FORTHCOMING EVENTS

INDOOR MEETINGS

Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Rob Hunt and Adam Dare will give an illustrated talk on the birds of Ecuador.

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Another Club Member Dave Rich of Bridgend will give a talk about birding the Rio Grande, Texas.

Wednesday, 14 March 2018

For our final indoor talk of the winter programme, we welcome back Paul Bowden of Cardiff will talk to members about the endemic species of Madeira and the Canary Isles.

All indoor meetings are held at:
Llanelli Cricket Club, Denham Avenue, Llanelli SA15 4BT
To commence at 7.30.
Tea/coffee/biscuits will be available at £1.20 per head.
There is a bar facility available.

Donations of Raffle prizes for indoor Meetings would be greatly appreciated.

OUTDOOR MEETINGS

Saturday, 28 April 2018

Our first outdoor event for this year will be a visit to the South and West Wales Wildlife Trust reserve at Cilgerran. We will meet in the car park at 10.00am. There is a charge for the car park if you are not a member of the Trust. There is no charge for admission to the reserve. Bring a packed lunch.

Saturday, 19 May 2018

Our annual visit to RSPB Dinas for our fix of spring migrants etc. Meet in the car park at 9.30am. Bring a packed lunch.

For outdoor events, check the sightings page on our website or phone Wendell on 07912577626 should there be any doubt about the weather.

Of Interest:

Press Release

Carmarthenshire Bird Club welcomes new members and a new indoor venue.

The Carmarthenshire Bird Club is the premier organisation in Carmarthenshire for promoting birds, nature and the environment. The club has over 140 members and has meetings throughout the year. In spring, summer and autumn, outdoor meetings take place at prime birding locations in Carmarthenshire and other parts of Wales, whilst in the winter, indoor meetings, often with guest speakers, look at birds, animals and their environments across the world. The slides show exciting locations and fascinating species and members enjoy chatting over a cup of tea or a drink from the bar. The club has a new location for its indoor meetings at Llanelli cricket club.

Many members also get together on Monday and Wednesday mornings in the British Steel Hide at the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust Llanelli reserve at Penclacwydd. If you are in the hide, just ask!

CBC is above all a friendly club, but it does have a serious side, promoting nest-boxes, nature conservation and working with other organisations to promote wildlife habitats and birds around the county.

The club has a successful website, newly redesigned and updated, at carmarthenshirebird.club. Here you can see the latest sightings in the county, look at members’ bird photographs and post your own sightings and pictures. Take a look!

Membership costs £10 a year (£15 for couples and families at the same address) and all members receive a copy of the Carmarthenshire Bird Report – recently praised on Birdguides.com. If you want to join, click on the Membership tab on the website, or pick up a membership form in the British Steel Hide at WWT Llanelli. Whether you are a high-level birder or a newcomer who wants to learn more – all are warmly welcomed to our club.

Birds of Assam – by Adam Dare

Assam is a relatively remote area of northeastern India, north and east of Bangladesh. It has an impressive range of birds, including a large number of common and not so common Indian Birds as well as some unusual East Asian species, which exist at the western extremity of their ranges in Assam. The trip started with a visit to the city dump of Guwahati, the capital of Assam. This is one of the best places in the world to see the impressively ugly Greater Adjutant Stork, East Asia’s answer to the Marabou stork.

Assam also holds some of Asia’s largest and most impressive animals, including the Indian Elephant, Asian one-horned, Asian wild Buffalo and Bengal Tiger. In addition Kaziranga Tiger reserve holds large numbers of deer, of at least four species as well as otters and Wild Boar.

The state of Assam is dominated by the mighty Brahmaputra River, which winds its way from the Tibetan Plateau, through Assam to the Bay of Bengal. Fed by melting Himalayan snows and seasonal rains, the Brahmaputra is prone to flooding, sometimes disastrously. This provides excellent habitat for water birds, especially wintering waterfowl, including Bar-headed Geese which nest on the Tibetan Plateau and cross the Himalayas on their migration between their Tibetan breeding grounds and their wintering areas in Kaziranga, by the Brahmaputra river.

The forested areas contain a superb variety of birds, especially Flycatchers, Woodpeckers and warblers. Unfortunately the warblers were too quick to photograph. Species which are hard to see in mainland India such as Grey-headed Canary Flycatcher and Blue-bearded Bee-eater were very common in Kaziranga and at Nameri Tiger reserve. Numerous woodpeckers were seen, including Greater Flameback, Lesser Yellownape, Grey-capped Pygmy Woodpecker, Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker, Scaley-bellied Woodpecker and Grey-headed Woodpecker as well as colourful Sunbirds, Leafbirds and Barbets.

Large raptors are relatively common too; with Himalayan Vulture, Red-headed Vulture, Pallas’s Fish Eagle and Grey-headed Fish eagle often giving spectacular views.

The trip was crowned with a view of White-winged Duck, a rare and declining species, dependent on small pools in dense, wet woodland. The bird was seen in dramatic circumstances, with wild elephants trampling and hooting in the background, in the company of an armed forest guard.

Good start to the year – Long-tailed Duck at Sandy Water Park