Category: General Notifications

As a club we are lucky to have breeding Hen Harriers on our doorstep in the Forest of Bowland. Nearly all the recent improvements in Bowland Hen Harrier nesting attempts have occurred on United Utility land, not on land managed for gamebird shooting. This is rather ironic when the Hen Harrier logo is used on publicity and signs for the whole of the Forest of Bowland. Mark Avery, a passionate advocate for nature who has spent decades working for wildlife, has written a blog about the situation:

The following is a link to the Forest of Bowland consultation which needs to be completed by 2nd March 2026

https://www.forestofbowland.com/management-plan-2026

In the last year or so several birds hatched in Bowland have ‘disappeared’ in suspicious circumstances. We only know about these disappearances because the birds have been fitted with a radio tag. Others are untagged so how many birds in total have ‘disappeared’?

If you care about these iconic birds of prey, we urge you to read Mark Avery’s blog and complete the online consultation.

Come and join us on Tuesday 2nd September at 19:30 in Higham Village Hall when we will be celebrating the first 70 years of East Lancashire Ornithologists’ Club (non-members £3).

The talk is The Choughs of Anglesey by Jack Slattery. Jack is from the RSPB in North Wales and will be talking about the conservation efforts for these specialist corvids.

During the break refreshments will be provided by Sue and the 2024 Bird Report will be available to all members (free) and visitors (£5).

The 2024 ELOC Bird Report should be available for the September Indoor Meeting. All members who have paid their 2025 Subscription will receive a free copy. Could anybody else who would like a copy please contact the Chairman or Secretary to ensure that a copy is ordered for them. Please let us know before Friday 22 August. Applications for membership for the rest of this year to include a copy of the 2024 Report are available, please contact us for further details.

The report will first be distributed to members and visitors attending the September 70th Anniversary Indoor Meeting, Choughs of Anglesey by Jack Slattery. Reports will then be distributed by post.

Cost: Members – free, Non members – £5 printed copy + postage and packing.

It’s that time of year when we start working on the ELOC Bird Report for the previous year. If you have any records from 2024 can you add them to the ELOC database or pass them to Ian the ELOC Recorder (see About Us for contact details) please. We would like to have all the data by the end of January 2025.

Due to the paths in Higham being either slushy or covered in ice/snow and with the weather forecast for freezing conditions we have decided to cancel tonight’s meeting.

The Field Trip on Saturday is still going ahead.

Firstly I would like to wish you all a happy, healthy and bird filled new year.

Our first Indoor Meeting is on Tuesday 7th January at Higham Village Hall – ‘South African Birds’ by Sean Davies.

Our first Field Trip of the year is on Saturday 11th January when we will be visiting the Cockersand Abbey and Eagland Hill area. Please see the Field Trips section of the website or wait for further information on the ELOC Field Trips WhatsApp group.

Currently there is a bug on the club’s website so that we cannot update the Upcoming Events section, please be assured there are plenty of events planned for 2025.

Our first meeting for 2025 will be held on Tuesday 7th January at Higham Village Hall on the subject of South African Birds.

Due to unforeseen circumstances the trip to Nosterfield Nature Reserve has been brought forward by one week and will now be on Saturday 19th October meeting at 8.30am. Please see Field Trips page for further information.

The speaker for the March indoor meeting is unfortunately unavailable. Peter Baldwin has agreed to present An Antarctic Adventure on 5th March (instead of April) and David Bickerton will talk about Birding the Windy City on the 2nd April (instead of November).

We are hoping that the Brockholes talk will be moved to November, but this has not been confirmed.