As we move through summer, thistles can be among the most abundant flowers in some areas. That could be from thick beds of Creeping Thistle in wasteland or field margins, or Spear Thistle with its attractive deep purple flowers. In this blog, Rob Jaques, Garden BirdWatch Supporter Development Officer at the British Trust for Ornithology, discusses their variety and value for insects and birds alike.

With clustered, white flowers and hairy, hollow stems, Hogweed is a familiar sight in many meadows. Through FIT Counts, we are seeing just how important it is for pollinating insects, and therefore for people too.

Holding a buttercup up to your chin has been said to show whether you like butter or not – lighting up your skin if you do. This evolutionary feat is a feature of Buttercup's petals, a trick of the light designed to catch the eye. FIT Counts show that this strategy works just as well for insects as it does for people, with 738 counts completed on Buttercups from 2017 to 2020 - the greatest number of FIT counts for a target flower!

Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.), also called May-tree, is unmissable in May, with its beautiful and delicate flowers gracing roadsides and field boundaries up and down the country. Ever heard the old saying ‘Ne’er cast a clout till May be out’? It could simply mean ‘don’t take off your winter clothing until the end of May’ but there is another possible interpretation of the ‘until May is out’ part which is actually until the Hawthorn tree is out in flower.

From March to December, this low-growing plant provides nectar to any insect that can navigate its strangely shaped flowers. And for those that can spot the difference between White Dead-nettles and Stinging Nettles, the leaves and stems are a fantastic feast.

Dandelions seem to arouse strong feelings, both for and against, but for pollinating insects they are a delicious source of nectar and pollen! In this article Martin Harvey explores some of the ways in which insects and dandelions interact, and what you're likely to find during a dandelion FIT Count.

PoMS has represented a strong partnership between scientists, field surveyors and specialists, both volunteer and professional, since its design and testing phase in 2015. When it comes to identifying the bees and hoverflies from pan trap surveys, we work with a handful of experienced taxonomists through Hymettus Ltd, who take on the painstaking job of turning all our sodden specimens into real data in the space of a few weeks.

As we approach Christmas and the end of the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme’s fifth survey year, it seems worth reflecting not just on where we have got to with this years’ samples and survey data (more below), but on our collective achievements to date.

Ivy flowers provide an important late-season source of nectar and pollen for many insects. One insect that you may encounter on Ivy blossom is the Ivy Bee (Colletes hederae), a solitary bee species that was first found near the south coast of England in 2001 and has subsequently spread to many areas of England and Wales, with reports of potential sightings from Scotland this year (as yet not fully confirmed).

The 2021 FIT Count season finishes at the end of September, so there's still time to try a count on Ivy flowers, which produce an average of 24 insects per 10-minute count, and other flower targets (such as Ragwort and Knapweed) are still flowering in some places. On Ivy you're likely to see plenty of wasps and maybe some Ivy Bees as well - see the PoMS flower charts for mode details.