Wildlife Trackers

Why not pop over to Wildlife Trackers – You are in for a lot of fun!

Did you know there are over 20,000 kinds of insect, over 65 mammals and 230 different species of bird in the UK?

No-one has seen them all but this game is a race to spot 90 of the most common creatures.

To find out how it all works and get started click here.

We had a fascinating talk about the work of the BTO and especially the Big Garden Birdwatch

Many think the BTO is complex because the word Ornithology sounds difficult, but the truth could not be further from the perception as we all learned

From their website

"The BTO is an independent charitable research institute combining professional and citizen science aimed at using evidence of change in wildlife populations, particularly birds, to inform the public, opinion-formers and environmental policy- and decision-makers. Our impartiality enables our data and information to be used both by Government and NGO campaigners"

It's easier than you think

"BTO Garden BirdWatch enables you to collect this information in a standardised way alongside similar information from many thousands of other garden birdwatchers. In effect, you are a 'citizen scientist' "

"Continuity of recording effort is more important than the quantity of recording, since this is a relative measure of garden use changing from week to week. "

And it's not just birds

"we work with partner organisations to monitor everything from butterflies to badgers."

To read more about it visit their site http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/gbw and about the BTO http://www.bto.org/about-bto

We now have a speaker for our meeting on the 11^th of March – spread the word it’s Niall Mcann again with some of his amazing wildlife stories

If you weren’t at his last talk and missed him on TV here’s some information

http://www.niallmccann.com/

http://www.niallmccannbiggestandbaddest.com/

he’s a man of big adventures and always in a hurry. So all we know at present is the title we got as he was rushing out to Uganda

Hi Hilary,

I'll probably give you a talk about the TV series I'm involved in, which is to do with human animal conflict

I'll call it "The Making of". See you in March!

Niall

It's Christmas so Finland seems fun

Once again we had our Christmas event and once again it was loads of fun.

This year instead of me hosting a quiz we had a wonderful talk by Cate Barrow on her trips to Finland to photograph Bears, Woverines, Birds, butterflies and much more, all in excellent scenery

Her pictures were taken in the summer so nighttime pictures were full of colour and life with the cutest bears you could ever imagine 

Cate told us of her 12 hour shifts in hides to get superb pictures of Ospreys and has kindly given permission for me to share one with you here 

Osprey Making the Bed by Cate Barrow

 You don't get pictures like that without capability and dedication 

If you were not able to be there Cate has a new website at http://catebarrow.co.uk/  and  if you want to look at the finland pictures specifically they are at http://catebarrow.co.uk/gallery_591884.html

Cate has already told us about the places she is planning to go and we're all jealous of her plans if not the amount of camera gear she's planning to carry

So until next year Ho. Ho. Ho... 

Best wishes

Andy

Antarctica

In a double header presented by Joan and Tricia our two past presidents of CNS. reported on an outing to "Antarctica” taking in the The Falklands wildlife and history, South Georgia and meeting up with the grand daughter of Ernest Shackleton. The ice sculptures from the glaciers and bergs were as spectacular as the scenery which really does make you wonder how anyone managed to cross those mountains. 

The intrepid duo had quite a better time in their adventure and they certainly had the best of accommodation in their former Russian spy ship. With Albatross and the like being easily visible from the heated bridge it made you wonder why they would want to get out, but out they did and dressed in bright red survival suits they went from ship to shore to have their adventures. 

You may think this attire would frighten off the wildlife, but none of it, as the seals just kept an eye on them and six different penguins made for an exciting time birdwatching. 

 

Got a boring wall?

Why not see if the Open University poster can brighten it up

We received this link from one of our members and thought it was worth sharing

Do you know about Wallace ?

Many of us do and are aware of where he lived in Usk for a short time

I had this series of lectures pointed out to me and wanted to share

All other series lectures (listed below) will be held in the Wallace Lecture Theatre (Room 0.13), in the Main Building at Cardiff University (Park Place, CF10 3AT). All lectures will begin at 18:30, and are FREE TO ATTEND. No advance booking is required. All members of the University and the general public are welcome.

• 8 October 2013: James Williams (University of Sussex) – "Alfred Russel Wallace – a Life, a Love of Science, and the Mysterious Missing 'L'"
• 12 November 2013: Mike Bruford (Cardiff University) – "Wallace and the Foundations of Biogeography"
• 10 December 2013: Sandy Knapp (Natural History Museum) – "Wallace in Wales"
• 14 January 2014: Steve Jones (University College London) – "Wallace and the Limits to Evolution"
• 11 February 2014: Dick Vane-Wright (University of Kent & Natural History Museum) – "Wallace and Coloration"
• 11 March 2014: Danny McCarroll (Swansea University) – "Wallace and Ice Ages"
• 8 April 2014: Stephen Inglis (National Institute for Biological Standards & Control) – "Wallace and Vaccination: Great Minds Don't Always Think Alike"
• 13 May 2014: Martin Rees (University of Cambridge) – "Wallace and Extraterrestrial Life"
• 10 June 2014: Chris Stringer (Natural History Museum) – "Wallace, Darwin and Human Evolution"

Download the brochure HERE.