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 2025

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

The programme is available here.

Everyone involved in or interested in Cumbrian recording is very welcome to attend. Attendance is free and offered on a first come, first served basis so book early to secure your place.

To reserve your place, please complete the reservation form HERE. Your place will be confirmed in early December.

There is also the opportunity to have a stall in the exhibition space: click the relevant option on the reservation form.

DRAFT PROGRAMME_2025

Recorders' Conference 2024 Presentations

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

Talks by:

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:

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

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

Image

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

Read more...

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:

  • Rural and wildlife crime
  • Moth recording without a trap
  • Slow-worm Project Update
  • Recording Geological Sites
  • LOST - Looking out for Small Things

Read more about the conference.

Recorders' Conference 2017

Recorders joined our Annual Conference to hear talks that included:

  • National Biodiversity Network Changes and the impact on the future of CBDC
  • Earthworms
  • Slow worms
  • House mouse project
  • Stories from the Wildlife Register CBDC Recording Day highlights

Recorders' Conference 2016

89 recorders joined our Annual conference to hear about:

Local recording updates included:

  • Cumbria Fungi Group – Paul Nichol
  • House mouse project
  • Swifts in the Community – Bryan Yorke
  • Bats in Trees – Rich Flight
  • Mapping Cumbria’s Dragonflies – David Clarke
  • Ecosystem Canaries – Peter Woodhead
  • Trail Cameras and Recording Technology – John Martin

Recorders' Conference 2015

Topics included:

  • Launch of the Cumbria Bird Atlas – Stephen Westerberg, Cumbria Bird Club
  • Movements of Wintering Gees and Swans on the Solway – Frank Mawby
  • Finding and Monitoring Dormice in Cumbria – Tony Marshall
  • Lost and Found Fungi Project – Brian Douglas, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew
  • Alien vs Predator – the Harlequin ladybird in Britain, Richard Comont
  • Cumbria Geoconservation Group and the Local Geological Sites

Recorders' Conference 2014

Presentations included:

  • What would Darwin Tweet? – Richard Burkmar
  • Polecats and Pine Martins – Elizabeth Croose, Vincent Wildlife Trust
  • CBDC Habitat Connectivity Projects – Moustafa Eweda
  • Recording Cumbria’s bats – Rich Flight
  • Lichens of Cumbria – Allan Pentecost
  • What’s at Witherslack – Jim Thomas

Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, November 22nd, 2024 at 2:34am
Are you new to wildlife recording? Or would you like to find out how to make your wildlife observations REALLY useful to a range of different people and organisations?
Join our first Winter Webinar on Tuesday 17th December, 6:30-7:30pm to find out more about recording the wildlife you see at home, work or when out & about. There will be time for questions too.
The session is free and open to all but no apologies for the focus on Cumbrian flora and fauna!
Find out more and book your free place via our website: https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/winter-webinars/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, November 1st, 2024 at 5:19am
Did you take part in Cumbria Wild Watch 2024? If so, we would love to find out what you thought of it and how we might improve in the future.
If this is the first time you have heard of Cumbria Wild Watch, tell us too!
Survey here: https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/cumbria-wild-watch/
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, October 30th, 2024 at 1:19am
Join us for two winter webinars to brighten the long, dark evenings: an Introduction to Biological Recording in December and Updating Cumbria's County Wildlife Sites in January.
Find out more and book your places:
https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/winter-webinars/

Image: Beth Lightburn
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreMonday, October 28th, 2024 at 4:22am
The Cumbria Recorders' Conference 2025 will take place @Tullie on 22 February 2025. For more information and to reserve your place, please visit the CBDC website: https://www.cbdc.org.uk/get-involved/recorders-conference/

Image: Beth Lightburn
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, October 23rd, 2024 at 4:06am
Event addendum to the CBDC Newsletter from BSBI:

Annual Scottish Meeting at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on Sat 02 Nov 2024. Small charge for registration.
British & Irish Botanical Conference on Sat 23 Nov at Natural History Museum, London. Free!
More details: https://bsbi.org/field-meetings-and-indoor-events
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreMonday, October 21st, 2024 at 3:27am
Do you consider yourself a moth-trapper?

If so, researchers at Natural History Museum and University College London would like you to take part in a short survey about moth trapping. To take part, click the link below:

https://qualtrics.ucl.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_4SbRHvviPE42jC6