Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory Trust (SBBOT)

Peter and Pauline return to us with a talk covering Canada from the west (BC and Alberta) through Manitoba to the east (NFL, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick). Topics and photographs will cover birds, lots of animals from various small chipmunks to the big stuff, flowers and fantastic scenery.

Jeff is Species Policy Officer for the RSPB and he will be speaking to us about climate change - what it is, what we can expect, what itwill mean for birds and other wildlife and what we can do about it.

Costa Rica is a small but very beautiful country with a huge number of national parks and reserves.  John's photographs, taken over eight visits, include a diverse range of birds, sloths, coatis, capuchins, orchids, bromeliads and much more.

A winter wildlife tour around the Southern States of New Mexico,Texas, Southern California intoBaja California and Sea ofCortez,Texas. From Blue Whales to magnificent desert landscapes, to Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes and Roseate Spoonbills.

A ringer and migration-obsessive for over 25 years, Mark works in the BTO's Demography Unit and is a key member of the Bird Observatories Council. What he doesn’t know about British birds is not worth knowing. He is going to share some of his vast experience with us in his usual easy going and irreverent style, giving us a whistle-stop tour of migration research, from gambling scamsand muddy Swallows to PIT tags and GLMs!

Peter will take us with him to the Ebro Delta in Spain, and to the Kiskunsagi Nemzeti Park in Hungary, not the usual tourist destination for either country. This is also a chance for all those speakers who have had to suffer Peter’s asides to get their own back

"The Colorado Chicken Run" portrays a trip to Colorado in search of two species of Prairie-Chicken andfour species of Grouse. It includes plenty of other birds, some animals, a few plantsplusstunning scenery.

Over the last 20 years Martin has transformed his farm from an intensively managed cereal producing unit to a traditionally managed chalkland pasture, rich in biodiversity and known nationally for its important archaeology. Martin will describe how these changes were made and the results of his work for wildlife and the farm itself.

Tony will take us to two distinct parts of this superb country. The first half of his talk will take in the Pyrenees, with their spectacular scenery and in the second half we will visit the south of the country, around the Coto Donana and the Rio Guadalquivir.

A trip to see the birds and mammals of lowland Ethiopia, including the Rift Valley, not just to avoid Christmas in the UK!

Brian’s talk will cover the ancient sites in central and northern Sri Lanka, together with the natural history of the area such as birds, reptiles, animals, flowers etc. Most keen birders visit the south of the country, so this will be a chance to see a different side of this lovely island.

Tony takes us with him on his wonderful tour of eastern Australia, from Tasmania to Cairns with lots of spectacular birds and animals in between. He managed to see some of Australia’s most rare and elusive birds including Plains-wanderer, Letter-winged Kite and Grey Falcon. He was also lucky to see Platypus, Echidna and Koalas, a fantastic experience.

Samphire Hoe is a new addition to the Kent coast created from 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl dug to create the Channel Tunnel. It is owned by Eurotunnel and managed in partnership with the White Cliffs Countryside Project. The Hoe is developing into an interesting area for wildlife and is enjoyed by over 100 000 people a year. Maintaining the balance between the two is key and will be central to Paul’s discussion of the area.

The main period of scientific voyages of discovery in the 18th and 19th Centuries concentrated on the 'thirst' for natural history knowledge, and included Darwin’s voyage on HMS Beagle. During this time the number of known species of birds increased from 3000 to over 12,000! This talk will describe these fascinating times and how some of the amazing discoveries that we take to granted today were made.