A message from
our President...
Welcome
to the CBWPS, the bird club of Cornwall. Whatever your personal level of
interest in birds, the Society offers you opportunities to develop your
interest and get the most out of bird watching in Cornwall.
Nearly 450 species have been
recorded from the county (over 80%
of the total recorded in the UK) of
which some 115 are regular breeders.
This reflects the wealth of
Cornwall’ birds and indicates how
exciting discovering bird life can
be. To keep you informed of
developments in the county, members
receive our newsletter called Palores in addition to our
comprehensive Annual Bird Report
‘Birds in Cornwall’. A varied
programme of field trips and indoor
events are also included in the
membership. These meetings enable
beginners to meet the local experts,
to develop bird watching skills,
compare optical equipment and to
share their fascination for birds
and the environment. During the dark
evenings of autumn and winter,
indoor lectures cover a variety of
topics, with speakers of national
and international acclaim who are
both entertaining and knowledgeable
about their subject.
The Society has provided hides at
several key locations to enable bird
watchers to enjoy birds in relative
comfort and to minimise disturbance
at the site. Some are on our own
reserves, which are scattered round
the county, others by estuaries and
reservoirs.
The Society has the advantage of
being able to concentrate on smaller
reserves than most national
conservation bodies would feel it
viable to obtain. On some reserves
we undertake active land management
to improve the specialised habitats
for birds and other wildlife. We
work closely with other conservation
bodies and combined efforts can
prove very productive. For example,
we have been able to make joint
purchases with the Cornwall Wildlife
Trust of two important reserves at
Maer Lake and Windmill Farm on the
Lizard, sites which neither
organisation would be able to
purchase on their own.
We have now launched Cornwall’s
Tetrad Atlas, a survey of both
breeding and wintering birds by 2km.
squares that is scheduled to take up
most of the decade of this new
century.
Being concentrated at county level,
we are able to liaise with national
organisations such as the BTO, RSPB,
Environment Agency, English Nature,
National Trust and many other
organisations by advising on species
and sites of importance and
co-ordinating counts and surveys.
Since the formation of the Society
back in 1931, we have lost Montagu’s
Harrier, Dunlin, Corncrake, Woodlark
and Red-backed Shrike as breeding
species in the county. Over the next
decade we might well lose Corn
Bunting, Cirl Bunting, Curlew,
Snipe, Puffin and Grey Partridge.
Some of these losses have perhaps
been inevitable, but knowledge of
the requirements of specialised
species, gained through the
observations of amateurs, and
liaison with land owners, might well
save or bring back some of these in
the future.
However, it is not all doom and
gloom, as we have gained Great
Crested Grebe, Black-headed Gull,
Little Egret, Hobby, Crossbill,
Siskin, Lesser Redpoll, Collared
Dove, Cetti’s Warbler and might well
gain Goshawk and Goosander in the
near future; the Dartford Warbler
has already returned to breed in
Cornwall in recent years and Choughs
are being reported with greater
frequency. Indeed, a pair are now
breeding annually on the Lizard
- the first for over fifty
years.
We know all of this because of
observations from our members,
collated and published in the annual
reports, valued documents of great
historical interest and a very
useful research source for
conservation projects in Cornwall.
All of this work is undertaken on a
voluntary basis and cannot be
affectively achieved without the
growing support of a growing
membership. When the Society was
launched way back in 1931, the
dedicated group of founding members
could not have imagined the
fantastic growth in interest in
birds, let alone have foreseen the
dramatic changes and pressures
placed upon the countryside over the
ensuing seven decades.
Your membership is a valued
contribution and will be spent
wisely in protecting, researching
and in spreading the word about the
importance of maintaining a varied
natural avifauna in our beautiful
county. Simply by joining the CBWPS,
you would be showing that you care for
Cornwall’s bird life.
Thank you very much for your
support.
Steve Madge (President)
