Join like-minded people with an interest in field recording for a day identifying and surveying for ants in an informal environment at Gunnersbury Triangle Nature Reserve. This is an urban wet woodland nature reserve surrounded by intersecting railway lines and managed by London Wildlife Trust. Naturalists of all levels (from beginner to expert) will be able to share their experiences with peers and help one another improve knowledge and build confidence in biological recording.

With the guidance of our ant expert, we will use a variety of techniques to collect ant specimens, which will be preserved on the day for identification at subsequent Volunteer ID Days. These specimens will help us to build up a species list for the site, before becoming part of a teaching collection used for our other courses and volunteer days.

Field Studies Council course - full details here

This course will introduce participants to the identification and ecology of solitary bees, including nesting and foraging requirements, hosts and associated aculeate nest parasites.

The course covers identification of solitary bees, the processes involved in their identification and the key features for discrimination, plus an understanding of the importance of these species for conservation, ecology and recording.

Field Studies Council course - full details here

There are over 20,000 species of bee worldwide, each with its own unique behaviours, life cycles and lifestyles. The nesting ecology of bees varies between different families, with some species living underground in the soil, whilst others excavate their nests in deadwood. Several species prefer to make their nests inside the empty cavities left by other animals and there are even some bees that nest in abandoned snail shells!

Please note that this course is NOT a species identification course and will only go as far as categorising British bees by their life nesting behaviours.

Field Studies Council online course - full details here

This course provides an introduction to identifying bees to genus. This includes a short presentation introducing the morphological features used to identify specimens to genus level, followed by practical sessions guided by our expert tutor. During the lab sessions, you’ll explore a wide variety of different bee species, including ones that can be trickier to identify in the field. This course will use the Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland, by Steven Falk – copies will be available for use from our reference library.

Through a combination of taught classroom content and lab-based practical sessions, learners will gain confidence in using the identification key and preserved specimens to identify bees to genus level.

Field Studies Council course - full details here