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| 40 years of saving butterflies, moths and their habitats |
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THE BRANCH COMMITTEE Please contact any Branch Member listed below for further information: ( * indicates a non-committee member ) Click here for the latest news on the CommitteeNEWSSITUATION FILLED - Survey OfficerThe Branch is pleased to report that Paul Parmenter has kindly stepped forward to fill the role being vacated by long standing committee member Val Perrin as Survey Officer for the two counties. Paul will be shadowing Val during the 2008 season, ready to take on the role when Val formally steps down at the 2008 AGM. Thanks Paul.May 2008 SITUATION FILLED - Conservation Officer for EssexWe are delighted to report that Richard Bigg has volunteered to be the new Conservation Officer for Essex. Richard started a new transect at Thrift Wood in 2007 (where the Branch's significant conservation efforts help support a population of Heath Fritillary) and we look forward to a long and fruitful association. Thanks Richard!January 2008 SITUATION VACANT - Survey OfficerBig changes in the committee structure can be expected next year.Val Perrin will be standing down as Survey Officer at the 2008 AGM, after 15 years of sterling service. Val maintains and collates all the butterfly records for the two counties. This includes everything from what members see in their back gardens over each summer to the detailed data sets from Transect Walkers. All this date has to be compiled and submitted to head office during the winter months, in time for various atlasing projects and other outputs that make their way into reports to government and other bodies. There is also a role in supplying information at planning enquiries, particularly where sensitive species may be involved. Val of course played a key role in the recent 'Butterflies of Cambridgeshire' book, researching and writing all the history sections for the species descriptions as well as the distribution notes etc. As if that wasn't enough, Val has a wide-ranging interest in all aspects of natural history and maintains records for Cambridgeshire's Bat and Dragonfly societies. 2008 will see the start of a major new National atlasing project for Dragonflies, which will no doubt be extremely interesting with the spread of various new species in England, and this will undoubtedly take up a lot more of his time! The number of butterfly records received by the Branch has steadily increased over the years, as have the number of transects. With the merger of BMS transects with BC transects last year, to generate the UKBMS, transect records doubled and it would make sense for two volunteers to come forward; to create two posts, one for each aspect of the recording carried out by the Branch. We urge anyone who might be interested in this vital part of the Branch activities to come forward as soon as possible, so they could shadow Val during 2008 and find out which aspects of the role might be suitable for them, and hopefully achieve a smooth transition. October 2007 Conservation Officer for EssexKathryn Grumball is moving to Cambridgeshire and would like someone else to take on the Essex sites as conservation officer for the Branch.Kathryn is prepared to put her energies into publicity and promoting the Branch, something that will doubtless be crucial in the charity's 40th year, so we thank her heartily for that and offer appreciation of her brief existence as conservation officer for Essex! October 2007 New Conservation Officer for Essex & New Membership SecretaryWe are delighted that Kathryn Grumball has agreed to take on the role on Conservation Officer
for Essex. Michael Chinery - Retiring as PresidentWe are sad to say Michael has decided to stand down as President of the branch after many years.
Michael was one of the founder members of the branch back in 1984 and so has been active with us
for over 21 years. I’m sure the branch will want to thanks Michael for all his hard work and time
he has put in over that period. Well done Michael and thanks for all the effort, have a good
retirement and keep in touch. Thanks to Carl BlamireThe committee would like to thank Carl for his many years service as Conservation Officer.
During that period Carl has run six work parties per year on sites important for butterflies and
moths. The work carried out has contributed to the successful restoration of several of these sites.
No more so than at the Devils Dyke (near Newmarket) where the Chalk hill blue population has been
saved from disappearing and is now in a very strong position after many years work by the volunteers
on the our work parties. Committee ChangesFurther changes have been made to the Committee. Many thanks to Carl Blamire who has been our
Conservation Officer for many years and has toiled hundreds of hours on behalf of our moths &
butterflies. He is now standing down and we welcome Vince Lea as his replacement. Carl has very
kindly agreed to take up the role of Chairman, a position which has been vacant for some considerable
time. |
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