The July 2024 meeting will be a normal face-to-face one held at our usual venue. As COVID is still widespread in the community attendees should heed social distancing and good hygiene practice etc, and use their common sense and stay home if they have COVID symptoms. Mask wearing is recommended.
Please note that construction is currently occurring around the Gabriel Drive parking area, and access to there is not available. So please use the Chapel Drive entrance and park there. Then proceed to the Multi-media Centre (MMT) using the alternative route the Canberra Girls Grammar School has provided as shown in the map on under LATEST NEWS on the Home Page of the COG/Canberra Birds web site.
Once parked proceed down past the Chapel and smaller Admin Offices, keeping them to your left. Just past the latter turn left along a relatively flat and straight broad path keeping the columns to you left. Near to the end, go left up the 3 m wide steps, turn half right and you will find an open glass door. Go through this, across the empty room and past the toilets, and then either enter the MMT either through the bottom MMT door or go further along and up the steps where you reach the usual entry door. Though it is well lit, as it will be dark a torch for finding your way to the MMT and back to your car after the meeting is recommended.
For July there will be two presentations of roughly equal length:
The first presentation will be by Geoffrey Dabb on ‘Bird names and good intentions. Why our bird names are in something of a muddle. Is there good reason to expect any improvement’
In Australia we have had more than 100 years of trying to arrive at a satisfactory set of bird names in English for written use. Part of the problem is that there have been too many well-meaning suggestions. Although intended to promote uniformity, most of these have barely gained some general support before a counter-suggestion has come along. This has created less rather than more consistency for the growing numbers of people who use bird names. In 2024 we are about to see further developments in the bird names arena. Are there good prospects for uniformity, or will matters get worse?
The second presentation will be by Lori Gould who will be showing the video entitled “Snipe”.
Lori will give a brief introduction to this video which shows the local Latham’s Snipe project that she has been conducting with the help of many volunteers (including some well-known COG/Canberra Birds identities) at the Jerrabomberra Wetlands. It is a very good overview of this project and will complement very nicely the presentation on the Australian Painted-snipe at the June meeting. Lori will be happy to take questions about it after the showing.