The Biological Recording Company puts on a very wide range of webinars covering many different groups of species and issues related to wildlife, species identification and recording. They have a strong focus on invertebrates. Many are free or relatively low cost.

You can explore the range of things they offer by going to https://biologicalrecording.co.uk  (check out the Entolearn and Entolive series of webinars) or signing up for their newsletter Biological Recording Company Newsletter Sign Up Form

Nine years ago, two MKNHS members, Mary Sarre and Mike LeRoy, signed up to do an online plant identification course called Identiplant. It was a serious attempt to get a grounding in identifying British flowering plants.

Identiplant has 15 study units, for which course notes were available to download every two weeks. These were an information note, with plenty of line-drawings and diagrams, and a question sheet. Each unit had course work which needed to be completed and returned. You sent this back to your tutor who then provided specific, useful and encouraging comments and suggestions.

The first few units were about: Naming and Classification of Plants, Terminology, and Learning how to use Keys. After that, most units focused on one of the larger flowering plant families. Participants had to find some of the species in the wild in order to complete the Unit’s question sheet. You can view sample Units and Question Sheets here:  https://identiplant.bsbi.org/sample-units

If you would seriously like to get over the step to become more confident about how to identify the plants you see, Identiplant is well worth considering. But make sure you will have enough time to complete the course. Mary Sarre completed it :Phil has commented that she found it ‘stretching but well worthwhile’. Mike LeRoy reached just short of the last two Units because of unavoidable other commitments. They both found the course was of a high quality and very useful.

After a few years in which Identiplant had stopped running, it has been restarted and is now led by the BSBI (the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland) and a team of tutors. Every year that Identiplant has been run, more people apply than they have capacity for. Applications for the 2024 course will open in December 2023, but you will need to move fast if you want to be considered for next year’s course. If you are interested, why not make a note to check in early December for the application form?

The BSBI says about Identiplant: “Do you want to learn to identify plants from Britain and Ireland correctly, confidently and accurately, to learn how to use a Flora and to follow a botanical key? Identiplant could be the answer. Created to take near beginners to an intermediate level, Identiplant is for those who want to get started with serious botany.”

There is a fee: in 2023 this was £300, which is very good value for the quality and quantity of information provided and the support of your tutor: it is far less than the cost of a holiday. BSBI say: “Non-professionals may be able to obtain a grant or bursary, especially if they are volunteers with an organisation that records or conserves wild plants. The BSBI and the Wild Flower Society both award grants annually; check availability and eligibility.”

The standard Identification book used for the Identiplant course is ‘The Wild Flower Key’ by Francis Rose, revised and updated by Clare O’Reilly, 2006.

You can find more information about the Identiplant course at: https://identiplant.bsbi.org/

Mike LeRoy
October 2023

You can try to teach yourself, or you can learn with others and with experts. It can be frustrating how slow it is to learn to identify species on your own. But it takes time, and most of us need help.

Another way forward is to book on a course. I used to go on weekend courses at FSC field centres every year. They were my annual holiday. The benefits were: residential field centres that served excellent food, a group of friendly people all keen to learn, a skilled tutor, and enjoyable practical sessions out in the surrounding countryside. Over the years I enjoyed courses at Field Study Council centres such as at: Flatford Mill in Suffolk, Preston Montford in Shropshire, Juniper Hall by Box Hill in Surrey, and Kindrogan in Scotland.

Flatford Mill FSC centre is in the old mill alongside the pond that is in the famous painting by John Constable, The Haywain. In the background is Willy Lot’s Cottage: that was where I had my room for one of the courses. Beside the river was the meeting place where we had introductory talks and worked at learning, with a knowledgeable tutor on hand.

The FSC has branched out from field studies centres in three important ways:

• It continues to publish those excellent fold-out cards that are a useful introduction to various species; some of us found the one about grasses worked well at the MKNHS meeting on 19^th September:
  FSC publications: https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/

• FSC now provides the option of online courses: some are just one session, others are a few sessions over several weeks. They are also running day courses that you go to, some in areas of London:
  https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/natural-history-courses/?utm_source=Biodiversity+Newsletter&utm_campaign=54e1b1edee-Biodiversity+Newsletter+Jul2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5e30593d7b-54e1b1edee-110536693
  There are plenty of courses to choose from. Here’s an FSC course in 2024 on Using a Flora Key: https://www.field-studies-council.org/courses-and-experiences/static-courses/using-a-flora-mmu/
• FSC has also been working with the Biological Recording Company who run an ongoing stream of online talks and short courses: I have used several of those. Biological Recording Company online talks and events EntoLive:
  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-biological-recording-company-35982868173
  https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/entolive/

A more local range of options is the excellent day courses run each year by the BCN Wildlife Trust (Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire & Northamptonshire). A decade back, two of us from MKNHS went on a series of evening courses about Ground Beetles, led by Brian Eversham the CEO of BCNWT, who has given fascinating talks at some of our MKNHS meetings. I have much enjoyed their day courses and training workshops, mostly in Northamptonshire.
https://www.wildlifebcn.org/get-involved/training-workshops.

Even more local is a series of courses in Buckinghamshire, starting soon, entitled ‘An Introduction to Invertebrate Recording’. These are supported by the Bucks Invertebrate Group and BMERC, the County Environmental Records Office, and will be run at BBOWT’s Dancersend Nature Reserve near Tring. There are four sessions: on 22 and 29 October, and 19 and 26 November. There will be no charge, but donations to BBOWT will be welcome to help cover costs.
Buckinghamshire Invertebrate Group – Training courses (google.com)

There are other courses available across the UK and online. Some are free: for most there is a fee. Think of it as one of your holidays.

If you would like to discuss possibilities, do have a chat with me at an MKNHS meeting.

Mike LeRoy