17th
July 2016, and once again my
confinement means that I have to apologise for the lack of bird news due to my
inactivity in the birding world, although hopefully this is not the case in
yours.
So I’ve put
together what I hope you will find some interesting bits of info re Birding.
A follower of my
blog was asking about telling the difference between Swallows and Swifts. If
only she could have been at my house to-day – the Swallows have been high and
fast, clearly searching for food.
Anybody admit to
being a Twitcher? I’m afraid I am one of
those people who will not admit to twitching, and when I was interviewed on
radio Derby 3 or 4 years ago the excellent presenter Andy Potter asked if I was
a Twitcher. My reply was polite (as I was on the air!!).
In an
article in the Guardian, it states that serious birdwatchers will take
exception to being called a twitcher.
Birdwatching entails recording the birds one sees, even the common ones.
It entails having the greatest respect for them and making strenuous efforts to
minimise disturbance when making observations. These observations contribute towards our knowledge of birds.
This information as is gathered can tell us if the bird population is
increasing, stable or falling and can help with their conservation. Twitchers are only interested in adding to
their list of rare birds.
I leave it
to you where you fit – probably in the middle somewhere!
I have
probably mentioned that I have researched a large number of bird societies to
find out why they have used the particular bird that appears on their logo, and
these are the first 2. I am indebted to those PR people, Chairs and Secretaries
who did not treat my request as spam! More will come later
Carsington Bird Club (CBC). CBC has a
Black Necked Grebe as its logo, because it was the rarest bird on the water on
the day the Queen opened the Reservoir on 22nd May 1992.
Next year
will be the 25th anniversary of the opening, and it could be a good
fund raiser to get people to nominate their suggestion for the Silver rarity in
2017. Arbitration by the Bird Club….. not me!
West Midland Bird Club (WMBC) Jim
Winsper of the WMBC reminded me of the background to the choice of a Ruddy Duck
for their logo, which in 2003 was changed to a grey heron and in 2014 to a Black Redstart.
“The Ruddy
Duck was adopted as the logo following the escape from Slimbridge of some of these
birds which in turn settled in the WMBC region. Sir Peter Scott, who was responsible
for adding Ruddies to the Slimbridge collection, had strong ties with the club,
and these common links made a Ruddy Duck most apt for the club.”
There was
much debate throughout the UK, about the decision by the Government to cull the
Ruddy, due to its alleged hybridisation with the Spanish White Headed Duck. But
the law prevailed, and many lakes and reservoirs saw dawn raids to cull these
birds. My records show that I saw a Ruddy
Duck every year from 1992 to 2015. When you consider that the cull took place
in 2003 > 2005, was never going to be 100%, I’ve done well to know, sorry
find a lone bird somewhere. (Stuffed and caged examples do not count). My
immobility has stopped me going to the location where I saw a pair in 2015, so
I hope they are a) surviving, and b) reproducing.
From my
perception, the WMBC logo, when they changed to a Grey Heron in c2003, cocked a
snoot at the Government decision, by incorporating a perceptible drawing of a
Ruddy Duck.
If you Google West Midland Bird Club/old logo you will see a
drawing of a Heron facing right. Rotate the image anti-clockwise by 90 degrees…
eureka… a Ruddy Duck.!!
Sorry these
are both such interesting stories, I have got carried away so it will have to
be..
TTFN
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