On Saturday 9th May 18 young people from across Yorkshire arrived at the Anderton Institute in Linton to attend a “Beginners Birding” class being run by Friends of the Dales and The Upper Wharfedale Field Society.
The morning session consisted of a brief introduction to some of the more common bird types that are likely to be seen in the surrounding area as well as a focus on the different features that help with bird identification. Participants then had the opportunity to make their own identification charts which they could use during the afternoon bird walk. A brief introduction to using binoculars was also given by Ann Shadrake.
Photograph thanks to Hanne Barton
Fortunately, the rain and wind that had been a feature of the morning turned to dry with sunny intervals in the afternoon. Perhaps keen to catch up on missed feeding time, over 30 different species of bird were spotted during the 2 hour stroll including curlews, lapwings, oystercatchers, a buzzard, heron and dunnock. Despite the cold wind everyone had a good experience and left having learned something from the day.
In the feedback many participants mentioned how much they valued working with experienced birders so a huge thank you to Josephine Drake, Win Clements, Hanne and Andrew Barton from The Upper Wharfedale Field Society and Mohammed Dhalech from Friends of the Dales. Tony Serjeant, Robyn Geldard and Caroline Ward put the presentation together and big shout out needs to go to Victoria Benn from Friends of the Dales whose organisational skills made sure everything was ready and made the day run smoothly.
Photograph thanks to Friends of the Dales