Enthusiasm, buzz and wildlife stories from across the country at Gardeners' World Live

More than 100,000 people, many devoted gardeners, are anticipated to attend the BBC Gardeners’ World Live Exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham over the five days of the show (Wednesday 12 June to Sunday 16 June).  So it was with eager anticipation and excitement that we assembled our Biological Records Centre (part of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) exhibit.



Our stand invites visitors to contribute their observations of five common
insects often seen in gardens



 

This year we have chosen to build on our theme of “every biological record counts” by inviting visitors to contribute their observations of five common insects often seen in gardens: marmalade hoverfly, 7-spot ladybird, tree bumblebee, oak bush cricket and small tortoiseshell butterfly.



We are thrilled to be meeting so many people eager to contribute their
wildlife sightings from their gardens.



The response has been incredible. We have met so many interesting people who are eager to contribute their wildlife sightings and excited by the opportunities of using iRecord to do so.

It is wonderful to hear wildlife stories from across the country including solitary bees in central Birmingham, 7-spot ladybirds in the wilderness surrounding Stirling, orange-tip butterflies in Wales ...stories from allotments, gardens, window boxes, parks, schools and many other places.

We've been hearing your garden wildlife stories from
all over the country.

 

Visitors also explore our beautiful wildlife gardens and delight at the amazing entomological models on display.

Marmalade hoverfly model made by CEH scientists Lucy and Sarah Hulmes.



One of our wildlife garden areas, a perfect habitat
for pollinating insects like our tree bumblebee.



A hoverfly larva under the microscope is proving hugely popular – with visitors entranced as it voraciously devours sycamore aphids.

Hoverfly larva under the microscope.

But there is one thing in common across all our conversations – enthusiasm. The enthusiasm from both the visitors and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology exhibitors is incredible. The exhibit is simply buzzing!



Enthusiasm has been common across all our conversations.



Update 17 Jun 2013: We were delighted to receive a Highly Commended certificate from the show as displayed by our Tree bumblebee on the photo below!

View lots more photos of the stand on our special Flickr set.

View videos of insects under the microscope on our YouTube channel

Blog post written by Dr Helen Roy, an ecological entomologist at the Biological Records Centre within CEH.

Be part of our science - share your wildlife observations at our BBC Gardeners' World stand!

Update 14 Jun 2013: Latest blog post from the show

For the third year in a row, the Biological Records Centre team from CEH are at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live show in Birmingham, and we’re inviting you to visit our stand to learn more about biological recording!

Don’t worry if you are a biological records novice - we’ll take you through the process step-by-step, showing you that it can be relatively easy to identify common insects and tell you why it’s so important for our scientists to receive your records, even those that are from your own garden.

The Small tortoiseshell butterfly is one of five common insects you
can learn about and record at our stand.

But what is a record?

Ladybird expert Dr Helen Roy, an ecological entomologist with CEH and coordinator of the UK Ladybird Survey, will be at Gardeners’ World Live all week so don’t miss the chance to speak to her and colleagues about the records you can make of the insects in your garden, and how scientists can use such information to carry out research.

She explains:  “A record is a wildlife observation, often species, made by someone in a particular location at a specific time.  So for example, this morning I saw a 14-spot ladybird in the village of Crowmarsh Gifford:

Recorder: Helen Roy

Species: 14-spot ladybird

Location: Crowmarsh Gifford

Date: 11 June 2013

Records arrive at the BRC in many formats from records entered through electronic sources (for example, iRecord databases, spreadsheets or even Twitter) or handwritten records (on pre-designed recording cards, notebooks or sometimes on match boxes containing a specimen and even occasionally as intricate paintings).  As long as the what, where, when and by whom are clearly stated then the information constitutes a biological record.  It’s that easy!”

Drop by our Gardeners’ World stand to see a special website that will demonstrate how to make similar records of your own wildlife observations, as well as offer a gateway to the numerous recording schemes in the UK. As well as the chance to talk to our experts about some of the insects in your garden, we’ll also have wildlife planting on show, some superb insect models, real-life mini-beasts to view under the microscope, the chance to see and use new mobile phone recording apps such as iRecord Ladybirds and PlantTracker, and much more information about the rich history of biological recording in the UK.



A demonstration website will be available to start you off with making wildlife
observations from your own garden.



The Biological Records Centre works with 80+ recording schemes, so whatever the insect in your garden, whether a pollinator or a predator, there will be a scheme eager to receive your observations. During the show, we’ll focus on five species in particular: the 7-spot ladybird, the Tree bumblebee, the Small tortoiseshell butterfly, the Marmalade hoverfly and the Oak bush cricket. Don’t worry if you don’t think you know these insects – our experts will be able to tell you all about them, and help you upload records of them from your own garden if you have seen them.

The Marmalade hoverfly is one of the 5 insects we're focusing
on at this year's stand.

So please come meet our experts at stand GFW2, which is located in the Gardening for Wildlife area of this year’s show in Hall 19 of the NEC, Birmingham. The show runs daily from 9am to 6pm from Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 June. If you can’t drop by in person, we’ll be posting photos and tweets from the event during the week, so stay tuned!

Go to Flickr to view latest photos.

Additional information

BBC Gardeners' World Live 2013 ft RHS Flower Show

Photos on Flickr from our 2013 stand - Pollinators and Predators

Biological Records Centre

UK Ladybird Survey

Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme

Butterfly Conservation

Hoverfly recording scheme

Orthoptera recording scheme

Dr Helen Roy, staff page at CEH

Photos from last year's Gardeners' World Live

Filming at CEH's met site in Wallingford

Alan Jenkins on Sky News at CEH's met site in Wallingford, a photo by CEH Science News on Flickr.

The recent wet weather means the New Year has got off to a busy start for the CEH Press Office, with several requests from media organisations to interview our hydrologists. On the TV side, Sky, BBC and ITV have all been in touch.

Professor Alan Jenkins of the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology was interviewed on January 2 2013 by Sky News (pictured). He spoke about the dramatic transformation from drought to flood seen in the UK in 2012. The interview took place on the meteorological site at CEH's Wallingford, Oxfordshire headquarters. You can watch the interview on the Sky News website.

David Shukman, the BBC's Science editor, also interviewed Prof Jenkins today, Thursday 3 January, for broadcast later today.

Today, also, the Met Office announced (provisional figures) that 2012 was the second wettest year in the UK national record dating back to 1910, and just a few millimetres short of the record set in 2000. It was the wettest year recorded in England however. Just for interest, the aforementioned CEH met site recorded 820mm of precipitation in 2012, the wettest year in a 51-year series (since 1962).

Update Friday 4 January 2013

What is causing Britain's volatile rainfall patterns? Watch the BBC News video featuring Alan Jenkins of CEH and Andrew McKenzie of British Geological Survey.

The video is also part of the BBC News at Ten broadcast available on iPlayer until later today (4 Jan 2013).

BBC Science Editor David Shukman (right) interviews Prof Alan Jenkins