Presenters: Rick and Elis Simpson
Reporter: Keith Walker Rick Simpson gave a most amusing and informative talk about their trip to Southern Africa which is detailed below and was preceded by details of their crusade to conserve Wader Species. Details of their trip focussing on the Waders seen is as follows:- Airports are often the place where you pick up your first ticks on a trip and at Johannesburg it provided them with the ubiquitous Blacksmith Lapwing.
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Speaker: Francis Farrow
Reporter: Sue Gale It was fascinating to discover some of the history and origins of Beeston Common from one who is surely its greatest advocate and supporter. The Common lies in a glacial valley, but within that area there are two small hills, of different geological ages. You can see how different they are from the vegetation – Bracken Hill has no heather growing on it, whereas Pillbox Hill does. Between these hills are the valleys that hold the marshes and grasslands that form the many different habitats in this special site. Speaker: Richard Bashford of Naturetrek and the RSPB
Reporter: Cath Robinson Richard Bashford was well qualified to speak about this subject having been a Naturetrek guide on expeditions in Poland for several years. His Birding background is RSPB and BTO and now back at RSPB with also time as a freelance leader of birding trips. Speaker: Mike Dilger
Reporter: Sue Gale Mike Dilger is known to many of us through his 18years of wildlife films seen on the One Show. His aim over the years has been to reach a wide audience and to convert them to an interest in wildlife, and he has covered all sorts of topics and species. The Covid restrictions were a mixed blessing for a free-lance worker like Mike, making income uncertain but giving him time at home with family and time to visit the nearby Chew Valley Lakes. One thing he became aware of was what he called ‘plant blindness’, both his own and that of other naturalists. People often just don’t notice plants. So, he decided to have a big botanical year in 2021, in which he would try to see 1000 species of plant. This required a lot of research, into habitats and the species he might expect to find, and a lot of journey planning. Mike saw the 1000 plants, and he estimates that about 500 of them were close to his home in the Mendips. The resultant book was called ‘1000 Shades of Green’, plus 12 Plants to Die For. Speaker: Drew Lyness
Reporter: Sue Gale If any of us needed inspiration to get out birding now that Spring is approaching, Drew certainly provided it. Although he said that his presentation was about birding for the love of birds (which it was) and in no way about a sell for particular reserves, it was inevitable that his enthusiastic account would make many of us keen to rush out and explore Strumpshaw and the Yare Valley. Of course, we can’t expect all of the exciting species he described to be there all of the time, or even every year, but this was a good description of the benefits to be had from thoroughly birding a local patch. For Drew, the mid-Yare valley is the place he chooses to visit when he has the time. |
Please feel free to read through our reports from our monthly indoor / online meetings. Archives
February 2024
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