As the refurbishments are still in progress we were once again in the McNeice Room which on this occasion was full to capacity with a total of 17 members in attendance! Including (for the second month on the trot) another new member, Richard Pawlyn from Oxfordshire.
It was a beautiful day and we hoped the start of many, many more after all the bad weather we have experienced over the last few months!
whilst it was packed to capacity and at times extremely warm the atmosphere in the McNice room was as Roger said in his newsletter very friendly with lots of chatter and banter. When we return to our normal location in the reception area it has been agreed that we should review the manner in which we lay out the tables so we can create a more inclusive feel to out meetings and engage with the public in a more proactive manner.
Roger and Jim will be a the Severn View Farm Open Day on 5th April. This is an Organic farm open day running from 1 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. We will be demonstrating and hopefully selling some of our carvings. If any other members would like to attend or put forward carvings for sale please contact Roger or Jim direct. Vist the site for more details: http://www.severnviewfarm.com/
It was a beautiful day and we hoped the start of many, many more after all the bad weather we have experienced over the last few months!
whilst it was packed to capacity and at times extremely warm the atmosphere in the McNice room was as Roger said in his newsletter very friendly with lots of chatter and banter. When we return to our normal location in the reception area it has been agreed that we should review the manner in which we lay out the tables so we can create a more inclusive feel to out meetings and engage with the public in a more proactive manner.
Roger and Jim will be a the Severn View Farm Open Day on 5th April. This is an Organic farm open day running from 1 p.m. - 4.30 p.m. We will be demonstrating and hopefully selling some of our carvings. If any other members would like to attend or put forward carvings for sale please contact Roger or Jim direct. Vist the site for more details: http://www.severnviewfarm.com/
Thanks this time round to Sue Harrison for snaps of these two lovely Redpolls.
BDWCA Festival Of Bird Art 2013 Bakewell
The 2013 Festival of Bird Art was held at the Agricultural centre in Bakewell, Derbyshire on the weekend of 14th & 15th September. The Saturday was pleasant as far as the weather was concerned but Sunday saw the rain come in as in most other parts of the country. This year saw the largest number of entries since the festival started there being around 250 or so entries! The reported standard was very high and indeed when walking around there were some very nice birds and a few fish to see. Ironically it was a fish that won the best in show!
A small selection of photographs are shown below. Visit http://www.bdwca.org.uk/bdwca/ to view a list of all awards for the 2013 competition.
Five members of the group entered this year and were rewarded with 12 rosettes as follows:
Ian Chappell - Advanced
Slick Smoothie Waterfowl - Harlequin Duck in Jelutong - 2nd
Slick Smoothie Waterfowl - Harlequin Duck in Jelutong - Highly Commended
Bird of Prey - Peregrine Falcon in Jelutong - Highly Commended
Mark Montgomery - Advanced
Sea Birds and Shore Birds - "Slim Pickings", Snipe - Highly Commended
Mark Montgomery - Open Class - Carved Bird's Head
Carved Bird's Head - King Vulture - Highly Commended
Roger Francis - Intermediate
Sea Birds and Shore Birds - Little Bittern in Reeds - Silver
Songbirds - Blue Jay - Silver
Songbirds - Woodchat Shrike - Silver
Jim Flinn - Intermediate
Decorative Miniatures - Bronze - Puffin (Half size)
Birds of Prey - Bronze - American Kestrel
John Roberts - Intermediate
Interpretive Wood Sculptures - Pyrographed/Painted - Wren - Bronze
Slick Smoothie Shorebirds & Waders Short-billed - Dowitcher -Bronze
Bakewell Sucess
BDWCA Bakewell Festival of Bird Art 2012
Following on from the sucess enjoyed by members in previous years a number of us were tempted to try our luck this year, and so entered birds in the 2012 show which was held on 8th & 9th September. This was my first visit to Bakewell and I have to admit (in spite of what I heard) that the town is very charming. In addition we had wonderful weather which was a great bonus.
The show it self seemed to be well supported not only in the number of entries but also by the number of visitors which to me seemed to an awfult lot.
Wondering around on the Sunday I bumped in to John Roberts and his wife, John had put in a few entries and had won some ribbons. We both attended the BDWCA AGM which I have to say was very well run by Janet Nash the stand-in Chairperson. It was also a very informative meeting and gave people like myself a good insight to the amount of work that is done on our behalf (those of us who are members that is) by dedicated volunteers.
All in all I had a very enjoyable weekend and will be entering again next year. The show is usually held on the first weekend in September, if anyone is thinking of entering or attending please note that dates have changed and are now 14th & 15th September.
How we got on.......
Mark Montgomery - Advanced Class - 1st in Sea Birds and Shore Birds with European Woodcock feigning injury. This wonderful bird also won the Keith Royle Trophy and Visitors Choice!
John Roberts - Intermediate Class, Birds of Prey - Bronze for his Barn Owl perched and another Bronze for his Kestrel (perched wings spread). John also won a Silver in the Interpretive, Natural Wood section with his beautiful Brown Pelican (quarter size)
Roger Francis - Intermediate Class, Sea Birds and Shorebirds - Bronze for his Lapwing and another Bronze in the Songbirds Class with his Waxwing on Rose Hips.
Jim Flinn - Novice Class, Song Birds - Silver for Barn Swallow in Flight and a Silver for Pair of House Sparrows.
Regional Group Competition - The VGR group came joint 3rd in this section, it is interesting to note that out of the five entries from VGR members, 3 came from SWC members i.e. Ian, Roger and Mark. Had they been better supported by other VRG members I am sure they would have done much better. Well done guys!
Please follow the link to view photographs of all entries http://www.bdwca.org.uk.
The show it self seemed to be well supported not only in the number of entries but also by the number of visitors which to me seemed to an awfult lot.
Wondering around on the Sunday I bumped in to John Roberts and his wife, John had put in a few entries and had won some ribbons. We both attended the BDWCA AGM which I have to say was very well run by Janet Nash the stand-in Chairperson. It was also a very informative meeting and gave people like myself a good insight to the amount of work that is done on our behalf (those of us who are members that is) by dedicated volunteers.
All in all I had a very enjoyable weekend and will be entering again next year. The show is usually held on the first weekend in September, if anyone is thinking of entering or attending please note that dates have changed and are now 14th & 15th September.
How we got on.......
Mark Montgomery - Advanced Class - 1st in Sea Birds and Shore Birds with European Woodcock feigning injury. This wonderful bird also won the Keith Royle Trophy and Visitors Choice!
John Roberts - Intermediate Class, Birds of Prey - Bronze for his Barn Owl perched and another Bronze for his Kestrel (perched wings spread). John also won a Silver in the Interpretive, Natural Wood section with his beautiful Brown Pelican (quarter size)
Roger Francis - Intermediate Class, Sea Birds and Shorebirds - Bronze for his Lapwing and another Bronze in the Songbirds Class with his Waxwing on Rose Hips.
Jim Flinn - Novice Class, Song Birds - Silver for Barn Swallow in Flight and a Silver for Pair of House Sparrows.
Regional Group Competition - The VGR group came joint 3rd in this section, it is interesting to note that out of the five entries from VGR members, 3 came from SWC members i.e. Ian, Roger and Mark. Had they been better supported by other VRG members I am sure they would have done much better. Well done guys!
Please follow the link to view photographs of all entries http://www.bdwca.org.uk.
Some People Have All The Luck!
Thought I would let you know how lucky I was yesterday. Three waxwings came to the garden and ate apples for the best of four hours. Bill wasn’t in unfortunately but I managed to use his camera to get a few shots. The fieldfare kept chasing them about but they persevered, Bill is hoping they will come back today. It did give me the encouragement to get my bird out and do some carving.
Best wishes Val.
What danger a plastic Bottle Top?
Please follow the link to view this compelling and thought provoking clip: http://www.midwayfilm.com/