Previous meetings this winter
Blakeney Point to Wicken Fen – Tales of a Wildlife Ranger – 20th March 2025
Our last talk of the season was given by Ajay Tegala who is well known to many local people from his time as a ranger on Blakeney Point.
Ajay described how his passion for nature was nurtured in the countryside around Market Deeping in south Lincolnshire and while volunteering at Wicken Fen where he is now based.
When studying Environmental Conservation and Countryside Management at Nottingham Trent University, Ajay spent a placement year on Blakeney Point. He then returned as a seasonal ranger before taking on the full-time role.
Ajay illustrated his wonderful talk with beautiful images of life on the Point at a time when there were 3000 pairs of Sandwich Terns and a rapidly expanding Grey Seal colony.
At Wicken Fen, Ajay is responsible for managing habitat for Cuckoos, Hobbies, Cranes and even White Storks. Little did he think that much of his job would involve caring for his highly valued ecosystem engineers – the semi-wild Konik ponies and the herd of Highland Cattle.
After his inspirational talk, there were plenty of questions about his career to date which goes well beyond conservation to include wildlife presenting, film production and writing two excellent books – “The Unique Life of a Ranger” and “Wetland Diaries” both of which have received tremendous reviews.
We were very fortunate to be able to spend an hour in the company of such an engaging, enthusiastic and articulate presenter who, I feel sure, we are going to hear and see a lot more of in the future.
Many thanks too to our sponsor for the evening, BirdScapes Gallery
A wilder Norfolk for all, and how we make it happen – 20th February 2025
Eliot Lyne is the Chief Executive of Norfolk Wildlife Trust, and as he put it, a nature lover not a naturalist – an accountant by training. A larger than usual audience turned out to hear what he had to say about the organisation and its challenges and objectives. They weren’t disappointed, as Eliot gave a detailed run through of what NWT is doing.
The oldest county Wildlife Trust, it now has 60 reserves open to the public, with a further twenty or so not open for various reasons. NWT owns or manages around 1% of Norfolk, and its core objective is managing land for nature. Eliot admitted that there is not enough data on the state of nature in Norfolk, making it harder to formulate a strategy for delivering this objective. There are also conflicting interests to take into account: there is a challenge in balancing the needs for nature protection and recreational access, and in achieving sustainable farm businesses and nature conservation at the same time.
He argued that we need to do at least some things differently. He talked about the returns needed from the landscape: ecological returns, such as flood protection and carbon capture; social returns, by encouraging local engagement and connectivity; and economic returns, through nature based business and local employment.
NWT has a great many projects under way to improve land under management and public access and education, but Eliot also argued the need for more programmes, moving from small scale to landscape scale. They are involved in formulating the Local Nature Recovery Strategy currently at the planning stage by Norfolk and Suffolk County Councils, and Eliot sees nature as being at the heart of Norfolk local government. We all wish him well with this aim!
Following the talk, there was an extended period of questions and answers, showing how engaged the audience had been by his presentation. All in all, a very interesting evening.
Birding in the Caribbean – 16th January 2025
David Horsley is a well-known local birder and photographer, who since retiring from his role as a geography teacher has made several trips to the Caribbean, and has become a regular wildlife expert on cruise ships. He advised that the Lesser Antilles – the curve of islands between Puerto Rico and the South American coast – perhaps offered the greatest variety of both resident and migrant species, including many endemics, and suggested that the best time to go is January to March (leaving some of us anxiously checking our diaries and wondering about last minute bookings!). It seems that parks and botanical gardens in towns are “stuffed with birds” and offer fine birding opportunities. Despite problems with alien species, especially the mongoose, conservation efforts are having a positive effect.
He took us on a photographic run through the complete class of Aves, taking as he explained a ‘phylogenetic’ approach – taking us through the various Orders of birds in sequence from the least to the most highly evolved. The photographs, many with recorded songs as well, were stunning, and really whet the appetite for seeing them for real.
We thank our sponsor, David Ford Books, for their support and also for the interesting display of books offered for sale.
1,000 Shades of Green – 10th December 2024
We had a treat in store with a visit from Mike Dilger, well known as a regular wildlife presenter on the One Show on the BBC – in fact over 450 films for that show, he told us. So when lockdown came in 2020, as a freelance reporter, Mike’s income dried up. Initially he was able to make a report from his back garden about the wildlife to be found there, and the germ of an idea for a book was born: he’d tour the British Isles with the intention of seeing 1,000 plants during 2021. After much planning, involving his wife and son, he set out on his quest.
From his first plant on 2nd January – a Groundsel in flower at home – he recounted areas he’d visited, the hunt for plants to be found there, and the botanical gems he discovered. A thoroughly entertaining speaker with enormous enthusiasm for his subject and plenty of humour, he kept us entertained for almost an hour and a half – indeed, he had to cut short his presentation, although many of us would have cheerfully sat through another hour.
The formalities were followed by a fine Christmas buffet, and some free wine provided by our generous sponsor, Lynton Wines.
Saving the World’s Seabirds – 21st November 2024
For the November meeting we were delighted to welcome one of the world’s experts on seabirds: Professor Richard Phillips has worked at the British Antarctic Survey since 2000 and has made twelve fieldwork trips to the Antarctic and South Georgia.
In his fascinating talk, he outlined the main threats to seabirds, focusing on albatrosses on Bird Island in South Georgia. It was interesting the hear that there is very little evidence that plastic pollution has any significant impact on seabird populations. The greatest threat is bycatch – the death of millions of seabirds which get caught in gill nets, trawls and baited longlines.
Much of the information comes from dataloggers placed on birds which not only record their movements across the Southern Ocean but also monitor precise details such as their wingbeats, heart rate, each time their feet come in contact with water and, using radar detection, how they interact with particular fishing vessels.
Richard outlined the various conservation measures which have been put in place to protect albatrosses. For example, fishing vessels can be fitted with various devices to reduce the chances of birds being caught. Unfortunately, most of his graphs showed a steep decline in the populations of albatrosses so there is still much to do to preserve these iconic seabirds.
This meeting was generously sponsored by Cley Spy.
Curlews In Breckland – 17th October 2024
Many of his 50 listeners could have been grandparents of the BTO’s Harry Ewing but anyone who can find and monitor 204 Curlew nests commands instant respect. A shocking 135 of them failed, overwhelmingly due to predation, and what Harry called the ‘sticking plaster’ of predator control or deterrence seems essential for waders to sustain populations in the degraded habitat we’ve bequeathed them. The real answer of course is to restore fully functioning heterogeneous ecosystems without mesopredator release and on landscape scale, but Harry and his colleagues in the Curlew Recovery Partnership have practical heads on young shoulders. I’ve rarely heard such an elegant, succinct exposition of how we might actually conserve a real bird in the real world, delivered with warmth and common sense that must endear Harry to the landowners whose help is vital.
Electric fences around nests increased hatching from 20% to 90%. A mixture of vegetation heights is key with tall grass especially scarce in Breckland. Nests in arable crops hatch surprisingly well but the chicks must then immediately find grassland for feeding and cover so rewilding low-value arable patches can treble chick survival. Breeding Curlew don’t probe marshes, they depend on grassland invertebrates so their productivity is tightly coupled to human activity. Once fledged their survival is good and not presently declining, especially as hunting is now illegal in France.
All the Numenius are threatened, two are probably extinct and ours is heading that way but this was no celebrity talk – Harry Ewing walks the walk for Curlew and from experience he left plenty of time to give thoughtful answers to a raft of serious questions from an intrigued audience. His impressive presentation was kindly sponsored by Van der L Feeds.
Breckland Curlews are colour-ringed with (top down) Blue-Orange-White or Green-Orange-White on the left tarsus (other colours on tibiae) and can be reported directly to harry.ewing@bto.org
