Spurn Bird Observatory - its Work and its Birds
Rob Adams, Paul Collins & Nick Whitehouse
The Spurn Peninsula in East Yorkshire projects over three miles into the North Sea, so making it an ideal location for monitoring bird migration along the east coast of the United Kingdom. Spurn Bird Observatory was established in 1946 and has recently taken the exciting steps of purchasing a new observatory building and publishing an impressive book, The Birds of Spurn. This talk, which covers the workings of the observatory as well as accounts of the typical birding and ringing year, will be delivered by the Observatory Chairman, Rob Adams, the full-time Observatory Warden, Paul Collins, and fellow Committee Member and recent Dorset resident, Nick Whitehouse. With over 391 species recorded, expect some exciting birders’ tales to whet your appetite for a visit north.The above event will be at the Bournemouth Natural Science Society, 39 Christchurch Rd, Bournemouth, BH1 3NS
http://bnss.org.uk/
There will be an opportunity to purchase copies of The Birds of Spurn by Andy Roadhouse which recently picked up the BB/BTO Best Bird Book of the Year award (see below from the BTO website);
Winner: The Birds of Spurn by Andy Roadhouse
The Spurn Bird Observatory Trust, 2016.
Stretching to over 700 pages, this hugely impressive volume combines a comprehensive and well-organised text with a superb assemblage of artwork and photographs (the majority of which were taken at Spurn). There is the expected detailed analysis of records for each species and the results are presented clearly and effectively so that the reader can take in the key points without being submerged by a sea of statistics. The overall result is a book that will provide the definitive work of reference for this site for years to come as well as being a pleasure to read. Those with a particular interest in Spurn will no doubt already own a copy but it deserves a far wider audience. Anyone with an interest in the work of bird observatories, bird migration, rarities, coastal birding or patch watching will learn a great deal. It sets the bar very high indeed for future books of this type.
