Hi all
Six months on and the blog has passed 31,000 page views. Of these, nearly 24,000 have been from within the UK but we seem to have a significant audience overseas too (for example, nearly 4,000 page views from the USA, nearly 700 from China and over 400 from the Ukraine!).
Things seem to be going reasonably well too: plenty of ID requests, as you'd expect, and most are getting answers. I'd like to see more reports of what people are actually seeing too, although it is appreciated that those of you with day jobs probably have your work cut out finding time to identify your own catches at this time of year, let alone passing on information to others!
At least one person who has signed up to the blog has had difficulty uploading messages and comments. If this also applies to you, please don't give up but get in touch and we'll try to resolve things.
It is worth reminding everyone of the need to keep RECORDS for your County Moth Recorder. These should be passed on annually towards the end of the season. Remember to use the correct Determiner, for example if moths are identified on this Blog by a third party. Those of you using bespoke recording software such as MapMate will probably know already how to transfer your data. If not, or if you are using a simple spread-sheet like Excel, then please contact your CMR to ask them how they would like the data to be presented. The minimum requirements will be:
Date
Species name
Life stage (egg, larva, pupa or adult)
Number seen (use a zero to indicate "present" if you don't count)
Location (name of site eg "Westcott, Burnham Road" and a six-digit Ordnance Survey
grid reference eg "SP 715171")
Recorder's name
Determiner's name (if the record was verified by someone else)
Your County Moth Recorders are:
Vice-County 22, Berkshire
Martin Harvey (all species) e-mail: kitenetter at googlemail.com
Vice-County 23, Oxfordshire
Martin Townsend (macro moths) e-mail: martin.townsend4 at ntlworld.com
Martin Corley (micro moths) e-mail: martin.corley at btinternet.com
Vice-County 24, Buckinghamshire
Martin Albertini (all species) e-mail: malbertini at onetel.com
For those of you who don't understand Vice-Counties, I'm sure Mr Google will help! Basically, for consistency in biological recording we continue to use the old county boundaries as they were prior to the changes of the 1960s. This means, for example, that Slough is in VC 24 Bucks while much of present day Oxfordshire south of the Thames is in VC 22 Berkshire. If you have any doubt which Vice-County you are in, just ask!
Dave Wilton
Hi Dave
ReplyDeleteThanks very much for this and also VERY much for all the work you've put into making this blog such a success. Ditto to Marc, Peter and the other experts who are so helpful with IDs (sometimes in the face of startling ignorance, eg my own).
The blog is obviously useful in that way but it's also been great to get more detailed information about moth behaviour from yourself, Marc and others. Personally, I find this more interesting than the mechanics of record-keeping and the question of whether a moth is a Grey or Dark Dagger, and I would welcome more of it. But in every sense, it's really enjoyable being part of this, reading about others' experiences and being able to refer the blog on to other interested moth people.
On that score, I see no reason why comments should be limited to blog members, though I don't feel particularly strongly about it. It's just that the more input we get, the wiser we become. Possibly.
All warm wishes from the home of confusion at Thrupp
Martin
Thanks and well done to those, particularly Peter & Dave, who got the blog going.
ReplyDeleteIf you need help with vc boundaries I would recommend using the Beds Natural History Society grid reference finding web-site at http://www.bnhs.co.uk/focuson/grabagridref/html/index.htm. It does have a facility to show the vc boundaries and you can then follow it around the OS map and ariel pictures. Its good for getting grid refs as well.
I'd like to add my thanks. I've only been trapping since last September and without this site I'd be completely lost.
ReplyDeleteThe old site had its plusses too, but the idea behind this one is to be able to post moths of interest that you have caught and for those hoping for an identification, this takes the load of individuals who often got swamped with id requests sent via their e-mail. I think this one is also more "personal" in its feel. I have to thank the Ceredigion moth blog for giving me the initial idea. Wendy set it all up, so she should also get a big round of applause
ReplyDelete