The magic of Spurn, by Zach Haynes

The Autumn months are some of my favourite. There’s the wonderful colours of the trees turning, and there’s also the migrations. It starts to get cold, but that doesn’t stop some of us! There are lots of places for the hardy nature lover to go and see this wonderful spectacle, and, in my opinion, Yorkshire has one of the best places to see migration in action. I’m talking about Spurn Point and it’s one of my favourite places to go. It’s located in East Yorkshire, and is a long strip of land that stretches about 3 and a half miles into the Humber Estuary. One of the things I find quite amazing is that you can watch the sun rise and set over the sea!

Sunrise at Spurn by Zach Haynes

This place is one of the birding greats. It's a National Nature Reserve and 40,000 people flock here at all times of the year to see the amazing wildlife that turns up. For the past 5 years, there’s been a great little event called Migfest held at Spurn. This is a held in Autumn when migration is at its peak, and usually, something rare turns up!

At this time of year, the numbers of birds are astonishing, in two days, 4,000 meadow pipits were counted! There’s also the vast number of other birds, like goldfinch, redwing, gulls, tern, and all sorts of wader and sea birds, seen over the point, or over the sea. It's the prefect place for studying bird migration and the staff and volunteers of Spurn Bird Observatory have been doing just that for decades. The landscape is also absolutely beautiful, with the peninsula sticking right out into the North Sea, and an abandoned army outpost and lighthouse at the end, Spurn is an incredible landscape, and at this time of year, it’s amazing.

View from the lighthouse by Zach Haynes

If you’re a birder, Spurn has an amazing amount of birds, and also some great rarities if you get lucky. The rarest bird I’ve seen there is a Long-billed Dowitcher, but also things such as Kentish Plover and Pied Flycatcher. The reason for the huge numbers of birds is because of the placement of the land. Peninsulas seem to be some of the best places for this, this is because as the birds fly along the coastline, they try to keep the land in sight, so the birds will fly along and down the point as they can still see the land there. The Point acts as a sort of funnel to bring birds in vast numbers to one spot.

Birdwatchers watching a Long-billed Dowitcher at Spurn on September 2017, photo by Zach Haynes

Because of the incredibly fragile wildlife that lives here, there are a lot of ‘rules’ that the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have had to put in place. Firstly, there are no dogs allowed on the reserve or point, Spurn has a huge variety of wildlife, including things like ground nesting birds and deer, so to protect these and their habitat, they’ve had to prohibit these, as well as vehicles. All access is strictly on foot or bike. The Trust also runs ‘Spurn Safaris’. These wonderful trips involve a couple of experts on the point taking you down on a specially equipped vehicle that they have. They take you right down to the end of the point to where the abandoned army outpost and the lighthouse are. These places are host to some amazing wildlife, birds especially. Being so far east and surrounded by water it’s a natural land fall point for birds migrating from the continent. Usually every year some sort of rare warbler or wader turns up and if it’s right down the end of the point that makes it fun for the birders taking a three-mile run down to see it!

On top of all the amazing wildlife, the people that are regular to Spurn are some of the nicest people you’ll meet. They are incredibly helpful to new birders, are open to any questions and they’ll always let you know where the latest amazing find has been seen. You’re usually tipped off to this quite well by lots of birders with backpacks and scopes running in the same direction yelling things like ‘Long-billed Dowitcher’ at you as they hurtle along.

In my opinion, Migfest is one of the best ways to learn about birds, and the wonderful landscape it’s held at. It’s a very friendly festival which is organised by Spurn Bird Observatory, everyone’s relaxed and you get great organisations like the BTO along. I had a great time meeting up with everyone again this year and can’t wait for next year’s, though I’m sure I’ll be back at Spurn before then! Maybe I'll bump into you there?

Zach, @nerboy386

Spurn Bird Observatory: http://www.spurnbirdobservatory.co.uk/
Migfest: http://www.spurnmigfest.com/

Nest boxes and winter feeding, by Noah Walker

Two years ago I started what I thought would be a relatively small nest box project restricted to a small wood near where I live. However over the past two years, more and more boxes have been going up, more land has been covered and more feeding has begun. Now I have around 200 nest boxes of varying types spread over 8, soon to be 9 sites (3 woodland and 5 farmland). As I said in my last post in 2016 most of the nest boxes are targeted at woodland birds such as Blue Tits, Great Tits, Coal Tits and Nuthatches. Now though I’m trying to focus on Tree Sparrows around the Thames Valley. Tree Sparrows declined by 96% in England between 1967 and 2014 and are a rare sight in most areas.

This graph from the Breeding Bird Survey shows how much Tree Sparrows have declined in England.

Recently the project took a big step forward with support from the RSPB and a number of local farmers who were keen to help their farmland birds. Currently we are working with 8 farms trying to aid the recovery of typical farmland bird species through feeding. At 5 of these farms we are specifically aiding the return of Tree Sparrows by putting up nest boxes and feeding intensively. At this time of year I move from checking and monitoring nest boxes to maintenance and bird feeding.

Tree Sparrows, photo by John Harding

This winter I will also be making 20 more boxes for a new farm that has great potential for Tree Sparrows. Unfortunately Tree Sparrows won’t use the boxes until the second year of them being up so its especially important they go up as soon as possible to maximise the chance of them being used. Occasionally I have to empty out the nest box of the old nest. Usually I don’t do this as Tree Sparrows will reuse the old nest material and just refurbish the nest. Instead I only clean the boxes that have become full of Earwigs and faeces or contain dead chicks engulfed by the nest material from the previous year. At a few of the farms I have put up Little Owl boxes and a Barn Owl box so over the winter I will be checking the Little Owl boxes for signs of roosting individuals.

Hopefully one day soon Little Owls will nest in one of my boxes! This beautiful clutch was photographed by Graham Giddens.

Within the Tree Sparrow project the nest boxes provide a good nest site that Tree sparrows would otherwise struggle to find. This should help the productivity (breeding success) of the bird improve but then the young still have to make it through the rest of the summer and the following winter. To help the juvenile survival rates improve I will start feeding at all 8 of the farms within the next few weeks. At 5 of them I have been feeding since July because this should stop juveniles dying in the first few weeks of fledging and build the juvenile Tree Sparrow flocks up. Putting feeders out during the summer also means any ‘pioneer’ juveniles (dispersing from further away sites) will lock onto the food and further build the population. Other species that benefit from the feeding are Yellowhammers, Corn buntings, Reed Buntings, Linnets and Chaffinches in particular. To get the best idea of the strength of the populations of different species we ring at the sites during the winter. This gives us data on the movement, size and health of the population and any birds ringed as young in nest boxes could be re-caught and add evidence of juvenile survival.

A couple of my feeders

In the woodland site I will be putting up some nest boxes for Tawny Owls and Kestrels. Although too late for Tawny owls breeding next year it should give them time to investigate it and hopefully use it the following year. The rest of the small (passerine) nest boxes will be checked for any damage. Typically the nest boxes in woodland need cleaning out more often. This is usually because the species using them have more juvenile deaths and being on trees as opposed to posts they seem to get more bugs in.

I hope this post gives you some ideas for things you might do over the winter months.

Noah Walker, @NoahWal01

My internship at Bardsey Bird Observatory, by Elliot Montieth

From July 27th through to September 2nd, I found myself situated on the island of Bardsey in Wales, ready to spend 5 weeks there as part of my Autumn Internship, kindly offered to me by the Bardsey Bird & Field Observatory Warden Steve Stansfield, having been impressed with my work at the observatory earlier in the year for my college work experience.

Dunlin (Calidris alpina) – One of the first migrant waders to start passing through Bardsey and this individual proved it self a cooperative photography subject.

I first experienced life on Bardsey back in August 2016 whilst on a Next Generation Birders (NGB) trip to the island where I simply fell head over heels for the place: birds were coming in both quantity as well as quality, coating every bit of vegetation in sight, the scenery was utterly breath-taking and a good half hour after scaling the mountain you’d be rewarded with a transfixing view across not only Enlli its self, but also across the Irish sea into the heart of Co. Wexford. But that’s not all that Bardsey has to offer, as just as important as the birdlife is the botanical side of the island with nationally scarce Sharp Rush (Juncus acutus), Small Adders Tounge (Ophioglossum azoricum) and Western Clover (Trifolium occidentale) along with the fantastic Golden-haired Lichen (Teloschistes flavicans) all being scattered across the island.

Common Ringed Plover - A species that after many attempts i finally nailed a decent image of 

As at every site it’s the wildlife that makes you remember it and gives it the reputation etc. Yet, on this delightful spot of land in the middle of the Irish Sea you have to remember one thing and it’s that you’re on an island and with that comes a limited social mix. Given the fact I’ve got Asperger’s Syndrome I wasn’t expecting to immediately fit in, get along with people or feel accepted as part of the Bardsey family during my time on the island. Yet I was proven totally wrong as within a matter of few days in to my 5 week stay I felt accepted and created life-long bonds with people I never thought I would, with in times when things hit me hard, there was always a shoulder to cry on with Steve & Emma being there when I needed someone

Assisting the BBFO in their Manx Shearwater (Puffinus puffinus), studying was certainly an experience I’ll never forget. Perhaps one day I might be able to come back and ring a few myself!

A question you may be asking is why Bardsey? There’s 19 registered Bird Observatories scattered across the UK, any of which I could have visited: Fair Isle, Spurn, Skokholm, Isle of May, Cape Clear and the observatory that’s right on my door step, Hilbre Island; are all places I could have spent my summer hols at if I wished. Why I chose Bardsey was not only because of the aforementioned reasons, but also because not all bird observatories actually offer volunteering opportunities such as an internship, and given the fact I was offered work experience, it’s easily accessible and I already had a connection with island, it was an obvious choice!

Long-eared Owl (Asio otus) – One of the star birds from the stay, a cracking bird flushed by Ben Porter and I on an evenings walk round the mountain.

The next question is then what do you do when working at one of the UK’s best bird observatories? Well, to answer that question then is quite simply a lot, and from my experience it helps to have common sense combined with a practical/imaginative way of thinking. One thing that I enjoy is that you’re never short of work, weather it’s completing your designated census route in the morning, assisting with writing up a report, going through transects to finish off a bee/butterfly survey, digitising data, repairing damaged areas of infrastructure or just simply maintaining the cleanliness of the observatory and forming a bond with the guests staying so that their enjoying the experience just as much as you are; such jobs and more are why I enjoy the lifestyle of an observatory, because you never get into that zone of boredom.

The whole idea of an internship is so that you can gain an extended insight into the working lifestyle at an observatory and that is why I jumped at the chance of an internship at the BBFO. An experience that will look outstanding on a university application as well as a CV. As I sit now typing away in the BBFO Office, taking into account my times coming to a close, I find myself loving life at an bird observatory to such a degree that I actually wouldn’t mind taking things further and maybe work at an observatory one day.

I mean, I like the work load, its varied nature, and, that a reasonable amount of it is based outdoors, it also involves writing and doing research which again is something I enjoy stuck into as well as working around the greatest love of my life, nature.

 Bardsey experinced its best year yet for these monsters, Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli), with a grand total of 9 individuls being recorded throughout my stay. Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli)

Now, at the end of my internship, I find myself not only developing a deeper connection with the island of Bardsey and the people that are fortunate enough to call it home. But I now have a seed planted in my mind of a potential carrier path for the future. On that note I now have to say thank you to the people who helped make all this happen and made my internship such an enjoyable and memorable experience: Steve, Emma & Connor Stansfield, Liam Curson, Ephraim Perfect, Ben, Steve & Jo Porter, Josie Hewitt, Harry King, Luke Anderson, Kate Fox, Lizzie Forest and of course Colin Evans, the unsung hero of Bardsey for ferrying all island visitors from the mainland to this Welsh retreat.

Thanks for reading,

Elliot. (@Elliot_montieth)
Website - https://elliotsbirdingdiaries.wordpress.com/

Trip list: 115

Common Shelduck, Eurasian Wigeon, Eurasian Teal, Mallard, Common Scoter, Red-throated Diver, Northern Fulmar, Cory’s Shearwater, Great Shearwater, Sooty Shearwater, Manx Shearwater, Balearic Shearwater, European Storm Petrel, Northern Gannet, Great Cormorant, European Shag, Little Egret, Grey Heron, Red Kite, Western Marsh Harrier, Eurasian Sparrowhawk, Common Buzzard, Western Osprey, Common Moorhen, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Grey Plover, European Golden Plover, Common Ringed Plover, Northern Lapwing, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Black-tailed Godwit, Bar-tailed Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Red Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, Sanderling, Dunlin, Purple Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Green Sandpiper, Common Greenshank, Common Redshank, Common Snipe, Pomarine Skua, Arctic Skua, Great Skua, Atlantic Puffin, Black Guillemot, Razorbill, Common Guillemot, Sandwich Tern, Common Tern, Arctic Tern, Sabine’s Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Black-headed Gull, Mediterranean Gull, Common Gull, Lesser Black-backed Gull, European Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Rock Dove, Common Woodpigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Common Cuckoo, Little Owl, Long-eared Owl, Common Swift, Eurasian Wryneck, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Common Kestrel, Merlin, Eurasian Hobby, Peregrine Falcon, Red-billed Chough, Carrion Crow, Northern Raven, Goldcrest, Common Firecrest, European Sand Martin, Barn Swallow, Northern House Martin, Wood Warbler, Common Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Eurasian Blackcap, Garden Warbler, Common Whitethroat, Common Grasshopper Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Eurasian Reed Warbler, European Wren, Common Starling, Ring Ouzel, Common Blackbird, Spotted Flycatcher, European Robin, European Pied Flycatcher, Common Redstart, Whinchat, European Stonechat, Northern Wheatear, Dunnock, Western Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Grey Wagtail, Tree Pipit, Meadow Pipit, Eurasian Rock Pipit, Common Chaffinch, Linnet, Lesser Redpoll, European Goldfinch and Eurasian Siskin.

Get volunteering! By Ben Moyes

I have been volunteering at RSPB Minsmere for 4 years now, and I find it’s not only a great way to connect with wildlife myself, but also to engage other people visiting the reserve with wildlife too.

My main role as a volunteer at Minsmere is being a guide out on the reserve. This entails sitting in the various hides, and talking to visitors that come in to look at the wildlife, and showing it to them. I particularly like talking to children that come into the hides and showing them Minsmere’s speciality species, as I think that if you can get the younger generation hooked into wildlife, it bodes well for the future generation. We need a greater number of young wildlife enthusiasts, so do your bit, by getting your children to a local nature reserve, and show them the wildlife that the area holds.

There are many different roles you can undertake as a volunteer however. At Minsmere for example, you can be a receptionist, caterer or shop assistant. In their own way, they all link you to the wildlife around the reserve. For example, when catering, you will overlook the bird feeders, which are usually very busy with common bird species. Or, you may be outside collecting somebody's tray of food, which overlooks the amazing Sand Martin colony in the summer, where you can obtain really close views of flyby adults as they travel back and forth from their nests.

Purple Swamphen by Ben Moyes

My main interest in the wildlife world is birding, so whilst volunteering at Minsmere, birds are the main species I look for. Of course, you cannot go around the reserve without admiring the Avocets, Marsh Harrier, Bitterns or Bearded Tits. However, I have seen a few rare birds whilst volunteering at Minsmere. These include the Purple Swamphen, and American Cliff Swallow. I was lucky enough to see the Swamphen multiple times whist guiding on the reserve, and it was great to see a lot of people that didn’t know a great deal about birds coming to see this fascinating creature.

American Cliff Swallow by Ben Moyes

Moving away from the wildlife, you cannot fault the café at Minsmere. Every day I volunteer there this has to be one of my highlights! The cake is faultless, so when you visit the reserve, do not go without getting a slice of cake!

Having volunteering hours under your belt looks fantastic on your CV, and also when applying for University courses, particularly in conservation work. So, if you are a young birder, visit your local nature reserve, and become a volunteer. You will learn so many different things about the wildlife you see every day that you would not have noticed before, and it will be a great use of your free time!

Ben Moyes, @Ben_Moyes16 

BTO Birdcamp 2016 & 2017, by Ben Moyes

Launched in 2016, the BTO hosted a Young Birders weekend at the BTO Headquarters at the Nunnery Lakes, Thetford, which was sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka Trust in memory of Cameron Bespolka. The aim of this event was to bring Young Birders from across the UK together, and share their enthusiasm towards wildlife with other young birders they had potentially never met before. After the success of 2016, the Birdcamp was launched again in May 2017, where it was once again sponsored by the Cameron Bespolka trust, and hosted by the BTO in Thetford. 

The Friday evening was the first day of the Birdcamp, where the young birders were able to introduce themselves to each other, before being given a briefing of the weekend and moving to the campsite.

An early start was in order for Saturday, where there were multiple activities hosted on the BTO’s Nunnery Lakes reserve. These included bird ringing, nest recording, Common Bird Census (CBC) Survey and a general birding group. These were all very successful as they provided all of the young birders with some new skills, particularly from the ringing and nest recording activities. 

Bird ringing demonstration at BTO Bird Camp 2017

From my perspective, in 2016, I was a participant, whereas in 2017, I was a helper. In 2016, these activities helped me understand the different methods of conservation work and how these methods could obtain vital information about the lives of some of the UK’s bird species, whether they are residential or migrant birds. In 2017, using the knowledge I had obtained from 2016, I was able to help the young birders in gaining skills from the mornings activities, so they could become more successful at finding nests and be more independent with the bird ringing.

On both Birdcamps, the Saturday afternoon saw us arriving at Lakenheath for an afternoon of birding. On arrival, we were greeted by Dave Rodgers, the warden of the RSPB reserve, who gave us an insight to the work that had been done at Lakenheath to maintain a healthy population of some the UK’s rarest breeding birds (i.e. Bittern, Marsh Harrier and Bearded Tit). This introduction was given to us in both years, which I felt was really inspiring, as it gave the young birders an idea as to the amount of work that has to go in to managing a reserve in order for it to maintain its habitats, and its population of rare breeding birds. After a walk around the reserve, we headed back to base in Thetford. 

RSPB warden David Rodgers giving us an introduction to Lakenheath

An addition to the Birdcamp in 2017 was that the young birders were treated to two talks; One from Amy Hall about her experience at the Cornell Bird Observatory in New York from 2016, where she was given the opportunity to visit here for a week after being selected by the BTO at the end of the 2016 Birdcamp. The other talk was given by Ben Porter, from Bardsey Island, where he shared his experiences of living on the island, and the daily activities he has to complete, including the ringing of sea birds and working in the bird observatory. Both talks were very inspirational to the other young birders, so I felt that the addition of talks from other young birders to the Birdcamp was really successful.

The evening saw us out looking for Nightjars, with the possibility of being able to ring one. This was led by Greg Conway, where the young birders we given some interesting information about the behaviour of Nightjars, including feeding habits and their migration routes. This part of the Birdcamp weekend is always one of the best, especially as on both years we have been able to see a Nightjar being ringed!

A Nightjar being ringed, photo by Ben Porter

Sunday morning gave the young birders the opportunity to visit a Bird Observatory. This happened to be Landguard Bird Observatory, on the Suffolk coast. One of the main interests here on both years has been the moth trapping, which has been very successful both years, with all of the young birders showing major interest. As a helper in 2017, it was great to see how enthusiastic the young birders were in the moth trapping, and this theme carried on throughout the weekend with the introduction of a moth trap at the campsite. 

Young birders at Landguard Bird Observatory by Ben Porter

The final part of the Birdcamp weekend was some birding on the Suffolk coast. On both years, as I come from Suffolk, I had to ‘lead’ this part, as I was aware as to where to find some of the target birds we were looking for. On both years, we managed to see Dartford Warbler, Woodlark and Stonechat, with Redstart in 2016, rounding off a fantastic weekend.

Being a helper in 2017, I was able to use the knowledge I had obtained from being a participant in 2016 to help the young birders gain the best out of the weekend. Whether this was the birds they saw, or how successful they were in the nest recording activity, or even how many new friends they made over the weekend, I feel like every young birder from the Birdcamp had an amazing time, and would happily apply for Birdcamp 2018 in a heartbeat.

Ben Moyes, @Ben_Moyes16

Urban birding in Cardiff by Ethan Hall, Cardiff University Ornithological Society

Cardiff, capital city of Wales. Home of die-hard rugby fans, thousands of students, and a surprisingly large range of some truly remarkable birds. Whether that’s the winter thrushes that visit the splendid Bute Park, the Peregrine Falcons nesting on the city hall clock tower, or the spectacular Starling murmurations over the bay, it is difficult to escape our feathered neighbours. But then again, why would you want to? The bird life in Cardiff is something to marvel at, and hopefully you can check out some of these key spots and find out just what I’m talking about.

Bute Park

Bute Park alone is home to some of the most charming and quintessentially British birds. A gentle stroll amongst some champion trees during winter may lead you to see what I believe to be the funkiest bird that visits our shores. With a distinctive hairstyle, the Waxwing is most certainly a bird worth waiting for, and if you find one you’re sure to see more. Often seen flocking together and gorging on berries, the Waxwing are truly a sight to behold.

Push further into Bute Park and find yourself along the Taff trail to catch a glimpse of dazzling blue, or if you’re lucky enough, a full sighting of the glorious Kingfisher. Unmistakable in their azure and golden colours these birds make their home along the Taff and provide that jump of joy as they lighten up the day with a simple passing sight. Even those who aren’t keen birders can’t help a note of excitement when a Kingfisher flies past, a sure-fire sign that this is a bird no one wants to miss. 

Goosander by Jill Pakenham

Also making an appearance on the Taff is the Goosander. Not as colourful as the aforementioned Kingfisher, but a great bird in its own right, the Goosander is one of the larger birds to be seen along the river and makes a pleasant change from the never-ending stream of Black-headed gulls.

Outside of the park, it is always worth visiting the clock tower at city hall to get a view of the fastest animal on the planet. It is wonderful that such an amazing predator is right on our doorstep. I am of course talking about the Peregrine Falcons. The best time to see these magnificent animals is probably when they have their young during spring. The additional food they must supply means they can be seen out and about more readily and some cracking views can be seen, especially when the RSPB have their scope set up.

Also within the city, the trees of Queen Street come alive at dusk with hundreds of Pied wagtails coming to roost in them. Drawn by the warmth of the streets, these charismatic birds fill the trees and so many people walk along, oblivious to the hordes above them. It is definitely worth having a perch on one of the benches as it grows dark and just watching them roll in to settle down for the night.

As a mentioned right at the beginning, Cardiff Bay also holds many wonderful birds, but I think we will leave that for another post! Don’t forget to follow us on twitter @CUBirds to see what we are up to!

BTO Annual Conference 2016 by Gethin Jenkins-Jones

The BTO’s Annual Conference at Swanwick in Derbyshire is, for many, a very special and much anticipated weekend. As the year draws to a close it is a brilliant chance to bump into old friends, meet new people who share similar interests and to learn more about birds and conservation through lectures given by top experts and amateur citizen scientists. As a teenage birder I rarely get to talk about nature to others, and so this conference is has been very important to me over the last two years and is a weekend I never want to miss.

The Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick

This year the conference kicked off on the Friday evening with a fascinating talk on “25 years of ringing Choughs in Wales”, given by Tony Cross and Adrienne Stratford. The amount of data they have gathered over the last quarter-century is truly incredible. I was inspired by all the info on movements, population trends, mortality rates and life expectancy they shared with us about this beautiful corvid. I also learned that monitoring this species is by no means an easy task. Seeing photos of their death-defying use of 20 foot ladders on unstable cliffs to visit these nests, I know I’m not going to complain about using the step ladder to monitor my Blue Tit boxes any time soon!

Tony Cross with colour-ringed Choughs

At Swanwick, the first night is always rounded off by something that really gets my adrenaline going: the Quiz. This is the time where knowing the colour of a Purple Sandpiper’s legs or the weight of a Wren really pays off! Among my team mates were Hampshire ringer, Josie Hewitt, and 13 year old Louis Driver who was making his Swanwick debut (and probably reducing the average age of the room by about 20 years!). After being tested on everything from bird trends to calls we had to settle for third place, with only a point between us and the joint-winning teams. So close!
The next day was packed with inspiring talks, with ‘Birds and their Habitats’ being the theme of the Conference. A session on seabirds got the morning to cracking start, and this was followed by a session on woodland birds in the afternoon and urban birds in the evening. As I’m from Wales and very keen on seabirds I particularly liked the two opening talks which came from two young conservationists and their work on the island of Skomer: Elspeth Kenny, who gave a brilliant insight into the social interaction of Guillemots, and Emma-Louise Cole, who, under the title ‘Aukward landings’ (surely the winner of ‘best talk title’ at the Conference?!), gave a fascinating talk on the challenge that auks face as they come in to land on cliff faces and its potential impact on breeding success. It was great seeing Emma again at this year’s conference and with her plans for a PhD taking shape I think she’ll definitely be a name for the future and will become a well-known individual at this conference.

For me, interacting with others is one of my favourite parts of these Conferences. Between talks there was plenty of time to socialise with Emma, Josie and Louis. We had a great time taking walks, relaxing in the lounge and playing pool and ping-pong in the games room. It was also great catching up with fellow young birder Toby Carter (who saw his 300th bird species the previous week, well done him!), as well as PhD student and ringer Hugh Hanmer from Reading University and Sorrel Lyall. Sorrell is a very gifted 18 year old wildlife artist and I recommend you visit her website.

Grabbing a bite with other young birders

The final day of the conference saw talks on the challenges that face some of our birds as a result of our increasingly intensive agriculture, and also how studying and tracking birds has changed over the years due to a huge advancement in technology. I was immensely impressed by Nicholas Watts’ talk on ‘Wildlife friendly farming’. Nicholas farms in The Fens and owns Vine House Farm Bird Food. In the talk he explained why farmlands birds are in decline and how he has changed his own farm to ensure that wildlife can still thrive. The numbers of Tree Sparrow he sustains on his land are really incredible. Chris Hewson’s talk on ‘Tracking Migrant Birds’ showed how new technology used by the BTO is giving us an unique insight into bird migration, especially Cuckoos. Surely Chris has got the best job in the world!

The Tree Sparrow feeders on Nicholas Watts’ farm

After the talks had ended the conference was rounded off with the raffle draw, and who won a splendid new webcam was none other than Louis Driver himself! I think it’s safe to say I’ll be seeing him again next year!

Louis’ raffle prize – a nest box camera

I really enjoyed this year’s conference at Swanwick and I would recommend attending this annual event to any young birder out there who is interested in conservation and learning more about birds. There is a special discount for young birders, but you’ll still have to find about £125. This price includes the talks, accommodation, all your meals and plenty of tea/coffee and cake. Not cheap for a young person, but it’s seriously worth saving the pounds throughout the year as there is no other conference quite like it, and no better chance to explore your interests. Here's a storify of the conference tweets to give you even more reason to attend, I hope I’ll see you there in December 2017!