www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Lifted from the Calendar:

"AES Annual Exhibition

From: Oct 06, 2012 11:00 am
To: Oct 06, 2012 04:30 pm

The AES Annual Exhibition and Trade Fair. The show takes place at Kempton Park Racecourse near London and exhibitors and traders pack two floors of exhibition space. The exhibition is open to members of the public and not just members of the AES. Should you wish to join the AES then you can do so on the day but you don't have to be a member to attend. Tickets can be bought on the gate. Traders include those selling books, equipment, livestock, specimens and food plants. In addition, the show is attended by most of the major invertebrate societies and organisations within the UK. Further information at http://www.amentsoc.org.

A number of UKButt's members have already said they will be attending. For those wishing to do so, we plan to meet at 1pm in the upstairs lift lobby area just before the entrance doors to the restaurant and 1st floor display area.

Hope to see you there ...

Invited: Everyone

Event Posted By Mark Colvin"



I'm certainly going to be there, as is Sami (we're attending our first official UKB outing as Mr & Mrs Gibson!) We're booked on a fungus foray beforehand which is scheduled to finish at midday so may be a tad later than the 1pm meeting time. But not by much.

To echo Mark's words, hope to see you there!

Gibster.

I hope to be there at some point during the day so hope to meet up with a few of you along the way.

Just posting to keep this thread on the homepage! If you've never been before it's an AMAZING experience. £4 for adults, £2 for kids. Can't be bad

PS - it can get pretty warm in the halls, could be a good idea to bring a small bottle of water, saves queuing up to buy one!

Cheers,

Gibster.

Good idea to save your pennies for all the fascinating things on sale

Just to say I will be coming to this - hope to see some UKB folks there!

Cheers
John

It was really good to see so many of you today. I'm only sorry I didnt get to see as much of some of you as I would have liked but I hope to see you soon at other events that are coming up. I had a great time at the exhibition as aways.

It was good to see you too Susie, also Mark Colvin, and to meet Mike Oxon.

I was a bit concerned about the number of specimens for sale - I don't have a problem if they are derived from captive-bred stock but I wonder if that is always the case, especially with the tropical butterflies.

Cheers
John

Good to meet some familiar and new faces, too. As John W says, it does seem a pity to see so much dead-stock, though I think the trade is fairly well regulated and most of those tropical species are fairly easy to breed. I noticed some of the stewards were going around listing what was on some of the stands, so I don't know if this was a form of checking. On the other hand, some of the Millipedes looked all too alive, for my liking One pair were being extremely amorous for my camera.
I bought a copy of Richard Lewington's Micro-Moths book, which he kindly signed for me. I find getting to grips with the rather short British Butterfly list is hard enough, but studying these moths should keep me occupied for the Winter.

Mike

Good to meet everyone today too - Vince, Susie, Mark, Mike, ChrisC and Philzoid. Apols if I missed anyone!

I agree about the amount of deadstock and, although my heart sinks when I see some youngsters buying specimen boxes, feel that they are hopefully building an interest that will live with them forever and be put to good use. But the real downside for me was seeing a known Wiltshire collector surreptitiously walking outside of the hall, specimen box in hand, and showing (and no doubt trading) a series of Chalkhill Blue with another chap. This is the same collector that has been seen catching Chalkhill Blue on BC and NT reserves in Hampshire.

The upside, of course, was meeting lots of old acquaintances and UKB members especially

Cheers,

- Pete

Pete Eeles wrote:Good to meet everyone today too - Vince, Susie, Mark, Mike, ChrisC and Philzoid. Apols if I missed anyone!

I agree about the amount of deadstock and, although my heart sinks when I see some youngsters buying specimen boxes, feel that they are hopefully building an interest that will live with them forever and be put to good use. But the real downside for me was seeing a known Wiltshire collector surreptitiously walking outside of the hall, specimen box in hand, and showing (and no doubt trading) a series of Chalkhill Blue with another chap. This is the same collector that has been seen catching Chalkhill Blue on BC and NT reserves in Hampshire.

The upside, of course, was meeting lots of old acquaintances and UKB members especially

Cheers,

- Pete

Apparently you walked right past Sami Gibson, Pete, and didn't recognise her Perhaps you saw Seth and Sami later on though.

I didn't buy any livestock this year because I am always a bit uncomfortable with where it has come from and what to do with it afterwards.

Susie wrote:Apparently you walked right past Sami Gibson, Pete, and didn't recognise her Perhaps you saw Seth and Sami later on though.

Quite possibly - Sami's no doubt a slip-of-a-lass now Will have to wait until the December bash to see 'em I guess!

Cheers,

- Pete

Nice to see some familiar faces again and meet UKB members Chris C and John W. Unfortunately I also missed Sami and Seth, but expect that our paths will cross later in the year .

Vince