Colin Bradshaw is an English physician, ornithologist, and musician who was chairman of the British Birds Rarities Committee from 1997 to 2008. He was active in the BBRC for almost 20 years, [1] both as a committee member and as chairman. He is a medical doctor by profession and travels extensively for birding, and among his other hobbies are guitar, cricket, and photography. [2]
As chairman of the BBRC he was responsible for running the organisation, and leading their adjudications of rare bird records in the United Kingdom. [3]
Some testimonies about him given on or after on his retirement in 2008:
He continued to be involved the BBRC's activities after retiring. [6]
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, watching public webcams, or by viewing smart bird feeder cameras.
Siberian chiffchaff is a leaf-warbler which is usually considered a subspecies of the common chiffchaff, but may be a species in its own right.
Tree warblers are medium-sized warblers in the marsh- and tree-warbler family Acrocephalidae. They are found in Europe, Africa and western Asia. Until recently, they were all classified in the single genus Hippolais.
Horace Gundry Alexander was an English Quaker teacher, writer, pacifist and ornithologist. He was the youngest of four sons of Joseph Gundry Alexander (1848–1918), two other sons being the ornithologists Wilfred Backhouse Alexander and Christopher James Alexander (1887–1917). He was a friend of Mahatma Gandhi.
The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds (ornithology) around the world in order to understand their biology and aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry Baker Tristram and other scientists. Its quarterly journal, Ibis, has been published continuously since 1859.
Keith E. Vinicombe is a British ornithologist and writer on bird identification.
The British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), established in 1959, is the national bird rarities committee for Britain. It assesses claimed sightings of bird species that are rarely seen in Britain, based on descriptions, photographs and video recordings submitted by observers. Its findings are published in an annual report in the journal British Birds.
Donald Ian Mackenzie Wallace, known as Ian Wallace, D.I.M. Wallace, or by his initials DIMW, was a British birder, author and artist.
Dr Malcolm Alexander Ogilvie is a British ornithologist and freelance natural history author and consultant. One of his areas of expertise is wildfowl.
The Druridge Bay curlew was a curlew that was present in Druridge Bay, Northumberland in May 1998, whose species identification proved to be controversial. The bird was identified by its finder, and most others who saw it, as a first-summer slender-billed curlew, one of the rarest birds in the world; however, this identification provoked scepticism from experts. The bird was initially accepted as this species by the British Birds Rarities Committee and the British Ornithologists’ Union Records Committee - however, this identification was eventually rejected in 2013
Hadoram Shirihai is an Israeli ornithologist and writer.
The Hastings Rarities affair is a case of statistically demonstrated ornithological fraud that misled the bird world for decades in the 20th century. The discovery of the long-running hoax shocked ornithologists.
Alan R. Dean is a British ornithologist with a special interest in gulls and warblers. He lives in Solihull, West Midlands.
Roberts's warbler, also known as Roberts' prinia, briar warbler or brier warbler, is a species of passerine bird belonging to the family Cisticolidae. This species is endemic to the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist montane forest and subtropical or tropical moist shrubland. It is the only species in the genus Oreophilias.
David Tipling is a professional wildlife photographer. He has won the documentary award for the European Nature Photographer of the Year for his work on emperor penguins.
Jonathan Elphick is a British natural history writer, editor and consultant. He is an eminent ornithologist, a qualified zoologist; Fellow of the Zoological Society of London and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He is author of The Birdwatcher's Handbook: A Guide to the Birds of Britain and Ireland; Birds: The Art of Ornithology and The Natural History Museum Atlas of Bird Migration: Tracing the Great Journeys of the World's Birds, which received Bird Watching Magazine's 'Best Bird Reference Book of the Year'; as well as co-author of the Encyclopedia of Animals; the RSPB Pocket Birds; A Unique Photographic Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe with Jonathan Woodward and The National Parks and other Wild Places of Britain and Ireland, with photography by David Tipling.
Robert Ernest 'Bob' Scott was a British ornithologist and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) staff member. He worked for the RSPB for close to 40 years, beginning as a warden and eventually becoming head of Reserves Management. He is credited with discovering numerous new British birds, four before his 32nd birthday. He retired from the RSPB in 1997 but continued to work in conservation in Britain and other countries, notably in Bulgaria where he had previously been awarded a medal from the government. He died of cancer in 2009.
The Gower Ornithological Society is a society for professional and amateur birdwatchers covering the geographical areas of south Wales comprising Gower, Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot.