THE URBAN BIRDER – The 6th Geoff Pyman Memorial Lecture
The late Geoff Pyman MBE lived all his life in Essex, was President of the Essex Birdwatching Society and was instrumental in the setting up of many Essex Wildlife Trust reserves in the Danbury area.
David Lindo, the Urban Birder, gave a lively, humourous and informative talk on March 15th in Maldon. David is well known in birding circles, an author, broadcaster, columnist and more recently, tour guide.
His fascination with birds started from the age of 3 when he watched a group of House Sparrows, and never diminished despite comments from his peer group that birding wasn't cool. His family was too busy surviving in Willesden, to have the time or money to take him into the countryside. Armed with library guides books and a pair of Dixons binoculars that cost £14.99, he explored the urban waste land of NW London. As a teenager he would visit London Zoo with some friends, sneaking in through a hole in the fence.
David's motto is 'always look up' because so many interesting birds are always flying overhead. His local patch is Wormwood Scrubs, first discovered by him 20 years ago. This area of parkland covers approx 183 acres, part playing fields, part grassland with a strip of woodland. He is part of a birding group known as 'The Scrubbers'. As there is no standing water on the site, there are no ducks and waders are invariably flyovers. So each year the group set themselves a modest bird list target of 100. Their best year was 2010, when 98 different species were recorded. Some of their sightings included Ring Ouzel, Buzzard, Snipe and Ruff.
David also persuaded the authorities to allow a small birding group access to the top of Tower 42, an office block in the centre of the city. Now the group regularly record the bird species flying over the centre of London, including Peregrine Falcons which now breed there, Honey Buzzard and Sparrowhawk.
The second part of his talk concentrated on his experiences in urban centres abroad. He entertained us with humourous anecdotes and amazing photos of time spent in Jerusalem, Nairobi and Taipei, San Francisco and New York. He has a strong positive attitude to finding specific birds, and relies on this 'Force' to keep him focussed. David finished the evening with birding tales of his recent trip to Serbia. It is very difficult to see long-eared owls in the UK, so the audience was amazed to see photos showing so many of these majestic birds in one large tree. Over 100 of these owls were seen in one day. (Check out his photos on his website).
David is currently promoting 'Birding Lunch' April 1-5th 2013. Taking a walk at lunchtime is not just about seeing unusual birds. Its just great to find that there is a wealth of birdlife to be seen just outside of our workplaces. Just look up".
Also he will be involved with a new TV Natural History programme titled 'The Big British Wildlife Revisited' which will discuss the serious decline of birds like the House Sparrow.
Check out David's website www.theurbanbirder.com. Over 80 people were entertained by his enthusiastic presentation, superb images and his special blend of humour. This event was jointly organised by the Essex Birdwatching Society and the Essex Wildlife Trust Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers Local Group.
For more information on group activities:
www.ebws.org.uk
www.essexwt.org.uk
David Lindo, the Urban Birder, gave a lively, humourous and informative talk on March 15th in Maldon. David is well known in birding circles, an author, broadcaster, columnist and more recently, tour guide.
His fascination with birds started from the age of 3 when he watched a group of House Sparrows, and never diminished despite comments from his peer group that birding wasn't cool. His family was too busy surviving in Willesden, to have the time or money to take him into the countryside. Armed with library guides books and a pair of Dixons binoculars that cost £14.99, he explored the urban waste land of NW London. As a teenager he would visit London Zoo with some friends, sneaking in through a hole in the fence.
David's motto is 'always look up' because so many interesting birds are always flying overhead. His local patch is Wormwood Scrubs, first discovered by him 20 years ago. This area of parkland covers approx 183 acres, part playing fields, part grassland with a strip of woodland. He is part of a birding group known as 'The Scrubbers'. As there is no standing water on the site, there are no ducks and waders are invariably flyovers. So each year the group set themselves a modest bird list target of 100. Their best year was 2010, when 98 different species were recorded. Some of their sightings included Ring Ouzel, Buzzard, Snipe and Ruff.
David also persuaded the authorities to allow a small birding group access to the top of Tower 42, an office block in the centre of the city. Now the group regularly record the bird species flying over the centre of London, including Peregrine Falcons which now breed there, Honey Buzzard and Sparrowhawk.
The second part of his talk concentrated on his experiences in urban centres abroad. He entertained us with humourous anecdotes and amazing photos of time spent in Jerusalem, Nairobi and Taipei, San Francisco and New York. He has a strong positive attitude to finding specific birds, and relies on this 'Force' to keep him focussed. David finished the evening with birding tales of his recent trip to Serbia. It is very difficult to see long-eared owls in the UK, so the audience was amazed to see photos showing so many of these majestic birds in one large tree. Over 100 of these owls were seen in one day. (Check out his photos on his website).
David is currently promoting 'Birding Lunch' April 1-5th 2013. Taking a walk at lunchtime is not just about seeing unusual birds. Its just great to find that there is a wealth of birdlife to be seen just outside of our workplaces. Just look up".
Also he will be involved with a new TV Natural History programme titled 'The Big British Wildlife Revisited' which will discuss the serious decline of birds like the House Sparrow.
Check out David's website www.theurbanbirder.com. Over 80 people were entertained by his enthusiastic presentation, superb images and his special blend of humour. This event was jointly organised by the Essex Birdwatching Society and the Essex Wildlife Trust Maldon and South Woodham Ferrers Local Group.
For more information on group activities:
www.ebws.org.uk
www.essexwt.org.uk