Clubs(wild life ones,not THAT sort of wild life)

Prompted by a private conversation with one of our members...........

Are you a member of a local wildlife/bird club?
Have you ever thought about joining one?

I joined a local bird club to make a few local friends and to quickly catch up with what goes on round my patch.This happens to have a guy running a great site where folks post what they've seen,so I get to know what's in the region(that's how I know there's some Waxwings around).
I no longer go on the "meets"(they're even more geeky than Mr Geeky Man),but still bump into some of them and support the website with reports etc.

I think for those who want to further their own knowledge and maybe make some like minded(not too geeky) friends , then give it a go.

Thats a great idea TB. I have been looking into finding something like that where I live. As you know I'm only a short distance from the coast where I've been taking my Coastal Bird photos, and I've notived that at time there are quite alot of people with scopes, and they are all in a group. I'm going to by myslef a scope, and see if I can get involved with them to see what knowledge I can pick up. Another good idea of yours was to have more that one Bird Book for identification. I have been looking in second hand book shops, and I've found a great one, it was published in the 1980's, called the Shell Book of Birds so its not right upto date, but the drawings in it are really good for identifiying Birds. There are drawings of the Birds in thier different plumage at times of the year, and it also shows them as juvaniles, first year, second year, and adult. As well as male, and female. Which is really helpful, and I would have been able to identify the birds I asked you about from this book. I've also bought a small new RSPB one that has good drawings in it to.

WS

That 1980's book sounds ideal WS. Seeing the birds at different times of the year and age will really help to identify them. I too am looking for a club or something to join round here and i'm going to start with our local Wetlands centre and also see about going on some of the talks they do. My passion for birds has really grown but my big passion is the Birds of Prey and I would love to get more involved in that.
Sharing ideas and tips is wonderful and often it inspires you to go that bit further with your interest. I am very much a from the heart kind of person with animals and I have a nurturing, protective attitude towards them, but I do need to build my knowledge more, especially with the birds, so I need to hunt out the knowledge more and stop just going Aaahhhhhhh
littlewid-x-

I have a couple of books from the 1930's,the birds don't change and let's face it,every year things turn up that the books say shouldn't.They are guides to aid you in your identification,but your own observations are probably worth a lot more for your own locality,chances are they who write books don't know your local patch as well as you do.

Good point TB, and one to remember
WS