Day 284 - Brilliantly Fun Bird Fair

Hey everyone today's Day 284 and firstly, I would like to apologise that I haven't done any posts recently but that is because I was off collecting posts at Bird Fair! It is an incredible place to go and it was also my first one, even though it was their 27th Bird Fair. There's so much to talk about I've broken it into sections

I went to a few of the talks there which were excellent:

The excellent Dove Step project

• Dove Step - this was an excellent talk where Johnny and Robert told us all about the Turtle Dove, its decline and how they are raising funds and awareness by walking, Kayaking and cycling the route of the Turtle Doves migration. They've done the first half in two stages so far, very long and hard stages which took lots of endurance - it was pretty amazing - this is their logo and the link to their blogsite - and even better to their just giving page so you can donate to their brilliant cause. 

Iolo was very funny.

• Wildlife of Wales - Iolo Wiliams - another of my Springwatch favourites - talked all about the wildlife of Wales. There is some pretty amazing stuff to see there. I really liked hearing about the temperate rain forests and just how amazing the dawn choruses are there, I must go camping there. He also told us about some pretty amazing plants that have been left in the mountains after the last Ice Age. It was also good to hear just how well the Red Squirrels are doing on Anglesey!

Mark Avery - he said I was the only person he knew
that blogged more than he did!

• Mark Avery - Inglourious - last time I saw Mark was at the Birders Against Wildlife Conference and I always learn a lot from him. You'll probably have guessed that his talk was about driven grouse shooting and banning it! It's not a nice 'sport', not at all nice or sporting for the Grouse and not very good for the environment either! I liked the bit about some people saying it's traditional. It's only been something that has occurred since the mid 1800's so Mark said if we kept all the traditions from that time women wouldn't be voting and I'd still be going up and down chimneys to clean them! That sort of shows how much of an out of date tradition it is really.

Chris introducing the young birders

• Chris Packham and the Young Birders - was another fantastic talk. Chris talked about when he was a young birder and the freedom he had to explore the countryside around him. He also put up some funny signs like 'Woodland Closed for Hygiene Purposes' just to show how people seem to be afraid to let my generation explore the wild. I'm so glad I can! There were then three great young birders that talked about what they do. Josie Hewitt talked about ringing and nest recording, Connor talked about his passion for wildlife photography and Georgia Locock talked about how important it is not to just love nature but to get involved in campaigning and making sure it's still there for future generations. All very inspiring! 

Twitter People:

I also saw so many people that I am in touch with through Twitter. So, I thought I would list some of the people I spoke to, it was great to meet you all!

Lucy McRobert - thanks for all the support Lucy!

• Lucy McRobert, a great supporter of mine who was on the Wildlife Trusts stand.
• Georgia Locock who did a great talk about campaigning for wildlife.
• Josie Hewitt who did a great talk about bird ringing.
• Toby Carter, who was on the BTO Stand and the BTO ringing Stand. He also organised an excellent walk for a group of Young Birders which was excellent (Thanks :-)
• Sam Pitt-Miller, who was working on the same stands.
• Emma Websdale, another incredible supporter, who was working also on the Wildlife Trust stand.
• David Walsh, who supports me greatly and was on the Ornitholiday stand.
• Evie Miller and Abby Miller.
• Ben Moyse.
• Sorrel Lyall
• Noah Walker
• Ieuan Evans, BTO 'Comms person'.
• Andy Clements, director of the BTO.
• The BAWC Team - Charlie, Phil and Lawrie!

Wildlife Celebrities

Bill Oddie - Legend!

• Mark Avery, a wildlife champion who has started an incredible e-petiton to try and ban driven grouse shooting. Sign it here! If he gets 100,000 signings, it has to be considered in parliament.
• Chris Packham, wildlife presenter of (most recently) Springwatch and (least recently) The Really Wild Show.
• Bill Oddie, wildlife veteran and former host of Springwatch. He's also a great person to meet and also got his new book with his signature.
• Martin Hughes-Games, someone that I admire because of his work with wildlife, and how on Springwatch he is willing to do all of the extreme stuff that Chris and Michaela say they wouldn't dream of doing!
• David Lindo, The Urban Birder who made the Britain's favourite bird vote (robin, :-( I was hoping for the Hen Harrier!) I went on a 'bug hunt' with him and a great guy from up here called Dr. Roger Key which was great fun.

There is also a lot of fantastic wildlife to tell you all about but too much to include here, but don't worry there will be some posts on this in future! I'm sure I've missed loads out of this as it was a busy and incredibly enjoyable two days. I'll certainly try and go again next year!

Hope you enjoyed,

Z.