The Lincolnshire Bird Club

Another March, another LBC Presentation and AGM held at " The Admiral Rodney ", Horncastle from 7.30pm. In fact, the evening started convivially with the usual get together from 7.00pm, when members had the opportunity to renew old acquaintances and also to put faces to names for the first time. In my post, I am paying particular attention to the evening's highlight - the Presentation - especially for those members who did not attend.

Martin Garner began promptly at 7.30 in the adapted function room which was cram-packed with an estimated 80 or so members and with literally standing room only for any late comers. Martin's presentation, entitled " Lincolnshire's Birding Frontiers : from the Backyard to the Coast ", certainly lived up to its billing : time and again he referenced specific birds and specific sites and visits linked directly to our home county. Delivering it all with a light humour and in such a robust and lively manner, Martin ensured that none of his audience (in quite a large room and with no microphone facility) could possibly miss the content and, indeed, he managed to hold our rapt attention for an astonishing two hours (with just one short break).

The photographs, sketches and sonograms were all brilliantly complementary and, because of the clarity of his explanations, we were able to focus our complete attention on the detailed references made to plumage differences of a long array of birds, especially those from Gulls and Warblers, Ducks and Shrikes plus Wagtails and Finches. Not surprisingly, bearing in mind his specific specialism, there was an initial emphasis on Gulls.....but as a result of Martin's particular skill as a presenter, a number of members, myself definitely included, actually found Gulls interesting for the very first time.

As the presentation continued, Martin's main aim of convincing us that with a little more effort and with more regard to detail, we could ourselves benefit from closer examination of many of our Lincs birds to which we usually pay such scant detailed attention. Indeed, in that way we ourselves have opportunities to make discoveries and to push back the frontiers of bird identification and birding in Lincolnshire. A series of bullet points underlying this premise and flashed up on the screen as the presentation progressed cleverly drove home the point.

The AGM followed from 9.30 - 10.30 and it covered the usual agenda items which all club committees reference at their annual meetings - including the Hon Chairman's address, presentation of accounts, reports from the Officers, resignation and election of Officers and Committee Members,AOB, etc.........the full Minutes of which will be circulated/presented to members in due course. A particularly apt point was made before the end of the Meeting, when a well-presented and well-deserved vote of thanks was expressed to Andrew Chick as a dedicated and successful Chairman and to his hard- working Committee.

To sum up, - a most convivial and interesting evening, admittedly held in the somewhat cramped (and airless) adapted function room of "The Admiral Rodney", Horncastle, but none the less enjoyable for that.

Regards,

Freddy

Very well put Freddy, great night

_________________
Regards
Dean Eades



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I think the large number of members present who stayed for the AGM reflects the upsurge in interest in the Bird Club's activities. This is in no small measure due to the enthusiasm and hard work of Andrew and the Committee. I have attended many LBC AGM's over the years and it's the first I can remember where all the posts have been filled on the night. Well done to all involved.

My 1st LBC AGM and a pleasurable one too!

Congratulations to all concerned and thanks for the hard work you all do, as soneone who has sat on a few committees in many roles myself I fully understand and appreciate the time it all takes so take a bow folks

Nice to see a few people I have already had the pleasure of meeting 'in the field' and a few that were met for the 1st time albeit briefly, apologies to others that I did not talk to maybe next time eh?

Well done to all and thanks from a relatively new member.

_________________
Regards
Steve



http://www.stevenesbitt.co.uk

Indeed a splendid talk by Martin and a thought provoker -- brought back some memories of my older days including the initial excitement over the Laughton buteo and the one below written up in British Birds Vol 75: 2:88 -- no-one really thought about eastern Common Gull back then

Second-winter Common Gull with prominent tail band
On 14th March 1981, at Cleethorpes, South Humberside, I noticed a gull which
resembled a typical second-winter Common Gull Larus canus except for
prominent traces of a black tail band (fig. 1). Never having seen a Common
Gull of this age with any sign of a tail band, but having seen several
photographs of second-winter Ring-billed Gulls L. delawarensis showing this
feature, I studied it closely. I consulted the literature for the source of my
mistaken belief that second-winter Common Gulls never show a tail band. I
found that P. J . Grant (Brit. Birds 66: 115-118, repeated in Frontiers of Bird
Identification, 1980) stated of second-winter Ring-billed Gulls 'over half. . .
retained prominent traces of a dark bar on the secondaries and a subterminal
tail band. These marks are diagnostic, for Common Gulls hardly ever
retain traces of immaturity on the inner wings and tail in sufficient strength
to be visible in the field', and W. R. Hirst (1979, Birds of Cornwall) stated,
when describing the broken tail band of a second-winter Ring-billed Gull,
'this feature is apparently never shown by similar aged Common Gulls and
is diagnostic of Ring-billed Gulls of this age'. In a later paper, however, P.J.
Grant (Brit. Birds 72: 142-182) noted for second-year Common Gull
'individuals showing prominent traces of a secondary bar or tail band are
rare'. Obviously, this feature is not diagnostic of second-winter Ring-billed
Gull and should be used with caution when this species is suspected.
GRAHAM P. CATLEY
13 West Acridge, Barrow-on-Humber, South Humberside
88
Notes 89
PJG estimates that probably less than one in 300 second-year Common Gulls show obvious
subterminal black tail markings, whereas they are shown by probably the majority of secondyear
Ring-billed Gulls. An exceptionally 'retarded' tail-banded second-winter Common Gull
which he observed in Scilly in October 1977 also showed several brown coverts on the inner
wing, forming a partial carpal-bar, and lacked the usual mirrors on the outer two primaries.


and here's one from Barton October 17th 2010
http://pewit.blogspot.com/2010/10/first ... -gull.html

Yes an interesting evening it was, and also nice to meet you for the 1st time Freddy.

_________________
George Rutter

Martin Garner seems quite happy with our LBC write-up of his Presentation at : http://birdingfrontiers.com/



Freddy