Sark’s cliff tops, roadsides and meadows are buzzing with butterflies, bees and other insects but, to give nature a helping hand, two fields have been set aside and planted with special seed mixtures to feed our wildlife. The meadow at the Coupée has a mixture of wildflowers aimed at attracting pollinators, and benches to attract people to come and watch them. Near the Island Hall is the Project Sunflower field,…

There are plenty of butterflies around at the moment here on Sark but the most spectacular is the dark green fritillary. This striking orange and brown butterfly is impossible to confuse with the other brown butterflies on the wing at the moment being larger and more brightly coloured than both the gatekeeper and meadow brown butterflies. It has silvery spots on its underwings and is named after its dark green…

The seabird breeding season is in full swing here on Sark, which means that our puffins have returned from their life far out at sea to breed on L’Etac, an islet off Little Sark. The birds rear a single chick, called a puffling, in a burrow and by now one or other of the parents will be keeping the egg warm until it hatches in June. The best way to…

The seabird breeding season is in full swing here on Sark and this year seems to be particularly good for guillemots. These beautiful chocolate-brown and white birds belong to the auk family, along with puffins and razorbills that also breed here. Over the last three years they have established a new colony on rocks off the east coast as well as their main breeding site on Les Autelets on the…

There was no shortage of volunteers for the Channel Island Big Beach clean here on Sark recently but there was a shortage of rubbish. The event was held on Dixcart beach but the small amount of rubbish that there was didn’t take long to collect so the organisers decided to run a sand sculpture competition for the children instead. The were several mermaids and a turtle created from sand and…

The conservation initiative to provide food for wildlife is now in full bloom. Called Project Sunflower, and now in its second year, it was set up in a two-acre field belonging to farmer Gavin Nicolle that was previously used for growing hay. It has been sown with a special mixture of plants to provide nectar through the summer and seeds through the autumn and winter. The sunflowers are the most…

A field near the Coupée has been dedicated to wildlife this year, specifically pollinating insects. The four-acre field, which is opposite the carriage park, belongs to the Magell and Woolford families who have sewn it with a specially blended mixture of seeds to provide pollen and nectar for a wide range of insect species including butterflies and bumblebees. The crop contains trefoils, clovers, phacelia and borage. Picnic tables and log…