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Agreed, James - the "nature" and the "ism" seem to be reaching out to one
another for a naked embrace (oops, the Moderators will probably censor that
last bit!)
Incidentally, I thought the term "nature" (which is a bit tepid, namby-pamby and
old-fashioned) had been phased out in favour of "wildlife" which is more robust
and dynamic.
After all, it's many years since the Lincolnshire Trust for Nature Conservation
changed its name to Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.
But, at the conference, "nature" was the word that was used almost
exclusively by the speakers - none of whom seemed to have much (or
any) understanding of either birds or birders.
Overall, it was an interesting morning (so credit to the organisers), but I
thought there might have been some discussion about, for instance, the
potential for birding holidays in Lincolnshire (as in other parts of the UK),
plus a few passing references to the success of the annual British Birdwatching Fair
just over the county boundary at Rutland Water.
But mostly the content of the conference was general stuff about directing more
holidaymakers to places like Gibraltar Point and making holiday accommodation
dog-friendly. In fact, there was rather too much stuff for my liking along the lines
of let's-be-kind-to-dogs. But, on the other side of the coin, it has to be acknowledged
that dogs give pleasure to far more people than birds do - and dogs like to be in the Great Outdoors.
Even so, it was a relief, near the end of proceedings, when Chris Gordon, of
Natural England, spoke up to remind delegates that many birds, particularly when
nesting, were sensitive to disturbance. Well said, Chris!
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