New Hookpod initiative to reduce albatross and turtle casualties...

Message from Becky Ingham from Hookpod...

I am contacting you to seek some support for a project I am involved in to save thousands of albatrosses and turtles from a grisly death on longlines in the rich waters off the Brazilian coast. I’m hoping this may be of interest to the members of the Northamptonshire Bird Club.

We are aiming to completely equip five Brazilian longliners with Hookpods. The Hookpod is an ingenious new British invention, which covers the barb of the hook during setting the lines in longline fishing operations, and thus prevents the accidental capture of seabirds, particularly albatross and also turtles. It then opens when it reaches 20m depth, beyond the diving depth of birds and the feeding depth of most turtles, to release the hook to begin safely fishing. In this way, fishermen catch fish and not birds or turtles. It is re-usable, durable for around 2-3 years and has no impact on either the fishing operation or the catch rate of target fish.

As you will see from the website we have the support of both Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham in delivering this project and are working closely with partners in Brazil to monitor the results. If we see the expected decline in turtle bycatch, the Hookpod will be the first EVER mitigation device to prevent cross-taxa bycatch in fisheries. 

We are seeking support in the form of any level of donation - every £1 will go towards the final total. However, as this is a crowdfunded project we have to reach our target of £57,000 to receive any funds at all! The link to the website is here: https://bit.ly/2JQGmTc

Spreading the word about this project is also part of the help you could provide. Even if a donation is not possible, sharing this email, flier and information with anyone you know who might be interested in supporting this work would be incredibly helpful. 

If you have any queries about either the project or the work that Hookpod carry out, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are confident that getting Hookpods out into longline fisheries will make the difference between survival or extinction for some of our most iconic albatross species and I very much hope that you and the group feel able to support this in some way.

With very best wishes and thanks. 

Becky

Becky Ingham

CEO Hookpod Ltd

HELP US SAVE ALBATROSSES: 

Find out more and donate at..

https://bit.ly/2JQGmTc

becky@hookpod.com www.hookpod.com

+44 (0) 1692 580068 | 07535 270077

Follow us on Twitter: @Hookpod

Black-browed Albatross.
Image courtesy of Dave Francis.

Indoor Meeting Wednesday 2nd May

Hello

Our next indoor meeting is on Wednesday 2nd May when club member Jeff Blincow will be providing an illustrated digital presentation 'Birding in Yunnan'.

This talk highlights the superb birds seen on a birding trip to South West China in the winter. At first this would seem an unusual idea but the remaining lowland forest along the Burmese border holds a strong resident avifauna and the region is the wintering ground for migrants from nearly all points of the compass.

The meeting starts as usual at 7.30pm and hot drinks and biscuits will be available during the evening.

Everyone is welcome!

Neil McMahon

White-rumped Sharma.

Rusty-fronted Barwing.

Both images courtesy of Jeff Blincow.

Dawn Chorus Event at Pitsford

Sunday 6th May 4am—6am

Celebrate International Dawn Chorus Day by rising with the larks and taking in nature’s symphony as the birds announce the start of a new day. Maybe you might also catch a glimpse of some nocturnal animals making their way back to bed. Enjoy a walk in the fresh morning air with The Wildlife Trusts’ Ant Smith as he guides you through the dawn chorus.

Booking essential   £7 per person, £2.50 for under 16’s.
Breakfast pastries and hot drinks are included in the price. Sorry no dogs allowed on the nature reserve.

The Fishing Lodge, Holcot, Northants. NN6 9SJ — Please bring suitable footwear for muddy, uneven paths, warm clothes and binoculars.

For more information or to get involved contact:  Mischa Cross on: 07734478473 Mischa.cross@wildlifebcn.org

Summary of Indoor Presentation 4th April

On 4th April a packed meeting much enjoyed Part II of Chris Ward’s excellent illustrated talk “Birds and Wildlife of Australia”.

  

Chris and his wife Caroline spent 3 months down under during (our) summer in 2016 having cleverly arranged a house and car swap with a couple in Brisbane, who happily spent three months in Milton Keynes for the duration!

Having covered most of their time in Brisbane and it’s surroundings in Part I a few months ago, we were treated first to very close views of Humpback Whales in Hervey Bay where the females gather in the warmer water there to give birth every winter and guide boats guarantee close sightings due to the inquisitiveness of these whales when the boats approach.

Next the illustrated tour moved on to Sydney, where after a brief spell in the city they moved out to the western edge of the Blue Mountains, staying at a couple of the more rural sites recommended for their wildlife interest, particularly catching up with Kangaroos, Wallabies and Wallaroos, Duck-billed Platypus and the tiny shrew-sized marsupial the Yellow-footed Antechinus.  Slides of these mammals were complimented by lovely shots of the birds of the area, some looking a little drab in their winter plumage, some of everything from Eagles to Honeyeaters.

The scenery here was stunning, the amazing sandstone cliffs of the Capertee Canyon – said to be the widest canyon in the world – framing the scenic shots of the wilderness on the valley floor with some welcome slides throughout the talk showing us the accommodation and surroundings in the areas where they had enjoyed their driving and walks.

Next we saw views and animals and birds in and around Darwin.  The monsoons visit this area every year from October to April, but in July when they were there conditions were ideal, although that year some of the dams were on the dry side and some of the most intimate photographs were taken of birds taking advantage of a puddle under a standpipe in a camp site.  They also enjoyed a visit to the famous rock art sites in the Kakadu National Park although somewhat disappointed that some of them have been so obviously embellished in recent times. 

Like most places in the natural world, visiting water bodies is key to finding the birds and animals – here around Pine Creek and Bird Billabong.  Similarly, as in UK road accidents take their toll too, but an Agile Wallaby that had met with an accident had attracted a Dingo briefly which Chris was quick enough to snap before it retreated back into the roadside bushes.  Rare Hooded Parrots were spied here despite having a very restricted range and the magical Bower Birds.  And like true tourists they took a boat trip on the Yellow River to take shots of the Crocodiles and maybe one of the best shots of the whole presentation – a beautiful pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles flying across a perfect blue sky in tandem!

Lastly, Chris closed this thoroughly enjoyable and informative narrative with the “must do” shot standing beside a 7ft giant termite mound and an iconic sunset shot over the lagoon back at Laguna Lookout at Noosa outside Brisbane.

Helen Franklin

PLANT FAIR

ENJOY.

NBC Photographic Stats 2016/17.

All points awarded in F1 fashion, 1st= 25pts,  2nd= 18pts, 3rd= 15pts.

Results in brackets refer to 2015. Order in total points scored.

2016 STATS,  15 photographers entered, 9 were commended (11 in 2015 ). 



                              IMAGES                 POSITIONS 
NAME                     ENTERED            GAINED                                   POINTS       Pts / IMAGE               P/Im  POSITION.



1  D Jackson.                  33               7 (10), 3x1st, 2x 2nd, 2x3rd.          141 (199)             4.27                          2nd

2  R Gossage.                 39              6 ( - ),  3x1st,  2x2nd, 1x3rd.          126 ( - )               3.23                           5th

3  P Gilbert.                     31              6 ( 1 ), 2x1st,  3x2nd, 1x3rd.          119 (25)               3.83                           3rd

4  D Thomas.                  14              5 ( 9 ), 3x1st, 1x2nd, 1x3rd.          108 (187)              7.71                           1st.

5  B Boswell                    22              4 ( 3 ), 1x1st, 1x2nd, 1x3rd.           73 (48)                 3.32                           4th.  

6  C Bowley.                    20              3 ( 2 ),  1x1st, 1x2nd, 1x3rd.           58 (33)                2.9                             8th.

7  M Swannell                 19              3 ( 3 ),  1x2nd, 2x3rd.                      48 (61)                2.52                           9th.

8  J Spinks                      14              3 ( - ),   3x3rd.                                  45 ( - )                3.21                           6th.

9  J Blincow.                    12              2 ( 2 ),  2x2nd.                                   36 (40)              3.0                             7th


Category Winners as voted by the audience,

1st    D Jackson,                12votes                   NUTHATCH.

2nd  D Thomas,                 11votes                   CRAB PLOVER

3rd   R Gossage                  4votes                    WREN.      



2017 STATS,   14 photographers entered, 13 were commended  


                             IMAGES               POSITIONS
NAME                   ENTERED            GAINED                                  POINTS       Pts /IMAGE                  P/Im POSITION. 


1  D Jackson.               30                   7x1st, 2x2nd, 1x3rd.                      226              7.53                               1st

2  R Gossage.              34                   3x1st, 2x2nd, 4x3rd.                      146             4.29                                3rd               

3  M Swannell.             27                   1x1st, 2x2nd,                                   61             2.26                                5th

4  B Bullock.                34                    3x2nd.                                             54              1.59                                8th

5  P Gilbert.                 26                    1x2nd, 2x3rd.                                  48              1.85                               7th

6  C Bowley.                28                    1x1st, 1x2nd.                                  43               1.54                               9th

7  J Blincow.                 6                     1x1st, 1x3rd.                                   40               6.66                              2nd

8  J Showers.              24                     2x2nd.                                            36               1.5                                10th

9  J Spinks.                 30                      2x3rd.                                            30               1.87                              6th

10 D Thomas.               7                      1x1st.                                             25                3.57                              4th

11 B Boswell.              25                      1x1st                                              25               1.0                                11th                       

12 B Gill.                     26                      1x3rd.                                            15                .58                                12th

13 M Williams.            27                      1x3rd                                             15                .55                                13th



Category Winners as voted by the audience,



1st   D Jackson,               8votes                       BLACK HEADED GULL

2nd  D Thomas,               7votes                       RED BISHOP

3rd  D Jackson                5votes                       RUFF


Photographers with equal points are placed in order with their Points per Image score.


4 more photographers gained places in 2017 than 2016, DJ has improved his hit rate and Jeff Blincow
is  very close to DJ in the points per image score
Again it goes show that a Northants bird can win Graham’s shield, it doesn’t necessarily need to be rare
or taken abroad, saying that a Spanking Red Bishop by DT again missed out by one vote  the same margin 
now for three years.
DJ’s Black headed Gull was a deserved winner striking a wonderful pose in its attempt to catch a fly.
I’m not sure what the outcome was but maybe Dave will let us know.

I Keep banging on about the quality and standard of all the entries and as ever there were some corker’s
this year and you only have to look back over the years on the blog to see some fine imagery.
Sadly some did not gain places but that is not to undermine  their Quality.

I’d like to remind you all that the competition is open to all members,  I reckon that most of these take pictures
so if you have only one image you like (thats what really matters) why not enter it.

The Competition is a great evening’s entertainment but its running time is getting quite long, Hopefully the committee
will come up with some new idea’s for future running.

Lastly as always Thanks to everyone who helps to make the evening special, they know who they are.

Keep Clicking’    Robin.

Catch me if you can.

New Photographic Competition Rules

Hi all,

Over the last few years the NBC Photographic Competition has grown enormously, time was when photographer's entered  'packers' to fill in the competition' entries to make it last an evening.

With the advent of digital and more photographers taking part, we needed to make a few changes in the way the competition is run.

Discussions with interested parties has led to a few rule changes. Also the format of the competition on the night will change slightly and hopefully it will not run on for too long.

So for all members taking part and those that are interested please be aware of the new changes, these can be found under the page header Photographic Rules.

Water Rail

Cheers Robin.