This and that

Unknown Wales talks in Cardiff on May 19th (as in Huw's recent blog): do go if you can! Kate and I went last year and enjoyed it very much. I had a table in the displays room at lunchtime and got a couple of new subscribers for Natur Cymru.

BTO Atlas 2007-11: if you have any records for this still in your notebook, it is not too late to put them in on the Atlas website - so long as you do it by Feb 20th. In some parts of Wales (including the whole of North Wales) we are continuing to collect records in the breeding season 2012, and the BTO Atlas site will stay open until the end of July for that. The main aim is to get more evidence of breeding in some under-recorded tetrads (2x2km squares). Do contact me if you would like to help.

Country Focus: this BBC Wales radio programme is a great listen on Sunday morning from just after 0700 for half an hour. Last Sunday (Jan 29) our intrepid blogger Huw was interviewing key people to tease out the basics of NEF - the Natural Environment Framework. If you didn't hear it, you can catch it on the BBC Radio Wales website.

Snow: escaped from behind the keyboard this afternoon to enjoy the walk behind Penmaenmawr quarry to the Stone Circle. See pic.

Unknown Wales Conference 2012

Following on from the success of last year’s Unknown Wales Conference, the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales (WTSWW) and the National Museum Wales (NMW) have decided to hold the Unknown Wales Conference again in 2012.

Trevor Theobald - 2011 conference

Over 200 delegates attended the 2011 conference, which was opened by naturalist and television presenter Iolo Williams and covered a wide variety of wildlife topics. It is hoped that the Unknown Wales Conferences will become an annual event – dedicated to celebrating Welsh Wildlife and encouraging people to enjoy nature.

This year’s Unknown Wales Conference will take place on Saturday the 19^th May 2012 at the National Museum Wales from 10.00am until 4.00pm and is free to all. The presentations will again cover a host of taxa in Wales from lichens and ancient Welsh trees, to marine fish and brown hares.

Accompanying the conference this year will be a poster competition (Friday 18^th May) and various conservation and local recorder stands in the main hall (Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th May). Natur Cymru will be there at least for the Saturday. 

For further information about the conference and for booking, please contact: Rob Parry, Conservation Manager, Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales r.parry@welshwildlife.org