Recorders' Conference

Established in 2011, the Recorders Conference has become an annual event, welcoming speakers and recorders from Cumbria and beyond.

We aim for a range of speakers and posters on a wide variety of topics - focused on a particular species, group or habitat; results of recording and monitoring projects; and ideas, techniques and resources to help you get involved. The conference offers a chance to meet others interested in exploring nature, share discoveries and learn more about the species which make their home in Lakeland.

Recorders' Conference 2026

Saturday 28th February 2026, 10am-3pm at Rosehill Theatre, nr Whitehaven CA28 6SE

As always, the conference is free to attend but booking is required. If you would like to book your place at the conference, please complete the booking form below. Places are limited so book early to secure your place.

Refreshments provided but please bring your own lunch!

BOOKING FORM

DOWNLOAD the programme to print

Recorders' Conference 2025 Presentations

Saturday 22nd February 2025, 10am-3pm, at Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Carlisle.

A summary of the conference is available HERE. If you would like a slightly more detailed overview, you can view it HERE.

Click the links below to see the slideshows from the conference.

Talks by:

Martin Harris, CBDC Recording Officer - CBDC Recording in 2025
Pete Jones, Skiddaw Forest Project Manager at Cumbria Wildlife Trust - Skiddaw Forest
Rhian Ebrey, Access to Eden Project Manager at Eden Rivers Trust - Access to Eden
Chris Hind, County Recorder - Birds and Cumbria Bird Club - Birds in Cumbria 2024
David Clarke, British Dragonfly Society County Recorder - Dragonflies in Cumbria 2024
Mike Porter, BSBI Vice County Recorder and Flora of Cumbria Group - Recording Highlights Plants in 2024
Tanya Hoare, Sedbergh Community Swifts - Swifts in Cumbria
Carrie Hedges, Angus Walsh and Georgie Stephens, Cumbria Woodlands/Plantlife - #Species Survival Fund –Rainforest Restoration Project
Sylvia Woodhead, Cumbria GeoConservation - Geology Highlights in 2024
Aimee Campbell, Bothel Community Wildlife Group (BCWG) - Introducing BCWG and Torpenhow Bioblitz
David Scott-Langley, Cumbria Invertebrate Group (CIG) - Introducing CIG

Recorders' Conference 2024 Presentations

Click the links below to see the slideshows from the conference.

Talks by:

Beth Middleton, Westmorland & Furness Council - Cumbria Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Joe Clements & Elizabeth Ogilvie, Lowther Estate - Developments at Lowther
Paddy Palmer & Matterdale Nature Watch - Species & Habitat Recording by the Matterdale Volunteers
Ian Jackson - Without Geodiversity there would be no Biodiversity
Mike Porter, Cumbria Flora Group - Vascular Plants Recording Highlights
Pete Martin, Cumbria Lichen and Bryophyte Group - Lichen Recording Highlights
Frank Mawby - Why do we Ring Birds?
John Martin - The Benefits of technology: Discovering things you didn't know were there
David Clarke, British Dragonfly Recorder for Cumbria - Odonata Recording Highlights
Chris Hind, Cumbria Bird Group - Bird Recording Highlights
Suzanne Collinson and Matt Carr, Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group - Amphibian Recording Highlights
Suzanne Collinson, Cumberland Bat Group - Bat Update (see previous slides)
Steve Garland - Recording Scorpionflies, Snakeflies and Snow Fleas
Sylvia Woodhead, Cumbria Geoconservation - Revealing the Foundations
Guy Broome - A History of Biological Recording
David Jutson - Out of sight but not out of mind: marine shelled protozoans and microcrustacea
David Perkins - Hairy-foot, long-tongue

Recorders' Conference 2023 Presentations

Videos of the presentations can now be viewed at CBDC Recorders' Conference 2023. You will need a password to access the site which is available to all on request. You can view the slideshows without the speaker's commentary via the links below.

Talks by:

Stuart Colgate, Recording Officer, CBDC - Introduction to species recording and what is CBDC?
Sylvia Woodhead, Cumbria GeoConservation - Geology Record Highlights
David Taylor-Norman, West Cumbria Rivers Trust - Riverfly, the secret world of freshwater ecosystems
Moustafa Eweda, Data Manager, CBDC - CBDC Projects Update
David Clarke, British Dragonfly Society Recorder for Cumbria - Recorders’ Highlights – Dragonflies
Mike Porter, Joint Botanical County Recorder - Recorders’ Highlights – A brief summary of Botanical activity in Cumbria
Paul Evans, Cumbria Local Nature Partnership Manager - Cumbria’s Local Nature Recovery Strategy – a new approach or just another plan. That’s down to us!
Stuart Colgate, Recording Officer, CBDC - Recorders’ Highlights - Fungi

Recorders' Conference 2022 - Presentations

Open Mosaic Habitats in brownfield sites - Stuart Colgate, CBDC

Updating County Wildlife sites - Deb Muscat, Stuart Colgate, CBDC

Wildlife in Cumbria Highlights 2021

- Amphibian, reptiles & Bats - Suzie Collinson, Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group/Cumberland Bat Group
- Fungi - Paul Nichol - Cumbria Fungi Group
- Harvest Mouse - John Martin, Cumbria Mammal Group
- Birds - Chris Hind - Cumbria Bird Club
- Items of Botanical interest - Mike Porter - Cumbria Botany Group
- Moths - Guy Broome and Martin Tordoff - Cumbria Moth Group
- Lichen and Bryophyte - Clare Shaw, Cumbria Lichen and Bryology Group
- Dragon & Damselflies - David Clarke, British Dragonfly Society

Designating LGS in Westmorland Dales area - Sylvia Woodhead, Cumbria GeoConservation

Recording the Past: Black Dubb Sediments - Tom Garner, Researcher

Improving Cumbria for Pollinators - Carolyn Postlethwaite and Ryan Clark, CWT

Fritillary Butterflies of Morecambe Bay - Chris Winnick, Butterfly Conservation

Recorders' Conference 2020

Our keynote speaker was Steve Garland, Entomologist and Chair of The Wildlife Trusts England Committee who talked about 'Recording Recovery - Biological Recording for a Wilder Future." The main room contained displays and posters from a range of recorders and societies:

Cumbria Dragonfly Atlas Online
Cumbria Lichen and Bryology Group
Macro photography demonstration using a laptop and plug in camera
Cumbria GeoConservation
Get Cumbria Buzzing
Cumbria Amphibian and Reptile Group
Digitally colour coding red squirrel fur and the potential conservation applications
Searching for Chrysolina oricalcia
Found Species: Tufted Loostrife (Lysimachia thyrsiflora)
Second Hand Natural History books for sale
Cumbria Fungi Identification Guide for sale

Recorders' Conference 2018

This year recorders watched the first camera footage of a Pine Marten in Cumbria and learned more about their hitch hiking behavior from Kevin O'Hara Project Officer Vincent Wildlife Trust. Delegates also heard about: