Hampshire Ornithological Society’s Chair and County Bird Recorder, Keith is a contributing editor to Nature Travel Network. A Londoner by birth, and an active birdwatcher since he was 12, Keith now lives halfway between there and the south coast of England. A former Board Member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Keith is also Vice President of the British Trust for Ornithology, and Chairman of the African Bird Club. Having worked in the travel industry for 25 years, his views about travel trends are widely sought by the media – and he has made over 1,000 TV appearances – mainly in the UK, but also on CNN, ABC, CBS and NBC. He has visited nearly 100 countries and clocked up 7,200 bird species along the way. A keen supporter of the American Birding Association, he has also made over 15 birding trips to the USA and Canada.

Tonight, he will talk about Stone Curlew, Little Egret, Peregrine, Red Kite and Willow Tit among others. These are all species for which Hampshire is now important. All are still uncommon but some are declining.

Bea Walecki is a Student of Reading, she is currently undertaking an internship at WWT Llanelli Wetland Centre as a Reserve Warden.

Tonight we’ll find out more about this wetland reserve, its management and of course the birds that are found there.

Details of categories to be added at a later date.

Mike Leach has been a full-time wildlife author and photographer since 1977. In the 1980s he spent five years filming wildlife documentaries for TV; he worked on more than 100 programmes but finally decided that he prefers working with books rather than television.

Tonight he tells us how, unknown to western science until the fifteenth century, penguins were first labelled “strange gooses”. There are eighteen species of this popular bird from the metre-tall Emperor Penguin to the tiny Fairy Penguin.
They are all supremely adapted for marine life and Mike has worked with them in habitats from Galapagos to mainland Antartica.

Kevin’s lifelong interest in wildlife has led to a deep involvement in nature conservation and land management in the UK and overseas. A member of the World Land Trust Council, in 2008, he helped Birdlife Bolivia set up a protected area for the critically-endangered Blue-throated Macaw and he remains a Friend of the Barba Azul Reserve. Since 2011, he has served on the Council of Devon Birds, most recently as Chair. Kevin lives on Dartmoor where he takes a keen interest in the conservation of the moor, especially for upland and woodland birds. He is currently Chairman of the RSPB Council at a key time in its fight against raptor persecution and its work to improve the lot a farmland birds. Listen to an in depth interview with Kevin.

He will talk about the birds of Dartmoor, especially those of the open moor and western oak woods and reveal some of the secret spots where they can be found. Following that he will talk about some key RSPB projects, highlighting the species recovery work for birds like Curlew, Turtle Dove and Cirl Bunting and some of the issues that the conservation movement faces.

DUE TO ILLNESS THIS TALK HAS BEEN POSTPONED.TO 27th NOVEMBER 2019

On 30th January, Sally Wearing will give a presentation on the Galapagos Islands (with a bit of Ecuador thrown in).

Ian’s talk this evening will cover; the island, the history of the Observatory and early ornithological pioneers. Other aspects covered include seabird and daily census counts plus spring and autumn migration.

Something new! Whilst nibbling one or two festive bites with maybe a tipple of your choice we will be brought up to date with highlights of some of Berkshire’s bird conservation projects.

Conservation in the lower Loddon Valley – Fraser Cottington, Lavell’s Wetland Trust

Swift Conservation – Ailsa Claybourn

The BerkshireDowns – Neil Bucknell

Breeding Water Rails in Berkshire – Renton Righelato

Andrew Cleave MBE is a Hampshire based natural historian with a lifelong passion for wildlife.

He has written more than 20 books on natural history and co-authored many more. He is also a keen wildlife photographer, lecturer and tour leader.

This talk takes us on a brief visit to the vast forests and marshes of Belarus at the height of the breeding season when the air is filled with bird song. Familiar UK species are found here, but many rarities find a home in this relatively un-developed landscape. Some, such as the Aquatic Warbler, are benefitting from skilled habitat management, whilst other species, now scarce in Britain, thrive in the open countryside.

Since retiring from his family business in horticulture Barry has travelled extensively in pursuit of his passion for birds, wildlife and the natural world.

An active supporter and volunteer of the RSPB and committed to nature conservation, Barry donates all fees to further the RSPB’s work on Otmoor and other chosen conservation projects.

He is the local RSPB’s representative, leads nature tour groups , is a wildlife photographer and has a keen interest in gardening and wild plants.

His talk this evening takes a look at the many truly amazing pelagic birds which spend most of their lives at sea – Shearwaters, petrels, albatrosses and other members of the order Procellariiformes.

The Great Bustard Group are reintroducing the heaviest flying bird in the world back to the UK after it became extinct from these shores in the mid 1800’s, due mainly to hunting. As with any reintroduction there have been lows but some pretty spectacular highs too. Lynne Derry will take us through the history of this magical bird in Wiltshire and the Salisbury Plain. This is a fascinating update on its progress.