Hi everyone,
My name's Darren, 35 and live near the Wilts/Berks border (v. close to the River Kennet). The user name reflects the interest I have in Odonata.
I never completed my joint honours Mathematics and Zoology (Animal Ecology) degree (!?!) due to illness and regret it most weeks.
Over the last couple of years I have re-awoken my childhood interest in insects, spiders, etc. The main prompt was the frustration, when mountain biking, of passing things by too quickly and a memorable sighting of a Black-headed Cardinal Beetle but not having any means of recording it for posterity. So I took the plunge and bought my first camera, a little compact, and started to walk places instead. Many expensive purchases later I'm here and enthused again about my childhood bug-hunting.
I now do a bit of voluntary work for BBOWT and regularly visit the amazing Snelsmore Common.
I think the highlight to date is managing to add a handful of new species to the list for Snelsmore (it's around 2800 at the moment), despite my relative inexperience.
I can't believe I haven't found this place before and hope to stay around for a while.
Hope to post a few pics once I've cropped off my tacky borders!