Newsletter no. 6 Winter 2001/2002

14 West Road, Bishops Stortford, CM23 3QP

tel/fax: 01279 507697 E-mail: colinwplant@netscapeonline.co.uk

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WELCOME TO THE HERTS MOTH GROUP

I am sorry that this newsletter has been so long in the making. I had hoped to get it out before the field trip programme expired in September. I plead “pressure of work”. With this forced delay came the realisation that I really ought to fix the entire of the 2002 programme in one go so that the problem does not recur. This is enclosed with this newsletter. The group has 113 “members” at 1^st November 2001 – though some share the same address. The average attendance at field trips was 12 persons over the last year, and in all 23 members appeared on at least one trip. I had hoped to be able to say how many species of moth we saw on the trips, but I have not had time to add them all up yet; suffice to say that we saw lots – everyone had a good time – and everyone learned lots! If you have never been then we hope you will come next year. Most people are beginners and there is no need to be embarrassed. The meetings are very informal; supervised kids are welcomed (though no dogs please), and it is not necessary to stay until the small hours – you can leave whenever you are ready/bored/tired/etc.

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WINTER MEETING 2001/2002

This will take place on Saturday 2^nd March 2002. The venue is Herts Environment Centre – the same place as last year. Tea and coffee will be available, but bring your own lunch. A full programme for the day is included with this newsletter. The event is, as last year, COMPLETELY FREE, courtesy of our sponsors – the Herts Natural History Society.

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SENDING IN YOUR YEAR 2001 RECORDS

Yes – it’s that time of year again. Your friendly county moth recorder is sitting here with nothing to do, hoping that somebody will send him lots of records to be entered onto the computerised database! Well – not quite, since I do have quite a lot to do already, but I do indeed want you to send me your moth records for the year. Here is the preferred method. I can accept all records, without exception, but some formats are easier than others for me to enter into the computer. Thus, if at all possible, please use the proper recording forms. There are 4 types: English names alphabetical, English names taxonomic order, scientific names alphabetical and scientific names taxonomic order. These are available free from me (then make lots of photocopies) or can be downloaded from the web site at http://www.hertsmothgroup.org.uk. If you have already written/typed a list that is in one of these four orders, that will be fine. Non-structured lists are acceptable if they are fairly short, but it would help if longer lists can be put into some sort of order.

The recording forms indicate species that beginners should get checked by another person and they also show species than cannot be separated unless they are dissected. Thus, if you have a common Rustic moth and you have not dissected a dead male, report it as Common Rustic group. Do not tell fibs — if you are not sure, report the group only. The form also indicates uncommon species and migrants – for which a date is requested; please supply this if you can.

For your garden, if you have been trapping throughout the year on many occasions, please send me a single, complete list on a recording form. If you have been trapping on most nights of the year and have separate lists for each night I would be keen to get these off you as I am now plotting flight periods for macro species.

For all other sites, please send me a separate list for each trip. All records should be sent – even of just a single species whilst out walking the dog. Please make sure that you include a date, a place name, a grid reference if possible and your name. If you don’t understand grid references, please make sure that the place name that you provide is one that appears on the O.S. map so that I can work out the grid reference here.

The map above shows numbers of macro moth records for 1995 to present that are already on the database: most 2001 records are not yet entered.

Please note that I only record moths; I do not want butterfly records, though I will forward combined lists if so requested.

Post, fax or e-mail records to me (see head of this newsletter for addresses).

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