Previous Tomorrow's Biodiversity events

Shropshire Ento Day 2017

Sunday, February 4, 2018

Ento Day 2017, originally scheduled for December 10th 2017 but postponed because of snow, has now been reschedules for Sunday 4th February 2018. If you booked on to the original event, your booking stands for this new date.

Ento Day 2017 is the 8th annual Shropshire Entomology Day. We are hosted by Preston Montford Field Centre (Field Studies Council).

The programme for the day  will be a mix of presentations such as moths, crickets, pseudoscorpions, mapping for entomologist, leaf beetles, new projects.

Attendees are free to bring displays, specimens, photographs, posters – in fact anything invertebrate related that you think may be of interest to others.  The FSC Biodiversity Library and collections will be available to peruse.

The event is subsidised by the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity Project enabling us to reduce the true cost to attendees. The £6 attendance fee includes tea & coffee, lunch and afternoon cake.

Registration and coffee from 10 am for a 10:30 am start. The event will conclude by 4 pm.  

To book email: 
Supporting document downloads: 

Open lab/invertebrate collections day

Thursday, November 30, 2017

An informal day for the Shropshire Invetebrate Group (and friends) to work on their invertebrate ID skills, and/or catalogue and maintain the Preston Montford invertebrate collections. A classroom and microscopes will be available, with support (although no formal teaching) from FSC Biodiversity staff.

All are welcome anytime between 10am and 4pm. Please email Charlie Bell if you think you might come along.

Centipedes and Millipedes

Tuesday, November 14, 2017
NEW!

Preston Montford, Shropshire

In this introduction to the identification of UK centipedes & millipedes you will learn the techniques of identification for the frequently met, but usually ignored creatures. Learn about their fascinating ecology and diversity here in the UK.

This course is offered at a reduced rate of £30 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

Shropshire springtail 'square bashing' weekend

Saturday, November 11, 2017 to Sunday, November 12, 2017
Missing quadrants in Shropshire

Come and help 'turn Shropshire pink'! Our Springtail Atlas project has been running for nearly two years and has been hugely successful - and nationally unique. However, we would love to have springtail records from every quadrant (5km square) in Shropshire before Ento Day on 10th December.

Both Saturday and Sunday will follow the same format - we will meet at 9.30am at FSC Preston Montford, then travel in the minibus to various unrecorded 5km squares which we will sample for springtails. We will return to the field centre for lunch (a simple sandwich lunch will be provided) and then spend the afternoon sorting the samples and identifying the springtails. The lab work will cater for all abilities - choose whetehr to help sort the sprigntails from the non-springtails, identify the springtails to family level using a low power microscope, or have a go at species level identification using a high powered microscope. No formal ID training will be given but microscopes, keys and support will be on hand to help you out! The day will end at 4pm.

You are welcome to attend one or both days. There is no charge but booking is essential as we need to know numbers for lunch.  Please email Charlie Bell  if you'd like to come along.

A Holisitc and Practical Introduction to QGIS

Friday, October 27, 2017 to Sunday, October 29, 2017

QGIS is a freely available open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) that matches the functionality and usability of commercial products like MapInfo and ArcGIS. It has been adopted by governments, businesses and NGOs around the world. The course is suitable for beginners to GIS, those looking to refresh their skills or those looking to migrate to QGIS software. It will help ecological consultants, wildlife organisations, biological recorders and recent graduates to visualise, explore and analyse spatial data. The course will take a holistic approach to ensure participants have the skills needed to confidently implement GIS projects in the workplace. General topics will include GIS fundamentals, data licencing, map design, spatial data management and work-flow design.

Matt Davies is a professional ecologist and geographer with 20 years’ experience in the UK environment sector. He began his career at JNCC, providing GIS and database support on marine and coastal projects. He then worked at the capital’s Environmental Record Centre, GiGL, where he managed a multi-disciplinary team that supported volunteer, community and wildlife recording groups and integrated their data into government decision making and the operational delivery of transport companies and emergency services. In 2015, he founded the geo-spatial consultancy Maplango to help people collect, analyse and visualise spatial data so they can make better informed decisions.

Darwin's Garden Earthworm Weekend

Saturday, October 21, 2017 to Sunday, October 22, 2017
FULLY BOOKED

This two day non-residential event is a great way to get into earthworm recording. If you have some experience of recording earthworms, this event is an ideal opportunity to hone your skills and spend time with like-minded people finding out more about Shropshire's earthworms.

Charles Darwin, who grew up in Shrewsbury, was fascinated by earthworms. 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits', (also known, more snappily, as 'Worms' or 'Earthworms') was this final publication. Despite being his last book, it outsold all his others during his lifetime! As a child, Darwin lived at the family home, The Mount, in Shrewsbury and The Shropshire Wildlife Trust (SWT) recently purchased part of its garden as a reserve.

On the Saturday, with the permission of SWT, we will be sampling earthworms in Darwin's garden and afterwards in the grounds of Preston Montford Field Centre. Whilst in Darwin's Garden, we will be given an introduction to the new reserve from a local Darwin expert! On Sunday we will be identifying the earthworms we collected under the microscope in the classroom at Preston Montford. Attendees are more than welcome to bring along other earthworms for identification, e.g. those collected from their own gardens.

There is a flat fee of £10 to cover the entire two days. Participants are welcome to attend either one or both days. If you are new to earthworm identification, you will get the most out of the weekend by attending both days.

Please note:

  • the course involves the collection and preservation of earthworms for identification, and
  • the course fee does not include accommodation or food - please bring a packed lunch on both days.

Open lab/invertebrate collections day

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

An informal day for the Shropshire Invetebrate Group (and friends) to work on their invertebrate ID skills, and/or catalogue and maintain the Preston Montford invertebrate collections. A classroom and microscopes will be available, with support (although no formal teaching) from FSC Biodiversity staff.

All are welcome anytime between 10am and 4pm. Please email Charlie Bell if you think you might come along.

SSG Pantheon Workshop

Sunday, October 1, 2017
Centre of Ecology and Hydrology

Location: Preston Montford Field Centre
Start time: 10 am
End time: 4 pm (latest)

The Shropshire Spider Group has arranged, in partnership with FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity, a one-day workshop on the online Pantheon tool. Pantheon (www.brc.ac.uk/pantheon) is an analytical tool developed by Natural England and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) to assist invertebrate nature conservation in England. Users import lists of invertebrates into Pantheon, which then analyses the species, attaching associated habitats and resources, conservation status and other codings against them.

Pantheon logoThis workshop will demonstrate how you can use Pantheon to ‘add value’ to your species lists. It will provide some background on how Pantheon was developed, and outline the various types of information it contains, along with the caveats that you need to bear in mind when using it. We will also look at some options for presenting the results that Pantheon gives you.

We will work through some prepared examples, and please also bring some of your own species data so that you can try the system out for sites that you know. All that you need is a list of species from a site (this can be from a single sample on a single date, or from multiple samples combined).

Pantheon is a web-based system and to use it you will need a computer that is connected to the internet. Please bring your own laptop if you can, or us know if you wish to borrow a laptop when you book. (In principle it is possible to access Pantheon via a tablet browser, but it contains some quite large and complex data tables that do not display well on tablet-sized screens, and the site really needs a computer if you are to make best use of it.)

Martin Harvey will be leading this workshop. He is an entomologist and biological recorder. He works part-time at the Biological Records Centre at CEH Wallingford. In 2016 he coordinated a review of Pantheon for Natural England, working with other entomologists to steer its development, and he is a member of the Pantheon steering group. He also uses Pantheon to help analyse data from his own entomological surveys.

The workshop is free to friends of the Shropshire Spider Group, but you must book a place by emailing Nigel Cane-Honeysett: [email protected]

If you wish to borrow a laptop for the workshop, please let Nigel know when you book he will ask Rich Burkmar to organise the loan of an FSC laptop for the day.

Harvestmen - Ecology and Identification

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Preston Montford, Shropshire

In this introduction to the identification of UK harvestmen and thier ecology you will learn how to use identification resources, in particular, the highly regarded FSC fold-out chart (authored by Paul Richards – your tutor). There will be a discussion of the finer points of field identification illustrated by some of Paul’s unrivalled collection of photographs (plus some live specimens) and a field session to collect and identify harvestmen.

This course is offered at a reduced rate of £30 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

Spider ID with Microscopes

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Preston Montford, Shropshire

There are over 670 different species of spiders in the Britain and at least 500 of these can only be reliably identified by looking a specimens under the microscope. This course is aimed at introducing people to the techniques of identifying British spiders under the microscope. It is an entirely lab-based day and you will be working with specimens provided by your tutors.

This one day course is offered at a reduced rate of £30 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

A Holisitc and Practical Introduction to QGIS

Monday, August 21, 2017 to Wednesday, August 23, 2017

QGIS is a freely available open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) that matches the functionality and usability of commercial products like MapInfo and ArcGIS. It has been adopted by governments, businesses and NGOs around the world. The course is suitable for beginners to GIS, those looking to refresh their skills or those looking to migrate to QGIS software. It will help ecological consultants, wildlife organisations, biological recorders and recent graduates to visualise, explore and analyse spatial data. The course will take a holistic approach to ensure participants have the skills needed to confidently implement GIS projects in the workplace. General topics will include GIS fundamentals, data licencing, map design, spatial data management and work-flow design.

Matt Davies is a professional ecologist and geographer with 20 years’ experience in the UK environment sector. He began his career at JNCC, providing GIS and database support on marine and coastal projects. He then worked at the capital’s Environmental Record Centre, GiGL, where he managed a multi-disciplinary team that supported volunteer, community and wildlife recording groups and integrated their data into government decision making and the operational delivery of transport companies and emergency services. In 2015, he founded the geo-spatial consultancy Maplango to help people collect, analyse and visualise spatial data so they can make better informed decisions.

Open lab/invertebrate collections day

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

An informal day for the Shropshire Invetebrate Group (and friends) to work on their invertebrate ID skills, and/or catalogue and maintain the Preston Montford invertebrate collections. A classroom and microscopes will be available, with support (although no formal teaching) from FSC Biodiversity staff.

All are welcome anytime between 10am and 4pm. Please email Charlie Bell if you think you might come along.

Field ID of Spiders and Harvestmen

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Bishop's Wood, Worcestershire

Many spiders and harvestmen can be identified and recorded in the field, with the aid a simple piece of kit called a spi-pot, before being released again. On this course you will be:

  • introduced to spider & harvestman ecology
  • shown how to identify distinctive species and groups
  • shown how to use a spi-pot to look closely at living specimens
  • practice identification techniques
  • shown how to get help with identification and all things spidery
  • introduced to submitting spider & harvestmen records

There will be classroom sessions and practice at identifying spiders and harvestmen in the field. We will collect live spiders and harvestmen around the grounds of Bishops Wood and bring them back into the classroom for a closer look, before releasing them again.

This course is offered at a reduced rate of £30 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

Introduction to Biological Recording - at Knepp

Monday, July 31, 2017 to Wednesday, August 2, 2017
FULLY BOOKED
Glamping bell tent at Knepp

A unique opportunity to learn about biological recording on a residential course within the Knepp Castle Estate, Sussex - home to one of the most innovative and talked-about rewilding projects in the UK!  This course is aimed at the naturalist who wants to become more involved in biological recording. During the course you will be introduced to topics like:

  • making biological records;
  • understanding recording organisations and the recording community;
  • choosing and using identification resources;
  • and submitting your biological records (including instruction on using iRecord);

We will use this knowledge during practical sessions, for example moth trapping, bat detecting and wild flower recording, taking you through the process of biological recording from sampling and identification to submitting records. We will explore the grounds of the Kenpp Castle Estate and learn about the amazing habitats created by the rewilding project from the estate ecologist.  No prior knowledge or experience of biological recording is needed.

There are two options for your accommodation (below).  Full catering is provided with both options.

  1. Stay in a Shepherd’s Hut, Yurt or Bell Tent (£170 - select 'luxury glamping' option);
  2. Bring your own tent and camp on the estate’s camping ground (£90 - select 'bring your own tent' option).

Identifying Solitary Wasps

Friday, July 28, 2017 to Friday, August 4, 2017
FULLY BOOKED

This course will introduce participants to the identification and ecology of solitary wasps including nesting and prey requirements, hosts and associated aculeate nest parasites.

Introduction to the identification of genera and species will be through a combination of presentations, field visits (including Stackpole – an outstanding site for aculeates) and microscope workshops using keys and prepared specimens.

By the end of the course participants should be more confident in identifying the more commonly encountered genera and a number of species.

The major part of the course will focus on identification of specimens down to species. Time will be put aside for those who are less familiar with the group to work through keys to genera before advancing on to species identification. Field visits to a variety of habitats will cover ecology and field identification to genera or species where possible. Narrowing specimens down certainly helps to make later identification a lot easier.

This new course is supported by the FSC Tomorrow’s Biodiversity project, enabling us to offer it to participants at rates representing outstanding value for a residential course of this length.

Participants should leave the course with the confidence to work through the keys understanding the terminology and the features used to successfully identify a number of species. For specimens that are more difficult knowing where to go for help will enable individuals to progress with the group.

Using QGIS to work with Biological Records

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Formerly known as Quantum GIS, QGIS is a freely available open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) of the highest quality. Thanks to a community of dedicated and talented developers and an active and vocal user community, QGIS matches the functionality and usability of commercial products like MapInfo and ArcGIS.

An increasing number of ecologists and biological recorders are using this free GIS software to help them visualise, explore and analyse spatial data.

During this course, participants will find out how to visualise and work with biological records using QGIS. In particular, instruction will be given on using the FSC Tom.bio Productivity Tools plugin for QGIS.

We will cover topics like mapping biological records from spreadsheets, linking to NBN web services to display NBN grid maps in QGIS, styling biological records, downloading raw biological record data from the NBN through QGIS and mapping them, working with OS grid references and grids within QGIS, ‘mashing up’ maps from other sources to display alongside your own biological records.

Participants should leave with an understanding of how to work with biological records within QGIS.

This course is not suitable for QGIS novices. Previous experience of QGIS and an understanding of how to carry out basic operations within QGIS are pre-requisites for this course. If you are a complete novice, consider attending our ‘Introduction to the Fundamentals of QGIS’ course first.

An Introduction to the Fundamentals of QGIS

Monday, July 24, 2017

Formerly known as Quantum GIS, QGIS is a freely available open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) of the highest quality. Thanks to a community of dedicated and talented developers and an active and vocal user community, QGIS matches the functionality and usability of commercial products like MapInfo and ArcGIS.

An increasing number of ecologists and biological recorders are using this free GIS software to help them visualise, explore and analyse spatial data.

During this course, participants will be introduced to the fundamental concepts of GIS and basic operations of QGIS.

We will cover topics like obtaining and displaying basemap data (e.g. Ordnance Survey basemaps and Google & Bing aerial imagery), capturing spatial data, loading data from GPS smart-phone apps or hand-held GPS, producing maps for reports or for display on the web.

A one-day workshop can only introduce you to GIS. Nevertheless, participants should leave with a feeling of confidence in their ability to use QGIS and explore its capabilities.

This course does not include instruction on using the FSC Tom.bio Productivity Tools plugin for QGIS, but it is suitable preparation for those wishing to attend the course ‘Using QGIS to work with Biological Records’ which does.

Solitary Bees: Identification and Ecology

Friday, July 14, 2017 to Friday, July 21, 2017

Flatford Mill, Suffolk

This week-long course will introduce participants to the identification and ecology of solitary bees including nesting and foraging requirements, hosts and associated aculeate nest parasites.
Introduction to the identification of genera and species will be through a combination of presentations, field visits and microscope workshops using keys and prepared specimens.
By the end of the course participants should be more confident in identifying the more commonly encountered families and genera.  The week-long format will allow participants to fully immerse themselves in the topic and really consolidate their day-to-day learning.

Solitary Bees: Self study weekend

Friday, July 14, 2017 to Monday, July 17, 2017

Flatford Mill, Suffolk

This runs alongside the first half of the week-long taught Solitary Bees: Identification and Ecology course.  We are offering people the chance to come together to identify their own solitary bee specimens in a supportive peer-to-peer environment.  The classroom space and basic equipment will be provided but attendees are encouraged to bring their own microscope. 

Please note that this weekend is designed for those already experienced enough to self-study, with only occasional support and verification provided by the tutors of the concurrent week-long course.  There is no official taught element to this weekend.  The prices are as follows:

  • £172 single occupancy
  • £142 shared
  • £100 non-residential
  • £8/head for use of the minibus if required

To register your interest in attending please email Charlie Bell.

Field ID of Spiders and Harvestmen

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Preston Montford, Shropshire

Many spiders and harvestmen can be identified and recorded in the field, with the aid a simple piece of kit called a spi-pot, before being released again. You will be introduced to the techniques of identifying live spiders and harvestmen. We will collect live spiders and harvestmen around the grounds of Preston Montford and bring them back into the classroom for a closer look, before releasing them again.

This course is offered at a reduced rate of £30 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

Entomological techniques: building a pinned reference collection

Saturday, July 1, 2017

This one day workshop will take you through everything you need to know in order to start building a pinned entomological reference collection.  We will cover the legal and ethical issues surrounding collecting, the practical fieldwork skills required to collect specimens, and then move to the classroom to learn and practice the skills involved in preserving, setting and pinning invertebrates.

 The course will be lead by Shropshire based entomologists Pete Boardman and Ian Cheeseborough, with support from the FSC Tomorrow’s Biodiversity project.

10.30am - 3.30pm  Course fees: £25

Open lab/invertebrate collections day

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

An informal day for the Shropshire Invetebrate Group (and friends) to work on their invertebrate ID skills, and/or catalogue and maintain the Preston Montford invertebrate collections. A classroom and microscopes will be available, with support (although no formal teaching) from FSC Biodiversity staff.

All are welcome anytime between 10am and 4pm. Please email Charlie Bell if you think you might come along.

Earthworm Society of Britain Identification Weekend - Cumbria

Saturday, June 10, 2017 to Sunday, June 11, 2017

This two day earthworm sampling and identification course, hosted by the FSC's Castle Head Field Centre, is suitable for those with no earthworm experience through to fully trained earthworm recorders. Please note that the sampling day will require a reasonable level of fitness and the collection and preservation of specimens.

Course fees:

  • Non-members: £20 (includes 1 year membership and recorder pack)
  • Members: £15 (includes recorder pack)
  • ESB Trained Earthworm Recorders: No fee (though current membership is required).

For more information and to book a place on the course please contact Keiron Brown.

Learn To Love Spiders

Saturday, May 27, 2017

Preston Montford, Shropshire

If you’re interested in spiders but never felt ready for a beginner’s ID workshop, then this day is for you! It’s a day for people who are fascinated by spiders but don’t know where to start with them. It’s a very gentle introduction to the world of spiders and the art telling one spider from another. Come and learn about these fascinating and wonderful creatures!  This course is offered at a reduced rate of only £10 thanks to support from the FSC Tomorrow's Biodiversity project.

Open lab/invertebrate collections day

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

An informal day for the Shropshire Invetebrate Group (and friends) to work on their invertebrate ID skills, and/or catalogue and maintain the Preston Montford invertebrate collections. A classroom and microscopes will be available, with support (although no formal teaching) from FSC Biodiversity staff.

All are welcome anytime between 10am and 4pm. Please email Charlie Bell if you think you might come along.

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