Hampshire and Isle of Wight AGM and Members' Day
A wonderful afternoon, yesterday, spent in the company of a good number of like-minded members! The AGM was typically uneventful, although the reports from the various subcommittees and the tremendous results they achieve is always breath-taking, whether we're talking records, conservation, information or reserves. My hat also goes off to every single member, whatever their level of contribution, from those that enter a single sighting to those that walk transects or help with the reserves management week in and week out. It really is a great "team". It was especially pleasing to see several members from the Isle of Wight making the effort to attend - it really was appreciated.
On that note, I had the privilege of taking on the role of branch chairman, succeeding Roger Buchanan (who is a hard act to follow, for sure!) and am really looking forward to my tenure in the company of an amazing group of individuals on the main committee. On that note, I'd like to welcome Andy Bolton and Gary Richardson ("Gruditch") onto the main committee who each received a unanimous vote, largely in recognition of the great work they already do.
A highlight for me was the initiation of an Education Fund, seeded by a legacy left by the late June Bailey, wife of Ken (who was in the audience and who scooped first prize in the Overseas category of the photo competition with an amazing shot of a Reverdin's Blue). This fund will be put to good use in fostering the next generation of Lepidopterists.
Aside from the photo competition, there were stands from UK Butterflies (ably run by Gary and Lisa) and Rosemary Powell (wildlife artist), as well as a selection of wildflower seeds (Brian Fletcher) and a really nice display of images of different stages of Purple Emperor larvae (and various aberrations) from, of course, Matthew Oates!
Our first presenter, Peter Davey, was unable to attend, so I put myself forward to present on the "Variation in British Butterflies", along the same lines as the UKB article recently posted. This was really interactive, which was just brilliant! When I posed certain questions, I was never expecting to get any answers given that I've read around the subject extensively. Here's an example - so what is the benefit of different colour forms of the Red Admiral larva, given that they spend all their time in a rolled-up nettle leaf and only ever move from leaf to leaf in darkness? The bombardment commenced:
... it's not they they gain an advantage, it's more that there's no disadvantage!
... they *do* move from leaf to leaf in daylight - I've seen them! So the different colouration may give one form an advantage
... the different forms will "spread the risk" since a given predator will typically form a single "search image" if looking for a particular larval form
My presentation was followed up by a wonderful presentation from Chris Manley, entitled "Photography as an ID and Reference Collection", where Chris walked through an incredible array of images he's taken over the years and, of course, many anecdotes along the way. Chris ultimately signed a good number of copies of his latest book, "British Moths (and Butterflies)".
All in all, a most wonderful day!
Cheers,
- Pete
![IMG_4546.jpg (236.3 KiB) Viewed 2382 times Roger Buchanan and Pete Eeles - Roger was presented with an original watercolour of Small Blue by Rosemary Powell](./files/thumb_3_298a3a200820e052708d9e1addc98042)
- Roger Buchanan and Pete Eeles - Roger was presented with an original watercolour of Small Blue by Rosemary Powell