All meetings are held at the Post Office Club, Bourges Boulevard. Peterborough PE1 2AU. Doors open from 7.05pm with meetings getting underway at 7.30pm.

 

Non-members are welcome, so please encourage your friends to pay us a visit.

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The talk will cover the changing fortunes of birds and some of the other wildlife found on the Washes and what the RSPB are doing to help.

 

Charlie started his career with the RSPB on Islay in 1985 and was Warden at Arne from 1987. When his children were born in 1990 he and his family moved to the Fens where he is the Senior Site Manager at RSPB Nene Washes. He is also an Honorary
Member of PBC.

Tom will give an introduction to Natural England’s National Nature Reserves in NW Norfolk with key species highlights and historical information followed by a discussion on the in-depth Nightjar monitoring NE has been undertaking at Dersingham Bog NNR.

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Tom works for Natural England.

The 2021 National Turtle Dove census revealed the UK Turtle Dove population to be at an all-time low of 2100 pairs. Evidence suggests that this historic decline is mostly a result of fewer breeding attempts which have been linked to reduced food availability and unsustainable hunting on their migration. East Anglia is still a stronghold for this once widespread species. In Cambs (and a little into Beds), the Operation Turtle Dove team are currently working with 27 fantastic landowners – ranging from private gardens to large farms to RSPB reserves – to provide the right habitats for this species to thrive. Patient work with hunters along the western flyway (of which the UK po. Is part0 have resulted in real progress towards ending unsustainable hunting of this species. Come and hear how you can help conserve the Turtle Dove to enable future generations to enjoy their purring, an iconic sound of summer.  

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​Bethany is the RSPB’s Conservation Officer for Cambs, Beds and Herts. The team is based in Cambs. And concentrates its conservation work outside the RSPB’s reserves, working to progress the aims of the Fens Priority Landscape Plan. After starting with the RSPB in 2020 Bethany now leads on farmland advice, such as supporting the Ely Nature Friendly Farming Zone, engaging with Operation Turtle Dove stakeholders and managing the Volunteer Monitoring of the Farming Wildlife pilot project. 

In this talk, Prof James Pearce-Higgins, BTO's Director of Science, summarises the latest evidence describing how bird populations have already been impacted by climate change, considers what the future may hold, and outlines some suggestions of how we should respond. This talk has a UK focus, and attempts to make this global issue relevant to the birds that we see around us.

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James has worked for the BTO since 2010 overseeing both the research and long-term monitoring schemes that are so essential to track changes to our birdlife. He has worked on the subject of climate change for almost 20 years and lead's the Trust's work on this subject. In 2014 he coauthored Birds and Climate Change: Impacts and Conservation Responses, published by Cambridge University Press.