Richard Meinertzhagen – WHO? the Name Richard Meinertzhagen May Be Familiar to Some As an Apparent Authority on and Contributor to Ornithology
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
RSPB North West Surrey Local Group letter 2020 - 8 (October) Group Web Site - rspb.org.uk/groups/nwsurrey “Know your Members” p2 :: Bew’s Birds p6 :: Members’ Photos p7 :: Sharps’ Butterflies p11 :: Book Review p14 :: Future Events p16 COMMITTEE CHAT Welcome to our eighth newsletter of 2020. We must admit to having felt a certain trepidation on the eve of our first Zoom indoor meeting. Would the technology work? Would anyone sign in? Would the format of the talk appeal to its audience? Well, we need not have worried; it was a resounding success. Of course it helped that our speaker Andre Farrar was experienced and his subject matter thought provoking. Anthony's report later in this newsletter is an excellent summary of the meeting. Thanks to you all for joining the meeting and for your many nice comments. Clearly Zoom provides an admirable alternative to our indoor meetings so we are delighted that our October and November meetings will also take place in this format. Full details will follow, and if you missed the first one, make sure you don't miss the next two. One of our best recent speakers was Conor Jameson. His talk on the Goshawk was a fascinating study of the species, its decline and extinction in the UK, and its subsequent re-colonisation and expansion. He brought the story up to date in a 15 minute talk at Virtual Birdfair. The talk will be available till late November on the virtual birdfair website. Do look it up, it's well worth watching. The good news is that Conor will be paying us a return visit next year, covid permitting, so we'll hear another of his excellent talks. The AGM was postponed in June. It has now been rearranged for 3rd December also as a Zoom meeting. I am delighted to tell you that following the completion of the AGM business our very own Hilary Macbean will give an illustrated talk. Hilary has for some years been involved in Rwandan conservation and has made a number of visits to this central African country. We will learn about its wonderful local colour, birds, habitats, and there may even be some gorillas. There will be a serious note too about the importance of education and engagement at local level, if habitat and bio-diversity are to stand a chance amidst population growth and climate change. Think global and act local is the watchword. It does not seem likely that we will be able to meet in person either in or out of doors until at least next year. We will keep in touch through the various remote platforms, but be under no illusions - the group will continue to thrive. We hope you enjoy our latest newsletter, and do keep your contributions coming. The Committee Forthcoming meetings On Thursday 22nd October we are pleased to confirm that Penny Williams has agreed to give her talk by Zoom. The British Trust for Ornithology is a leader in obtaining data about British birds, analysing it and making informed decisions about how best to protect them. Penny has been Surrey's representative for some years and she will tell us about her work - and also about her own birding experiences. On Thursday 26th November we will have a Zoom talk from Peter Holden RSPB. His subject is ‘Birds, Their Hidden World’. His talk will enlighten us about aspects of our birds' lives which most bird books miss out. On Saturday 3rd December we will have our rearranged AGM utilising Zoom. Our speaker will be Hillary Macbean. Please keep in mind our NWS Group Quiz night, due to be held on Saturday January 9th 2021 at 7.30 pm. We are currently unsure if this will happen due to the Covid restrictions, but should this be allowed to proceed, please do try and come along for what is always a great evening. We have however been obliged to cancel all other physical meetings and events until December. Keep your eyes on the group website, emails or WhatsApp messages for any further updates or information. number of link points to be found on thaton foundpage. be to oflink points number on thelefton atthebottom the denotesofeach page For readers unsure of this ‘button’ the mouse buttonthemouse ‘button’ ofthis unsure readers For Thank you, and stay safe. The views expressed by contributors to this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Committee, the Editor, or the RSPB. All trading names and references are acknowledged to be owned by their respective companies or individuals. © RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2020 © The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654 1 9 Know your Members - Dave Panchaud How did you first become interested in nature and birds? Is it mainly birds, or do you like mammals, botany etc? I have been interested in science and natural history for as long as I can remember. Astronomy is my main interest away from plants and animals. I am currently improving my knowledge of trees. Did you have a mentor who first encouraged you? What really sparked my particular interest in birds was a chance encounter with a naturalist, named Brian Mist, whose local 'patch' was Battersea Park. I had recently moved to the area and was struggling to identify a particular bird. He saw me and identified it as a goldfinch. I learnt a lot about birds in subsequent walks with Brian, around the park and on trips to Wraysbury gravel pits. How did you come to be a member of the group what have you enjoyed about the group. Through the RSPB website I found the group, and as I was going to be taking redundancy thought it would be a good way to meet others and pursue my twin hobbies of nature watching and photography. Do you have favourite and not so favourite birds? Any you’d particularly like to see, or places you’d especially like to visit? My favourite bird is a smew. They used to be regular at Wraysbury but in recent years they have become very scarce; probably no longer cold enough to force them this far south. I don't go on overseas birding trips, I haven't seen all the British birds yet! There is one bird I keep trying to see each year which is a lesser spotted woodpecker and it’s proving true to its name as I have yet to be successful. Where are your favourite nature sites and where have you enjoyed travelling, home and abroad? RSPB Ham Wall and Shapwick Heath are regular places to visit, particularly in the winter to see the starling murmurations. Further afield my favourite spots are Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire and the Farne Islands, Northumberland. Any conservation issues you feel especially strongly about? Unnecessary travel and excessive plastic packaging both of which we can all do something about. I would hope that recent headlines from all around the world regarding climate change will make people change the way they live. Cut down on waste, stop repeated foreign travel and see the bigger environmental picture. Unfortunately, I am not optimistic that we will change. What interests do you have outside birding. Photography, astronomy. Tell us something about your career. I spent 37 years working for the John Lewis Partnership. All but four years of that was working in IT in some form or other. I had a great career there with a varied range of roles and fantastic colleagues, a lot of whom I still stay in regular contact. I took redundancy in 2018 and have since worked part time at the WWT London Wetland Centre. I know you are a keen photographer. How did you get into this, what equipment is used, and what do you especially enjoy photographing. I am not sure if there was one particular thing that got me into photography but rather a combination of the arrival of digital photography and visiting the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibitions at the Natural History Museum. I use Canon cameras and have recently bought a super zoom compact camera (SX70) which is great for record shots of distant subjects. Like me you are an ebirder. I think ebird is fantastic – something about that and your use of it. Garden lists etc. please. I use eBird as a way to keep track of my sightings. Not only is it very easy to use but it can record your route and uses your sightings for genuine research by natural history institutions (Cornell in the USA, BTO and BirdLife to name a few.) It can be used on a desktop computer or, more usually, in the field on a smartphone. You can add notes as you go and the combined records give a comprehensive view of your birding history. Now on to your volunteering at WWT. How did you get into it, what are your duties etc. I volunteer as a Guide in the Hide which entails pointing out anything of interest to the visitors. The role has enabled me to learn much more about natural history and the regular visits over the year allow me to see the seasonal changes taking place. It is a very interesting role as you meet people of all ages and levels of knowledge. The duties range from trying to spot a bittern or jack snipe, to getting young children to spot the four Dexter cows feeding on the reserve. I now also work part time in the admissions area and shop.