I may be able to help guide the walk. I have experience performing guided nature walks and can help with id of the birds. I will call you tomorrow sometime.
I work for a local charity, the Captive Animals' Protection Society. We are running a Sponsored Walk & Bird Watching event at Etherow Country Park on 1st June between 11am and 3.00pm.
We are in desperate need of a bird guide, to help lead the group around the park and identify bird species there. Our original volunteer had to cancel, so we are now guide-less!
Our plan is to take a 4 mile walk through the park and aim to see around 50 different species of birds. Etherow Country Park boasts beautiful bird species such as Mandarin ducks, Great Crested Grebes, Kingfishers and Great Spotted Woodpeckers, to name just a few, so it promises to be a rewarding day out!
Entry to the event is free and participants will be encouraged to collect sponsorship for completing the walk and for spotting as many different bird species as they can. There will be prizes for the top fundraiser and all participants will receive special bird-themed cakes at a group picnic at the end of the walk.
The sponsorship money raised, will go directly to our Fight for Flight campaign, which seeks to end a practice called pinioning which is being carried out on birds in zoos and nature parks in the UK. Pinioning involves the amputation of the end of one wing of a newborn bird usually without any pain relief. As the birds grow they will be lop-sided and, as a result, will never be able to fly. This allows zoos and wildlife parks to keep flamingos and other exotic species in open-top enclosures giving the misleading impression to visitors that the birds could fly away if they chose to. In fact these birds can never fly away nor can they ever be released to the wild.
Pinioning is formally recognised under the law as a mutilation and is only legal on birds in zoos if carried out by a veterinary surgeon. An important discovery in the last few days confirmed that zoos had been saving money by allowing laypeople to carry out the surgery, meaning that the procedure has been carried out illegally in some parks. You can find out more information on the campaign here. http://www.captiveanimals.org/birds
Watching birds at a location like Etherow Country Park is a fine example of how people can view birds and other wildlife without contributing to animal suffering. This event will give people the opportunity to see birds as they should be, wild, free and able to fly, as well as an enjoyable day out!
More information about the event can be found here: http://www.captiveanimals.org/sponsored-walk-bird-watch
If anyone can help on the walk, or would like to come along, please do get in contact by reply, calling me 0161 869 0020 or email Nicola@captiveanimals.org
