Our own Chris Foster will give us an informative talk on how our very important bird guides originated.

Our Photographic Competition is being held by Zoom this year! Members can show us the photos of birds they have been seeing in any or all of three categories – Portrait, Flight and Action and a new category – Birds in Berkshire.

Carl is a qualified ornithologist, has a diploma in photography and is chairman of the oldest natural history organisation in the county of Norfolk amongst other things! He takes a look at birds by their habitat, talking about why most species of bird are found only in particular habitats.

Campbell is head of research at the Hawk Conservancy and a part-time lecturer at Reading University. The Conservancy is a truly wonderful place to visit to see these endangered vultures.

He will tell us more of the raptor conservation issues that I’m sure we’re all only too aware of.

Mary has volunteered with the RSPB for well over 20 years and now works with the Farnham and Hazeley Heath RSPB reserves.

Her talk focuses on the Tisza flood plain, the Great Hungarian Plain and the reedbeds and ponds of the Hortobagy National Park seeing a variety of herons, woodpeckers, waders ,birds of prey and songbirds!

Steve is a qualified garden designer and soft landscaper with 28 years experience  specialising in creating Wildlife Gardens. He has also been a lecturer and adult education tutor for over 25 years, lecturing at the British Birdwatching Fair annually by invitation and has now worked part time for the RSPB as a Community Talks Officer and Project Manager for two years based in the East Anglian region. He is now the proprietor of Greenspaces – Bird and Wildlife Watching Trips and Tours in the UK.

There are nearly 100 reserves in Lincolnshire and it’s not all flat !   No natural water apart from its rivers but a wealth of man made waterbodies. Boasting Britain’s favourite bird reserve at RSPB Frampton situated on Britain’s most important estuary – The Wash.  Inland the nationally important Lincolnshire Limewoods . As a county it has a wide and varied selection of habitats which are reflected in its fauna and flora. Steven will tell us how the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is helping to secure the future of many important habitats and species.

Our speaker spent nearly a year in the south of France near the Camargue which is a natural region located south of Arles, between the Mediterranean and the two arms of the Rhone delta and is home to more than 400 species of birds with so many iconic species to be seen :- Greater Flamingos, Pied Avocets, Black winged Stilts, Purple Herons, Kentish Plovers, Black necked Grebes, Collared Pratincoles etc.!

Please join us for a different christmas social! We’ll have three contrasting talks – one by Fraser Cottington on the exciting developments at the Lavell’s Wetland Trust, Renton will tell us of the  importance of bird surveys in Berkshire and as a bonus, we’ll get to see the beautiful birds of Costa Rica in a lovely talk by Tony Hayward!

As we are unable to hold meetings indoors due to covid precautions, this meeting will be held online via Zoom. Members will be sent the Zoom link by email a few days before the talk.

Our exciting annual photographic competition that was postponed from March this year is this evening! Now is the chance to see members’ photographic skills in the three categories of Portrait, Action/flight and Bird(s) in their habitat.

As we are unable to hold meetings indoors due to covid precautions, this meeting will be held online via Zoom. Members will be sent the Zoom link by email a few days before the talk.

Our annual general meeting followed by a talk by Gwyn Williams, the Head of Conservation Investment RSPB.

Gwyn has worked for the RSPB for over four decades in a range of conservation roles, trying to ‘green’ agriculture and water policy, organising species recovery work, safeguarding protected areas and leading RSPB’s land acquisition and reserve management work.

Tonight he will draw on this experience to give examples of how this has helped give the UK’s most threatened birds a more secure future.

As we are unable to hold meetings indoors due to covid precautions, this meeting will be held online via Zoom. Members will be sent the Zoom link by email a few days before the talk.