Binfield
Badger Group
Protecting Badgers in Berkshire
Charity number: 1075886
The next meeting will be on 21st May 2009. Put a note in your diary now before you forget!
Click here for a detailed map of where the meetings are held.
The next public meeting will be on 21st May 2009. Doors open at 7pm and the meeting will start at 7:30pm. This will be at the Memorial Hall in Binfield and everyone is welcome to attend. Remember there is no entrance fee. Check back here soon to find out who we have as a guest speaker. Thank you to everyone that came to previous meetings, we have had fantastic talks, see below for details. The meetings were all well attended and the raffle and sales stand takings will help the Group pay something towards the care of injured badgers.
In October 2008 we had a slide presentation by Nigel Snell, who is the RSPB Project Coordinator for the Reintroduction of Red Kites.
Photo courtesy of Helen Olive - www.redkites.net
It seems such a short time ago that these beautiful masters of the air were completely absent from England and on the edge of extinction in Wales and Scotland, and yet today (certainly in our part of the world) we have a healthy and it seems steadily increasing population. In days gone by these birds served a useful purpose helping keep our towns and cities clean of carrion and discarded food. The talk was interesting and illuminating with Nigel frequently having us all laughing at the antics of these amazing birds.
In April we had a talk on wildlife photography by Helen Taylor, ARPS. Helen is a freelance photographer and designer with a special interest in wildlife, landscapes and travel. A Masters in Biological Photography has given her a solid background to her career and she now provides photos for all kinds of publications and organisations and teaches outdoor photography at the University of Nottingham. She gave an illustrated talk on wildlife photography, providing insider's tips on how to get those top shots and how to enjoy watching wildlife.
2007 meetings:
The last public meeting was on 18 October 2007. The talk was on our favourite subject - badgers! Dr. Pam Mynott travelled all the way from the Leicestershire Group and we certainly appreciated all her time to come and talk with us about a local sett that she has been watching for many years. All the proceeds from the donations and sales stand will be donated to the Badger Trust.
On 19th April 2007 we had a talk on badgers and the tremendous work done at Secret World in Somerset (www.secretworld.org), by Pauline Kidner. Secret World is specialist centre focused on the rescue, rehabilitation and release of orphaned and injured wild creatures.
2006 meetings:
In October 2006 we had an excellent talk on otters, by Philippa Burrell. Did you know that otters are related to badgers and gradually they are repopulating the Berkshire?
In April 2006 we had a special talk on Wolves by the UK Wolf Conservation Trust www.ukwolf.org. The Wolf Trust was formed in 1995 and now has over 2,500 supporters. The Trust has both North American and European wolves and they regularly visit schools, clubs and in April 2006 live wolves visited Binfield!
Picture taken at Binfield Badger Group meeting in April 2006.
2005 meetings:
At the April 2005 meeting the guest speaker was Barry Kaufmann-Wright, Wildlife Crime Officer in Essex Police, who gave a talk entitled “The Role of a Police Wildlife Crime Officer”, with particular reference to badgers and their protection. We heard that a major element of Barry's work is education and he gives about 200 talks each year, not just in Essex but over much of Southern England and the Midlands using his collection of 36,000 slides. In 2003 he was named 'WWF Wildlife Law Enforcer of the Year'. He has published a book 'The Wildlife Man' and is working on a second book 'Running Wild' due to be published during late 2005. It was a very engaging talk with excellent slides.
The October 2005 meeting was a talk by Chrissie Harper on the History, Life And Conservation of Owls. The meeting was the best attended for a number of years, with over 90 members and non-members of all ages. Chrissie brought a few owls to the meeting, including Pearl the beautiful barn owl that you can see in this photo.
