[pete_gamby]

Here we go (a little bit late) with the first set for January:

Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 1/1
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 1/1
WWT Caerlaverock, Caerlaverock, 2/1
Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 3/1
Grove Ferry Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Canterbury, 7/1
Upton Warren Birders Store, Bromsgrove, 7/1
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 8/1
Lackford Lakes, Bury St Edmunds, 8/1
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 10/1
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 14/1
Low Barns Nature Reserve, Bishop Auckland, 15/1
Lea Valley Country Park, Waltham Abbey, 15/1

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Here's the next batch:

Seaton Marshes, Seaton, 17/1
Farmoor Reservoir, Oxford, 18/1
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 21/1
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 21/1
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 21/1
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 22/1
Potteric Carr In Focus, Doncaster, 22/1
Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre, Thatcham, 22/1
Riverside Country Park, Gillingham, 24/1
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, Sandwich, 28/1
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 29/1
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 29/1
WWT Washington, Washington, 29/1
Exmouth Nature Reserve, Exmouth, 31/1

And of course Chris and I will be at Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival next week.

Cheers, Pete

[FrankD]

Have fun in Florida. It has to be warmer than here.

[pete_gamby]

Thought I should post a quick note about Space Coast as I may not get a chance tomorrow (the last day of the event).

We've had a lot of fun at this event and met a LOT of people there - it's certainly a busy festival and there's plenty to do and see.

Our booth was located next door to Leica so we had a great time (and some great cookies) with Jeff and Cameron. And Chas Studholme from One Good Tern was right opposite so we had some great banter and got to help a lot of people with their optics questions. I even managed to sell a lady a Kowa bino on Chas' behalf - hope the commission payment is on the way :-)

Looking forward to being there again next year.

Next up - San Diego at the beginning of March.

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Yikes! A bit late with this list - sorry ppl :-(

WWT Slimbridge, Slimbridge, 4/2
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 5/2
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 5/2
Tophill Low Nature Reserve, Hutton Cranswick, 5/2
Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 7/2
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Reading, 12/2
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 12/2
Roadford Reservoir, Stowford, 12/2
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 14/2
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 18/2
Wolseley Centre, Stafford, 18/2
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 19/2
Lackford Lakes, Bury St Edmunds, 19/2
Whisby Nature Park, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 19/2

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Next batch for the UK:

WWT Arundel, Arundel, 21/2
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 25/2
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 26/2
WWT Washington, Washington, 26/2
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 26/2
Riverside Country Park, Gillingham, 28/2

which seems a bit of a short list but then it's only ten days til the end of the month!

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

And an update on the US events that Opticron will be attending:

San Diego Bird Festival March 1-4, 2012, CA
Galveston FeatherFest April 12-15, 2012, TX
Godwit Days Spring Migration Bird Festival April 19-25, 2012, Arcata, CA
Verde Valley Birding & Nature Festival April 26-29, 2012, Cottonwood, AZ
Southwest Wings Festival August 3-5, 2012, Sierra Vista, AZ
Tucson Bird & Wildlife Festival August 15-19, 2012, AZ

Some of those will be as "full on" sponsors/exhibitors, some we are on the wait list for and some we'll just be pitching up to join in the fun!

More news on our adventures in the US coming soon... see some of you in San Diego. Er, well, actually I won't but Chris and A N Other Opticron person will :-)

Cheers, Pete

[Brian Stretch]

The next optics day at Upton Warren in Worcestershire is on Saturday March 10th. Further details here.

Brian
___________
Birding Today

[pete_gamby]

Next batch:

Thatcham Nature Discovery Centre, Thatcham, 3/3
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 4/3
WWT Caerlaverock, Caerlaverock, 4/3
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 4/3
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 4/3
Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 6/3
Grove Ferry Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Canterbury, 10/3
Upton Warren Birders Store, Bromsgrove, 10/3
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Reading, 11/3
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 11/3
Black Hole Marsh, Seaton, 11/3
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 13/3
Lackford Lakes, Bury St Edmunds, 17/3
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 17/3
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 18/3
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 18/3
Low Barns Nature Reserve, Bishop Auckland, 18/3

Cheers, Pete

[Chris Galvin]

Just to mention that I will be at the 45th All Ireland Conference on Bird Conservation in Cork Saturday 10th & Sunday 11th March in Cork and will be manning the Opticron Stand.

Chris Galvin
Opticron

[Brian Stretch]

The next optics day at Upton Warren in Worcestershire is on Saturday April 7th. Further details here.

Brian
___________
Birding Today

[pete_gamby]

Yikes - nearly two weeks late. Sorry!

WWT Arundel, Arundel, 20/3
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 24/3
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 24/3
Portland Heights Hotel, Isle of Portland, 24/3
Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve, Dawlish, 25/3
Lea Valley Country Park, Waltham Abbey, 25/3
WWT Washington, Washington, 25/3
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 25/3
Portland Bird Observatory, Portland, 27/3
Chew Valley Lake LCE, Bristol, 30/3
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, Sandwich, 31/3
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 1/4
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 1/4
North Cave Wetlands, Brough, 1/4
Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, Fareham, 1/4

Cheers, Pete

[Chris Galvin]

For customers from the USA interested in Opticron optics we are attending a larger number of Birding Festivals in the USA than 2011 and we now have a US Sales Manager, Chip Clouse - formerly of the ABA.

Details of the Festivals so far booked for 2012 and a list of the US dealers to date can be found at

http://www.opticronusa.com/Pages/news_events.html

[pete_gamby]

Next two weeks worth for the UK:

Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 3/4
Grove Ferry Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Canterbury, 7/4
Upton Warren Birders Store, Bromsgrove, 7/4
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 8/4
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Reading, 8/4
Black Hole Marsh, Seaton, 8/4
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 9/4
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 10/4
Loch of the Lowes, Dunkeld, 14/4
Lackford Lakes, Bury St Edmunds, 14/4
J & A Cameras In Store Day, Bideford, 14/4
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 15/4
Whisby Nature Park, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 15/4
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 15/4
Durlston Country Park, Swanage, 17/4

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

And the next round:

Durlston Country Park, Swanage, 17/4
London Wild Bird Watch, WWT Barnes, 20-22/4
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 21/4
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 21/4
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, Skegness, 22/4
Yarner Wood, Bovey Tracey, 24/4
Portland Bird Observatory, Portland, 28/4
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 29/4
Whisby Natural World Centre, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 29/4
Potteric Carr In Focus, Doncaster, 29/4
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 29/4

Please note that we'll be at the London Wild Bird Watch event all weekend - looks like the rain will be there too so it's a good job we'll be under cover. But, there is a good view out across the reserve from the balcony of the specially constructed optics/photo building.

This will be a great chance for anyone living in London to get a good look at a wide range of optics (Opticron, Steiner, Zeiss, Minox, Swarovski, Bushnell etc etc) and photo gear (see Park Cameras website!) all in the same place AND with good views.

See you there!

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Chip will be on hand for one or more of the days at the following US festivals:

Godwit Days, Arcata, CA, 04/20-21
Verde Valley Festival, Cottonwood, AZ, 04/26-29

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

It's a busy weekend for optics companies. The Pannonian Bird Experience takes place at the Nationalpark Neusiedler See, Illmitz in Austria. Opticron's intrepid DACH region sales rep Fabian will be there along with Swarovski, Zeiss, Leica, Kowa, Meopta, Canon, Gitzo and more.

More info at the website:

http://www.birdexperience.org/en/

Cheers, Pete

[Brian Stretch]

The next optics day at Upton Warren in Worcestershire is on Saturday May 5th. Further details here.

There will also be an 'all day' birdwatch at the reserve to try and record as many species as possible - all are very welcome.

Brian
___________
Birding Today

[Paul Hackett]

Alpha Digital (AKA Kowa Optics ) will be at Focalpoint Optics Ltd
Bentleys Farm Lane Higher Whitley Warrington WA4 4QW on Saturday 28th April 10.00am - 4.00pm

I will be manning the stand in everything Optics, if you need advice, or just to try the equipment,please come along and see me

Cheers

Paul

[pete_gamby]

Next batch for the next couple of weeks:

UK & Ireland

Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 1/5
Wolseley Centre, Stafford, 5/5
Upton Warren Birders Store, Bromsgrove, 5/5
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 6/5
Falls of Clyde, New Lanark, 6/5
Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve Montgomery Wildlife Trust, Maccynlleth, 6/5
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 6/5
WWT Caerlaverock, Caerlaverock, 6/5
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 8/5
Grove Ferry Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve, Canterbury, 12/5
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 12/5
Whisby Natural World Centre, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 12/5
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 13/5
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 13/5
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Reading, 13/5
Exmouth Nature Reserve, Exmouth, 15/5

Sweden

Getteröns Naturcentrum Skärfläckans dag, Varberg, 5/5
Gunnar Olsson Foto 80th Anniversary In Store Days, Stockholm, 7-11/5

US

Biggest Week Marketplace, Oregon, OH, 10-13/5

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Things are still busy in the world of optics field events:

UK & Ireland

Exmouth Nature Reserve, Exmouth, 15/5
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 19/5
Scottish Birdfair Hopetoun House, Edinburgh, 19/5
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 20/5
Dawlish Warren Nature Reserve, Dawlish, 20/5
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 22/5
Portland Bird Observatory, Portland, 26/5
Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, Fareham, 26/5
Montrose Basin Visitor Centre, Montrose, 26/5
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 27/5
WWT Washington, Washington, 27/5
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 27/5
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 29/5

Good luck to all at the first annual Scottish Birdfair this weekend!

Sweden

Club 300 Tent Weekend/Naturbokhandeln Optics Days, Öttenby/Stenåsa, 18-19/5

US

Great Salt Lake Bird Festival, Farmington, UT, 14-17/5
Acadia Birding Festival, Mount Desert Island, Bar Harbor, ME, 31/5-3/6

Enjoy them all!

Pete

[pete_gamby]

Fewer overseas events this time - if anyone knows of any please post them up!

UK

Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 29/5
Chew Valley Lake LCE, Bristol, 1/6
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 2/6
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 3/6
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 3/6
Tophill Low Nature Reserve, Hutton Cranswick, 3/6
Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve Montgomery Wildlife Trust, Maccynlleth, 3/6
Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 5/6
Black Hole Marsh, Seaton, 9/6
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 10/6
Roadford Reservoir, Stowford, 10/6
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 12/6

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Yikes! My Outlook reminder didn't work then :-)

Here's the next couple of weeks worth:

UK & Ireland

WWT Arundel, Arundel, 12/6
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 16/6
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, Sandwich, 16/6
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 16/6
Focus Optics Spring Event, Corley, 16/6
Whisby Nature Park, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 17/6
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 17/6
Amwell Nature Reserve, Hertford, 17/6
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 19/6
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 22/6
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 23/6
Potteric Carr Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Doncaster, 24/6
Hunston Village Hall, Selsey, 24/6
WWT Washington, Washington, 24/6
Durlston Country Park, Swanage, 26/6
Scone Game Fair, Perth, 29/6-1/7
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 29/6
Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, Fareham, 30/6
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 30/6
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 1/7

US

There were a couple of US events that I missed posting (Potholes & Prairies, Carrington, ND, and the Roger Tory Petersen Birding Festival, Jamestown, NY) but it looks like there's nothing on the calendar for July - unless anyone knows different?

Next festival would seem to be Southwest Wings on August 1st and then there's the AOU meeting on 14th.

Europe

Again, nothing on the immediate horizon here so please post if you know of something that's going on.

[pete_gamby]

Getting in early this time to avoid disappointment :-)

UK & Ireland

Durlston Country Park, Swanage, 26/6
Scone Game Fair, Perth, 29/6
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 29/6
Titchfield Haven Nature Reserve, Fareham, 30/6
Upton Warren In Focus, Bromsgrove, 30/6
WWT Llanelli, Llanelli, 1/7
Sevenoaks Wildfowl Reserve, Sevenoaks, 1/7
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 1/7
WWT Caerlaverock, Caerlaverock, 1/7
Cors Dyfi Nature Reserve Montgomery Wildlife Trust, Maccynlleth, 3/7
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 6/7
East Of England Show, Peterborough, 6/7
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 7/7
Whisby Natural World Centre, Thorpe-On-The-Hill, 7/7
Hauxley Nature Reserve, Morpeth, 8/7
Black Hole Marsh, Seaton, 8/7
Dinton Pastures Country Park, Reading, 8/7
Blashford Lakes, Ringwood, 10/7

Cheers, Pete

[pete_gamby]

Next batch:

UK & Ireland

Cowdray Park Polo Club, Midhurst, 12/7
Kent County Show, Maidstone, 13/7
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 13/7
Attenborough Nature Centre, Attenborough, 14/7
Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory, Sandwich, 14/7
Hanningfield Reservoir, Billericay, 14/7
Great Eccleston Show, Preston, 14/7
Low Barns Nature Reserve, Bishop Auckland, 15/7
Bough Beech Nature Reserve, Sevenoaks, 15/7
Cowdray Park Polo Club, Midhurst, 15/7
Amwell Nature Reserve, Hertford, 15/7
WWT Arundel, Arundel, 17/7
CLA Game Fair, Grantham, 20/7
Warnham Local Nature Reserve, Horsham, 20/7
Countryside Centre, Woodwalton Fen NNR, Ramsey Heights, 20/7
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve, Rye, 21/7
Abberton Reservoir Nature Reserve, Colchester, 21/7
Coniston Country Fair, Coniston, 22/7
Lackford Lakes, Bury St Edmunds, 22/7
WWT Washington, Washington, 22/7
Portland Bird Observatory, Portland, 24/7

Cheers, Pete