Spring 2023

Saturday 18 March

10am - 4pm (Registration from 9.30am)

Hill End Outdoor Education Centre, Eynsham Road, Oxford, OX2 9NJ

PLEASE NOTE: This event is in the past. Thank you to all of our speakers and to all of you who attended. To read a summary of the event, click here.

We organise recorders' conferences twice a year as a chance for the biological recording community to come together and share updates of projects, survey initiatives and information on what they are doing. This Spring conference will be held in person at Hill End Outdoor Education Centre, and we will also be welcoming online attendees to allow more to paricipate. Anyone who is interested in wildlife recording and conservation is welcome to attend.

Tickets

Tickets for the in-person event are £10 and £5 for students. This includes lunch and refreshments. Online attendance is free, and will exclude the workshops. Advance booking is required for both in-person and online attendance and the final date for bookings or refunds is Friday 10^th March.

Bookings have now closed, but you can read a summary of the event here.

Programme

We are still finalising the programme, so the following may be subject to change. Please keep an eye on this page for updates.

Main Speakers:

Tom Walker, Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland

“All about Snails”. Tom will talk about what shells and snails are and where they may be found, concentrating on the British species. He'll discuss his interest in the topic and bring along some examples of shells and snails from Britain and overseas.

Aljos Farjon, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

“A biodiversity survey of High Park, Blenheim”. Perhaps the most remarkable location for ancient oaks is High Park, a private part of Blenheim Park near Woodstock. Aljos recorded the ancient oaks here for the Ancient Tree Inventory (ATI) and subsequently obtained permission from Blenheim Palace to organise and execute a biodiversity survey of this ancient site. The results of this survey, carried out by many specialists, are presented here.

Mike Pollard, Wild Oxfordshire

“Curlews in the Heart of England - past, present and their future conservation”. The Upper Thames is a lowland stronghold for the Curlew, one of our most threatened breeding birds in the UK. Action by a partnership of conservation organisations, farmers and volunteers is attempting to halt their decline locally, and promote recovery. Mike will talk about the progress made so far and the challenges ahead, with particular reference to his work on Curlews in the Banbury area.

Workshops:

There will be a choice of workshops on the day

Snail Identification with Tom Walker. Tom will talk about how to identify some of the British land and freshwater snails. Bring along any snails that you have and Tom will help you to identify them. Identification guides will be available for you to consult.

Pollinator Monitoring Scheme with CEH. Learn how to take part in the annual PoMS scheme and how to undertake Flower-Insect Timed (FIT) counts.

Habitats of Hill End. Take a stroll around the grounds of Hill End Outdoor Education Centre with the site manager to discover more about the habitats on site.

Speed updates

We would love to hear from YOU about what you have been up to - do you have any interesting sightings to share, upcoming events, or perhaps you are looking for new volunteers? We have a limited number of 5 minutes slots available. Please indicate on your booking form if you would like to give an update.

Displays

There will be a range of display stands from different recording and conservation groups which you can visit during refreshment and lunch breaks. Please indicate on your booking form if you would like to bring a display and/or leaflets.

Location

Hill End Outdoor Education Centre, Eynsham Road, Oxford, OX2 9NJ

For directions, see: Google maps.

The nearest train station is O xford.

There is free car parking at the venue.

Many thanks to Hill End for their support for this event.