FREE Where to Watch Birds info 589 sites worldwide, 47 countries includes bird lists, other taxa. Information aimed mainly at independent and low budget birders.

TO ACCESS INFORMATION ON BIRDING SITES USE THE WORLD REGION BUTTONS ABOVE LEFT AND THEN PICK THE COUNTRY YOU WANT. Or select from the Most Recent or Most Popular lists above. Past newsflash items and other environmental issues and much more can be found under OTHER ITEMS. To find sites in close geographical locations for a trip search by a county or a few counties that are intrinsically linked. You can also search BSG by species.













































THORNE MOORS BIRDING BLOG 2012

LATEST UPDATE 5th FEBRUARY. . THE 2010 REPORT IS OUT ON THORNE & HATFIELD MOORS CONSERVATION FORUM WEBSITE THORNE MOORS BIRD REPORT 2010 (now updated with late records!)

THORNE MOORS BIRDING BLOG 2010

The 2009 BIRD REPORT THORNE MOORS BIRD REPORT 2009

THE NEW DONCASTER BIRDING WEBSITE IS NOW UP AND RUNNING, PLEASE SEE

DONCASTER BIRDING

ANNOUNCING TR19 PUBLICATION

The Birds of Thorne Moors: An Annotated Checklist (only 10 copies now left)

Published November 2010. Pp. [1]-48; Photographic cover, plus full colour frontispiece and 2 figures. In recent years, a desktop review has been undertaken of all vertebrate classes on Thorne Moors, birds being the final publication.

See THMCF website for more info and images of the publication and how to order TR19 The Birds of Thorne Moors: An Annotated Checklist

£3.00 (postage and packaging £1.50 extra), cheques payable to the Thorne & Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum. Free delivery may be available for addresses in Thorne and Hatfield.

For further information please contact: Keith Heywood 15 South End, Thorne, DONCASTER DN8 5QN Tel. 01405 813117

NEXT DONCASTER & DISTRICT ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEXT MEETING Doncaster & District OS, Doncaster & District OS meeting this Thursday 20th Oct 19.15pm. Featuring J B Haugue – Texas Gulf Coast. Parklands S&S club, Wheatley Hall rd, Doncaster DN24LT £2.50 non-members, all welcome.

TURKISH TRIP REPORT 2011. Again loads of high quality photos of birds, insects and reptiles, from Tristan.

SPANISH TRIP REPORT 2010. Loads of high quality photos of birds, insects and reptiles, from Tristan.

Help the Nature Conservancy and sustainability partner Andrew Liveris stop the decline of migratory bird population by preserving their natural habitats.

THE GOOD NEWS SECTION It may seem there is not much good news around concerning the environment, however this is not true as these links prove.

INTERNATIONAL BIOCHAR INITIATIVE

Biochar is an amazing soil conditioner and super effecient multi-fuel and can be produced anywhere in the world easily and cheaply with little technology. Increases in crops are regularly over 200-300% in the first season and this high yield continues indefinitely with little extra input.

A BBC VIDEO INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE FARMING IN THE UK How to save money and be more productive with LESS work

Permaculture works anywhere in the world, even in harsh, salty deserts, rapidly and with dramatic results. Greening the Desert and Greening the Desert Follow-Up

SAHARA SOLAR POWER PROJECT HAS BEGUN, POWER FOR EU AND AFRICA IN 5 YEARS

SAHARA SOLAR POWER PROJECT WEBSITE

HEMP ARTICLE UPDATED

This is an article about industrial hemp, which contains no, or so little narcotic you could never get high on it. This is a page about a plant which for whatever product it can produce is either second to none or a good second, yet can be grown where many higher yielding crops (for whatever product) cannot be easily grown. If you choose a hemp product of any sort, you are guaranteed of a product that has been sustainably produced, almost certainly organic and of a very high standard. Use it whenever you can.

Ever fancied birding the Amazon in Ecuador? Then this slide show should interest you. Shiripuno Lodge

American Wigeon, Caerlaverock, more photos and info on Caerlaverock HERE





































NEW VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY at Laguna Blanca, Paraguay, see Para la Tierra for more info. Also see write-up here on BSG.

Araripe Manakin (above) is one of the world's rarest birds and perhaps the one with the smallest world range of 1 square KM. It is found in the Caatinga of NE Brazil, and since it was only recently discovered has no formal protection (photo Andy Marshall 2007)

EVER CONSIDERED VOLUNTEERING FOR NATURE CONSERVATION?

IT IS EASY AND OFTEN FAR CHEAPER THAN A CONVENTIONAL HOLIDAY AND YOU GET TO MEET LOTS OF LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE AND TO STAY IN BEAUTIFUL SURROUNDINGS. THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT LINK IS AN EXAMPLE OF A VERY POPULAR PLACE IN TROPICAL SOUTH AMERICA IRACAMBI, SE BRAZIL (Look at their website via the link on the account for ways of volunteering). Alternatively on BSG try WORLDWIDE LINKS: TRAVEL ADVICE, VOLUNTEERING & ACCOMMODATION where there is a worldwide inventory of organisations to volunteer for, and lots of advice on getting there and cheaper places to stay.

For most volunteering projects you do not need to know anything about wildlife or be able to speak a foreign language, you do need enthusiasm and a willingness to learn at least a little. It may surprise you what skills are sought after in a volunteer, these can include: office skills, fundraising, language skills but also things such as building, plumbing, IT, photographic, guiding and mechanical skills. Many projects are in developing countries where these skills are in scarce supply or are too expensive for a small struggling NGO to pay for. Besides specific skills there are always activities which involve group work that do not require you to be skilled in the activity. This can include tree planting, trail maintenance, working with school children and many other tasks. So do not be put off by thinking you have nothing to offer, send in an email and include a CV or summary of who you are and what you do (you are unlikely to be refused but the NGO has to plan its timetable around who is available with which skills at what time) and wait and see if the dates offer suit.

Once there, tasks are often not demanding; they have to suit young and old, able and less able, but you can always do more if you want. There are always days off, and usually no problem taking an extra day or so to explore or shop. You should find it an amazingly rewarding thing to do and make many new friends.

Why not go see SAMBURU'S BIRDS & ELEPHANTS with local guide Shailesh? Below are 2 of his recent photos.

All photos by BSG unless otherwise stated, in which case used by kind permission. Copyright of photos is owned by the photographer.

WEBSITE FOCUS

LOWER DERWENT VALLEY AND SKIPWITH COMMON NATIONAL NATURE RESERVES

BATUMI RAPTOR COUNT . A component of the project now in full development is ecotourism. Local families are organizing lodges for visitors. This generates income either for the locals and for the project itself. Developing tourism within local families acts against propension to poaching, appearently the greatest threat to migrants around Batumi.

Thorne and Hatfield Moors Conservation Forum

Updated and better, look here for all the latest Thorne Moors vertebrate reports including birds and learn of the 3rd biggest invertebrate list in Britain! Also see HATFIELD MOORS BIRDING BLOG for the latest bird sightings.

BINOCULARFACE

Tristan's heroic adventures after plants and birds continue without me!

STOP DODO

Looking for a job to do with conservation and the environment, this website has one of the biggest listings for jobs worldwide.

WORLD INSTITUTE FOR CONSERVATION & ENVIRONMENT, WICE

An amazingly comprehensive institute covering all regions and issues in detail. An excellent easy to use website with world map.

Bumblebee Conservation Trust

The UK has 25 species of bumblebee but sadly 3 are already extinct. To protect the remaining threatened species we need to act quickly, but the good news is that YOU can help.

Para la Tierra NEW VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITY at Laguna Blanca, Paraguay. Also see write-up here on BSG.