STANFORD BIRD CLUB NEWS

STANFORD BIRD CLUB

The Stanford Bird Club, officially known as Birdlife Walkerbay, is about to host the 6th Stanford Glendower Bird Fair from 1st to 4th Oct 2009. Recognizing the potential that avian tourism (the world's most rapidly growing form of tourism) offers Stanford, we have joined with Birdlife Overberg in an endeavour to broaden the appeal of Bird Fair. We are optimistic that we shall achieve our objectives and to get a comprehensive view of our program go to www.stanfordbirding.co.za and hit the program button for full details of our Fair.

The club is fortunate to have an enthusiastic and cohesive committee who collectively put a great deal of effort in organizing the Bird Fair. In an endeavour to grow club membership the committee is planning to increase the club's activities through a range of talks, films and field outings. One of our planned initiatives is the presentation of the “Flight for Birders” bird identification course by Anton Odendal at a cost and venue to be advised in the Stanford area on or about 25th and 26th February 2010. The course includes a manual and a certificate endorsed by BirdLife South Africa – roughly 1,400 slides and drawings will be used. In the vast majority of cases, English and Afrikaans names are printed onto the slide. The course focuses on basic steps in the identification of birds, places heavy emphasis on where to find the rare and often endemic birds in southern Africa and illustrates how ordinary bird-watchers could become involved in the conservation of birds and their habitats. The development of an infrastructure for birding tourists in the Danger Point peninsula will also be highlighted. Note that we will not offer teas and lunches to keep costs down and participants should therefore bring along their own picnic baskets and refreshments.

The club is conscious of the need for funding of birding activities and makes donations whenever possible to needy initiatives such as the plight of the African Penguin, the Overberg Bird Route and various other areas. The current committee of six needs to expand to enable us to reach our objectives. Currently our members are :

Elsa Gebhard - Treasurer and membership secretary
Lindsay Frith - Secretary
Philippa Castle - marketing and website maintenance
David Dowie Dunn
Peter Hood
Royd Frith - Chairman
Dave McCarthy (absent in the UK for a year)

Please support our Fair this year and let us welcome as many new members as possible. The bird clubs will have a manned information centre at the back of the Stanford Art Galleries for the duration of the fair. All talks will take place in the Municipal Boardroom and are free. For more information please call Royd Frith on 083 676 2282.