Warden of Cape Clear John Horton lined up to give talk on bird observatories at Global Birdfair 2026

                                          

Plenty of coastal observatories but none inland

THERE should be a good attendance when John Horton discusses the work of bird observatories in the presentation he is due to give at Global Birdfair on Friday afternoon.

There are 21 observatories dotted around the coasts of Britain and Ireland - for some reason there are none inland - with John being warden at Cape Clear.

According to the Bird Observatories Council, their function is to "conduct long-term monitoring of bird populations and migration".

The BOC says: "Individual observatories are located at prime migration points where a daily census is taken in a defined recording area.

"An integral part of observatory work is bird ringing, undertaken within the national British scheme which is cordinated by the British Trust for Ornithology. 

"This provides data for guiding conservation policies of such bodies as Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Natural Heritage and their counterparts in Ireland.

"The observatories encourage volunteers to participate in scientific studies of birds and the environment.

" The results of these studies and more general information are made freely available to researchers and to the public who are welcome to visit observatories."

Some of the individual observatories - for instance, those at Dungeness, Fair Isle, Gibraltar Point and Spurn - are excellent at providing daily records.

Over the past day or two, for instance, Bee-eaters have been noted at Dungeness and Trumpeter Finch on Fair Isle.

However, disappointingly, some observatories seldom post any records at all until the publication of their annual reports.

John Horton’s talk will be at 5pm on Friday in the Avocet lecture theatre.