BSBI Meetings 2013

Training & Recording meetings for beginners.  

2013 August 31.  BSBI Field Meeting - Tubney & Burwell Fen.  Meet at Little Fen Drove at 10:00am [NB limited parking].  TL553661. 

This meeting is a follow up to the theme of the 2012 AEM talks “Conservation Management for Flora”.  We will be visiting Tubney and Burwell Fens and making records of species found.  These Fens are part of the National Trust “Wicken Fen Vision” and are slowly changing from arable fields to a sustainable home for wildlife.  We will look at the different stages of restoration and may see anything from arable plants such as Dense-flowered Fumitory Fumaria densiflora or Fine-leaved Fumitory F. parviflora to fenland plants such as Great Fen-sedge Cladium mariscus or Marsh Arrowgrass Triglochin palustre.  Beginners will be helped with identification and learn how to fill in record cards.  This is a full day outing.  Bring a picnic lunch.  There are no facilities in the area.

• Cambridge Natural History Society
• Cambridgeshire Flora Records
• vc29 blank record sheet
• Record cards for TL56N, TL56P, TL56T, TL56U
• Location map (streetmap.co.uk) OS 1:25,000
• Location map (open street map) shows new paths
• Meteogram for the Wicken area
• Registered participants: John Arundell, Catherine Bickmore,  Will Brown, Dave Dives, Jackie Hardy, Chantal Helm, Kylie Jones, Anne Kell, Dennis Kell, Jenny Blood Smyth, Foz Swindlehurst, Andrew Tongue, Lewis York. (Up to 18 participants)
• BSBI Field Meeting Guidance
• Draft BSBI Guidance for Participants on Field Meetings
• Safety Brief:  This is a full day outing over easy going terrain, which is boggy in places, so walking boots are advised.  If you fancy going into wet bits, Wellingtons are probably a good idea.   Bring sun-block and or waterproofs as necessary.  The latest forecast suggests that it may be relatively warm and sunny, but with a bit of a breeze at times.  Bring a picnic lunch and enough to drink.  Toilets are not available.
• Suggestions for things you could bring: hand lens, your preferred identification book, GPS.  I will print blank record cards, some copies of completed record cards to share, and some maps.  If you wish to print your own, please do so.
• Leaders : Pete Stroh and Jonathan Shanklin (organiser)

2013 April 1.  BSBI Field Meeting - Farndon.  Meet at Farndon church at 10:00am.  SJ413544.

This meeting is a basic introduction to early spring flora, including some vegetative identification.  Beginners will be helped with identification and learn how to fill in record cards.  We will begin by exploring the churchyard, and then take a circular walk along the River Dee and back to Farndon along public footpaths.  Whilst there are no rare species known from the area, we may find some county scarcities such as Frogbit Hydrocharis morsus-ranae, Meadow Rue Thalictrum flavum and Wall Pennywort Umbilicus rupestris.  Most previous visits to the area have been later in the year and have recorded at tetrad level, so we may add some new species and improve the resolution of recording.  With the cold spring so far we are unlikely to have many plants in flower!

• Cheshire record sheet
• Cheshire Rare Plant Register
• Cheshire web page
• Location map  (1:50000 OS + Satellite from Where's the Path)
• Species lists (from BSBI DDb): SJ4154 (3 total/1 recent), SJ4153 (3/1), SJ4152 (0/0), SJ4252 (187/187), SJ4253 (1/0), SJ4254 (259/259 - for tetrad SJ45H rather than monad).
• Species lists (from MapMate): SJ4154 (4 records), SJ4252 (172), SJ4254 (223)
• Draft list (MapMate xls) of plants that were found on April 1 [Updated April 12].
• Outline meeting report [Updated April 12]
• Draft BSBI Yearbook report [Updated April 12]
• Notable plants seen: Acaena novae-zelandiae (5th county record if confirmed), Brassica nigra (scarce), Carex paniculata (Most western tetrad record), Daphne laureola (rare), Polystichum setiferum (scarce), Umbilicus rupestris (now off the scarce list), Veronica polita (scarce)
• Meteogram for Farndon area
• Participants: Gail Quartly-Bishop, Julie Rose, Diane Mattley, Rowan Roenisch, Russell Parry, Tom Petch, Martyn Stead, Graeme Kay, Jonathan Shanklin
• Safety Brief:  This is a full day outing over easy going terrain, but walking boots or Wellingtons are advised.  The weather is likely to remain cold, so make sure you bring appropriate clothing for the day.  Sun is forecast, so you may need to put on sun-block as the sun is now getting higher in the sky - this is probably the main hazard!  We will be walking along the banks of the River Dee.  We will be crossing the A534, but are otherwise on footpaths or minor roads.  Depending on our rate of progress we will walk between 3 and 5km.  If it is very cold we will spend the morning in the village and have a pub lunch, however the plan it to cover the churchyard and then head along the river, coming back along another footpath.  Bring a picnic lunch and enough to drink.  Toilets may be available in the village.
• BSBI Field Meeting Guidance
• Suggestions for things you could bring: hand lens, your preferred identification book, GPS
• Leaders : Graeme Kay (Recorder for vc58, Cheshire) and Jonathan Shanklin (organiser)