Update on our activities during the Covid Restrictions
Over the last few months, WWBIC and all the LERCs have been working from home. No one back in March knew what impact this would have on our organisations and our many partners however, after a period of re-adjustment to the new way of working, we found that business activity returned to normal and for some LERCs it has even become busier. [Read more]
Birding Success at Teifi Marshes
This year has seen a real success for a number of species at Teifi Marshes nature reserve. What with the dry, sunny and warm months of April and May, the benefits have been seen with a few key bird species on the reserve. [Read more]
How do you submit records to WWBIC?
There are many ways to submit records to us.
- By email
- In a spreadsheet (particularly if you are sending several records)
- Via our website on the WWBIC Online Recording page
- Using the LERC Wales App on your smart phone or tablet
There is also iRecord, a website and app for recording wildlife sightings across the UK, this is separate to WWBIC but WWBIC Online Recording and the LERC Wales App are based on it and use the same database. [Read more]
Common or Garden Project Update
As you may know, in March we launched The Common or Garden Project, which invited the public to record their sightings of six seasonal species. The project was created to encourage people interested in nature and wildlife to submit records without the need to register with any recording platform. The recorder need only access the website, click on a picture of the species they have seen, and fill in the recording form. [Read more]
Ceredigion Recording Project
A new recording project has been running in Ceredigion – every two weeks we will be sending out an email containing a few target species to record, some information on their biology and identification, and maps of their current distribution in our database. Records can be submitted through the WWBIC Online database, the LERC Wales app, by spreadsheet or by email.
This project evolved over a similar scheme that Ceredigion County Council ran with their staff over the summer. [Read more]
Colour-ringed Chough at Ynys Lochtyn
Chris Chalk photographed some colour-ringed choughs at Ynys Lochtyn in October and contacted Adrienne Stratford, of the ‘Cross & Stratford Welsh Chough Project’. Read more to see what he learned about the birds.
Wales Nature Week
Wales Nature Week ran from 30th May to 7th June 2020 and due to covid restrictions events were virtual. WWBIC along with the other LERCs in Wales were actively involved. Colin, WWBIC manager, took on the role as quiz master for the ‘Big Wales Nature Quiz’ (watch out Jeremy Paxman!!), this evening event tested participants natural history knowledge and was enjoyed by all who took part – some taking it more seriously that others!
The Garden Bioblitz took place on Saturday 30th and as the name suggests the public were asked to record everything they saw in their garden during 24 hours. This event was a great success and generated 1047 records for our region with 514 species being recorded.
Dragon on the Beach
We run a biological recording project in the village of Penparcau, in Ceredigion, where we work with local people to encourage them to learn about, and record, the rich wildlife of our area.
Working with groups has been impossible since the start of Lockdown, as our sessions involve lots of gathering together to examine and identify our finds. We have had to find other ways to engage with our membership, and here is an example of how a dead fish allowed us to do just that! [Read more]
Our Online Presence
There are many ways to connect with WWBIC over the internet. As well as our website, and online biological recording system, we are also active on both Facebook and Twitter – search ‘West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre’ for our Twitter account or our Facebook page. These social media platforms are increasingly useful for sharing information about wildlife, and for connecting nature enthusiasts to each other, particularly in these current strange times. [Read more]
The Dawn of Virtual Training Events!
2020 has been a very unusual and challenging year for all of us. Here at WWBIC it has been business as usual while working at home, however we have been unable to organise and produce our usual recording days and training events.
Following the lead of our fellow Welsh LERCs, we have been able to provide virtual training events through the medium of Zoom. As the events have been virtual, we have been able to reach a wider audience than our conventional in person training events. [Read more]
We’d like to send our good wishes to you all for Christmas and the new year.
Please email any comments or feedback about this newsletter to kate@westwalesbiodiversity.org.uk
Thank you for reading.
