Those who attended the October meeting were treated to a feast of beautiful photography, along with a most interesting account of the re-introduction of the Great Bustard to Salisbury Plain.
Lynne Derry, visits & retail manager for the Great Bustard Group, knew her subject well and gave an interesting, illustrated talk of the project from its outset.
The eggs were originally sourced from Russia, but in 2013 it was necessary to look elsewhere, and after much genetic analysis, Spanish birds were deemed as being the most suitable.
Once the eggs have been collected they then spend incubation time in Madrid Zoo, then a specialist bird park in the UK and finally the day-old chicks come to Wiltshire for rearing. Great care is taken with this, the chicks being hand fed by handlers wearing smocks and glove puppets, so chicks do not become used to humans.
The survival rate has greatly improved over the years and by the time the quarantine period is up, an average of about 50% of the chicks have survived to be released in the wild. The project has now reached the stage where the adult birds are breeding in their new habitat and even spreading their wings and exploring further afield, but always return to their base in Wiltshire.
The next open meeting titled “Remembering the High Street” presented by Tony Fivash, using the association slides, will be on Thursday 17th January at the Assembly Hall from 7. 30pm. Visitors very welcome (£3).
Cathy Berry