Sunday, 31 January 2016

National Moth Recorders' Meeting 2016

Yesterday it was the annual meeting held in Birmingham. Over subscribed again with a waiting list. There were a number of people attending from Hereford and Worcester and I think for once, Hereford outnumbered its close neighbour in attendees. I'd publish a photo of them but they sneaked out early.

There were talks from a variety of people and most were very interesting. Zoe Randle announced the structure for the regional and national verification panels for inclusion of micro-moths into the system. A number of us from the 2 counties are on the Midlands panel I'm pleased to say. After Zoe the programme was:
Changing Fortunes of Moths in Yorkshire by Charles Fletcher (Yorkshire CMR). A very interesting talk on increases and decreases of certain species due presumably to climate change.
Conservation of Fisher's Estuarine Moth by Zoe Ringwood (Natural England). Where she spoke of its perilous survival and measures being taken to not only protect it, but increase its range
The Bordered Grey enigma by Paul Brooks - an Englishman living in Angus. How he was tasked to find out more about the Scottish colony which he was successful in doing
Burnets, cyanide bombs and colonisation by Mika Zagrobelny (Copenhagen University). Fascinating talk about the uses of cyanide in the 6-spot burnet
The Dark side of Street lighting by Callum MacGregor (Newcastle University/CEH). The affects of street lighting on moth behaviour
Some like it Hot by Georgina Palmer (York University). Reasons why species respond to climate change
and finally A Focus on Moths (the Youth Nature Network). A society trying to get young people involved in the outdoors

In between it was a chance to catch up and chat with colleagues from around the country. Over 200 people attended and a buffet lunch was supplied. The image was after the mid afternoon coffee break where some unscrupulous folk had sneaked out to head for home, leaving a few empty seats.


If you've never attended one of these events, you should think about going. It's well worth your while. They videoed it all and are going to try and upload the days' speakers and produce a video link on the BC website of the day. When this happens I'll let you know and provide a link to view.  Peter Hall

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for posting this Peter, I'll take a look at the video if it becomes available.

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