John gave us a wonderful insight into the birds that appear on farms in all the various habitats there.  The whole programme was fascinating because it brought home to the audience the whole picture rather than the fragmented aspects about which we so regularly hear. His talk was given in the usual enthusiastic way to which we have become accustomed.

John, a retired school teacher currently studies upland birds in N Wales. During his teaching career he worked for many years in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he gained many insights into the birding there.  He returned in 1999 and his talk was about a trip that took him to all the main birding spots in the country.  His photographs, his humorous delivery and his subject, particularly his references to driving in a Trabant, made a wonderful evenings entertainment for the group.

Peter, who had led us on a trip to the Isles of Scilly in October 2002, gave us a delightful insight into the birds of the Gambia.  His photography is of the very highest quality and his really excellent slides accompanied a thoroughly interesting talk.  We hope to welcome him back in the future.

Charles was formerly a Grammar School head and has had a love for birds since childhood.  He applied to join an archaeological  course lasting for a month to visit St Kilda in 2000 and was successful in spite of the fact that he is not an archaeologist.  His month on the main island led to have a thirst for greater knowledge of the people of the island and the facts that led to their departure in 1930.  His talk was extremely well presented and held a fascinating insight into the many problems that this Gaelic speaking people had to contend with.  Well recommended to other groups.

Steve, as Regional Director, took the opportunity of giving the Group an good insight into the workings of the RSPB and the Central England region is particular.  This was a fascinating subject and made very much clearer the role that the Society plays in the community today and the valuable part played by Local Groups.

Chris, who is an accomplished photographer gave us an insight into the birds likely to be seen on trips to Turkey and Israel.  As an active member of they Milton Keynes Local group, he had organised trips for the group to these two locations and left us truly fascinated with the prospects of what could be observed there.

Though Pat retired as Senior Lecturer in Zoology a couple of years ago, he has continued his study of the edible dormouse.  His talk was, as usual, fascinating and far from being a dry presentation.  The facts that emerged were incredible and certainly left us wanting to hear Pat again in the future.

Marek started his talk with a detailed description of the Biebrza marshland and the Bielowieza forest in northern Poland where he has been most actively engaged.  The primeval landscape defied words alone and his excellent photographs gave a real impression of the impassible nature of the terrain.  He was greatly concerned about the building of a north-south motorway, the Via Baltica, which would cut the swamp in two leaving severe problems for the elk, bison, lynx and wolves that live in the area. This was followed by description of the birds breeding in his "back garden".  Aquatic Warblers, Cranes, and Corn Crakes were a few of the species that he described and illustrated, that breed in considerable numbers in the swamp.  The standard of the talk, together with wonderful photographs made the talk arguably the best that the Group has enjoyed, and that bearing in mind that English is not Marek's native tongue.

Andy gave us a detailed and highly interesting insight into the dramatic reduction in numbers of Roseate Terns in the Pwellheli area of N Wales.  He had spent a summer there with the RSPB monitoring terns and in particular the Roseate Tern.  Apart from the coverage of the reduction in numbers he gave us excellent knowledge of what to loom for to clearly identify the Roseate Tern and separate them from other terns.  It was a talk that was very much one species based but nevertheless was of great interest to those of the group who are interested in birds in general.