News

URGENT NOTICE

After more than 30 years, Thomas Harding School has given us notice that they will not be hiring the school hall out from the end of August.  In effect this means our last meeting there was on 14 July.  We hope that our new home will be the Royal British Legion in Broad Street, but we are still waiting for the contract.  The September meeting should be there, whatever happens. There is limited parking for up to 6 cars at the rear of the property along Gladstone Road, however this should be reserved for those requiring wheelchair access or who may otherwise have difficulty climbing stairs to the venue in the upper Hall from the main access of Broad Street. General parking can be found along Broad Street outside the Royal British Legion, or on single yellow lines on the opposite side of the road after 7pm.  If you are not quite sure where the Royal British Legion is, please go to the Programme page and click on the 8th September meeting, from where you can access a map link.

HELP REQUIRED

I expect that you all know about the BBC Radio 4 programmes on animal migrations: World on the Move - Great Animal Migrations. They are broadcast at 11 a.m. on a Tuesday morning and repeated at 9 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. The series will continue for 40 weeks and covers all sorts of migrations, from grey whales to the birds which came and go throughout the year, and much more. Logie the Osprey has been followed back to her nest in the Cairngorms from her winter quarters in Guinea Bissau.

Now, in conjunction with Butterfly Conservation, they want records of sightings of Painted Lady butterflies and Humming-bird Hawk-moths. Entries can be made online at the Butterfly Conservation website, or the BBC World on the Move can send you a form to record your sightings in writing:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/sightings_form/1098/add_your_sightings.html?type=38

I expect most people are familiar with Richard Mabey's book "Flora Britannica" and the subsequent volume "Birds Britannica", which he wrote with Mark Cocker. Now Peter Marren has joined him to take the lead in compiling a similar work for all invertebrates, entitled, naturally, "Bugs Britannica". It will include insects, spiders, crustaceans, worms, and on down the visual scale to microscopic beasts, including freshwater and shorelife as well as land species. In all, including naturalised as well as native creatures, the total is estimated at upwards of 40,000 species.

Not unnaturally, with such a vast undertaking, they need help to build a portrait of how wild 'bugs' fit into our lives. For example, they would like to know local or regional names for these creatures - 'thunderflies' for thrips, and many different names for mayflies. Are there British equivalents of "The Ugly Bug Ball", or "The Flight of the Bumblebee"? Do you know of works of art inspired by bugs? There may be paintings in exhibitions, stained glass windows, commercial designs, or pub signs. What methods of fieldcraft have replaced the traditional butterfly net? Do any of you record insects you see in your garden on a regular basis? Are insects used to sell goods, such as the old bees on the Golden Syrup tin? Are there any contemporary equivalents of old nursery rhymes, such as "Little Miss Muffet" or "Ladybird, Ladybird, Fly Away Home"?

If you have any information, anecdotes, or even jokes to share, please contact Peter Marren at:

Bugs Britannica,
BBC Wildlife Magazine,
14th Floor, Tower House,
Fairfax Street,
BRISTOL,
BS1 3BN

or visit http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/bugsbritannica/ where you can leave a message or story.

POSTAGE STAMPS

Following on from the set of Bird stamps issued by Royal Mail last year, on Tuesday 15 April 2008 a second set in the series Action for Species will be issued. This time the subject of the First Class stamps is Insects, and includes the Adonis Blue Butterfly, Southern Damselfly, Red Barbed Ant, Barberry Carpet Moth, Stag Beetle, Hazel Pot Beetle, Field Cricket, Silver-spotted Skipper, Purbeck Mason Wasp and Noble Chafer. The images are based on specimens at the Natural History Museum.

The First Day Cover has an insert illustrated by the wildlife expert and illustrator Richard Lewington, who has also written and illustrated the Presentation Pack.

Ten postcard reproductions of the stamp set will also be available.

The third Action for Species set will be issued in 2009, featuring endangered plants.

Every year the "British Philatelic Bulletin" runs a poll of thier readers to find their favourite stamp of the year and the most popular set. Three points are awarded for the first choice, two for second and one for third. For 2007 the Birds set came an easy first, over 750 points more than the second favourite. Individual stamps from the set peaked at third and fourth positions (the Avocet and Osprey, respectively). The Red Kite was not far behind.

This year, for the first time, the poll was opened to Internet users, with slightly different results, but the Birds set still came third in popularity. Perhaps, since voters were international, it was not surprising that the first and second places went to The Beatles and Harry Potter sets!

In the past the natural history sets have also been very popular, winners being Flowers in 1987, The Linnean Society in 1988, Birds in 1989, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in 1996, Tree and Leaf in 2000, and the delightful Woodland Animals in 2004.