British Owls; their natural history and practical conservation

This time last night I was on my way to our planned public meeting. Our speaker was almost certainly on his way from Bristol with a Barn Owl in the back of his car. As always with these meetings we have no way of knowing how many people will turn up, or if anyone except our small committee and our speaker. There are almost always glitches in the arrangements and it is all a bit stressful really but that's because its very important for our purpose of spreading some light on the mostly hidden world of wildlife.
So how did it go? Dealing with the glitches we got under way with an audience of around 65. That might not sound many but it is probably a record for our meetings. Many of them turned out to not be members of the Wildlife Trust. That was a surprise but also a bonus since some of them may join. The speaker was brilliant, the photos shown were excellent and the Barn Owl stole the show.
We manged a short break for tea or coffee, we had a raffle for prizes with an owl theme and there were good questions. Having arrived at the hall at around 7 pm we finally left at 10 pm. Our treasurer was happy because we had made a small surplus and the audience all looked very happy. Job done!
I should write another post with a bit more conservation content but that needs a bit of research.

British Owls; their natural history and practical conservation

We confirm ( on Wed 13.01.10 ) that the School is open and the meeting will take place as advertised.



Dont forget our meeting on British Owls on Thursday 14th at 7.30 pm Huish Episcopy School,Wincanton Rd, Langport. This photograph by Chris Sperring, our speaker for the meeting may well be the one accompaning Chris for the talk!
PS the latest snow is melting fast now.

Chris Sperring MBE: Best Wishes to all for 2010

This bitterly cold weather ( might be regarded as climate change but not to be confused with global warming!) is causing a lot of problems for people getting out and about. I had to make a special trip to buy bird food. I am also concerned that it might stop people coming to our next public meeting on Jan 14th. Fingers crossed that conditions might have eased by then.
I have just visited Cris Sperring's Blog to see what is going on in the Hawk and Owl world.
He has a wonderful photograph of an Owl of course which is worth seeing. I blogged his last post , (link below) which I found full of good things to look forward to in 2010 so here it is. I recommend it to keep you up to date.
Click on this link:
Chris Sperring MBE: Best Wishes to all for 2010

Starlings

I wonder how our starlings are faring in this prolonged icy weather. Are they still flocking to Westhay and Hamwall to roost? Finding food in the fields must be difficult and it must take a lot of energy to fly ten or twenty miles just to settle in the reed beds of the levels. I must look this afternoon to see if they fly over our village at around 3.30 to 4.00 pm.
The starling hot line says ( lunch time Wednesday) that they are currently roosting at the Natural England site at Shapwick Heath. I have been surprised to find that they change the location from time to time.
I am hoping to get along to hear the talk on Starlings organised by the Taunton Dene local Group of SWT next Tuesday 12th Jan :
Talk on Starlings by Chris Sperring.
Why do starlings mass in the sky? Where do they come from? Chris Sperring, a well-known local naturalist, will explain the habits of starlings and their amazing gatherings over the Somerset Levels during the winter months. Tea, coffee & raffle. Children welcome. Meetings Room, Taunton Library, Paul Street, Taunton. Car park nearby. Suitable for wheelchair users/limited mobility. £2.50.

That will lead nicely onto our own meeting on Thursday 14th on British Owls in Langport. See our diary blog for details. Link here.

New year message

Greetings to all readers and best wishes for 2010.

Whilst enjoying a very pleasant social evening yesterday I met someone who is interested in starting their own Blog. Not on the same subject as thisone but never the less it was quite a challenge to have to explain how and why I run my own. I have always hoped that the subjects I post on speak for themselves but that is probably a false assumption. There are many excellent blogs and I'm always impressed by the world wide contacts a blog generates and by the range of subjects covered. But to really catch visitors interest is not easy and I feel I must do better. I wonder if colour works!!!
So I hope I haven't put off a potentially very good new blog.
I did gain from our discussion a renewed enthusiasm for seeking to improve my writing and presentation especially as wildlife conservation is such a huge subject of great importance to everyone.

I must just mention our next public meeting on Owls on Jan 14th and full details are on our Diary of events. Link here.

I'm also adding another U Tube video clip showing a group of owls as I have never seen them before.

Owls, continued

Another email from a friend has brought me a photo of an owl flying new the village of Aller in Somerset. This was just a chance sighting during a walk with a camera handy.
To see the owl more clearly click on the photo to enlarge.

Owls and Carry Akroyd landscape and wildlife paintings

By way of a change here is a link to a remarkable artist. Click here. Thanks to Carry Akroyd here is the picture. I hope you like it as much as I do.

I came across her work whilst browsing for a birthday card in a local shop. The cover was very striking and as usual with art I find it hard to say why exactly because huge numbers of artist do landscapes and many of them are very good but some just jump out at you.
You should be able to find the picture on her web site, its called "Bright Night" and its a screen print and many others.
I bought the card and found her web address and for me it is well worth visiting.
As you can see from the picture above there was a particular feature in the painting and that was the OWL in flight. As you will know Owls are very much on my mind right now as we get nearer to our next public meeting on Jan 14th on this subject.
We are just getting our posters printed and must start in earnest to promote the event which I am sure will be one of our best.

Owls, continued

Leading up to our next public meeting on January 14th 2010 I have continued my search for video clips on UTube. I found this next one by visiting the Wild Owl web site. Link here

I hope you enjoy this excellent video with a lovely accompaniment by Katherine Jenkins.

Owls in Canada

Trying to find Owl clips from the UK but this one looks pretty good to me.

Chris Sperring on BBC Autumn Watch

Looking for info for our Jan meeting I have just discovered that Chris Sperring is appearing on BBC Autumn Watch this week. Why did no one tell me!!!
Here is a link to his Web site where you can find more information.
Here is a link to the BBC Web Cams.

Because I have only just seen the news item I'm too late to spread the word.

Chris Sperring talks about Owls

A photo from Chris's blog. See link below.

This photograph of a Little Owl is by Chris Sperring and can be seen with many others on his web site



We are very pleased to have Chris Sperring coming along to our next public meeting in January. On Thursday 14th 7.30 pm at the Huish Episcopy Specialist College for Science. Leading up to the talk I hope to be able to feature information and photographs relating to British Owls.

To start with here is a link to Chris's web site.