JOINT RSPB/DURHAM BIRD CLUB TALK BY DANIEL TURNER TUESDAY 14 MARCH AT 7:30 PM

The title of Daniel's talk is Beached birds in Northeast England

By recording and studying birds washed onto our beaches we can learn more about the environment. The Northeast England Beached Bird Surveys Group began at the end of 2002 and has been running for twenty years. Dan is the Coordinator of the Group, which is involved in research into marine pollution and has an association with Newcastle University, the Natural History Society of Northumbria and Wageningen Marine Research (in the Netherlands) via the ‘Save the North Sea’ Fulmar Project.

This topic is becoming increasingly important with plastic getting ever more into our seas and of course Avian Flu. It may not be the most delightful of topics, but it is a critical one. I look forward to seeing as many as possible of you to this talk

The meeting will be held at Washington Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, Pattinson, Washington NE38 8LE. Details directions are available at https://www.wwt.org.uk/.../plan-your-visit/directions/. It will start at 7.30 but the doors should be open from 7.00.

DBC Yellowhammer Survey (update)

The DBC 2022 Yellowhammer Breeding Season Survey ran from March until the end of August, but very few records were received after the end of June (when the position was as mapped)

Some observers saved their records for “end-of-season” submission and significant data has recently come in. If you still have unsubmitted records for the Yellowhammer Survey there are several options for letting DBC have this

a) The DBC spreadsheet - https://www.durhambirdclub.org.uk/submit-records

b) The DBC Yellowhammer Survey smartphone app - https://www.durhambirdclub.org.uk/dbc-survey-yellowhammer

c) E-mail to durhambirdclub@gmail.com

Zoom Bird Talks

Two talks are available on Zoom in the next fortnight.

On Tuesday 7 February at 7.00 p.m. (login available from 6.45 p.m.) Richard Baines will speak about the North Yorkshire Turtle Dove Project.

The Turtle Dove is the UK’s fastest-declining bird species, but still has a foothold in parts of Yorkshire. Richard Baines (of Yorkshire Coast Nature) has worked extensively with the North York Moors National Park. In 2015 he was instrumental in setting up the project, a volunteer-led conservation initiative to survey and create new habitat for this declining bird. In 2016 he started to work part time as the North Yorkshire Turtle Dove Project Officer. The project won Best UK Conservation Project at the National Parks Conference in 2019 and continues to be focussed on this attractive species.

This talk is arranged by the Newcastle RSPB Group and the Zoom link may be obtained from bernieadnett1ATbtinternet.com

Following two “in person” meetings, the February Zoom talk in the Durham RSPB/Durham Bird Club series is a week later, on Tuesday 14 February at 7.30 p.m. (the link will be open from about 7:15 p.m.) when John Buckingham will give a presentation entitled Birds of Armenia: Eastern gem of the Caucasus.

John introduces his subject, saying "A visit to Armenia takes you back in time, to when low intensity agriculture, flower-rich meadows and scenic mountainsides were full of birds and colourful insects. This tiny land-locked country has a huge inland lake, with marshes and spectacular mountain and forest scenery. Lying on the eastern border of Turkey, south of Georgia, north of Iran and with a contested border with Azerbaijan, East most definitely meets West here. Birds such as Armenian Gull, Caspian Snowcock, Caucasian Grouse, Syrian Woodpecker and Persian Wheatear conjure up a picture of local birdlife, while Eastern European specialities such as Isabelline Wheatear, Black-headed Bunting and Masked Shrike mix with Asiatic birds including Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, Mountain Chiffchaff, White-tailed Lapwing and Ruddy Shelduck. All of these and many more are illustrated and discussed in the lecture.”

The link for this meeting may be obtained from richard.cowen313@gmail.com

There will be a further talk in the Durham series before Easter, but this is scheduled to be an "in person " meeting, at Washington Wetland Centre at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday 14 March. On that occasion Daniel Turner will be talking about the work of the Northeast England Beached Bird Surveys Group and also touching on the problems of Avian Influenza.