INDOOR MEETINGS FOR 2009

“Whales, Dolphins and seabirds in Scotland and beyond” Ian Rowlands.

Ian founded the Wildlife Travel group Speyside but recently has changed his occupation to be associated with ORganisation CetaceA (ORCA) which is a cetacean (whale and dolphin) conservation organisation.  He gave us a fascinating insight into the identification and habits of the many whales and dolphins that inhabit the coast of Great Britain. He gave way to his assistant Darren Walker who told us about the many species that can readily be seen in the Bay of Biscay.  The talk was extremely well prepared and delivered and it will be a pleasure to have Ian back at a future meeting.

“Pharaoh's Birds” John Wyatt.

The meeting was unfortunately cancelled because of heavy snow.

John, who is our President will give the talk at a later date.

“Patagonia - Natural History of Chile” Andy Warren.

Andy had been in Patagonia for three and a half months whilst working on an environmental project and he gave us an insight into the work, the scenery and the wildlife of the area.  This was given in Andy's light-hearted manner and it gave us an excellent evening

“Farming and Wildlife” Nicholas Watts.

Nicholas gave a very thought provoking exposition on the subject.  It was made very clear why farmers had acted in such a very unfriendly way to wildlife in general.  The need to produce food intensively has led to farming where there are no stray weeds to enable insects to thrive and thence allow birds to feed.  He showed how, with a little thought, it was possible to introduce very small quantities of different seeds into the mix to get the correct type of foodstuff for insects and birds, without compromising the final food product.  Well done Nicholas and all power to your elbow in persuading other farmers to work as you have done.

“Birds in Art” Jackie Garner.

Jackie divided her talk into two sections.  The first dealt specifically with birds in historical art, starting with ancient Egyptian, going through Roman to current art.  The ancient Egyptians used birds in a stylised manner leaving some doubts as to which birds were being depicted.  In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries a method of 'shoot, stuff and paint' was used.  This resulted in many pictures depicting birds anatomically correct but in totally incorrect postures. The modern and correct method is to paint as seen in life and this was started by Peter Scott who started as a shoot, stuff and paint artist and changed only after he realised that he had caused great suffering to a duck that he had only winged and was unable to reach to put out of his misery, to C F Tunnicliffe and later artists.  The second part was given over to her own magnificent work and the work she is doing with John Wyatt (our President) for his book on the birds of Ancient Egypt.  An excellent talk.

“In Search of Eagles on the Island of Mull” Ian McGuire.

Ian, whose main interest is raptors gave us a fascinating insight into the wildlife on Mull and other Hebridean islands.  His excellent talk was accompanied by wonderful photographs and let us appreciate amongst other things the magnificence of the two eagle species seen there, the Golden Eagle and the White-tailed Eagle.  His knowledge was tested by the many questions that were posed at the end of the talk.  It was the first talk that he had given to the group and we look forward to having him back.

Charles gave us an interesting talk on the occurrence of birds in mythology and symbolism for ancient tribes.  The oldest reference was the use of eagle bones found in a burial site of at least 6000 years ago.  Eagles were also used in a ceremonial manner by the Romans.  Owls had been used as a sign of intelligence from very ancient times particularly among the ancient Greeks; and Ravens have been considered as a bird of ill omen for centuries.  The talk was well delivered and interesting.

“Birding my French Patch” Derek Moore.

Derek gave, as usual, an excellent insight into the area near his holiday home in the Narbonne / Carcassone area.  His excellent talk was accompanied by really superb photographs.  It whetted our appetite for a group trip to the area, which Derek had said he would be glad to organize in 2011.  We cannot wait!

“Saving the Black Grouse” Fiona Hunter.

Fiona gave a clear indication for the gradual demise of this iconic species.  Reasons varied from intensive single species forestation as practiced after the second world war, through over use of deer proof fences to climate change .  She was able to show how people had influenced the Forestry Commission and Forestry Commission Scotland to plant varied woodland and to manage it more with the Black Grouse and other birds in mind.  Influence had also been brought to bear on the use of the deer fences and these have been reduced in number.  Climate change is more difficult to change but it was clear that the RSPB are very actively involved in climate change work.