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Sussex biological recording news

November already! With a 4-week lockdown in place across England this month, we hope you are all safe and well, and this edition of the e-news is a welcome distraction.

As restrictions change you may wish to check the guidance to see what activities are still safe and running, by taking a look at the NBN webpage dedicated to links and updates from various recording schemes with guidance. 

As always, if you have any news or information you'd like us to highlight in the newsletter, please get in touch via loismayhew@sussexwt.org.uk 

- The SxBRC Team 

As we head into the second national lockdown, the Natural History Museum have published one of the first looks at biological recording data and lockdown activity levels from the March UK lockdown and comparison to previous years, with information from the BTO, The Quiet Project, British Geological Survey and UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.

Image credit: Beyond Words Studio
Making Natural History virtual festival - 9th November - 20th November

Making Natural History virtual festival is revisiting the 1995 'Leave it to Us' United Nations International Children's Conference on the environment. 25 years on, the online festival will feature talks and events by Froglife on pond creation, BTO on 25 years of  Garden Birdwatch, Siân Moxon on 'Rewildling your Street', Buglife on their B-Lines project and some virtual rockpooling with Sussex Wildlife Trust.

You can read more about the events and sign up here
 
Have you seen this beetle?

If you're running a moth trap, keep an eye out for the Click beetle Lacon querceus. There is one record from 1936 in Windsor Forest, and another from Slough in 2006, but it was recently recorded in Ringmer, East Sussex whilst moth trapping. It may be a migrant or recent introduction but could also have an overlooked local population. This species is nocturnal and rarely recorded within its range across central Europe due to the insular nature of its populations. If you think you spot one, please get in touch with us and ideally keep hold of the beetle for further identification. You can read more about this species on the beetle fauna of Germany website.   


Image credit: Peter Hodge
Species of the month: Pill Woodlice

November's species of the month are an underrecorded group that should be easy wins for your garden list! Take a look at the species account and ID resources, and see if you can help us add a few more records to the database! 

Image credit: Bill Welch
News and Blogs 
 
Sussex Butterfly Conservation made a lockdown video butterfly video

Gavin the Seal, an Arun River paddle boarding regular, made it onto BBC news

There was excitement from birders this October when a Bearded Vulture or Lammageier arrived in the Sussex skies, with nice photos from @PeteralancoeCoe and @wawlee (and probably lots more!)

There have also been some nice examples of how data can be used to inform current studies, with an article on how Victorian-era seaweed herbariums are being used to understand ocean health (via the Guardian), and how record centre data and media reports can be used to describe the status of the Red-necked Wallaby in Britain (via Twitter). 

A few local groups managed some socially-distanced meet-ups before lockdown, you can read about the South East Bryophyte Group meeting to Bodiam Castle on the Sussex Bryophytes blog

Spider news as the first Great Fox-spider was sighted since the 1990s in Surrey
Biological Recording Events and Training
 
7th November, 14:00 - 16:00 (Zoom) - Join Dr Ian Wallace for the Brad Ashby Memorial Lecture hosted by London Natural History Society, "Inspired by Caddis... Adding value to biological records". Ian has been the national co-ordinator for the National Caddisfly Recording Scheme for over 40 years, and will be in conversation with  four other leading invertebrate conservation practitioners. Details and booking via the FSC website 

10th November, 17:00 - Buglife have got lots of great courses and talks coming up over the next few months, the first by Alice Parfitt on insect pollinators and the B-lines project. This is part of the Making Natural History online festival lead by Eastbourne. You can read more about this one and others coming up on the Buglife website    
 
20th/27th/31st March 2021 - Breeding Bird Survey practice sessions for new and nearly-new volunteers so they can ask any questions and meet some other volunteers. Sessions will be run in accordance with whatever guidelines are in place. Information on the Sussex BTO webpage

We'd also like to make you aware of the fantastic webpage set up by Welsh record centre SEWBReC which has up to date links of upcoming online events and training. We don't have the resources to link to everything going on in the digital world of biological recording, so do check the SEWBReC page if you'd like to see more of what's available regularly!  
 

Community Resources

SxBRC believes that biological recording is an activity that should be accessible to everyone. We recognise that the biological recording community does not reflect the diversity that exists within the communities of Sussex, particularly in relation to representation from ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. And – like a lot of organisations – we’ve been reflecting on what we can do to address this. We'll be sharing resources that we’ve found thought-provoking and useful, in terms of understanding why diversity matters and what we can do to make the community we’re a part of more inclusive.

BBC Sounds interview with Ollie Olanipekun and Nadeem Perera who set up a bird watching support group 'Flock Together' for people of colour, in the parks of East London (BBC Sounds, 16:41 minutes)

The British Ecological Society celebrated black history month this October with profiles of black ecologists and ecological practitioners, and their perspective of working in the ecological sector. 
 
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