Indoor meeting: talk by Dominic Couzens, Wednesday 10th Feb in Devizes

James Ferguson-Lees, president of WOS, writes:

 I met Dominic Couzens back in the 1970s when he joined a birdwatching group that I was leading around Morocco. Only 15 at the time, he already showed enormous enthusiasm and a considerable knowledge.  He reckons that he ‘remembers almost every bird we saw’, not least the Bald Ibises and Houbara Bustard – both now threatened species.  

Since then, I have followed the development of his ornithological career with interest. After gaining a BSc in Biology, Dominic turned free-lance as a writer and lecturer. He is perhaps most widely known for his frequent articles in the magazine Bird Watching, as well as from time to time in BBC Wildlife, the National Trust Magazine and elsewhere, but has also written about 20 books, the most recent being My Family and 50 Other Animals — a travelogue of his family’s attempt to see 50 species of British mammals in a year — and 100 Birds to See Before you Die.

Recently he has appeared on the BBC’s ‘Autumn Watch’ and ‘The One Show’, and was a consultant on ‘Snow Watch’. He has also worked for the RSPB Film Unit and for the National Sound Archive (Wildlife). The recording of bird songs and calls has long been one of his special interests and he has published several cassettes, most notably in his ‘Teach Yourself Bird Sounds’ series.

He is not, however, using recordings in his talk to WOS this coming Wednesday (10 February). Entitled ‘Vive la difference – Birds across the Channel’ and illustrated with slides, it will cover differences in the behaviour of various species in the UK and on the Continent, compare related species, and then extend more widely in Europe.

In Dominic’s own words, “The talk is pretty light-hearted, but there’s lots of science too”.  

It should be a very interesting evening.

Please note the talk is at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum, 41 Long Street, Devizes (NOT the Crown Centre), starting at 7.30 pm.