The 31st Annual Conference on 23 January was not only up to, but surely surpassed its usual standard.  The mix of speakers was excellent, really holding the audience’s attention and sparking lots of questions, there was a great selection of stalls and information stands, and there was a buzz of people sharing bird news and experiences.

President Barrie Watson welcomed the delegates and handed over to MC for the day, Adrian Thomas, who had been busy "googling" the speakers and finding out interesting snippets about their backgrounds.

An interesting break from tradition was that the first talk was not about birds – but about some of their prey items, dragonflies, as David Chelmick enlightened us about the order Odonata and its suborders Zygoptera (Damselfiles) and Anisoptera (Dragonflies).  David had been inspired by a visit to Arne where the warden Bryan Pickess had told him he would never make a good birdwatcher but to concentrate on dragonflies instead.  I too remember a visit to Arne in the early 1980’s and coming back knowing what a Libellula quadrimaculata looked like, but not finding out until years later that it was a Four-spotted Chaser!  He also discovered that an essential piece of equipment for a dragonfly watcher is a chair to sit on and wait for the species to come to you.

Richard Cowser then brought us up to date with the progress on the BTO Atlas and the proposed Sussex Avifauna, emphasising the importance that we submit all our records, especially of breeding evidence, so that such information can be included. 

Our second speaker was Mark Hamblin, who used a website www.toothandclaw.org.uk to explore people’s attitudes to different predators – but also introduced the first mass audience participation at a Conference by asking us to stand and try to imitate the howling of a wolf.  Perceptions of predators depend on whether the prey is regarded as expendable, for example, is an otter taking a mallard more acceptable than a pine marten taking a goldeneye?  Or whether the prey is of monetary value such as a red grouse or a racing pigeon.  A challenging talk, which left much to ponder.

Then followed the buffet lunch, masterminded by Audrey Wende, set out by a local Guiding group, and with the traditional dollop of Marjorie Mason’s home-made chutney.  As we settled back into our seats, Barrie Watson took the stage again to present the President’s Award to Audrey for her exceptional service to the Society in 2009.  Barrie pointed out that it was not for being Chairman of Council, organising the field outings, or sorting out more than 250 Conference lunches, but for taking on the role of Swift Champion and driving many miles round the Sussex countryside delivering nest boxes and ensuring that these were going to likely nest sites throughout the county.  Long service “Stonechat” awards of engraved glasses were presented to Bernie Forbes, Neil Greenaway and John Hobson for their many years of service to the Society in many and differing roles.

Chris Brown, our technical equipment advisor, had struggled in despite a virus, but had to retire homeward at lunchtime – so naturally there promptly followed a technical glitch with the laptop! Speaker Steve Cale ad-libbed with stories of grizzly bears in Kamchatka, until Adrian managed to sort things out, and then explained the art of drawing birds.  Not by using the generally prescribed method of drawing two different size ovals for head and body, but by using boxes and lines to get the comparative sizes of parts of the body together with the angles of beak, wings, legs and plumage characteristics in order to capture the jizz of the bird.  He stressed the importance of field notes for identification after his sketches of an Iraq Warbler in Turkey led to its acceptance as a first record for the country.  If you google Iraq Babbler + Turkey, you can see the drawing for yourself!

Finally, television producer Stephen Moss talked about bird names, some of their origins and inappropriateness – for example, why is the most striking thing about a grey wagtail its yellow underparts?  Some of our most common birds often have names whose derivations are lost in the mists of time, like wren and sparrow.  Others are obviously named because of particular plumage (goldcrest), call (cuckoo), what they do, (turnstone), because of peculiarities (wryneck), or where they were first identified .. except that the first Dartford Warbler was apparently found in Bexleyheath!  Less well-known species were often named after a particular person, as in Bewick’s Swan, after engraver Thomas Bewick, but the species had to be named by someone else not by the person themselves.

There was an army of helpers involved in making the Conference a success, and  though she was unable to attend due to work commitments, special thanks are due to Conference Organiser Sue Walsh for arranging the programme and delegating the tasks so well.

Val Bentley