The November meeting will be a normal face-to-face one held at our usual venue. 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.
AGM – see details under Annual Reports and Administrative Papers
Libby Robin – Canberra Ornithologists Group goes International
After the AGM (for details see https://canberrabirds.org.au/about-cog/annual-reports/ ) there will be a single speaker.
Libby Robin, Emeritus Professor from the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the ANU, will be presenting on “Canberra Ornithologists Group goes International”, a major inclusion in her recently published book What Birdo is That? A Field Guide to Bird People.
It is nearly exactly 50 years since Canberra hosted the first meeting in the Southern Hemisphere of the venerable International Ornithologists’ Congress in 1974. Ninety years after its first meeting in Paris in 1884, the IOC broke with its tradition of European meetings and came to Australia.
Libby will explore the way local birdos pitched in to make the social and intellectual life of the congress in a very young city rich and varied. The conference’s theme focused on the contributions made by the Southern Hemisphere to bird-knowledge. Its presenters included many of the leading scientists of the day. International conservation negotiations were also important. The XVI World Conference of the International Council for Bird Preservation, also met in Canberra, straight after the IOC.
What made the all the intellectual and diplomatic achievements possible, however, was the work of the local organising group, who found themselves hosting unexpected birding excursions, and helping people who’d had a very difficult time getting to Australia in very practical ways. It was August and it snowed! Other complications included a major airline strike (delegates found themselves stuck in remote parts of Australia). There was no oil for the heating because of an embargo. But with some high-level negotiating from the Australian Academy of Science and others, and the energetic enthusiasm of COG volunteers and CSIRO family members on the ground, the Canberra IOC was voted a resounding success.