January News letter Medway Group.

ILLUSTRATED TALK UPDATES

Firstly, I am sure the RSPB Medway Local Group would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year, with lots of birds.

Although it was only a week before Christmas, when everyone is very busy, about 50 people turned out for Simon Ginnaw’s talk to us on “Birds beyond the Boughs”. That in itself is, I think, a tribute to Simon’s amazing birding skills. Simon’s talk covered a year of birds but included not only wonderful photos taken himself but also all the different calls and songs that our British birds make, again mostly recorded by himself, that we often take for granted, or just do not hear. And, as if this was not enough, Simon put in some pieces of very appropriate music and with photos, birdsongs and music we were just transported into a different realm. He really is a great talent and so obviously loves all that he does.

We stopped half way through the talk to have our traditional Christmas mince pies (or a posh biscuit) and an “ecologically friendly” drink and the raffle, when Simon had a moment to chat to many of our group who know him. The second half covered the rest of the year and was equally delightful in its content. I hope we all learned something new about our feathered friends and how they interact within their habitat and with other birds. There werelotsofquestionsforSimonattheendandIthinkhistalkwasreallywellreceivedbyeveryoneintheroom. I will ask him back for 2019 hopefully.

16 January So You Want to Be A Wildlife Presenter? – Everything You Wanted to Know About the Most Wonderful and Peculiar of Jobs, But Were Afraid to Ask! - Mike Dilger

We are very pleased to welcome Mike back for a second talk. You will know him from his many television appearances including Britain Goes Wild, Springwatch, Nature’s Calendar, Nature’s Top 40 and many appearances on The ONE Show plus many more.

Mike has been an obsessive naturalist since childhood, equally at home either on his hands and knees getting to grips with British beetles or researching Amazonian hummingbirds. His obsession with the tropics began with a Masters Thesis in Ecology culminating in a project studying moths in the Ecuadorian Cloud Forest. This then led to five years surveying the forests of Vietnam, Tanzania and Peru accumulating a huge bird-list along the way. Returning to Britain to reacquaint himself with his first passion, British Wildlife, Mike made a sideways move from conservation to natural history television.

Lesley Frizell ———-—————————————————————

FIELD TRIP UPDATES
Sunday 7 January – Dungeness RSPB Reserve (TN29 9PN). Meet in the ARC car park at 9.00am. Richard

Hanman will be your guide.

We will check out the ARC Pit for bittern and Bewick's swans before moving to the visitor centre and main reserve. Lots of work has been done recently on creating new islands in Burrows Pits and this has already attracted a huge number and variety of gulls, waders and wintering wildfowl. Will we be able to spot Leo the long- eared owl at his/her usual roost and kick-start our 2018 year list?

As well as the visitor centre with its shop, refreshments and toilets there are also plenty of hides to visit at this reserve.

Wednesday 17 January – Cliffe Pools RSPB Reserve. Meet in the car park (ME3 7SU) off Salt Lane at 9.30 am. Warren Mann will be your guide.

There should be plenty of winter thrushes in the scrub areas and a variety of ducks, geese, swans and gulls on the pools. Birds of prey such as harriers, buzzards and merlin could also feature.

Please be aware that there are no facilities at this site so please wrap up warmly and bring a hot drink.