Wild Japan – Paul Alistair-Collins

Paul is an award-winning nature photographer and guide from London. His images, which often feature birds in low light and minimalist landscapes, have been awarded in the British Wildlife Photography Awards and Bird Photographer Of The Year among others; and he regularly leads bird photo tours in the UK and Europe. He also works in television, co-producing documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4 and Discovery Network.  

A photographic journey into the wild heart of Japan – where birds meet culture in landscapes shaped by both nature and tradition. From red-crowned cranes dancing on Hokkaido’s snowy plains, and golden pheasants that inhabit Nagano’s shrines, to endemic species found only in the tropical Amami and Izu Islands, award-winning photographer Paul Alistair Collins will share the stories and creative process behind some of his favourite bird images captured across this rich and varied archipelago. 

Birds, Birding and a career in Ornithology – Oliver Slessor

Oliver’s talk will cover his fascinating career in Birding and Ornithology.

He will speak about a variety of the different jobs he has had with birds in the last 20 years ranging from Bird Observatory work, to seabird protection and bird guiding in Costa Rica and Ecuador. The talk will show many of the incredible birds I have had the delight in seeing.

The Cornish Chough – a remarkable conservation success – Hilary Mitchell

Hilary moved down to the far west of Cornwall in 2013 having visited for holidays and birding for many years. She and her partner became Chough monitoring volunteers straight away, and have been involved with Chough conservation ever since. They are the joint editors of the county bird report ‘Birds in Cornwall’ and Hilary also manages the records data for Cornwall Birds, the county bird club. When not watching Choughs, she is an active amateur geologist in the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall and enjoys birding trips abroad.
She will cover the history and extinction of Cornish Chough, the successful recolonisation since 2001 and the conservation and volunteer work that has made it all possible. Plus some stories about the birds themselves, population stats and trends and current conservation goals.

30 years of the Breeding Bird Survey – James Heywood

James is the National Organiser for the Breeding Bird Survey.
He has been lucky enough to be a BTO staff member for four years where he coordinates the UK Breeding Bird Survey, the most important long-term monitoring scheme for the UK’s ‘terrestrial’ birds in the breeding season. Before that, he worked as an ecologist for a small company of ecologists working with local authorities and developers, undertaking ornithological and habitat assessments for planning and conservation management.
The talk will be split into two halves.
Part 1: 30+ years of the Breeding Bird Survey in Berkshire. We will chart the history of the UK Breeding Bird Survey, both nationally and within Berkshire and the Home Counties, celebrating the contributions of individual participants as well as looking at what the survey has achieved.
Part 2: The 2027-2031 Bird Atlas. The last Atlas in 2007-2011 contributed much to our understanding of UK bird population changes. What will the next Atlas – 20 years on – tell us and how will it work.

Birding on Remote Islands – Keith Betton

Keith Betton is a very familiar and popular visitor to the BOC over several years, always delivering fascinating stories and facts and this is no exception.
He is one of a handful of people to have seen over 9000 bird species. He will tell us about two amazing journeys he took recently:  from Argentina to South Georgia, then the remote islands of Gough, Tristan da Cunha, St Helena and Ascension, and from New Zealand to its remote islands. These are some of the most rarely visited bird locations in the world. He will share with us what he saw, and how conservationists are working to protect them.

AGM then David Massie – The Golden Triangle, India

Member David and his wife Nancy have visited India several times, they love the experience and hope to have captured the atmosphere of the place in this shortened version of their trip to The Golden Triangle.