k.brown's blog

Recording the Gammer Zows, Hardy Backs and Cheese Logs of the UK

k.brown — Mon, 10 Jan 2022 17:27:06 +0000

What are Billy Bakers, Monkey Peas, Gammer Zows, Parson's Pigs, Chiggy Wigs, Cheese Logs, Daddy Granfers, Granny Grunters, Slate Cutters, Hardy Backs, Penny Sows, and Cheesy Bugs? And what do they have in common?

If you said that they are all UK regional common names for woodlice, you would be absolutely spot-on! Researchers have already found 250 different names for woodlice from across the UK, and they would be interested to know more about their different names– you can contribute to this research by completing a very short online survey here.

It is of great interest to us that there are so many different names for these fascinating creatures. Some people believe that it is because they are commonly encountered by children looking under dead wood and stones, leading to various evocative names being drawn upon. We think there may be some truth to this, but I think it has more to do with the fact that woodlice can be encountered in almost any habitat across the UK and that they can be found all year-round. This means that if you were to look, you would most likely find woodlice, making them a common sight and, as such, have become a part of our vernacular.

Despite (or because of) woodlice being so abundant and often encountered, we tend to overlook them, yet they are truly remarkable. Belonging to the order Isopoda, woodlice are crustaceans like lobsters and crabs. However, woodlice (suborder Oniscidea) are the most successful group of terrestrial crustaceans, with many morphological and behavioural adaptations that make this possible. Even to the extent that some species have made their homes in desert habitats!

Woodlice essentially have a segmented, flattened body with seven pairs of jointed legs and specialised appendages for respiration. Females carry fertilised eggs in a brood pouch (in some ways not unlike marsupials), and some species show further maternal care for their young. Important detritivores, woodlice feed on decaying organic matter, breaking up vegetable matter into smaller pieces so aiding decomposition.

In the UK, there are around 40 different species of woodlouse across 10 families, making them a manageable group for people new to invertebrate recording. This is further helped by the fact that there are 5 very common species found across the UK and known as "the famous five". They are:

Oniscus asellus (common shiny woodlouse)
Porcellio scaber (common rough woodlouse)
Philoscia muscorum (common striped woodlouse)
Trichoniscus pusillus (common pygmy woodlouse)
Armadillidium vulgare (common pill bug)

Easy-to-find, regularly seen in parks, gardens, and even on Gino's 4th floor central London balcony; we just don't understand why this group are under-recorded in the UK.

Rachel's tips for finding Woodlice, Millipedes and Centipedes

Finding woodlice (and the other myriapods: millipedes and centipedes) requires very little specialist equipment, which helps make them an accessible group to work with.

The easiest way to find them is to go outside and turn over logs and stones to see what is hiding underneath.
When doing this, it is useful to look at the ground beneath the object, plus the underside of the object itself. Sometimes you need to be quick - some species can run pretty fast!
To find some of the smaller species, such as the pygmy woodlice, you can sieve through rotten wood and leaf litter. This can be done by hand, or you could use a kitchen sieve to process your sample quicker - a white sheet or tray can be helpful when sieving.
Lastly, as woodlice are nocturnal, you can also search for them at night using a torch. This can be great fun to try in the garden during the winter months as it can produce quite a few individuals in a short space of time - and don't forget to check underneath plant pots!

Identifying & Recording Myriapods

The Woodlouse and Waterlouse Recording Scheme has been running since 1968, is organised by Steve Gregory. He will lead woodlouse, millipede and centipede ID courses this year, following some very well-attended training courses on myriapods at FSC Bishop's Wood last year.

The following courses will be running in the West Midlands and the South East in 2022:

28 Jan Identifying and Recording Millipedes (FSC Juniper Hall) 3 days SOLD OUT
02 Feb Identifying Centipedes with Microscopes (FSC Bishop's Wood)
08 Feb Field ID of Woodlice (FSC London: Bushy Park)
09 Feb Identifying Woodlice with Microscopes (FSC London: Bushy Park)
18 Feb Identifying and Recording Woodlice (FSC Preston Montford) 3 days
22 Feb Field ID of Centipedes (FSC London: Bushy Park)
23 Feb Identifying Centipedes with Microscopes (FSC London: Bushy Park)
02 Nov Identifying Centipedes with Microscopes (FSC Bishop’s Wood) Not yet booking

If you are interested in recording woodlice, millipedes or centipedes, take a look at the British Myriapod and Isopod Group (BMIG) website. BMIG is free to join and has some great resources, including an annual field meeting, which in 2022 will be held at FSC Preston Montford. Alternatively, you can check out the Facebook group 'Isopods and Myriapods of Britain and Ireland'.

Whether you call them Gammer Zows, Chiggy Wigs, or Cheese Logs, we think that woodlice are pretty cool crustaceans and need a lot more appreciation.

Worcestershire Field Recorder Days

k.brown — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 08:03:19 +0000

Rachel Davies is the BioLinks Project Officer for the West Midlands and has some amazing field recorder days planned for this year. Read on to hear how you can get involved and build your invertebrate field skills...

Our West Midlands programme for 2021 has launched and, alongside our exciting courses led by expert tutors, we also have our Field Recorder Days. Read on to find out more about these days…

What are Field Recorder Days?

Field Recorder Days are an opportunity for people to join FSC BioLinks staff and carry out a range of different invertebrate sampling techniques. Sessions will differ depending on the desired outcome and the interests of those participating.

Some sessions will have a strong focus on sampling and specimen collection, where other sessions will focus primarily on identification and recording.

A range of people come on these days from beginner to those more experienced, but regardless of experience levels, these days offer a great opportunity to explore, try different sampling techniques and meet other recorders.

An FSC BioLinks project staff member will always be on-hand to guide the day and offer support where needed.

What sort of sampling techniques will we use?

Each Field Recorder Day will have a different focus and therefore different sampling techniques will be used depending on the target groups. Some days we will have a set survey to carry out, where we use a specific sampling technique, and on other days, we will be doing more general recording and so will be able to use a variety of sampling techniques.

We have three Field Recorder Days coming up in the West Midlands during the remainder of 2021:

20/10/2021- River Severn Freshwater Invertebrates

We’ll be heading down to Dowles Brook, Bewdley, sampling freshwater invertebrates. This day will have a strong focus on specimen collection as we need specimens for a freshwater teaching collection.

Kick sampling is a standard method used for sampling river invertebrates. It involves disturbing the material on the bed of a river or stream and collecting invertebrates dislodged in the process. A standard kick sample is 3 minutes in duration, with an additional 1 minute of stone-washing. As different invertebrates will be found in different habitats, it is important to sample all habitat types during a sample, for example shallow edges, marginal vegetation, fast-moving riffles. Once a sample has been collected it requires hand sorting to remove any invertebrate specimens for collection and identification.

10/11/2021 Bishops Wood Pitfall Trapping

We’ll be at Bishops Wood, Stourport-on-Severn, setting dry pitfall traps in preparation of the Ground Beetle ID course the following day. Once the required number of pitfalls have been set, we will spend the rest of the day doing general invertebrate recording.

Pitfall trapping is a standard method used to survey ground-active invertebrates. It involves sinking a small container (usually cups for invertebrates) into the ground, ensuring that the top of the container is level with the soil surface. Any invertebrates moving across the ground can fall into the trap and, due to the smooth edges, they cannot escape unless you release them. Traps can be set as ‘dry traps’ to capture live invertebrates, or ‘wet traps’ to capture and kill invertebrates (for specimen collection). Pitfall traps can be let in-situ for varying lengths of time, depending on the survey aims, but they do require regular emptying. Samples obtained from pitfall traps require hand sorting to remove any invertebrate specimens for identification.

18/11/2021 Bishops Wood Freshwater Invertebrates

We’ll be back at Bishops Wood, Stourport-on-Severn, sampling freshwater invertebrates in the on-site ponds.

Pond dipping is the common term used to describe taking samples from ponds. It involves using a pond net to collect invertebrate samples from different habitats. A standard sample is 5 minutes in duration and involves passing the net through the different habitat types present, for example open water, reedbeds, submerged vegetation. Once a sample has been collected it requires hand sorting to remove any invertebrate specimens for collection and identification.

Why will we be collecting specimens on these days?

Sometimes we need to collect specimens for educational purposes- such as creating a teaching collection or a reference collection. These collections are very important.

There are also some invertebrates that cannot be identified in the field, and we need to collect and preserve some specimens for identification using a microscope.

What happens to the biological records created on these days?

We submit all of the records created during all of our activities to the BioLinks Activity on iRecord.

On each Field Recorder Day, we will ask people how they would like their records recorded. Some people will choose to keep their own list and will submit records through the Biolinks Activity on their personal iRecord account. Other people will note down their records and give them to the BioLinks staff at the end of the day, so they can be entered through the BioLinks iRecord account.

Either way is fine- the important thing is that records are getting written down and there is a plan in place to ensure they are submitted through iRecord.

How do I book?

Although free to attend, spaces must be booked on these events. You can find our Field Recorder Days alongside the full West Midlands BioLinks programme on the FSC website: https://www.field-studies-council.org/biolinks-courses/

Meet the BioLinks Team

k.brown — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 11:09:01 +0000

The past 18 months have seen a lot of changes to the BioLinks project team - with 4 new team members joining Keiron this year! We thought it was about time that we introduced the team, and updated you on who is doing what for the final 15 months of the FSC BioLinks project.

We have come into our roles from very different pathways; for some, it has been through PhD research or environmental projects, whereas others have recently graduated. However, one thing that we all have in common is our passion and fascination with invertebrates.

To get to know us all a little better, the team has put together some information on themselves, their background, and the invertebrate group that gets their undivided attention.

Keiron Derek Brown

FSC BioLinks Project Manager

Keiron manages the FSC BioLinks project with the aim of inspiring amateur naturalists to take up the identification and recording of invertebrate groups that are often forgotten. He first became interested in invertebrates during a field-based entomology module at Newcastle University and went on to volunteer on soil biodiversity research projects at the Natural History Museum (London). This included sorting samples of invertebrates from the New Forest in Hampshire and the Malaysian rainforests of Borneo.

In his spare time, Keiron is all about invertebrates and biological recording. He is Chair of the Ecology & Entomology section of the London Natural History Society and helped set up and run their virtual talks series. He also the national recorder for earthworms, running the National Earthworm Recording Scheme on behalf of the Earthworm Society of Britain(of which he's also a trustee). Finally, Keiron likes to work on his Biological Recording website - a resource he's building for those new to biological recording and those teaching it to others.

Dan Asaw

FSC BioLinks Project Officer (Virtual Training Programme)

Dan is a keen educator and Coleopterist. He has experience working within education as a teaching assistant and loves the opportunity to share his experiences and knowledge with a range of audiences. Dan's interest in invertebrates started at a young age and as a teenager he was already rearing praying mantids in his bedroom. From there, he began rearing exotic invertebrate disease vectors for scientific research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

In his spare time, he has volunteered integrating UK beetles into the Natural History Museum Collection. He is often found digging through wood piles and utilising a variety of trapping methods to find and identify beetles. He is an active member of the Herts Invertebrate Project and Hertfordshire Natural History Society, and has helped generate some significant county records in this capacity. He is also one of the founders of the Moth Trap Intruders iRecord activity, looking at non-moth insects found in light traps.

Rachel Davies

FSC BioLinks Project Officer (West Midlands Training Programme)

Rachel first became interested in entomology whilst undertaking a Traineeship with Cheshire Wildlife Trust. Here she was introduced to the world of Odonata- dragonflies and damselflies.

These showy insects captured her interest and she’s spent all her time since pursuing a professional, and personal interest, in all things ento!

Rachel has a keen interest in biological recording and Citizen Science, and is keen to inspire more people to take part and enjoy the natural world.

Gino Brignoli

FSC BioLinks Project Officer (London Training Programme)

Gino is an active invertebrate recorder in London’s green spaces, with a particular interest in the ecologies of urban insects.

He has worked as a freelance field surveyor on behalf of the Forestry Commission; researched ant ecology and evolution, and taught entomology field techniques whilst employed as a Research Assistant at Queen Mary University of London. With a keen interest in ecology and entomology, Gino studied an MSc in Ecology and Evolution from Queen Mary and a BSc in Biodiversity and Conservation from Birkbeck College, University of London.

He has also previously volunteered with the Lepidoptera department and Soil Biodiversity Group at the Natural History Museum, and on the Thorn to Orchid and Water for Wildlife projects with the London Wildlife Trust. He now coordinates the BioLinks courses in London. In his spare time, Gino alsoposts about his experiences in his Ecology Field Notes blog.

Olivia Watts

Biodiversity Content Officer

Olivia is a wildlife enthusiast and a recent graduate of Animal Biology at Nottingham Trent University. She has been interested in invertebrates from a young age, and her fascination for them has only grown over the years. This fascination drives her to inspire others about the little creatures that help run the world and get more people involved with biological recording and conservation.

She has previously worked with the Field Studies Council as a placement student at Rhyd-y-creuau, assisting with outdoor activities, wildlife courses and creating invertebrate related artwork. Additionally, she has volunteered with the Riverfly Partnership, surveying, and identifying aquatic invertebrates. She has also spent time with Liverpool World Museum in the entomology department and with Operation Wallacea as a research assistant. In her spare time, you can find her with a camera searching for wildlife or gardening to promote invertebrate biodiversity.

Excellent Earthworms Project

k.brown — Sat, 28 Aug 2021 12:34:50 +0000

Alice Evans (The Royal Parks) and Keiron Derek Brown (FSC BioLinks and Earthworm Society of Britain) tell us about an exciting new project about earthworms in London...

Earthworms and The Royal Parks

The Royal Parks make up around ¼ of the green space in London, covering 5,000 acres composed of lawns, meadows, flowerbeds, woodland and water bodies that all depend on healthy soil to support the amazing wildlife that lives in these habitats. That’s a lot of soil, and a lot of work for earthworms. The Royal Parks want to find out how our management techniques affect earthworm ecology, from the impact of compaction caused by footfall from our 72 million visitors - to the impact of our road closure trials which we hope will help reduce pollution in our parks.

Mission: Invertebrate is a project aiming to enrich wildlife in the Royal Parks, some of the largest and busiest greenspaces in London, by supporting invertebrates, the parks’ most important inhabitants that all other wildlife relies on.

We’ve teamed up with the Mission: Invertebrate project and Earthworm Society of Britain to take a closer look at the impact of various factors on earthworm populations.

Excellent Earthworms Project

The Excellent Earthworms Project will explore the impact of footpath erosion, road pollution and soil compaction on earthworm populations. We’re looking for help from volunteers to undertake earthworm soil sampling in the parks and to help us with identifying the specimens back in the lab.

Path Erosion Study

A number of paths within the Central Parks with varying degrees of visible erosion will be investigated.

For each site that we investigate, 3 transects will be sampled.

Each transect will run from beside the path outwards at a right angle to the path, with soil pit samples taken at regular intervals.

Sampling for this study will take place in the central parks on Thursday 2nd September 2021.

Road Pollution Study

Roads that have varying degrees of traffic within Greenwich Park will be investigated.

For each site that we investigate, 3 transects will be sampled.

Each transect will run from beside the road outwards at a right angle to the road, with soil pit samples taken at regular intervals.

Sampling for this study will take place in Greenwich Park on Thursday 9th September 2021.

Tree Protection Study

The use of fences to protect veteran trees from soil compaction will be investigated, by comparing the earthworm populations of fenced and unfenced trees in Richmond Park.

A circular transect around each tree of six soil pits will be sampled.

Sampling for this study will take place in Richmond Park on Thursday 23rd September 2021.

Sign up as a volunteer for any or all of the sampling days via The Royal Parks website

Phase 1 – Surveying the parks

We’re looking for volunteers to help us collect specimens for three studies. This will include undertaking soil pit sampling and collecting any adult earthworms found within the soil pits. Earthworms are only identifiable under a microscope so please note that this will involve killing the specimens that we collect by preserving them in tubes of ethanol. No experience is necessary as full training will be provided on the day and overseen by our earthworm specialist.

Image: Sampling earthworms in Green Park (c) Dan Asaw CC-BY

Thu 2nd Sep: Central Parks - we will be focusing on path erosion and how this affects earthworm biodiversity.
Thu 23rd Sep: Richmond - we will be focusing on sampling around veteran trees to understand how creating fences to protect the trees from compaction affects earthworm biodiversity.
Thu 30th Sep: Greenwich - we will be focusing on sampling around roads, to understand how our road closure trials effects earthworm biodiversity.

Sign up as a volunteer for any or all of the sampling days via The Royal Parks website

Phase 2 – Identifying the earthworms

The FSC will be hosting two 1-day Earthworm ID with Microscopes training courses at Bushy Park to train up absolute beginners on earthworm identification. These courses will introduce learners to features used to identify British earthworms using microscopes, identification keys and the tutor's specimen training collection.

Mon 18th Oct: Earthworm ID with Microscopes @ FSC London: Bushy Park
Tue 19th Oct: Earthworm ID with Microscopes @ FSC London: Bushy Park

The ID courses will be followed by three 1-day Earthworm Volunteer ID Days where those trained on the training courses will accompany experienced earthworm recorders in the lab to identify the specimens that we collected in phase 1 of the project.

Wed 20th Oct: Earthworm Volunteer ID Day @ FSC London: Bushy Park
Thu 21st Oct: Earthworm Volunteer ID Day @ FSC London: Bushy Park
Fri 22nd Oct: Earthworm Volunteer ID Day @ FSC London: Bushy Park

Sign up to these courses and volunteer days via the Field Studies Council website

Phase 3 - Reporting the results

More info coming soon...

Bumblebees on the Mynd

k.brown — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 12:12:53 +0000

Jen Jones is an ecologist with a BSc in Ecology from Aberystwyth University and a Masters in Entomology from Harper Adams University. She has an obsessive interest in bees and their conservation, especially bumblebees. She has been an active volunteer in helping to monitor populations of the bilberry bumblebee in Shropshire over the past year.

The Bilberry Bumblebee (Bombus monticola)

In my totally 'unbiased' view, these are the best UK bumblebee species. Not only are they super fluffy like other bumblebees, they are adorably sized, and are found in one of my favourite habitat types; upland heath. Just look at their cute red bums (in the blog title image above)!

I have only seen this species once and I was lucky enough to almost study their foraging behaviour for my MSc thesis. Unfortunately due to the current situation (coronavirus again!) the MSc field work didn't happen. However, I have just finished writing up the 2020 season report from volunteer data from Bumblebees on the Mynd so this is a perfect time to share this!

What We Know About Bilberry Bumbles

These bumblebees are small (12-16mm long) and very active, with red hairs over more than half their abdomen and a primrose yellow band on the top and bottom of the thorax; males have yellow facial hair too. Be careful not to confuse them with other red-tailed bumblebees- these all have much less red on their abdomens male red-tails (B. lapidarius), Early bumblebees (B. pratorum), red shanked carder bees (B. ruderarius), and red-tailed cuckoo bees (B. rupestris).

They have specific habitat requirements and in the UK are usually found at altitudes above 300m. They require dry heath with bilberry and heather mosaics and access to flower-rich grasslands/meadows for foraging on in the gap between bilberry and heather flowering periods. In dry weather, you may find wet flush habitats yield more bees as the plants are more likely to be flowering than the heath areas. BBs mostly feed on plants from the Ericaceae, Rosaceae, Fabaceae, Boraginaceae, Lamiaceae, Asteraceae, and Scrophulariaceae families but exact choices depend on time of year, location, and flower abundances.

For a more extensive list, see Appendix of my report Bumblebees on the Mynd (Jones, 2020).

BBs are active from April (overwintered queens) to September (new queens and males). The diagram below shows the general bumblebee lifecycle of a colony with the emergence times of each caste. They nest in abandoned small mammal burrows in moorland and moorland edge habitats with dense vegetation cover of shrubs and mosses and usually have 50 (up to 120) workers per colony. They can be parasitised by forest cuckoo bumblebees (B. sylvestris).

BBs were much more widespread but are now are only found in localised hot spots and populations are unfortunately declining due to several threats. These are climate change (affects food resources, emergence times of bees and flowers, and many other things), habitat loss and fragmentation, agricultural intensification and overgrazing (but correct grazing intensity can stimulate flowering), heather beetle plagues, and Phytophthora fungus attacking bilberry.

Bee Courses by FSC Biolinks

It was lovely to see a little BB feature with my photos on the recent FSC Discovering Bees and Field Identification of Bumblebees online courses ran by the BioLinks team too. Discovering Bees is an introductory online course provides that provides a general overview of solitary and social bee ecology, behaviour and biology, and Field ID of Bumblebees delves into bumblebee field identification and includes sections on the bilberry bumblebee project and the importance of recording bee species. The FSC are running some excellent online natural history courses where you can learn more about bees, beetles and earthworms and places are availble to book for the summer run of these online courses. You can keep up to date with new natural history and entomology courses by signing up to the FSC's Biodiversity Newsletter.

Check out future Discovering Bees, Field ID of Bumblebees and other online BioLinks courses

Bumblebees on the Mynd Project

This is a National Trust project designed by Debbie Vivers at Carding Mill Valley and the Long Mynd. The Mynd is an ideal site for BBs due to it's dry heath habitat type with bilberry-heather mosaic and wildflower meadows (Jinlye Meadows) close by.

Shropshire has a few historic records of bilberry bumblebees at Long Mynd, Clee Hill, Stiperstones, Rhos Fiddle (Clun) and Lower Shoreditch (Bishops Castle) giving ample opportunity for this project to contribute more data.

The main aims of the Bumblebees on the Mynd 2020 project were to:

Produce a baseline distribution map of the bilberry bumblebee
Establish if the bilberry bumblebee uses Jinlye Meadows
Observe which flowers bilberry bumblebees use on the Long Mynd and local gardens
Propose a standard method for monitoring bilberry bumblebees

We launched just before the first UK lockdown hit and it was lovely to meet all the local bee enthusiasts. It was great to have Gill Perkins from BBCT introducing us and giving a great reminder of how important bumblebees are as well.

A standardised method for surveying BBs was developed as bilberry can have dense leaf growth with the flowers hanging down inside the plant, making BBs difficult to observe. If you see bilberry-attacking fungus Phytophthora around, be careful not to spread the infection on your boots to healthy areas. Also be aware of ground-nesting birds and bumblebee nests when walking off pathed areas. Before surveys begin, record date, time, weather, and general habitat type; if you are not comfortable being outside due to cold or wet weather, it is likely BBs will not be either!

Looking for Bees

Stop when you hear the 'Bombus buzz' and look for the bee - smaller bees have a higher pitch (listen to a recording by Debbie Vivers here). Once you locate the bee, try to take a photograph or video to help ID it and the flower it is using, remember, more than half the abdomen of BBs is red. Then you can record the location (I like the OS Locate app on Apple or Google Play) and any other bumblebee species you see. Now move at least 25 paces away from the area before recording again to avoid recording the same individual twice. If you find a nest, make sure you stay far enough away to avoid disturbing the BBs. It may be useful to record the number of bees flying in and out and the nest location.

The distribution of BBs on the Mynd (74 individuals) and Jinlye (10) was recorded to produce a baseline map using data from volunteers and showed that BBs were mostly linked to heath and heath with bracken habitat types, and bilberry flowers for foraging (on the meadows they used bird's-foot trefoil and white clover). You can download my report from the 2020 season to see the results, a review of everything I could find on the bilberry bumblebee, and our future plans for the project!

Bilberry Bumblebee in Your Garden

During the first lockdown we altered the project to look for BBs in local gardens in the Strettons whilst volunteers were unable to get onto the Long Mynd due to coronavirus restrictions. Overall, 16 people engaged with the project finding white-tail, tree, early, red-tail, and common carder bumblebees and there was one record of a BB in an All Stretton garden which is close to Jinlye Meadows.

We are applying for funding under the Stepping Stones Project with the Green Recovery Challenge Fund 2021 and we hope to offer training for new volunteers, landowners, and enthusiasts and we aim to establish some BBCT (Bumblebee Conservation Trust) Bee Walks in the local area. Andy Perry is also writing a Species Recovery Plan for BBs on the Mynd area which can inform habitat management and suggest which nectar plants could be planted to encourage bilberry bumblebees and other pollinators (improve planting with BBCT Bee Kind or BeeWatch tools.

This year's (2021) new project will be focussed on all red-tail bumblebees and for more experienced surveyors there will also be a carder project to determine if the rarer species, moss carder (B. muscorum) and the brown-banded carder (B. humilis), are present on the Long Mynd as well as the common carder bumblebee (B. pascuorum). The re-launch event was recorded and can be watched on Youtube (Part 1 and Part 2) with a summary of the 2020 season results and identification training for red-tail identification. The new carder project is also available on YouTube with identification training. We were lucky enough to recruit Richard Comont (BBCT Science Manager) to give a couple of talks and he had some great tips for identification and photographing bees!

Upcomming Natural History Live: Bumblebees on the Mynd

Jen will be delivering a free online webinar at 3pm on the 18th of August to discuss the results of the Bilberry Bumblebee Project as part of the FSC's Natural History Live series.

Book on the FREE Bumblebees on the Mynd: Conserving the Bilberry Bumblebee Natural History Live

If you're interested in bumblebees and the Bilberry Bumblebee Project, then you can find out more about the project in the Links below:

Bumblebee Conservation Trust Bilberry Bumblebee page
BBCT Pollinating the Peak project by Rho Green at BBCT (@BuzzingPeak)
Bumblebees on the Mynd National Trust project

Twitter: @BumbleontheMynd
Email: bumblebeesonthemynd@gmail.com
Website: https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/shropshire-staffordshire/carding-mill-valley-and-the-long-mynd

Published on 7th July 2021

Discovering Earthworms Online

k.brown — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 10:06:51 +0000

Keiron Brown is the manager of the BioLinks project, but before then he was an earthworm associate tutor for the Field Studies Council. Keiron recently-co-developed the Discovering Earthworms online training course. In this blog he gives us a taster of what our learners covered and reports the results from the participant field assignments.

During May and June 2021 the Earthworm Society of Britain and the Field Studies Council ran their first-ever Discovering Earthworms online training course. The course was developed and delivered by myself and Kerry Calloway, with learners working their way through study content, activities, assignments and live webinars across 4 modules.

Earthworm Biology

This module covered what makes an earthworm an earthworm and where earthworms fit within the tree of life. It provided an introduction to the biology of earthworms, including their anatomy and some of the biological processes occurring within the earthworm. For example...

Earthworms are segmented worms and are classified as belonging to the phylum Annelida. Other annelids include bristle worms, leeches and pot worms. Below is a diagram explaining a simplified breakdown of annelid taxonomy.

Earthworm Ecology & Behaviour

This module explored the role of earthworms within the ecosystems that they inhabit. It started with the findings of Charles Darwin regarding earthworm intelligence and the role of earthworms in bioturbation. We then moved on to various behaviours of earthworms, including burrowing, dormancy and dispersal. For example...

The burrowing behaviour of earthworms provides ecological benefits (known as ecosystem services) to the wider ecosystem, with earthworm's often described as "nature's plough".

Aeration of the soil Burrows penetrate the soil and burrowing activity moves soil around through bioturbation. This facilitates the infiltration of air into soil systems. Deep-burrowing earthworms create channels from the surface deep into the soil and shallow burrowing earthworms move around within the upper layers of the soil profile. Combined, this creates an extensive network of underground channels through which air can circulate. Aeration of the soil is important for other soil organisms, including aerobic bacteria.
Soil drainage In much the same way that burrowing facilitates aeration, it also facilitates the passage of water through the soil by creating channels through which water can flow. This helps water drain through the soil profile when deposited as rain and improves the water retention capacity of the soil.
Decompaction and soil penetration The burrowing behaviour of earthworms decompacts the soil as they move through the substrate. This enables other organisms (including micro-organisms) to access the soil. Burrows also facilitate root penetration into the soil by providing a “path of least resistance”.
Movement of material and organisms When earthworms burrow through the soil they transport soil particles, organic matter and microorganisms as they move. This redistributes resources throughout the soil.

Earthworm Diversity

This module explored how British and Irish earthworms can be categorised by their ecology and behaviour into 4 ecological categories, with guidance on how to determine which ecological category an earthworm belongs to in the field based on the size, colour and pigmentation of an earthworm. It looked a little further afield and discussed the diversity of earthworms globally, with a look at some amazing species found outside of the British Isles and the impact of British and Irish earthworms have in ecosystems they have been introduced to abroad. For example...

Did you know that the Giant Gippsland Earthworm is the world's largest known earthworm species? It can grow over 2 metres in length and is a protected species in its native country (Australia). David Attenborough tells us more in the video below...

Finding Earthworms

This module put the things that we'd learned about earthworms into practice. This involved completing 3 field assignments and reporting back our findings...

Field Signs Evidence assignment

Each learner was tasked with locating an earthworm field sign and submitting a photograph (or sketch) of their finding.

Left image: Earthworm cocoon © Anke Marsh CC-BY 4.0 Right image: Earthworm midden © Jennifer Ball CC-BY 4.0

Left image: Earthworm casts © Christine Adams CC-BY 4.0 Right image: Earthworm burrows © Sarah Patton CC-BY 4.0

Microhabitat Search assignment

Learners reported back which ecological categories of earthworm they found in various microhabitats. The top 4 microhabitats surveyed were leaf litter, compost, deadwood (within or under) and under non-deadwood items. The bar chart below displays the results for these microhabitats and tells us:

Leaf litter favoured epigeic earthworms, with no anecic earthworms found in this microhabitat at all.
Compost (unsurprisingly) favoured composting species but was still home to the other 3 ecological categories of earthworm.
Endogeic (shallow-burrowing) earthworms were the ecological category most commonly reported as present overall.
Deadwood was great for finding diversity when it comes to the earthworm ecological categories.

Soil Pit Survey assignment

Learners sampled a soil pit in their garden or allotment and reported back on the number of earthworms they found, broken down by ecological category and adult vs juvenile. The pie charts below display the class results and tell us:

Across 71 soil pits, 890 individual earthworms were recorded - an average of 12.5 earthworms per soil pit.
Endogeic (shallow-burrowing earthworms) made up the highest proportion of earthworms recorded by far, with over 70% of all earthworms recorded belonging to this ecological category.
Anecic (deep-burrowing) earthworms accounted for just 12% of earthworms recorded, despite being the 'typical' earthworms that most people think of when they hear the term earthworm.

Learner feedback

I particularly enjoyed the units on earthworm diversity and ecological categories which gave me a greater appreciation of signs and earthworm activity and broad categorisation of worms I see when gardening. I’ve always been very interested in the dynamics of worm populations in compost bins and actively manage three composting systems to optimise the composting rate.

I’d certainly recommend this course for anyone managing an allotment or gardening for vegetables at home. With the popularity of both these activities for mental health/exercise during lockdown and self-sustainability post-Brexit, I would think these excellent target groups to engage.

Leon Stone

"I thoroughly enjoyed the course Discovering Earthworms. Before joining the course, I knew little about earthworms. In March 2021, I discovered that my allotment was contaminated with Australian flatworms (a non-native earthworm predator) and I was concerned about how the earthworm population would be affected. When desperately searching the internet for a solution to control the flatworms, I came across the FSC and a wide range of courses it offers including the one on earthworms.

Through the course, I learned the earthworm’s biology, different groups of earthworms and their contributions to the ecosystem. The course showed me that earthworms are among those most important, incredible, and fascinating creatures on earth! I also learned the different negative factors that could impact on earthworm population and the method of sampling and monitoring earthworms in the soil. The course has certainly motivated me to learn more about the earthworms and do things differently to support the earthworms to survive and thrive."

Yan Wang

"Discovering Earthworms gave me a huge affection for worms! And the assignments were a real eye-opener into the condition of the soil in my garden. I was kind of disappointed not to have more anecic and epigeic worms when I try to be so ecologically friendly. I haven’t been very religious with my mulching and my soil was quite sandy and dry so I will definitely be trying to build up the population in my garden by putting down more mulch.

I love now knowing about the different types of worm, I’m able to tell juveniles from adults, the amount of work and the webinars were all the right sort of length.
It’s made me think about conservation. It’s made me sign up for other courses. I have now considered becoming a conservation volunteer. So much more interesting than being an accountant."

Lesley White - Wildlife enthusiast, gardener for wildlife, animal lover

Discovering Earthworms Online - Round 2

We're pleased to report that, due to popular demand, we've decided to run the Discovering Earthworms Online course a second time this year. Again, the course will be available to ESB members and non-professionals in the UK for just £20 for this 4-week course.

Find out more and book via the Field StudiesCouncil website:

https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/courses/discovering-earthworms-online-2/

Eco-Skills - An Introduction

k.brown — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 13:47:33 +0000

Clare Rooney is the Engagement & Training Manager for the new Eco-Skills training programme. In this blog, Clare tells us about what her team are working on and the exciting new training opportunitities are now available to book with the Field Studies Council.

You may know that FSC has taken the bold decision to review our renowned natural history training courses and structure them in a new, engaging way with quality assured. I am at the helm of this novel approach as the fresh in post Training and Engagement Manager.

I am aided by a great team comprising content curating Engagement Officers, Course Coordinators operating nationally and a dedicated Youth Engagement Officer to ensure our training reaches diverse audiences across the UK.

Eco-Skills is the name of this new approach to learning and our mission is to lead the production, management and booking of place-based and online, biodiversity, natural history and environmental art training courses centrally. Whether you’re attending a place-based beginners’ course on fungi in Glasgow, Birmingham or you’ve chosen the online course at ‘FSC Virtual’ you should benefit from similar learning opportunities and the same engaging level of content wherever you learn with the FSC!

We are working with many highly talented FSC associate tutors and forging partnerships with relevant expert organisations to develop and curate standardised learning content.

We are looking across the animal, plant and fungi kingdoms to generate a variety of progressive learning frameworks in subjects from bats to wildflowers or nature photography.

Learners will be able to progress through structured learning pathways in their chosen subject starting from introductory level all the way through to specific advanced content. They will earn recognition through courses attended and take on personal, volunteer and professional roles to benefit themselves and the natural environment.

I am excited to announce that our first three Eco-Skills courses are now available to book. We have kicked off the new initiative with our online programme running from late April onwards. These courses involve a structured programme of topics for self-led learning through our online platform (Moodle). Each topic is consolidated with an interactive weekly Zoom workshop with an expert tutor and the chance to link up with fellow learners.

Join us to discover marine mammals, trees or nature writing. Three very different subjects each with their own progressive learner pathway soon to be followed by the launch of courses from many more subject areas both online and place-based from July. We hope that these initial introductory courses will whet your appetite sufficiently to encourage further involvement as you begin or continue your learning journeys with FSC Eco-Skills. Bon voyage!

Book Eco-Skills training courses through the FSC website: https://www.field-studies-council.org/fsc-natural-history-courses/

Discovering Marine Mammals

Online Course

From Tuesday 20th April

Majestic marine mammals feed and breed around our shores. This course brings you the expertise of both FSC and ORCA giving you the chance get to know more about these fascinating animals and their habitat.

Discovering Trees

Online Course

From Friday 23rd April

Are you fascinated by colourful leaves, acorns and blossoms? If you’ve ever wanted to know more about the trees around us, this is the online course for you.

Introduction to Nature Writing

Online Course

From Friday 23rd April

Be inspired by nature. Bring nature’s power to life on your page. Create your own nature poem, and share it with other participants. This course, brimming with practical tasks is equally suitable for budding naturalists and people who enjoy writing.

Wildlife Recording in the Urban World

k.brown — Tue, 30 Mar 2021 17:30:30 +0000

Keiron Brown manages the FSC BioLinks project for the Field Studies Council. In his spare time he is a NFBR Council member, Chair of the Ecology & Entomology section of the London Natural History Society and runs the earthworm recording scheme for the Earthworm Society of Britain. In this article he tells us about an upcoming biological recording virtual conference focusing on recording in urban environments.

This spring the National Forum for Biological Recording (NFBR) will be exploring ‘Outside the Honeypot: Wildlife recording in the urban world’, with a 2-day virtual conference showcasing some fantastic projects and initiatives about wildlife recording in habitats that we tend to think of as reserved for humans.

A conference for everyone… naturalists, volunteers and professionals

The NFBR is the independent voice of Biological Recording in the UK, and each year they host a conference to share biological recording stories and learning with sector professionals and volunteer recorders.

NFBR conferences enable delegate to find out what biological recording projects are taking place (Gary Hedges will update us on the fantastic Tanyptera Project in the North West of England), how you can get involved (such as the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme that Martin Harvey will be talking about) and what biological records are telling us about the state of the UK’s wildlife (Liam Olds will report on wildlife on colliery sites).

These conferences are also a great opportunity to meet like-minded people and share our various passions for both the well-studied groups (such as in Dawn Balmer’s talk in urban bird recording) and the under-appreciated groups (Imogen Cavadino will challenge us to appreciate our garden slugs more in her talk about the research that she’s currently undertaking).

Going virtual

Usually the NFBR conference is a physical conference that is hosted at a different UK location each year, but this year it will be a virtual affair. The NFBR have enlisted the help of the World Museum, Tanyptera Project and FSC BioLinks Project to make sure this year the conference is something special.

The fact that it is virtual, means that it’s much easier for people from around the UK (even the far-flung corners of the British Isles) to attend. That means there is a whopping 500 spaces available so book your ticket and spread the word…

Wildlife Recording in the Urban Word programme

For a full programme including start times, end times and breaks see the FSC website.

Thursday 6th May Programme: Linking people and nature and research

09:40 Keynote: Mathew Frith
10:30 Urban bird recording. Dawn Balmer
11:15 Working with housing associations to improve biodiversity. Jodey Peyton
11:35 Linking people and pollinators: UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. Martin Harvey
11:55 A journey into urban wildlife recording. Karen McCartney
12:15 Tanyptera Trust updates. Gary Hedges

Friday 7th May Programme: Urban recording and Brownfield sites

09:35 Keynote – Data for Nature. Liz Ballard
10:25 Wildlife on colliery sites. Liam Olds
11:00 Slimy, sticky and unloved: slugs in UK gardens. Imogen Cavadino
11:20 The Urban Nature Project at The Natural History Museum. Sam Thomas
11:40 Challenges of recording nature in cities. Stuart Fraser
12:00 Urban beetle recording. Don Stenhouse
13:00 Workshop session

Workshop A: Urban species mixes and botanical recording. Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz
Workshop B: Urban grassland condition assessments. Jonathan Dent

Further information and booking

Tickets for this two-day event are highly subsidised and JUST £5 for attendance to the whole event!

Tickets are being managed by the FSC BioLinks project, so you can find more info on the event and buy your tickets from the FSC website: https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/courses/national-forum-for-biological-recording-2021-conference/

Author: Keiron Derek Brown

Date Published: 31/03/2021

TVERC is looking for keen field surveyors

k.brown — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 12:23:41 +0000

Are you a nature enthusiast? Do you have experience in species identification and wildlife surveys? Would you like the opportunity to visit protected sites, contribute to TVERC’s records, and play a role in the success of the Berkshire Local Wildlife Sites Project? You may be able to help us with survey work!

Caitlin Coombs works at the Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre as Berkshire Biodiversity Officer. She works with local volunteers to survey local wildlife sites. analyses and presents data for project work and developslinks with the local groups and recorders.

About the role

Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC) are looking for enthusiastic volunteer naturalists with good identification skills and an ability to work alone in the field to help out with additional species surveys on a range of Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) across the county of Berkshire in 2021. The LWS’s cover a range of habitat types including woodland, wetland, heathland, bog and grassland, and have the potential to support a variety of rare species.

The findings of these surveys will feed into the Berkshire Local Wildlife Sites Project and inform decisions on how to develop and manage land sustainably and where to direct wildlife conservation work.

The LWS project aims to assess sites against the selection criteria every 10 years. In order to do this TVERC has the resources to carry out a habitat survey; however, many sites may be eligible to meet the LWS criteria based on their value for rare species and/or important species assemblages.

At present, TVERC staff do not have the capacity to conduct the additional surveys required for a comprehensive assessment against all the criteria. Volunteer recorders and recording groups/schemes are vital to helping us collect the additional records required to assess sites.

You will have the opportunity to visit notable sites which may not be accessible to the general public, gain experience of recording and enhance your field skills and contribute to a valuable resource for conservation!

The volunteer will ideally:

Be experienced in species identification, possibly with expert knowledge in specific taxonomic groups or species
Good map reading skills
An ability to work alone in the field
An ability to travel independently to remote sites
An enthusiasm for wildlife and nature conservation

Please note: Surveys and procedures are constantly being reviewed and will be undertaken in line with the UK government’s and CIEEMs latest advice on Covid-19.

You will need to register with TVERC as a volunteer and agree to follow our H&S and lone working guidelines. Travel expenses will be reimbursed (up to £20/day).

About TVERC

Thames Valley Environmental Records Centre (TVERC) collects, analyses and shares geodiversity and biodiversity information in Berkshire and Oxfordshire to help people make sound decisions about how to develop and manage land sustainably and where to direct wildlife conservation work.

TVERC provides information to local authorities, parish councils, local people, conservation bodies, land-owners, agencies, students and commercial organisations such as ecological consultants and utilities companies via data searches, data licensing and data exchanges. About two-thirds of the data held by TVERC is provided by amateurs and volunteers.

We use our website, newsletters, reports, events and social media to encourage people to learn about wildlife so they can submit records. We also use these as communication tools in telling partners and potential clients about our data holdings and services.

Visit www.tverc.org for more information about what we do.

To register your interest

Please email Caitlin Coombs (caitlin.coombs@oxfordshire.gov.uk), TVERC Biodiversity Officer, and we can discuss which sites you may be interested in and make further arrangements.

World Earthworm Day 2020 Webinar

k.brown — Mon, 14 Sep 2020 18:58:53 +0000

The theme for the 5th annual World Earthworm Day on 21st October 2020 will be "Super Composters" – celebrating the relationship between man, waste and worms! We have teamed up with the Earthworm Society of Britain to put together this "virtual meetup" (webinar) for those interested in learning more about vermicomposting and the important role that earthworms can play in helping us deal with our waste.

Click here to book your place

Earthworms & Composting Webinar

This webinar will be around 90 minutes long and include a series of compost-related talks followed by a live Q&A with the speakers. The event will be hosted using Zoom, a videoconferencing platform (you don't need a webcam or microphone to attend and can turn your video off if you prefer). Timetable:

Welcome – An introduction by Keiron Derek Brown, Earthworm Society of Britain (15 mins)
Compost Ready To Use Within A Month – Mick Poultney a.k.a. The Compost King (15 mins)
Worms & Peace - Anna de la Vega (15 mins)
Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting Around the World - Rhonda Sherman (15 mins)
Live audience Q&A with speakers (30mins)

Click here to book

The speakers

Welcome

Keiron Derek Brown first became interested in earthworms through volunteer work on ecological projects for the Natural History Museum (London). Keiron now manages the FSC BioLinks project, with the aim of inspiring amateur naturalists to take up the identification and recording of invertebrate groups that are often forgotten and rarely recorded. In his spare time he is an active member, and trustee, of the London Natural History Society and is the national recorder for earthworms (running the National Earthworm Recording Scheme on behalf of the Earthworm Society of Britain).

Not all compost earthworms are the same, so Keiron will introduce the organisms that will be staring throughout the event, give an introduction to World Earthworm Day and the Earthworm Society of Britain before officially relaunching the Earthworm Compost Survey.

Compost Ready To Use Within A Month

Mick Poultney is a retired firefighter and now known on Facebook as ‘The Compost King’. He’s given talks all over the UK on composting, as well as on raised bed & no dig culture. He’s presented at BBC Gardeners World Live, Malvern Spring & Autumn Show, edible Garden Show and is close to finishing his book on composting.

Through trial and error Mick can now get his compost ready to use within just a month. All of the materials he uses are natural and the majority are free. Mick has learnt to work with nature and uses his compost as a growing medium 100%.

Worms & Peace

Anna de la Vega is Founder & Director of The Urban Worm CIC. Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellow and Panelist. Anna researched vermiculture in the USA & Cuba under the fellowship and has an academic background in food security and urban agriculture.

Worms are the worlds unsung heroes. Throughout the world worm farming is revolutionising agriculture and organic waste management, helping us move towards regenerative practices that have the capacity to directly tackle climate change and repair degraded soil. Anna will share her experiences from her travels, offering a global perspective, and how we can make changes at a local level through community led action and within the home.

Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting Around the World

Rhonda Sherman is a leading authority on vermicomposting. She has authored over 65 publications including the book The Worm Farmer's Handbook: Mid- to Large-Scale Vermicomposting for Farms, Businesses, Municipalities, Schools, and Institutions.

Earthworms can transform organic materials such as food scraps, manure, crop residues, sludge, paper waste, etc. into a valuable soil amendment. Vermicompost increases crop yields and suppresses plant pests and diseases. Learn about a variety of worm farms around the globe.

Live Q&A with speakers

A chance to ask the experts about any questions you may have.

Cost

This event is heavily subsidised by the National Lottery Heritage Fund through the FSC BioLinks Project. A further discounted rate is available to members of the Field Studies Council and Earthworm Society of Britain.

Discounted – £5 (discounted subsidised rate available to current members of the Earthworm Society of Britain and Field Studies Council)
Attendee – £10 (subsidised rate available to all)