Svalbard/Lake Kerkini – Paul Alistair Collins

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

A photographic journey through some of Europe’s great birdwatching hotspots – from Greece’s wetlands and the Spanish Pyrenees, to the icy Arctic tundra. Paul will share the stories and creative process behind his favourite images.

He is a very successful wildlife photographer and camera man based in London. He has won and been highly commended in many competitions since 2005 as a junior entrant. Photography has taken him from the cobalt glaciers of Alaska and the mangrove swamps of Florida to the remote caves of Slovenia and the fierce winter seas of South Africa.

His work has featured in numerous publications including The Guardian, The Times and National Geographic Italy.

Conservation of the Houbara Bustard – Paul Goriup

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

The Asian Houbara is a species of bustard that has a largely migratory population moving between breeding grounds in Central Asia and wintering areas in the Middle East. The bird has been the traditional quarry for falconers who hunt it in winter for sport and also for consumption. However, since the 1960s the intensity of hunting has increased hugely as a result of the growing oil-based wealth of falconers so that hunting now takes place across the entire wintering range (principally Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and the Arabian peninsula). From the early 1990s, conservation organisations have been calling for an international agreement under the Bonn Convention on Migratory Species to put in place conservation measures that can assure the survival of the Houbara. This talk will trace the history of this initiative and the reasons why it has still not been achieved.
Paul is a Chartered Ecologist and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (UK). He holds a joint honours degree (BSc) in Botany and Zoology (Reading), and an MSc in Conservation Science (University College London). He has more than 40 years experience in nature conservation, working in government, international NGOs and the private sector. From 1982 to 1986 he directed the global conservation programme of ICBP – now BirdLife International. He is an invited member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (serving as Chairman of the Bustard Specialist Group for 18 years) and the World Commission on Protected Areas. In 1986, Paul founded and remains the managing director of NatureBureau, a company based in Newbury that carries out ecological research, planning and management projects as well as being one of the UK’s leading publishers of wildlife books under its Pisces brand. Paul is also a Trustee of the Great Bustard Group that has successfully reintroduced the great bustard to Wiltshire.

Birds of Southern Portugal – Jono Forgham

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

Life long birder, author, newspaper contributor on natural history, amateur naturalist and leading authority of cheap red wine, Jonathan Forgham, will be returning to our group to give a presentation on The Birds of Southern Portugal.
Jonathan has visited this area on many occasions, most recently in May 2023, and has recorded over 250 species of birds along the Algarve coast as well as venturing further inland, into the hills for vultures, eagles and highland species such as Black-eared Wheatear and Lesser Kestrel.  He will give details of travel and accommodation as well as highlight the hotspots along the coast.
Jonathan gives over 30 presentations for the RSPB per year, whilst also being a tour leader around his favourite birding country, Sri Lanka, which he spoke about to us in early 2023.

BOC Christmas Social

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

It’s our annual Christmas social event with Christmas refreshments. We will entertain you with a quiz from Neil (a bit easier this time!) and one or two other little items! Please come!

What’s the difference between a Bittern and a Curlew? – Mike Coker

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

In this talk, Mike will tell the stories behind the attempted conservation of a number of bird species and look at whether project management is an unnecessary bureaucratic overhead or an essential tool when it comes to nature conservation.
Mike Coker is a conservationist and project manager. He has worked in project management for more than thirty years and conservation for more than ten. He set up and led the RSPB’s project management practice, and supported some of the RSPB’s largest projects.

AGM then Saving the Stone Curlew – Keith Betton

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

The AGM will be held at the start of this evening’s meeting so we would like as many people as possible to attend please!

After the AGM, our talk will be presented by Keith Betton.  He has been involved in Stone Curlew conservation for fifteen years. He will tell us about this enigmatic bird and explain how farmers are helping to save it. He will also give us an update on how Peregrines are doing.

Keith is an author and occasional broadcaster on birds, and is Chairman of the Hampshire Ornithological Society.

Vancouver Island and the Great Bear Rainforest – Lee Morgan

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

Vancouver Island is well known as one of the top wildlife watching destinations in the world, and for good reason. Amidst its rugged coastal beauty, backed by towering rainforests and snow-capped peaks, lays a wealth of iconic wildlife. A hard pacific wilderness home to Eagles, Bears, Whales and Wolves. However, very few that visit this intrepid isle get to experience the islands soft southern under-belly. A gentle land of  mild climates,  sandy beaches and sheltered estuaries. It is here that the enthusiastic naturalist can find the true diversity of life this wonderful island supports. Come with Lee as we explore all that this wonderful island has to offer.

Lee grew up in Hampshire, England, where he developed his life-long love of ‘all things natural history’.

After graduating as a Biologist from Royal Holloway University in Surrey, Lee spent over 25 yrs working as a freelance ecologist, wildlife guide and natural history photographer. He has travelled widely throughout the UK, Europe, Africa, the high Arctic and the Americas in pursuit of wildlife and has accumulated a wealth of experience working closely with large, wild (and potentially dangerous) animals in oftentimes inhospitable, remote locations.

In 2014 he finally made the move to one of his favourite places on earth ….  Vancouver Island…. where, alongside his wife, he now runs a small wildlife travel company,  Lutra Wildlife and Wilderness, where he gets to share his passion for the natural history of the Pacific Northwest with wildlife lovers and photographers from all around the world.

Peregrine Monograph – Steve Watson & Richard Sale

     

Please note – all our indoor meetings now start at 7.30 pm.

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.15 pm and the meeting will start at 7.30 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

This talk investigates all aspects of Peregrine life, from plumage, through diet, population dynamics, breeding and survival.

Richard Sale is a physicist with a PhD in astrophysics, who now devotes his time to studying the four UK breeding falcons and their flight dynamics. He has written several books on birds including  The Gyrfalcon which won the US Wildlife Society Book of the Year in 2006. More recently he co-authored Steller’s Sea Eagle with Russian colleagues Vladimir Mastrov and Michael Romanov: the book won the US Wildlife Society Book of the Year in 2019. In 2021 Sale became the first author to win the Wildlife Society’s book award prize three times with his monograph on The Common Kestrel. His other books include The Snowy Owl (also with Eugene Potapov), the New Naturalist title
Falcons and monograph on Merlin and the Eurasian Hobby (with Anthony Messenger).

Steve Watson is a retired Chartered Accountant who has always had a passion for raptors but Peregrine Falcons in particular. He is a Trustee of Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group CIO (GRMG) and Raptor Aid CIO and also a committee member of South West Peregrines. He has conducted a 40-year study of the Symonds Yat Peregrines, whilst also presenting lectures throughout UK.

 

 

 

 

Birds and Wildlife of Sri Lanka

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.45 pm and the meeting will start at 8 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.
This presentation will look at the birds of Sri Lanka, concentrating on both those found in the National Parks such as Yala, Wilapattu and Udawalawe as well as those that can be found by just walking village lanes.  Also, he will touch upon the mammals and insects of the island, all illustrated with his own photographs.
In 2017 he established a Learning Centre for disadvantaged teenagers to help them improve their English skills to aid their employment prospects. He will finish his presentation with a brief overview of his work there and outline some success stories.
Jonathan is a life long birder and over the last 50 years has travelled extensively to watch and record bird species. An all round naturalist, he documents all the natural history in the rural parish of Little Hadham where he has lived since 2007. In 2010 he put all the records into a book for the village archives and is now planning an updated volume.
As from Lockdown Day, 23rd March 2020, he set out to document all the wildlife in his garden for exactly one year and upon completion of the project had recorded 874 species of bird, insect, mammal flora etc including an amazing 61 bird species.
He writes a fortnightly nature article for the local newspaper, the Bishop’s Stortford Independent and is also a tour leader, specialising in Sri Lanka. In January 2023 he is leading (led) a 14 day bird tour of the island whilst during the previous month he will be (was) the Naturalist in Residence at a boutique hotel near Kandy in the hills east of Colombo.

Photographic Competition

We will be meeting in person in Room 109 in the Palmer Building at usual, but you can also join remotely via Zoom if you prefer.  Please click here to join the meeting. You can join from 7.45 pm and the meeting will start at 8 pm.  You will be muted when you join; please stay muted except when you have been asked to unmute, for recent sightings, questions, etc.

We’re holding our annual photographic competition this evening for those experienced and budding photographers. Judges Rob Still and Andy Sands will decide who has presented the best photographs in the three categories of Flight/Action, Portrait and Birds in Berkshire.

There will be prizes of course for the winners in each category and the Gordon Langsbury Cup will be presented to the overall winner!