16th April 2012 - updated 29th May 2012 - updated 3rd July 2012 - updated 4th September 2012 -
updated 17th September 2012 - updated 23rd October 2012 - updated 26th October 2012 -
updated 15th November 2012 - updated 6th December 2012 - updated 8th February 2013
updated 12th February 2013 - updated 7th March 2013
Bournemouth Natural Science Society
7th March 2013
Species of the Month - March 2013
Butterfly and Reptile monitoring:
A few survey opportunities that may be of interest:
For those of you interested in getting involved in butterfly monitoring, a new transect has been set up on Turbary common and volunteers are needed to cover the weekly butterfly surveys. The route of the butterfly transect needs to be walked once a week between April and September according to the recommended weather conditions, if there are a few interested volunteers a rota can be drawn up so that there will be less of a time commitment than there would be for a single person to do all of the walks. Basic knowledge of identifying butterfly species would be required.
Also volunteers already involved in monitoring butterflies on the Kinson Common and at Stour Valley LNR transects are looking for help to provide cover for certain weeks throughout the season.
For anyone interested in reptiles, an on-going survey of Turbary common is being initiated in May this year led by a volunteer with the relevant licences required to survey sites where protected reptile species may be encountered.
If you are interested in assisting with any of these surveys then e-mail heatherdixon@bnss.org.uk and I will put you in contact with Senior Ranger Katie Wilkinson at Bournemouth Borough Council.
12th February 2013
Bournemouth Naturally Events February - June 2013
8th February 2013
Species of the Month - February 2013
6th December 2012
Newsletter
Bournemouth Natural Science Society Newsletter Issue 1
Species of the Month - December 2012
15th November 2012
Bournemouth Natural Science Society (BNSS) and the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland (CS) Joint meeting on 17th November 2012 at BNSS
E-mail from Bournemouth Natural Science Society
An event that may be of interest this coming Saturday (17th Nov) at BNSS.
The Conchology Society have teamed up with BNSS for a day all about Molluscs.
The day will include a variety of activities including talks and an opportunity to get your own garden slugs and snails identified by an expert, please see the attached information for more details of the plan for the day.
COME AND MINGLE WITH MOLLUSCA! OUTLINE PROGAMME
BNSS open from 10:00am - 5:30pm
10:15am - 11:15am - Tour of the Building in small groups; Refreshments will be available. Some rooms open, short guided tours of house. Display of Shell Collections.
11:15am - 12:45pm - Demonstrations and Workshops (in BNSS garden - weather permitting). CS will bring their display panels and labelled samples. There will be an Identification Table for people to have their "finds" examined - we need to include this in the publicity articles.
12:45pm - 1:45pm - Lunch Break ("bring your own").
2:00pm - 2:30pm - Lecture Hall - 15 minute presentations to introduce each Society. BNSS President will give a brief welcome and introduce June Chatfield and John Cresswell who will speak for their respective Society.
2:30pm - 3:15pm - Lecture Hall: c30minutes The first 30 minute talk will be on the South Coast Marine Molluscs given a member of Conchology Society.
3:15pm - 3:30pm - Refreshment Break
3:30pm - 4:15pm - Lecture Hall: c30 minutes The second 30 minute talk will be on Non-marine and Fresh Water Molluscs Graham Long.
4:15pm - 5:00pm - Further opportunity to talk to the experts and view the displays.
Please e-mail if you would like to attend to mmthornton5@gmail.com. The day is free, but a donation to tea and coffee will be welcome. Any donations to BNSS for hire of their rooms also gratefully received. Visitors are welcome to come for all or part of the day.
26th October 2012
Bournemouth Naturally Species of the Month Oct/Nov - Ivy Bee
E-mail from Bournemouth Natural Science Society
Each month we will be looking at a particular species we are interested in recording in Bournemouth and the surrounding area for the Bournemouth Naturally project.
Instead of a November "species of the month", we have a late October / early November "species of the month". It was a good opportunity to see if anyone can spot ivy bees in the next week or two. They have been recorded in Bournemouth before so find your nearest patch of ivy and have a quick look.
23rd October 2012
Small Mammal Trapping Workshop
Thanks to Katie Wilkinson, Senior Ranger Stour Valley we are able to offer an opportunity to learn about small mammals this autumn. This workshop is to be held at Stour Valley Local Nature Reserve (LNR).
We will be using live traps which need to be set and left overnight so we will be doing the workshop in two sessions:
Friday, 9th November at 3-5pm meet at Stour Valley LNR.
Meet in the car park in Granby Road, just off Muscliffe Lane (BH9 3NZ for Granby Road).
During this session we will provide information about small mammal ecology and identification. We will then go through trap placement and setting procedure before getting participants to help us place and set the traps to be left out overnight.
Saturday, 10th November at 7-9am meet at Stour Valley LNR.
Meet in the car park in Granby Road, just off Muscliffe Lane (BH9 3NZ for Granby Road).
(Unfortunately the early start is necessary to ensure small mammals are not harmed by being captured in a trap longer than is recommended.)
During this session we will be checking the traps and identifying anything we have caught before releasing.
The length of this session will not be any longer than 2 hours; it may be shorter depending on how many traps have been successful.
Feel free to come along to either or both sessions, if possible please contact Heather if you are planning on coming along so we have an idea of numbers and in-case we need to cancel the workshop in the event of bad weather.
The workshop will not involve much walking but please bring suitable footwear for possibly muddy conditions and uneven ground. Please also wear warm/waterproof clothing depending on the weather forecast.
For more information and to confirm you would like to attend contact:
Bournemouth Naturally Project Officer, Heather Dixon
Email: heatherdixon@bnss.org.uk
Mob: 07590 909933
Bournemouth Naturally Species of the Month September - Hedgehog
E-mail from Bournemouth Natural Science Society
Each month we will be looking at a particular species we are interested in recording in Bournemouth and the surrounding area for the Bournemouth Naturally project.
This month we are asking you to look out for and report sightings of hedgehogs, your garden or local greenspace please let us know what you have seen.
On the pdf below is some general information about Hedgehogs if you would like to know more about why recording of this species is important. Using the recording form I hope it will make it quick and easy to let us know about Bournemouth's hedgehogs and of course any of your other wildlife observations.
Bournemouth Natural Science Society Wildlife Database
Dear all,
Attached is a recording form that I hope will be a simple way to submit your Bournemouth wildlife sightings to me so we can start to build up a database of records for Bournemouth Naturally. Although Bournemouth has a unique and exciting diversity of habitats within and surrounding the town there is very few records of wildlife in some areas. Please help us create a Bournemouth wildlife database from your wildlife sightings in your garden or local public greenspace. This information will then be passed on to our project partners DERC (Dorset Environmental Records Centre) who are vital in managing important environmental information from across the county.
The recording form will also soon be available to download online from our webpage:
www.bnss.org.uk/bournemouth-naturally.html
And printed copies are available from me at BNSS if this would be easier.
I am also hoping to introduce "species of the month" very shortly which will pick out certain species we are particularly interested in receiving records of. I will email this out at the beginning of each month and it will also be featured on the webpage. Remember we are running species ID workshops over the two year project if you would like some help getting started with recording, keep an eye on the Bournemouth Naturally webpage.
As an alternative you can also keep track of and submit your own records by joining an online recording system called Living Record which can be found through the Bournemouth Naturally webpage. All you need is an email address and a bit of time to practice how to add a record, ask me if you would like some more information.
Any questions just let me know
Best wishes,
Heather Dixon
Bournemouth Naturally
Project Officer
Wildlife Walks and Workshops Summer 2012
BOURNEMOUTH NATURALLY LAUNCH DAY SATURDAY 9th JUNE 2012
The Bournemouth Natural Science Society is doing an official launch day for the BOURNEMOUTH NATURALLY project sponsored by Heritage Lottery fund.
Please do come, meet Heather if not already, see what we have on our moth trap! and eat cake!
You are invited to the
BNSS OPEN MORNING AND LAUNCH DAY
Saturday, 9th June 2012, 10.00am - 12.30pm
Opening a moth trap, making an insect mask, find out how to become a wildlife observer and recorder.