(No 109) Booklet
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BRISC Committee members Issue No 109 - Sept 2018 COPY DEADLINE ISSN 0966-1964 FOR ISSUE 110 Chris McInerny, Chair DECEMBER 15TH Email: [email protected] www.brisc.org.uk www.facebook.com/BriscScotland Articles are welcomed but also Louisa Maddison, Secretary Scottish Charity No. SC024418 snippets of interesting record- Email: [email protected] ing news and details of events. Anyone who has received a Jonathan Willet, Treasurer new and relevant book please Email: [email protected] consider writing a review for Recorder News us. Andy Wakelin, Membership & Web manager CONTENTS from the south who wish to see the Please send articles in Word or Email: [email protected] Recording a Butterfly with butterfly. Open Office format. Photos Conservation in mind…………………….p.1 are welcomed, best as jpeg Sarah Eno, Editor Chair & Editor’s columns……………………..p.4 However, despite this apparently satis- and less than 800kb in size. Email: [email protected] When Wildlife finds you……………………….p.5 factory situation, the Northern Brown Please do not embed them in Where’s Wildlife in Ayrshire?……………….p.6 Argus is in trouble and as well being a your text - its quite hard to Christine Johnston, Scottish NBN BRSC Conference details…………..………..p.8 UK BAP priority species it is on the extract them! Liaison Officer BRISC Bursary report……………………….p.10 Scottish Biodiversity List and has been Email: [email protected] SBIF Update………………….………………..p.11 a conservation priority for Butterfly Please send by email to the NBN News.……………………………………..p.11 Conservation for at least the past editor. Graeme Wilson Events and bits……………….…….…………p.15 twenty years. The reason? It is in Email: BRISC Committee…………………….………p.16 decline mainly through habitat loss. [email protected] The caterpillars are reliant on Common Rock-rose Richard Weddle as their sole food-plant and this Email: [email protected] Conservation in mind Kelly Anne Dempsey Barry Prater Email: [email protected] If you look at the overall distribution in Sarah Jayne Forster the UK of the Northern Brown Argus [email protected] you’ll see that, although the butterfly occurs in some Francesca Pandolfi parts of northern England, it is prima- [email protected] rily a Scottish species. Dig down further into the detail and it becomes clear that the Scottish Borders is a stronghold with many known sites both along the The honeybee swarm on the gable soffit coast and scattered inland and every July 2018 Northern Brown Argus in its full beauty year there is a small influx of people BRISC Recorder News No 109 16 along with other indicators of species- will be active, the brilliant white eggs EVENTS rich grassland. These habitats are are laid on the upper surface of the Butterfly Conservation Trust 10th anniversary and Members Day vulnerable to over-grazing (especially Rock-rose leaves and despite their tiny th by sheep), enrichment prior to cultiva- size they are very conspicuous. So it is Saturday October 6 , Conference Centre, Battleby tion, scrubbing over from neglect and possible to confirm the presence of the Details: www.butterfly-conservation.org tree planting. butterfly and that it is breeding even in poor weather. Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland (BSBI) Indeed some sites Scottish Members Conference are known only Saturday 3rd November, Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh from the Details: www.bsbi.org/scotland recording of the eggs. Forth Naturalist & Historian Annual Conference: The Ochils - A Special Place The list of target Saturday November 10th. Stirling University sites is long – over Details: www.fnh.stir.ac.uk/ 150 – but during June to August TWIC (Wildlife Information Centre) this year around 20 local volun- Autumn Conference Saturday November 10th at Melrose Corn Exchange teers have visited Details: to follow www.wildlifeinformation.co.uk/recording_conferences.php more than 50 sites and reports are now coming in. NBN Conference - The NBN in a Changing Climate So, as a start to addressing these Although the data have not been details see page 14 issues, Butterfly Conservation has collated so no conclusions can be Inner Forth Landscape Initiative embarked on a survey across the drawn at this stage, some interesting Still have several events between now and end of the year Borders which has the initial aim of information is emerging. For example www.innerforthlandscape.co.uk/ assessing the status of currently the size of colonies is extremely vari- known colonies – is the butterfly still able both in areal extent and apparent there, how large is the colony, who population. One extensive Peeblesshire OTHER ITEMS owns the site, how is it currently site had a count of over 100 adults, managed, are there any known while a Berwickshire colony with just a BCT Identify a Butterfly - online tool threats, etc? handful of Rock-rose plants squeezed into a tiny area on a woodland edge www.butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/identify-a-butterfly Every year some of the better-known still revealed over 10 eggs although no sites are visited to check on how the adult butterflies were recorded. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew - State of the World’s Fungi butterfly is faring but there are many A report and a fascinating website with wonderful photographs which have not been looked at Several sites appear to be threatened www.kew.org/state-of-the-worlds-fungi recently. by either gorse or bracken invasion to the detriment of the Rock-rose. Where While surveys are ideally carried out in remedies to this or other problems are weather conditions when the adults clear and practicable then contact has BRISC Recorder News No 109 2 BRISC Recorder News No 109 15 We have had some species experts who NBN Trust AGM already been made with the land have volunteered themselves to review the manager to encourage changes to be The NBN Trust AGM will be held on lists of their species groups against these put in place. new criteria for which we are very grateful. Wednesday 21 November 2018, in Nottingham as part of the NBN Annual However, we still need more! To find out What happens next? The survey needs which species groups we still need to Conference. The main items for voting to continue at least through 2019, review, please visit: include: which will hopefully allow the bulk of nbn.org.uk/news/experts-needed-for- ▪ Confirmation of the NBN Trust the remaining sites to be visited. In species-groups/ Accountants addition, some work will be done to ▪ Voting on NBN Board of Trustees discover new sites – based on members continuity of service exploring areas where Rock-rose has ▪ Special Resolution – amendment to been recorded. This has already NBN Stakeholder Group – opportunity the Articles of Association. to get involved happened to a limited extent in 2018, with some successes. As the survey A good bank of flowering Rock-rose Do you want to play an active part in the All members of the National Biodiversity gets completed a dossier of sites will running of the NBN Trust? Are you able to Network are eligible to vote except for be prepared and this will be promoted use your individual experience to think Corporate Members and NBN Trustees. through agencies such as the planning strategically? authority and forestry organisations so So the future has opportunities for For more information on how to vote, visit: that the information can guide future If so, we still have some places left if you nbn.org.uk/news/nbn-trust-agm/ more people to contribute to the would like to join our new NBN Stakeholder developments and avoid the destruc- survey work with the prospect of Group. nbn.org.uk/news/nbn-stakeholder- tion of or damage to Northern Brown making a real difference for this impor- group-places-left/ Argus colonies. tant species. For many of us this is UK Awards for Biological Recording the butterfly of the Scottish Borders. If you have already expressed interest in and Information Sharing 2018 the Group we will be in touch with you again in the next couple of months. The nominations have now closed and the Award ceremony will take place on [email protected] NBN Conference 2018 – places are Wednesday 21 November in Nottingham. filling up! Each of the six Award winners: Gilbert Editor’s additional note: This year’s conference is taking place on White Adult, Gilbert White Youth, David Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 November Robertson Adult, David Robertson Youth, The Scottish Borders has a very energetic at the Albert Hall in Nottingham. The Lynne Farrell Group and Adult Newcomer, and friendly Lepidoptera recording group, theme is: “The NBN in a Changing Climate”. will receive their prizes that day. always happy to share their knowledge. There are excursions, and events as well as Bookings are still open and you can find We are indebted to our sponsors, Opticron, conservation projects as described above. more information about the speakers and Paramo, the Field Studies Council (FSC), We are also trying to keep the long running the new Network Knowledge Exchange Nature Photographers Ltd, NHBS and Butterfly Transect on Murder Moss going sessions on the NBN website: British Wildlife Publishing. with volunteers. More are always welcome. nbn.org.uk/news-events-publications/nbn- conference-2/nbn-conference-2018/ Contact us through Barry above, the editor or Conspicuous egg of Northern Brown Argus www.butterfly-conservation.org BRISC Recorder News No 109 14 BRISC Recorder News No 109 3 Chairman’s SBIF update at September 2018 Column Christine Johnston Sarah Eno Chris McInerny The SBIF Review Working Group has I apologise for the been continuing with preparation of its What an extraordi- lack of varied paper on recommendations and a material in this narily settled and hot detailed business case for the biological issue.The summer NBN Update (even very hot!) period we experienced recording infrastructure in Scotland.