Indoor Meeting

VINE HOUSE FARM – Nicholas Watts will explain how their conservation award winning commercial farming methods are undertaken with wildlife in mind, and how they aim to be as environmentally responsible as possible by ensuring a low carbon footprint through selling their own quality grown and UK sourced products.

KENT’S WILD YEAR – Simon Ginnaw takes us on personal journey through the seasons around the Kent countryside, stopping off at the coast, going deep into the woods, on open heathlands and across farmland. Explore the county’s stunning landscape, its rich history, and beautiful wildlife.

BIRDS and WILDLIFE of COSTA RICA – Steve Grimwade from ‘Swallow Birding & Wildlife’ has recently spent a month in Costa Rica guiding tours. Steve will talk about, and show stunning images of, the birds, wildlife, and adventures they had in this colourful Central American country. Not to be missed!

AFRICAN EUROPEAN MIGRANT BIRDS (an ‘Online’ talk) – Jennifer Border from the BTO is currently working on a project about ‘African European Migrant Birds’ and will speak on the very interesting findings from her research. You may be surprised?

URBAN PEREGRINES (an ‘Online’ talk) – Ed Drewitt has been studying Peregrines since 1998, when he moved to Bristol. He realised there was a lot to be learnt from Peregrines living in cities and began studying their diet and ringed them to find out more about their lives. His talk will explore what makes an urban Peregrine tick and why they are using our towns and cities.

SKOMER – PUFFINS and MANX SHEARWATER – Ann Forbes finds Puffins fascinating to watch and their biology and behaviour are equally fascinating. Much less showy but oh so interesting is the Manx Shearwater, a master ocean navigator, and a member of the tubenose bird family, it navigates by smell! Skomer Island has been monitored for over 60 years and is a stronghold for both these species, Ann is a retired Biology teacher with a lifelong interest in wildlife and her presentation will look at Skomer and all its birds.

BTO WORK on CURLEWS and WADERS – Samantha Franks’ interest focuses on exploring how our changing environment is influencing bird populations. After several years in the Alaskan Arctic, she joined the BTO in 2013 and is leading elements of the BTO’s breeding wader research, with a particular focus on Curlew. Currently, she represents BTO at National Curlew forums, supervises a PhD project investigating landscape-scale conservation management for breeding Curlew in the Breckland, and leads the BTO’s role in the Eastern England Curlew headstarting project. Her talk will cover the causes of Curlew declines, and how the BTO’s research on Curlew and other waders is contributing towards the future of wader conservation in the UK.

ARGENTINA to ANTARCTICA (an ‘Online’ talk) – We welcome back Steve Cale, who you may recall gave us a talk at the Woodland Birds conference earlier this year. This talk will concentrate on a wildlife journey from Argentina to Antarctica via some fascinating islands of the Southern Ocean.

QUEENSLAND – featuring BIRDS OF PARADISE & BOWERBIRDS – Bill Coster. The subtropical state of Queensland contains some of Australia’s most colourful and iconic birds, including several species of Bowerbirds. We also see two species of Birds of Paradise and a wealth of other forest bird photographs at many different locations within the state. We even make a visit to the world-famous Great Barrier Reef.

PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RECENT INCREASE IN COVID-19 CASES THIS TALK WILL BE MOVED TO A ZOOM ONLY PLATFORM

ON the TRAIL of the CRANE – Part 2 – Ralph and Brenda Todd. Following on from their previous excellent Part 1 talk in November 2019 Ralph and Brenda will continue the Cranes migration journey through Europe