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Next Events
Swift Walk, Swift Pint
Monday 22 July and Wednesday 24 July
The annual ‘Swift Walk, Swift Pint’ events in Bungay and Beccles are scheduled for Monday July 22nd and Wednesday July 24th respectively.
In Bungay, meet at the Butter Cross (junction of Earsham St, Bridge St and St Mary’s St) at 6.30pm; for Beccles, meet at St Michael’s Church Tower, New Market at 7pm.
The idea is to split into groups and walk the town centres, counting all Swifts you see, and noting nest sites if you can. This will take about 60-90 minutes, then meeting up at the Green Dragon, Broad St (Bungay walk) and the Waveney House Hotel, Puddingmoor (Beccles walk) to tally up. Any other birds of interest seen on the walks will be gratefully received, hoping to beat Stevie Howell’s Whimbrel over Bungay of two years back.
As well as being a social, this is an important event in terms of assessing local populations and the relative success (or failure) of 2019 as a breeding year. By this time of the month, many of the juvenile birds should be airborne, and feeding up towards the imminent departure for Africa.
We’re encouraging WBC members to come along (particularly those who are used to counting tightly-packed, fast flying birds!) to either or both events. The final counts will be run through the WBC Great Quantifier to arrive at totals we can send to the BTO.
Leader: Paddy Shaw
Bungay 22nd July Meet at the Butter Cross 6:30 pm
Beccles 24th July Meet at Sy Michael’s Church Tower 7pm
Photo © Stefan Berndtsson, CC-BY-2
Gull Workshop 1
Tuesday 23 July
They often get an unjustifiably bad press and may not be to everyone's liking, but gulls are infinitely fascinating and their specific identifications need not be as daunting as is often feared. In fact, gull-watching can be great fun and we'll be showing you why! After looking for passage waders from RSPB Minsmere's East Hide we'll have a short introductory talk (nothing too technical and definitely not a stuffy lecture!) and then we'll be studying the gulls as they come in to roost. We'll be trying to sort out our Caspians and Yellow-leggeds from our Herrings and Lesser black-backs. Come along - you may be hooked!
Leader: John Grant
Meet at Minsmere’s East Hide at 6pm
Photo © Nik Borrow, CC-BY-NC-2
Bird Ringing Demonstrations - NT Dunwich Heath & RSPB Minsmere
Sessions start Thursday 11th April at RSPB Minsmere
Waveney Ringing Group (WRG) is a team of friendly individuals with a range of bird ringing expertise. The team consists of trainees, C-permit holders and A- permit holders, with training endorsements, all who are dedicated to our voluntary role of studying birds.
Waveney Ringing Group showcase bird ringing at National Trust Dunwich Heath (Tuesdays) and RSPB Minsmere (Thursdays) from Easter through to the Autumn migration period. It's a great opportunity for youngsters to see birds close up - bring the family along to say hello.
Session Details - click here:
National Trust Dunwich Heath Sessions : At Heath Barn on Tuesdays 08:00-12:00
RSPB Minsmere Easter Dates : In the Discovery Centre on Thursdays 10:00-16:00
No booking is necessary at either venue but birds are early risers so there is often more to see earlier in the day. The sessions are weather dependent - we cannot bird ring in very wet and/or windy conditions so please check before travelling.
Find out more about the Club's bird ringing activities here
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