Hello
This year's British Trust for Ornithology annual conference will be a virtual one but with a full timetable of quality presentations of fascinating subjects as set out below. The majority of these lectures can be accessed via the Zoom process from your laptop or similar device by first booking your place via the BTO...
https://www.bto.org/community/events/bto-conference-2020
Monday 30th November
19:00 Tracking Short-eared Owls - John Calladine
Unusual amongst predatory birds, the numbers of breeding Short-eared Owls have declined markedly over recent decades. The talk will describe recent attempts to better understand what has arguably been one of the least understood birds in Britain and explore how that information could be used to secure their future. Included will be new and some very surprising findings on habitat use, movements and behaviour from ongoing satellite telemetry studies.
19:30 Cuckoos, conservation and the costs of migration - Chris Hewson
In this talk Chris will describe some of the extraordinary findings from our collaborative project tracking Cuckoos from their breeding grounds in Mongolia.
20:00 There and back again: A Shelduck tale - Ros Green
BTO research Ecologist Ros Green will present some fascinating new insights gained through tracking Shelduck.
20:30 Close
Tuesday 1st December
14:00 Curves for Curlew: Identifying breeding status from GPS tracking in Wales - Katharine Bowgen
It has proved near impossible to identify breeding status timings of cryptic species like Curlew without intense or expensive monitoring but this information is important to target conservation practices and management. Katharine Bowgen will share the insights gained from BTO’s work tracking Curlew in Wales.
14:30 Curlews in the East - Harry Ewing
Across Europe, Curlew are declining as a result of unsustainably high rates of nest and chick failure. Harry Ewing will talk about his PhD studies monitoring Curlew nests in East Anglia.
15:00 Using new technology to improve the UK winter population estimate of Jack Snipe - Colin McShane
BTO volunteer Colin McShane will explain how he and his colleagues have been using thermal imaging technology to improve our understanding of Jack Snipe.
15:30 Close
Wednesday 2nd December
10:00 Red Sixty Seven: Art and Words for Britain’s Most Vulnerable Birds - Yolo birder/Kit Jewitt
Red Sixty Seven received a rapturous welcome when it was published earlier this year. The book contains 67 artworks and texts by leading artists, writers and celebrities, aimed at highlighting the plight of birds on the Red List of Conservation Concern. Kit Jewitt will explain what inspired him to start this project and what it has achieved.
10:30 Chasing Skuas - Sarah Harris
The Arctic Skua is thought to be the most rapidly declining seabird species in the UK. In this talk, BTO’s Sarah Harris will present the fascinating findings of a recent GPS-tracking project.
11:00 Can tracking Atlantic puffins at sea help us understand why they’re declining? Annette Fayet, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford
Annette Fayet will present some of her research tracking the migration and foraging movements of Atlantic puffins in Wales and throughout the North Atlantic, which has revealed new information about their ecology but also provides novel insights into the potential drivers of their population declines.
11:30 Close
Break
19:00 BTO Youth Advisory Panel update followed by a panel discussion on engaging young people in science and conservation
20:30 Close
Thursday 3rd December
14:00 25 years of Garden Birdwatch - Kate Risely
The BTO’s year round Garden BirdWatch project started in 1995, and today over 10,000 participants send in weekly lists of the birds in their garden. This is an incredible dataset: we have records from over 50,000 gardens, and over 8 million species lists in total. In this talk Kate Risely will describe some of the findings from BTO’s garden ecology research over the last 20 years, particularly on the effects of bird feeding and disease, as well as our plans for the future of Garden BirdWatch.
14:30 Garden Wildlife Health - lessons from BTO Garden Birdwatchers - Becki Lawson
In this talk Dr. Becki Lawson from the Zoological Society of London will discuss some of the key findings from the Garden Wildlife Health scheme, showing how BTO volunteers and the wider public enable a better understanding of wildlife and how we can protect it.
15:00 Tracking the migrations of Britain’s wintering Blackcaps - Benjamin Van Doren
Over the last 60 years, the number of Blackcaps wintering in Britain has increased dramatically. Benjamin Van Doren will discuss the origins of these winter visitors, how they spend their time, and why they are here.
15:30 Close
Friday 4th December
19:00 Digital ears - using audio recorders to monitor nocturnal bird migration - Simon Gillings
Every spring and autumn, millions of birds migrate under cover of darkness, secretly passing over us while we sleep. Many of these birds are detectable by recording their flight calls, giving birdwatchers and researchers a unique insight into nocturnal bird migration. Simon Gillings will discuss his own journey to the dark side and share what we are learning about this fascinating topic.
20:30 Close
Saturday 5th December |
| Short-eared Owl courtesy of Robin Gossage. |
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