Friday 13 January:  'Cognition and behaviour in animal conservation' by  Rachael Miller.   

7.30pm start, using the Zoom video platform  - entry from 7.20pm

The Zoom link is available on request to guests (non-members), please email Louise.Bacon'at'Cambridgebirdclub.org.uk

We will learn some of the key aspects of animal conservation, cognition and behaviour. Specifically, Rachael will focus on how cognition and behaviour research may be used to improve the success of animal conservation applications, with reference to means of measuring and applying impact. She will provide some examples of relevant research, including her own research project aiming to combine cognition and conservation to help save Critically Endangered birds using both fundamental and applied research approaches in the UK and for the Bali Myna, Indonesia.  

Dr Miller is a comparative psychologist and behavioural ecologist, with expertise in animal cognition, behaviour, welfare and conservation, and child development (www.drrachaelmiller.com). Following an MSc in Psychology at St  Andrews University and a PhD in Cognitive Biology at Vienna University, she completed three Research Associate positions in Psychology at Cambridge  University, before starting a permanent Lectureship in Biology at Anglia Ruskin  University. Dr Miller’s research interests focus on the evolution of cognition,  using comparative, ecological and developmental approaches primarily in birds and children, with a productive academic output (35 publications) and teaching record. She is Co-Founder of the ManyBirds Project - a Big-Team Open  Science approach to avian cognition & behaviour, with over 60 international collaborators (www.themanybirds.com).  

Friday 10 March, 7.30pm:  Annual General Meeting followed by 'A future for Caribbean endemic birds - perils and opportunities' by Howard Nelson.  Cottenham Village College - venue has changed to the  Common Room, in the main building via reception, then to the right. Zoom video feed will not be available. 

The insular Caribbean is a globally important hotspot of biological endemism, including over 170 endemic bird species. Despite this importance, these iconic birds remain among the most threatened bird communities globally. With high vulnerability to extinction from habitat loss, invasive species, over-harvesting and, increasingly, climate change, these species face accelerating perils due to anthropogenic change. With limited terrestrial surface area and the complex synergies between many of these threats and the socio-economic conditions of these countries present a significant conservation challenge. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts underway in the islands do present opportunities and lessons to ensure a future for these iconic and evolutionarily unique birds.

Dr Howard P. Nelson is a Trinidadian wildlife biologist and forester, with over 30 years conservation experience in the Caribbean. Howard’s experience in Caribbean conservation has included roles as CEO of the Asa Wright Nature Centre in Trinidad, Lecturer at the University of the West Indies-St Augustine on the MSc in Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainability in the Caribbean, and policy specialist on wildlife, forests and protected areas for Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of the Environment. He and his students work on diverse conservation issues in the Caribbean including conservation of Grenada Dove and its habitats, climate-change impacts on dry forests in Grenada, abundance and distribution of Trinidadian cetaceans, plant demography and distribution in Trinidad, and sustainable hunting in Trinidad. He is currently the Lecturer in Conservation Leadership at Fauna & Flora International, an Affiliate Lecturer at the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow, graduate tutor, and Director of Studies for Geography at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, UK.

Click here for the AGM agenda, accounts for 2022, and Minutes of the 2022 AGM

Friday 12th May, talk starts promptly at 7.30pm:  'Wild Banks Island - Pristine Arctic Wilderness' by Roger Wardle.  Cottenham Village College, we will meet in the Common Room, in the main building. Enter via reception, then go through the double doors on the right to the end of the corridor. Please arrive in good time as the main doors will be locked shortly after the meeting begins.  Late arrivals should walk around the building and will be admitted via the fire door in the Common Room.

The presentation will focus on a trip to the remote Banks Island and Aulavik National Park,  hundreds of miles north of the Canadian mainland and Alaska to the west: a truly pristine and wild mosaic of habitats and Important Bird Area (IBA) with only about 15 visitors a year. Located at around 74 deg north it is closer to the north pole than the arctic circle.  The island is around 70,000,000 ha and similar to in size to Ireland with one small hamlet of 50 inhabitants at the southern tip.

There are millions of water bodies, fantastic flower meadows on a scale unimaginable and biting insects at a density when the bitter winds drop. The island boosts around 70 % of the world's musk ox, huge tundra wolves through to the lemmings. Travelling by canoe, Roger explored the park, gaining unique opportunities to view breeding birds, waders in full plumage and inevitable predators such as snowy owl and gyrfalcon.

Birds will focus strongly in this talk but the untouched remote and surreal landscapes, diverse habitats, climate, history  and remoteness will also be discussed with the aim of giving everyone an insight into the far north and its importance to many migratory species.  

Roger Wardle started life as a dairy farmer’s son in Shropshire, where he first became interested in wildlife and birds. He became a farmer himself, managing his land for wildlife.   For over 35 years he has worked in advisory roles for the Farming Wildlife Advisory Group, in Poland and on the Lincolnshire Coastal Grazing Marshes Project. For the last 15 years I have operated my own environmental consultancy specialising in wetland management, restoration and re-creation with a particular interest in breeding waders.  Over that time I estimate I have created well in excess of 30,000 water features. Roger also has a passion for grasslands and botanical diversity.

Friday 8 September, talks starts promptly at 7.30pm: 'Spring in Georgia' by Richard Bashford.  Cottenham Village College 

Georgia’s location, on the eastern side of Europe and just north of Turkey, means much of its wildlife is a vibrant mix of both European and Middle Eastern, with a bit of Asia too! The magnificent Caucasian mountains, in particular, are home to some very special birds. Richard’s talk will showcase this superb region with such show-stoppers as Güldenstädt’s Redstart and Great Rosefinch, alongside more familiar highlights such as Lammergeier and Wallcreeper. In the east of the country, the rolling steppe and lakes are home to a wide variety of such sought-after species as Green Warbler and Armenian Gull, a range of wheatears and larks, Eastern Imperial Eagle, and other eastern European specialities such as Black Francolin, Krüper’s Nuthatch and Demoiselle Crane… all set amongst spectacular scenery.

Richard was born in Sandy, which played no small part in his early interest in birds. After leaving school, he began working for the RSPB on a variety of contracts until undertaking an environmental degree. In 1995 he worked for the British Trust for Ornithology, running the Breeding Bird Survey, but has worked back at the RSPB in Sandy since 2001 running projects such as the world's biggest wildlife survey - Big Garden Birdwatch. Richard has travelled widely in search of wildlife and has taken part in ornithological projects in Kenya, Botswana, Jordan, Albania and China (the latter searching for Spoon-billed Sandpipers). He has been leading tours since the 1980s and has led Naturetrek holidays throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, North and Central America. He is very active in his home county of Bedfordshire, supporting survey work and spending much of his free time searching for birds, butterflies and moths.