The AGM on 1st April is postponed and forthcoming field trips are cancelled following government advice in relation to Coronavirus Covid-19. The AGM will be re-arranged and field trips restored when it is safe to do so. The Birdfair which was due to take place at Langford Lakes on 18th April in conjunction with the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust is also postponed until a date later in the year.
Wiltshire Ornithological Society and Wiltshire Wildlife Trust are hosting a Bird Fair - celebrating and learning about Wiltshire’s birds
Saturday 18th April 2020 from 9am - 2pm
More information under events
Everyone is welcome, whether you are an experienced birder, or just curious to learn more about our feathered friends!
Please note change of speaker. Frank Mogford will be presenting "Birding in Cyprus" at West Ashton Village Hall on 12th February 2020 at 2 pm.
..........now on the website.
22nd - 30th June 2019
Local events:
For more information about national events see http://actionforswifts.blogspot.com/p/2019-swift-awareness-week.html
Hen Harrier Day 2018: the persecution of birds of prey continues in the UK with hen harriers being brought to the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England. Events to highlight this illegal behaviour are being held throughout the country in August http://henharrierday.org
Over the next few years the BTO will be running a series of surveys aimed at increasing our knowledge of the various owl species found in Britain. The first of these surveys is the Tawny Owl Point Survey (TOPS), for which volunteers are now being sought, and which will run from 15 August to 15 October this year, with follow-up surveys in early spring next year and then again in autumn 2019 and spring 2020.
TOPS is based on pre-determined 10km squares, three of which (ST93, ST96 and SU26) are in Wiltshire. Within each square the 25 tetrads are divided into “Primary Tetrads” (which were covered in previous surveys and are important therefore for providing evidence of changes) and “Secondary Tetrads”, which may be covered if there are sufficient volunteers available, once the Primary Tetrads have been surveyed. Volunteers are asked to pay two visits to their allocated tetrad, ideally within two weeks of each other. The visits should be planned to fall within the two hours after sunset and should last 20 minutes, to be spent at a point as near as possible to the centre of the tetrad, recording any Tawny Owl hoots or calls that may be heard.
Full details about TOPS are available on the BTO website at https://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/project-owl/tawny-owl-point-survey . If you are interested in taking part, follow the links to the tetrad allocation system where you can select a tetrad to survey, which Bill Quantrill, BTO Regional Representative, will be able to allocate to you if it is not already allocated.
Swift Awareness Week 16th - 22nd June
Do take a look at events being planned in Salisbury and Wilton by the Secret Garden https://www.secretgardensalisbury.uk/diary/ for Swift Awareness Week.
Other events are listed in the diary which are likely to be of great interest to those fascinated by the natural world and keen on helping conserve it.
at the Wessex Room, Corn Exchange, Market Place, Devizes, SN10 1HS
The WOS AGM followed by Stephen Moss who will present “Britain’s Big Wildlife Revival”. Stephen is a naturalist, author & TV producer who worked mainly for the BBC Natural History Unit in Bristol for almost three decades. He and the wider team received a BAFTA Special Award in 2011 for BBC’s Springwatch. Stephen’s book WILD KINGDOM: Bringing Back Britain’s Wildlife was shortlisted for the prestigious 2017 Wainwright Prize for Nature and Travel Writing. Stephen will be talking about what can be done to save Britain’s threatened species and the wild places where they live, from red squirrels to red kites, cranes to crayfish and bitterns to the large blue butterfly.
For more information on Stephen visit http://www.stephenmoss.tv/TV_Producer/index.html
No entry fee and visitors very welcome.