns their tissues), and they will move away from soil treated with ammonium-based fertilisers – if they haven’t already succumbed to it.
Mapping
We are in the process of mapping our findings using geographic information system software (QGIS, for those who are interested), which we can use to examine the diversity and see if there are patterns such as ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ spots. First tasks are to get an accurate picture of the different plots and areas.
It would be much appreciated if you could let us know exactly where your plot is. To facilitate this, we have A3 laminated versions of the aerial photograph above and whiteboard pens. You can mark the laminated photographs, photograph the result and then send the pictures to us. You can approach Eric (accounts@earth-in-common.org) or Toby (tobyhodgkin@gmail.com) to access the photographs and whiteboard pens.
Next activities
Next up will be more bird and flower hunts and, now the summer is arriving, we plan to look for pollinators using the approach suggested by the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. You too can do this on the flower patches in or near your plot. It only takes 10 minutes and you can drop us a note with your findings and the location.
We are also hoping to arrange a visit from a fungus expert to help us assess which species are active on our Croft, and what role they are playing in the cycle of life, and to advise on how to look for and identify them.
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