On Saturday 22nd March, we held our Spring Recorders’ Conference. For the first time, we held the conference at Exeter Hall, Kidlington, Oxfordshire. We had 77 attendees expected (in person), with 69 attending on the day. It was an opportunity to come together and hear about some of the incredible wildlife recording and conservation work that is going on in Oxfordshire and Berkshire.
Steve Wilkes, Director at TVERC, kicked off proceedings welcoming everyone and giving an update on TVERC. Followed by Joanna Higson, Biological Recording Coordinator at TVERC, giving an update on our species database, information on how TVERC can support recorders, and some of the projects TVERC is involved with such as WISH, Mend the Gap and the City Nature Challenge.
The first of our main speakers was Ivan Wright, Entomologist from Shotover Wildlife, with his talk “Shotover: The Bees Have Spoken”. Talking about the history and management of Shotover, and how they have engaged and worked with the younger community to raise awareness of the invertebrates on the site. The talk stimulated lots of discussion and interest.
After the break, TVERC’s Julie Kerans, Oxfordshire Biodiversity Officer and Katherine Howell, Biodiversity Officer, gave us a summary of their findings and highlights of the 2024 Local Wildlife Site survey season. Followed by the first of our speed update sessions, which was a chance to hear from local wildlife groups about their news and opportunities to get involved. Sue Martin-Downhill from Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE) explained about Local Community Grants and encourage people to get in contact about projects as there are various funding pots they may be able to help with if not the TVERC/TOE grant. Ian Cave from Enstone Eco explained how the group has evolved, and how running events such as nature walks encourages people to come and find out more about nature. Also resulting in them signing up to the Enstone Eco newsletter and getting involved practically. Marcus Simmons, CAG Oxfordshire Nature Project talked about Growing community engagement in species recording across a parish-cluster area. Duncan Fisher, ecologist at Wokingham Borough Council talked about Wokingham Sites and encourage everyone to visit them. Leslie Dunlop from Oxfordshire Geology Trust explained Local Geological Sites criteria for selection and showed some example sites. Katie Jenks from Wild Tilehurst Group, explained about the group, and activities they have run, such as bat walks, and future events.
The lunch break also gave an opportunity for people to network and to look at the stands from Oxfordshire Bat Group; Wild Cookham and Brian Clew’s book stall; Wild Oxfordshire; CAG, Oxfordshire Nature Project; Sustainable Wantage; Bracknell Forest Natural History Society; Trust for Oxfordshire’s Environment (TOE); Oxford Ornithological Society (OOS); St Mary's Fields Nature Reserve, Kidlington; Shotover Wildlife; Berkshire Ornithological Club; Diocese of Oxford Environment Team (the diocese covers Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire); Keep Nethercote Rural. Many thanks to all for sharing their information.
After lunch, we had talks from Ruby Leys of University of Oxford, a recent TVERC Micro Intern, on how she used TVERC data to look at “Bat species distribution & population trends across Oxfordshire & Berkshire from 1970 TO 2024”. Followed by Jessie D’Urso, also from the University of Oxford, and a recent TVERC Micro Intern, on how she used TVERC data for her project on “The third battle of Newbury bypass: assessing changing bat distributions as a result of disruptive road construction”. They have both also produced posters of their projects and experience of the internship programme, which were on the TVERC display and will be shared and posted on the TVERC website. To finish our main talks, we had Neil Clennell, CEO of Wychwood Forest Trust, telling us about Monitoring nature recovery at Gibbets Close Hill. Leading to an interesting discussion on how involved or hands off to be in nature recovery. He put a request out to anyone interested in helping with species surveys to please get in touch. Then we had our second (and last) Speed Update Session of the day, hearing from more local wildlife groups about their news and opportunities to get involved. Harriet Jordan from Banbury CAG about their volunteer activities. Rhiannon Young, Nature Recovery Engagement Officer at Wild Oxfordshire, with updates on the Wild Kidlington Project. Jack Wheeler, Senior Biodiversity Officer at Oxfordshire County Council on the Road Verge Nature Reserves. He shared links on how to get involved Taking action for the environment | Oxfordshire County Council, how to register a road verge under the scheme, for management: Road verge management - Oxfordshire County Council and the Road Verge report Road verge Survey Report and Management Requirements.
Dave Lowe, TVERC volunteer, told us ho he has helped with bird surveys at Hinksey Lake, a proposed LWS. Lisa Phipps, from Keep Nethercote Rural shared how a TOE Grant has supported their Acoustic Bat Recording. Julian Parfitt gave updates from Wild Wantage, and (similar to Enstone Eco) talked about how they are encouraging people to notice nature and get involved. With bat walks being particularly popular. Finally, we had an impromptu speed update from Sara Kandiah from Greener Henley sharing how they became a charity in September 2024, and talking about the upcoming event ‘Churches Count on Nature’, encouraging people to get involved. She also talked about ways to encourage people to get more involved and increase environmental awareness, including the success of film event showings on ‘Six Inches of Soil’, Xtrillion and Wilding.
We then had our final break of the day, and another chance to network and look at the stands. Following the break, delegates had a choice of four workshops to attend: Using iNaturalist to Encourage Citizen Science Recording as part of the CAG Oxfordshire Nature Project and Familiarising LNRS Priority Species by Lisa Phipps, Keep Nethercote Rural; Moth Trap Workshop by wildlife enthusiast Judy Webb, demonstrating how to use the new TVERC moth trap which is available to loan. Along with some beginner moth identification; a Snail workshop by Dr Tom Walker from The Conchological Society ; and Basic identification of our common spring butterflies; and an introduction to standard survey methods by Peter Philp, Chairman of the Upper Thames Branch of Butterfly Conservation.
Thank you so much to all of you who attended our conference, and special thanks to our speakers and workshop hosts for giving up their time. Finally, we are very grateful to Exeter Hall Kidlington for a great venue, and Waste2Taste, Oxford, for their delicious sustainable catering, which uses surplus ingredients.
Finally, many thanks to the WISH Partnership for funding to broaden community involvement in wildlife monitoring and encouraging the sharing of data for monitoring and responsible decision making.