Bird experts fly in for seminar (From Salisbury Journal)

Bird experts fly in for seminar

11:21am Thursday 6th December 2007 in Rural Focus By Roland Batten

EXPERTS from several European countries attended a special conference in Salisbury last week and it was a feather in the cap for the local Great Bustard Group.

The Wiltshire Great Bustard Group, based on Salisbury Plain, were hosting the International Great Bustard Conference, which was making its first ever visit to the United Kingdom.

For founder and director, Dave Waters, the choice of the UK reflected the progress made by the south Wiltshire men and women in their ambitious programme to reintroduce the world's largest flying bird back to its haunts on Salisbury Plain and the level of international recognition it has achieved.

The conference was held at the Cricket Field Hotel, in Wilton Road, and the delegates included experts from Germany, Hungary, Russia, Spain as well as from the UK.

Their three-day stay in Salisbury included visits to the Great Bustard sites on the Plain around the Tilshead area where many of the birds have been released and where they have set up their homes.

The experts discussed the incubation and rearing of eggs and chicks, the best way to monitor progress, protecting Great Bustards from predation and various methods to monitor the birds long after their release.

They also attended a reception at The Wardrobe in Salisbury Cathedral Close before flying back to their home countries.