Saturday 14 March 2015

Annual General Meeting held on Friday 13th March

The meeting at the Royal British Legion in Usk was very successful. 15 people attended with many new faces. All officers were re-elected unopposed. Roger James thanked Martin for his excellent and timely production of The Silurian. The meeting showed their agreement with a round of applause. The meeting also agreed to record our thanks to Richard Clarke for his management of this website. Sheila Dupe, our Treasurer, gave a finance report. The balance was £367.46. Kevin proposed a £50 donation to Butterfly Conservation South Wales Branch, as George had not asked for any expenses for giving his talk. This was agreed by the meeting.
George Tordoff, Conservation Officer for Butterfly Conservation Wales gave a fascinating talk on Lepidoptera Conservation in South East Wales. He focused on Marsh Fritillary, Small Pearl Bordered Fritillary, Grizzled Skipper, Drab Looper, The Forester, Argent and Sable, Scarce hook-tip and The Silurian. 
Our County Recorder, Dr Martin Anthoney, gave an up-date on Lepidoptera recording in Vice County 35. The total number of records had increased by over 50% between 2011 and 2014.


Records of common species, such as Small Tortoiseshell, had increased the most. Our Chairman, Roger James, pointed out that this meant a massive increase in the amount of work Martin had with entering data. He was entering up to 3,000 records a month. Kevin Dupé appealed to recorders to use the Excel spreadsheet produced by Martin to send in records as this would make Martin's job much easier. Martin will re-issue the spreadsheet with the next issue of The Silurian. Gaps in recording were mainly in the north east of the county and the west.
There was a discussion on where to trap on National Moth Night in September, with the theme being "migrants". Martin suggested ROF Caerwent, as it had to be cancelled last year due to torential rain. Kevin suggested the fishing lake on Lamby Way in Cardiff, which is just inside the border of Monmouthshire and is in an under-recorded square. 
There was a discussion about organising trapping events and Martin suggested using the Monmouthshire Moth & Butterfly Group's Blog website to publicise trapping sessions at short notice. This was agreed by the meeting.
The meeting was very positive and showed the strength of Lepidoptera recording in our area, with a growth in the number of active recorders. It was an excellent start to the recording season.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for inviting me - it was an enjoyable evening, and good to meet some of the group. George

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