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BRITISH
Birdwatching Fair, AUGUST 18 – 20, 2006
The
Taiwan International Birding Association represented Taiwan at the 2006 British Birdwatching Fair,
Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland Water, Oakham, Cambridgeshire,
United Kingdom. The Fair is an annual event raising money for
international conservation. It is co-organized by the
Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, and the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
THE BRITISH BIRDWATCHING
FAIR IS THE WORLD'S FIRST AND LARGEST INTERNATIONAL BIRDWATCHING
EVENT
The Birdfair encompasses the whole spectrum of
the birdwatching industry, while supporting global bird
conservation. This is the event of the year for those into birds and
wildlife. There are hundreds of stands providing information and
selling the latest products for wildlife enthusiasts, from spotting
scopes to sculptures, binoculars to bird food, e-Guides to
eco-holidays!
 Every day there was a packed program of
events. Three separate timetables provided a variety of lectures.
The Events Marquee hosted quiz shows, question and answer sessions,
exclusive book launches and family-based entertainment. The Birdfair
Auction offered the chance to bid for a host of ‘lots’ donated by
the exhibitors, ranging from holidays, to artwork, to unique
experiences, with all the monies raised going directly to this
year's Birdfair project,
Saving the Pacific’s Parrots. Bird conservation in the
Pacific is one of BirdLife International’s priorities. It is the
region where birds are becoming extinct at a higher rate than
anywhere else in the world.
The energetic Taiwan International Birding
Association team of 26 people included three special guests; two
are members of the National Assembly of Taiwan: Legislators Ms.
Chiu-Chin Tien and Legislator Mr. Chung-Tse Yang (Legislator Yang
is also Chair of the TIBA) and Mr. Hsueh-sheng Chen,
Magistrate (i.e. Mayor) of Lienchiang County, Matsu Islands.
All together, the team of 26 consisted of 24 from
Taiwan
and two from Canada. Our double stand was situated in Marquee #1;
there were 9 large marquees, plus several smaller tents.
The TIBA stand at the Fair featured the superb K.
K. Kuo
Olympus Bird Art Gallery and provided general information about
birding in Taiwan, including the latest news of the extremely rare
Matsu (Chinese Crested) Tern, Sterna bernsteini, which
in 2000, was found nesting in extremely small numbers on Taiwan’s
Matsu Archipelago. (It is the rarest tern in the world, with
perhaps as few as 100 left.) The stand also had a “wheel of fortune”
— a Lucky Roulette wheel with many free prizes—Chinese Crested Tern
DVDs, toys, badges, and other items. Copies of FLYING FEATHERS
ON SUMMER DAYS, A PHOTO COLLECTION OF THE TERNS IN THE
MATSU TERN
CONSERVATION AREA
were available for sale. Stand visitors were also “tattooed” with
Taiwan birds.
On the afternoon of
the opening day of the Fair, the TIBA stand was visited by the Bird
Fair Co-organizers, and presented with two awards: 1st
for “Best Overseas Stand,” and 2nd for “Best
Tourism Stand.”
For the Birdfair Auction, TIBA donated a very
large photograph of Fairy Pitta (180 x1 80 cm) by Mr. K. K.
Kuo, Olympus Bird Art Gallery and a framed paper sculpture (64 x 50
cm) of Chinese Crested Tern by noted artist, Mr. Chen-Wen
Wang.
TIBA also presented a Powerpoint talk by Jo Ann
MacKenzie in the Lecture Marquee;
Birding in
Taiwan—Chinese Crested Tern Re-Discovered
on August 18. At the conclusion of the presentation, there
was a draw for travel prizes; a free 2-week birding trip to
Taiwan and five smaller prizes, the Taipei-Matsu-Taipei part
of a birding trip for
Matsu (Chinese Crested) Tern in July 2007.
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