SBBOT has a long tradition of offering courses, lectures and talks. Apart from the presentations below we also present evening programmes via zoom, such as our Wednesday Courses.
Thursday Evening Lecture Programme
Live at the Field Centre at 7.30pm
£5 per person including a hot drink and a biscuit - payable at the door on the night.
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After a long hot summer, our Thursday evening talks started again on September 18th and we welcomed you back to hear from some great speakers on some fascinating subjects.
We booked a wide range of speakers and subjects and although most talks were mainly about birds, there were other wildlife subjects included, such as talks on Dragonflies, Flowers and the Mink eradication project!
Our talk programme also covers lots of different countries, with one in November taking us on a whistle-stop tour around the world in 80 minutes!
(Volunteer request - we do need some people to help out again with the teas/coffees and car parking on each evening. Therefore, if you are able to help at either of the first couple of talks, then please email the talks organiser Ian Searle Once we are up running, Ian will be putting the volunteer sheet on the notice board for people to add their names too, the same as last year - thank you.)
Here is the programme for Autumn 2025 through Spring 2026 - some are outline with dates for your diary... details will follow in due course...
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27th November - British Bees - Their Unappreciated Variety - Simon Springate, Kent’s Plan bee officer, The Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Simon’s illustrated talk will cover what Bee species we have, the current threats, their ranges, what food plants different species like etc. especially in Kent.
Simon will also be explaining what the Bumblebee Conservation org is about and what it does.
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4th December - Mediterranean wild flowers - Sue Buckingham
An introduction to the Mediterranean flora from west to east, what makes it different to ours, the evergreen nature of the trees and shrubs, the stunning sheets of annual daisies in spring, proliferations of colourful peas and brilliant poppies, anemones, orchids and fritillaries under ancient olive groves.
We’ll look at vegetation zones from coastal dunes and lagoons to shrub formations with cistus, spiny spurge, aromatic herbs and asphodels, rocky hillsides and arable fields with tulips, gladiolus and arums and at pine and oak woodland with cyclamen and paeony. Many of the plants will be familiar to gardeners.
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11th December - Sharing thin air: birds, herds, and people of Dhaulagiri Himalayas of western Nepal - Joy Stephens
Joy lived in Nepal for 20 years, working in community development. The Dhaulagiri Himalayas are a stunning mountain range yet one of the least touristed and developed areas - home to the elusive snow leopard, red panda and a variety of high-altitude birds.
The talk will focus on the people who live in these mountains as well as the natural environment in which they live – including birds, of course!
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18th December - A look back through 2025 at SBBOT - Steffan & Jonny
Our warden Steffan, will be giving us an illustrated update on the past year at Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory. Steffan will take us through the year with photographs and commentary of the many birds, dragonflies, flowers and reptiles that occurred.
It will be a great look back for all of us, but for new members it will provide and an excellent introduction into what to look out for and when during 2026.
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15th January- “Jewels in the air” - Wilf Powell
Wilf will give us an illustrated talk about the lives of Hummingbirds, describing aspects of their behaviour and natural history. He will also show some of the places he has visited to see and photograph these beautiful birds and mention a few of the other birds he encountered.
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22nd January - Birds and animals of Northern Tanzania seen in November ’24 - Brian Summerfield
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29th January - Cuba: Cigars, Cars & Mojitos - but more importantly, the birds - Andrew Dobson
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5th February - Life on Bardsey - Greg Lee
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12th February - Komodo - Ian & Sally Hunter
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19 February - Bats in Britain - John Puckett
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26th February - Pine Martin reintroduction project - Suzanne Kynaston, Wildwood Trust
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5th March - A journey to the Hebrides - Paul Hale
We stop off in Teesdale for Black Grouse on our way north to the Inner and Outer Hebrides including St Kilda, a dual World Heritage Site both for its culture and nature.
On our journey we see a range of species from Golden Eagle to Corncrake, from Otter to St Kilda Wren, and a range of breeding seabirds. We also look at the lifestyle of the St Kildans and somehow end up at a whisky festival on Islay.
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19th March - Elmley conservation and the Curlew recovery project - Simon Ginnaw
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26th March - Winter birding in Japan - part 2 (Eagles, Cranes and a special Owl) - Ian Searle & Ken Chapman
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