GNS only advertises other group’s events in exceptional circumstances; following the recent Cirencester Indoor meeting at which we were presented with Chris Sperring’s excellent talk on Owls and their conservation, the following two meetings being offered by Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group are in a similar vein and are exceptional.
Little Owls, with Emily Joachim
On Thursday December 10th 2015 with a 7.30pm start at The Cheese Rollers Inn, Shurdington, near Cheltenham, GL51 4XJ.
Emily will talk about this fascinating and photogenic owl, which is in rapid decline. Emily is a raptor ecologist and researcher who specialises in Little Owls in the UK; she recently completed her PhD on UK Little Owl breeding ecology. She is the founder of, and runs, the UK Little Owls Project and is devoted to supporting the species. Her recent talk to a group in Wiltshire received excellent reviews online. For those wishing to eat and drink, there is of course a bar and Pub food will be available from 6.30.
Breeding Honey-buzzards in the UK, with Steve Roberts
On Tuesday January 26th 2016 at Ribston Hall High School, Stroud Rd, Gloucester (GL1 5LE) – doors open 7pm for a 7.30 start. Refreshments available at a small charge.
Steve will talk about this enigmatic and hard-to-find species. He has been studying breeding birds all his life and Honey-buzzards for the past 25 years, which has resulted in him having two major papers published in British Birds as well as other papers elsewhere. Steve is well respected in birding circles, and is an excellent speaker.
Numbers for both events are limited and are therefore ticket-only. Tickets are now available online via the GRMG shop at http://glosraptors.co.uk/shop/. Bookings will be confirmed by e-mail, please bring proof of booking with you on the night – a printed copy of the e-mail will do.
GRMG doesn’t have members paying subscriptions, so needs to make a charge to cover the costs of these talks. Any surplus made on ticket sales will be used by the group for raptor conservation in Gloucestershire.
GRMG is just one year old, but brings together a number of members of GNS and other groups, all of whom have a special interest in birds of prey and owls and has been supported by GNS with grant aid funding enabling the construction and siting of Owl nest boxes. Monitoring, recording and ringing of other birds of prey is carried out by some members of the group, other activities in support of raptors is planned for the future including a special survey of Little Owls in tandem with the proposed BTO national Owls survey in 2016-2019. More information can be found at www.glosraptors.co.uk.