Introduction Thread.

Ohh intros....

I'm 27, living in Angus, Scotland not far from some lovely Glens.  I've been interested in wildlife and animals pretty much forever (I even had a canine babysitter lol).  I do the RSPB's Bird Friendly Schools, but not much else at the moment due to working full time and having a dog and reptiles to take care of (plus house/garden work!).

My username is the shortened version of my name combined with my dogs name!

My favourite birds at the moment are Bonxies, ask me again another day though the answer will be different!

My name is Kathy, and I am 53 years old.   My partner Dave, and I are keen bird watchers.  I orginate from Edinburgh, Scotland, and lived there all of my life until 2007.  Now I have lived in Bedford since 2007 due to better job prospects for my partner, and myself in the engineering field.

The interest in photography is becoming a stronger interest now and I have a Canon G10 Powerpoint and I have yet to find out more about the many workings of the camera.

I have been a member on the RSPB Forum since 2007...before the upgrade of the RSPB Forum as it is now

I am a current member of the RSPB, SWT, WWT, Bedford Birders, Friends of Paxton Pits amongst many local groups.  Dave, and I visited many reserves all over the country so we get a flavour of each area. I write a report on each place, when I return from a day or a weekend out.  I also go to Menorca each year to sail and birdwatch and we have been 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and now 2011 so far!!

One of our favourite areas for birdwatching is Norfolk, and all the reserves there...especially Titchwell..  We still have to visit some other reserves yet.

This interest in birds and wildlife came from my my mother who is an avid bird watcher.  I was brought up with conservation in mind, and I still remember going to Loch Garten during the summer holidays while attending school - to see the Ospreys

While living in Scotland I spent a lot of my free time  (I worked full time from a young age) at the weekends doing voluntary work.....along with a group of people I have now known all of my life.  We still keep in touch through our mutual interest, and I will meet up with them as much as possible even though they live in Scotland.  Most of the work we did was in reserves such as Aberlady Bay, John Muir Country Park, Yellowcraigs, Gladstone,  and many more.  All the work done included building footpaths, planting trees, clearing out ponds, cutting down trees ('fraid that had to be done too), build fences, and at one stage clear out a rubbish tip too.  A lot of our work was given out by the local councils and wildlife group.   It was a regular Sunday outing for myself and others.  It is a great way to meet people.

My name 'Blackbird' and it is because I loved Blackbirds.  I just love their characters, and they are easy to make friends with after a bit of feeding...and talking too - they seem to like the attention and the human contact.

Great to meet people here, current members and new members too, and always have plenty to talk about with birds or otherwise.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

thanks mpiekp, the origin of your username has been puzzling me for ages! any suggestions on pronounciation?!

:) of course, never really thought about it but I suppose ist M-pie-K-P

Hi I'm Martin, 56 years old, married with 3 daughters and 3 grandkids. I live in Hertfordshire but do try and get out to some of the other beautiful areas of the UK as often as I can. I have always been into wildlife and conservation, and have belonged to the RSPB forever,(well 40 odd years anyway)  also belong to lots of other conservation groups and used to be an avid WWF supporter - was chair of the local support group for 7 tears. We raised £50k in that time but thats over 20 years ago and I like to spend more time out in the field now rather than organising things. Have become hooked on wildlife photography for the last few years and have an (out of date) website, but post mainly to Flickr. I make a regular pain of myself to my local MP by writing to him re any contravertial wildlife matters and I work as a volunteer at a local nature reserve once a week to get my hands dirty. Have more time to get out now as was made redundant a year or so back, and am loving it!

Great to meet you on here, Dipperish, and I love your profile name - do you love Dippers? {obvious question}

Yes, being a member of the RSPB forever is a good thing, as Dave and i have been ourselves and lover it a lot.for all the time i haver known Dave {11 years}

Hey, nothing wrong with an out of date website - the main thing is that you are keen on your subject, and sometimes other things take over to prevent you keeping other issues up to date

Will look in, and see how your Flickr account materialises now.  If you feel more time is there for yourself to relax all the more excuses for few more visits to the local reserves in your area.

Love to hear more of your news

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Dipperish said:

Hi I'm Martin, 56 years old, married with 3 daughters and 3 grandkids. I live in Hertfordshire but do try and get out to some of the other beautiful areas of the UK as often as I can. I have always been into wildlife and conservation, and have belonged to the RSPB forever,(well 40 odd years anyway)  also belong to lots of other conservation groups and used to be an avid WWF supporter - was chair of the local support group for 7 tears. We raised £50k in that time but thats over 20 years ago and I like to spend more time out in the field now rather than organising things. Have become hooked on wildlife photography for the last few years and have an (out of date) website, but post mainly to Flickr. I make a regular pain of myself to my local MP by writing to him re any contravertial wildlife matters and I work as a volunteer at a local nature reserve once a week to get my hands dirty. Have more time to get out now as was made redundant a year or so back, and am loving it!

Cheers Kathy and Dave, My avatar used to be Dipper - but I got locked out of a site and it wouldn't let me use it again, so I just tweaked it - and yes I love Dippers, but still have no decent shots that I'm happy with! I've only given up on the website because it is such a pain to amend, my aim now is to start again with a new host - but that will have to wait for winter as it's too nice at the moment not to be out and about! Jus back from Scotland and envy you your roots, what a beautiful place!! I also get up to East Anglia regularly and love the North coast - I normally stay in Thornham so tha Tichwell, Cley, Holme and Holkham are all in easy reach. Wonderful place!! Nice to meet you! Cheers Martin

Hi Martin

Sorry to hear that you have had such a load of hassle with your user 'profile' name. 

Still you have profile name that suits your needs here ans that is the main thing.

Yes,.....Scotland is a beautiful place due to the fact that it is not heavily populated as in England. 

So the sighting of bird life is on a different level as to England.

Glad to hear that we have a common point on talking here and that is Norfolk and where do we begin LOL...not been to Thorntham yet ...but we will knowing us

Look forward to lots more chat with yourself

Regards

Kathy and Dave.

Hi everyone,

I'm afraid I couldn't think of a good profile name so I just stuck with me!

I am 66years old and was told that my interest in birds started as soon as I could sit up so I don't remember not watching them or helping with ducks and hens etc. on our neighbour's farm and now volunteering at a bird sanctuary in North Wales where we specialise in owls and other BoPs. We care for injured and sick wild birds but also offer homes to unwanted captive born birds.

We are involved in education and conservation - especially a project to protect the endemic owls of the island of Hispaniola. The Ashy Faced Barn Owl is the one we are working with mainly at the moment. We need to do field surveys and also develop education programmes to try to end the persecution of owls on the island. In the meantime we are setting up a breeding colony at the zoo in Santo Domingo with a view to an eventual release programme.

I live in an old cottage in a clearing in an oak wood  in North Wales. There is a waterfall about 30 feet from the side of the house. Our 4 acres of land is on a steep south facing hillside and includes a little bit of garden but is largely uncultivated. We just prevent invasive species like braken and bramble from taking over. There is a big variety of habitat - old trees, bushes and scrub, rock faces, water, young treesand dry stone walls.  Over the 20 years we have been here, I think I have seen 63 species of bird in or flying over our land. Also present from time to time are  350 Common Pipistrelles and about 40 Soprano Pips, Pole Cats, Pine Marten, Otter, Feral Goats, Stoat, Common Lizard, Slow Worm,  and it goes on !!! How could I not be interested?

I volunteer at Llechwedd when the choughs are nesting, at our new site at Portmeirion and am doing my first stint on the Puffin Cruises later this month.

I am not really into photography - I think because I am always memorising what I see with my mind's eye. I draw and paint birds and when I do take photos it is for reference for later drawings so they are not necessarily interesting to others!

Though living in Wales I am actually Scottish having spent my childhood in Galloway and Edinburgh. My husband was in general practice for a while in Perthshire just as the ospreys came to the Loch of the Lowes so we would watch the first pair fishing while sitting on the side of the loch.

Now the Glaslyn ospreys are just down the road!

 Since the beginning of this year I have been doing an hour's slot on our local community radio with my colleague Pam every week when we try to encourage an interest in wildlife. It's great fun and I have enjoyed learning how to be a presenter and DJ and how to operate a radio studio!  You are never too old to start a new career!

Jenni