Speaker: Dominic Buscall
Reporter: Sue Gale Dominic Buscall, a founder of Wild Ken Hill, gave a very popular and well-received talk about what they do there and about some of their current projects. The farm has developed over the last 5 or 6 years, from its original state of 75% arable crops and 25% wood and wetland to the current 3 areas of land management. The challenges were to do something about worsening biodiversity, exacerbated by the climate crisis, and to do this in a financially viable way, made possible by support from Natural England and the new farm subsidies which mean that work for the environment can at last be paid for. The three areas at Wild Ken Hill are: 1. the rewilding area; 2. wetland and coastal scrub; and 3. farming using regenerative agriculture.
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Speaker: Gordon Hamnett
Reporter: Sue Gale Gordon Hamlett is the author of the much admired ‘Best Birdwatching Sites in the Scottish Highlands’ and this talk tells the story of its production. Gordon first visited the area in the late 1980s when he was thrilled to see his first Red Squirrels, Crested Tits and Ospreys. He started to write articles about the birds of the area for Birdwatch magazine, after which he was asked to write a book about where to see birds in the Highlands, to sit alongside similar volumes about Norfolk and Devon and Cornwall. Gordon discussed the problem issues in such an undertaking – he wanted to include creatures other than birds, and to embrace the history of the area as well as something about the many different habitats. Speaker: Mark Avery
Reporter: Sue Gale Mark Avery paid us a visit in January, and we were very pleased to welcome him – you can rely on Mark to make you think And we absolutely do not believe his claim that he isn’t often invited back! Mark is a naturalist, author, consultant and campaigner who admits to being ‘better’ at birds, mammals and butterflies than he is on plants and most invertebrates. He is co-founder with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay of Wild Justice, but he was here to promote his new book “Reflections”, in which he considers the current state of nature and of nature conservation. He took us through the book chapter by chapter for the first half of the evening, and then after the break he invited questions/ discussion. The interest aroused can be judged by the fact that this session exceeded its allotted time and took us very close to kicking-out time. Speaker: Steve Stansfield
Reporter: Sue Gale Our October talk from Steve Stansfield had many of us wanting to rush off and book a trip to Bardsey Island immediately! Steve is Director of Operations on the island and has lived there with his family for 26 seasons. (They live in Norfolk in the winter.) Bardsey is a tiny island in the Irish sea about 2 miles off the end of the Llyn Peninsula. It has farmland, where Welsh Black cattle graze, at the lowland end, and the high side of the island which rises to 167m is covered in gorse and bracken. Not only is this an SSSI, with its protected seabird colonies and special flora and fauna, but it is also one of only 17 Dark Sky Sanctuaries in the world. Speakers: Stephen Vickers and Kirsty Franklin
Reporter: Cath Robinson We were treated to a really interesting evening’s entertainment by two impressive and enthusiastic naturalists. Ringing in Norfolk Stephen gave a background to ringing in general: more than 1 million birds are ringed annually in the UK with > 3500 active ringers. He then spoke of his experience as a Norfolk ringer joining the established UEARG (Ringing Group) in 2018 since when >13,000 birds have been ringed. 100 metal rings have been recovered over this time. |
Please feel free to read through our reports from our monthly indoor / online meetings. Archives
September 2024
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