BSBI and CEH together at Birdfair. 

BSBI at Birdfair 2012
Image: J. Saddington

Here is part of last year's stand - very nice, I hope you agree, but this year we have an added ingredient - CEH!

More details to follow - or head over to Birdfair and find out for yourself :-)

Just get here before 5.30 on Sunday, when we start to dismantle and pack everything away again...   

Setting-up for Birdfair. 

Rachel with a herbarium specimen collected by her father.
Image: L. Marsh

I've been at Rutland Water, putting up the BSBI display with Rachel Benskin from Leicester University Botanic Garden. She and LUBG are responsible for the plant displays on the stand. 

Rachel quickly spotted that one of the herbarium sheets I'd brought along for display shows a specimen of Oenanthe crocata collected almost 50 years ago by her father, when he was a student at Wisley. 

Mr Benskin later became Senior Botanic Gardener at LUBG under the celebrated Tom Tutin, and he met the future Mrs Benskin when she also came to work at LUBG. And in due course, the Benskins of the Botanic Garden begat Rachel... 

Hoping to find out more about the Benskin Dynasty and whether Rachel's nephew is showing any horticultural tendencies yet, but we were interrupted at that point by two local BSBI members who are volunteering on the Birdfair Recycling Team: Russell and Paul, the Botanical Binmen :-)

More to follow...

BSBI exhibiting at Birdfair 2013. 

BSBI at Birdfair 2012
Image: J. Bailey

We are hoping to catch up with lots of fellow wildlife enthusiasts at this year’s Birdfair, which starts at 9 am this Friday, 16^th August, at Rutland Water and runs until 5.30 on Sunday, 18^th August.

BSBI will be on Stand 57, Marquee 1, throughout Birdfair, offering three days of plant displays, botanical exhibits and demonstrations of wildflower identification.

Part of the BSBI stand, Birdfair 2012
Image: J. Saddington

There will also be a lecture by BSBI’s new President, Ian Denholm, who is a passionate birder and botanist.

Ian will be presenting ‘Botany for Birders’ at 4.30pm on Saturday 17^th August in the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre. 

Modest as ever, Ian told me, “It is a huge honour to have the chance to speak at this prestigious event, and to highlight similarities and differences between the hobbies of birding and botanising. Ultimately, I would recommend that everyone tries both!” 

Visitors to the BSBI stand will see plant displays which pick up on Ian's themes and illustrate the habitats associated with some iconic British birds. There will also be practical demonstrations where you can pick up wildflower ID tips, and you can find out more about how BSBI supports nature conservation in Britain & Ireland. 

Birdfair Team 2012 with Prof Clive Stace
Image: J. Saddington

We work closely with other botanists, recorders and conservationists, and this year's stand benefits from the participation of both the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, exhibiting with us for the first time, and the University of Leicester Botanic Garden, who again provided the plant displays. 

Kevin Walker, BSBI's Head of R&D, at Birdfair 2012
Image: J. Saddington   

At Birdfair, visitors can also check out BSBI's web-based resources and find out what grows where and how to identify it, or they can click on our interactive map to see what BSBI has to offer in their area. 

We are also inviting you to challenge us, by bringing along some unusual or difficult plants to see if our experts can identify them. 

Birdfair is an annual event attracting birdwatchers from all over the world, and up to 20,000 visitors are expected this year. We had a great time at last year's Birdfair, and we are looking forward to meeting lots of fellow wildlife enthusiasts this year, on Stand 57, Marquee 1.

More info here about BSBI at British Birdfair. Posts and photos to follow, in case you really can't make it to Rutland this weekend! 

Botanising in the Outer Hebrides: the End. 

The Outer Hebrides Recording Team made it up some pretty steep hills on this three week fieldtrip. 

The image on the right shows Laura from VC20, the Outer Hebrides Recorder Paul Smith, Russell, Rowan and Geoffrey from VC55 and Mary (seated) who lives in France.

And now they are, as they say up here, westering home. Until next year...

  

   

Botanising in the Outer Hebrides: Part Five

Juncus balticus on a roadside
Image: L. Marsh

This summer's Hebridean recording work is drawing to a close and there have been some great successes, both botanically and in the contacts we have made. 

The VC Recorder for the Outer Hebrides, Paul Smith, is very pleased at some of the records we are getting and the members of the survey team - some of whom travelled quite a distance to get up here - are delighted that they have been able to make a contribution to this year's recording programme. 

Platanthera bifolia on South Uist
Photo: Laura Gravestock

We think we have found some pretty impressive plants, although specimens still need to be checked by our referees before the records can be confirmed. But Paul is confident that our finds include the following delights:

Deschampsia setacea on the edge of a lochan;
Platanthera bifolia in a marsh;
Potamogeton epihydrus and Najas flexilis in various lochs; and 
Juncus balticus on a roadside.

Take a look at the distribution maps here to see why we were so pleased to see these species - just type in the name of each species to see when and where it has been recorded. 

We have all had a chance to see and photograph plants we had never seen before, and learn how to identify them. That is one of the main reasons we all come up here each summer - but the great company, delicious dinners and fabulous views are also great incentives!

The image on the left shows the Recording Team, and some of the South Uist botanists we met, smiling at how keen Laura (from VC20 Hertfordshire) was to photograph those Hebridean aquatics. 

Well, could you resist a lochan like this?

And here is what Laura was so keen to photograph...

click on the image to see it full size - can you see what that plant is? 

Botanising in the Outer Hebrides: Part Four. 

It looks as though this year's Outer Hebrides Recording Extravaganza may leave behind a lasting legacy. Two people who attended the Howmore Bioblitz and joined the BSBI Recorders as they surveyed the site had such an enjoyable experience that they came out with us again the next day, when we surveyed a nearby square. 

They are now thinking of going out botanising together after the BSBI recorders go home so, when we return to the Outer Hebrides next year, there may be a South Uist Flora Group up and running. 

We are Journal of the Month until 15th August! 

I just wanted to remind you all that free online access to New Journal of Botany  - made available to non-members while we were Maney's Journal of the Month for July - actually lasts until the 15th of August - so you could say we are Journal of the Six Week Period.  

Whatever the name, it's great that everyone can read all about the free content here: http://www.maneypublishing.com/index.php/journal-of-the-month-njb  and can then chose to access all our papers free over the next fortnight.

And our next issue, NJB 3.2, will be out next month.