BBRC Vagrants enter the Champions of the Flyway 2015
The long dusty corridors and smoke filled parlours of BBRC Towers have been roused. Stirred on by tales of last years race and seeing the fantastic amount of money raised for Bird Conservation Georgia, the smoking jackets and dog-eared slippers of three members have been hung up and they have been let out for a week this spring to compete in “Champions of the Flyway 2015”.
The Champions of the Flyway is a bird race in the legendary birding area of Eilat and southern Israel. Last years inaugural race involved teams from all over the World competing to see who could find the most species in this area in 24 hours, and more importantly, who could raise the most money for conservation. Nearly US$60,000 was raised, and this amazing achievement has inspired the BBRC Vagrants to try their hand this year. The team comprises Paul French, Richard Schofield and Micky Maher and they will be trying their hardest to compete with other teams from both the UK and around the world, with Finland, Spain, USA, South Africa and Israel among the nations represented.
Looking ahead to this years event Paul French said “This is the first time we know of any BBRC team entering a bird race, so we’re not expecting great things! We’re also not looking forward to the inevitable controversial judges decisions, but some might call that poetic justice! As long as we manage to raise some money to tackle the hunting of birds in Cyprus, we’ll be happy.”
Importantly though, they need our help. The beneficiary of this years race will be Birdlife Cyprus, and money raised will go towards helping them fight the illegal slaughter of birds that goes on every year. Of particular vulgarity is the so called delicacy “Ambelopoulia”. This dish is made from whole small passerines and eaten by locals and tourists alike. The capture of birds by mist net and lime sticks and the sale of Ambelopulia have been illegal since 1974, but the law has little effect.
Rare Bird Alert supporting the BBRC Vagrants team
The very nature of the BBRC’s work will mean that from time to time a few people may disagree with some of their decisions on rarities. However, we are sure that you will all agree that the committee do fantastic (unpaid) work on assessing rarity records and publishing their annual report. To recognise this hard work, and the very important cause for this year’s Champions of the Flyway, RBA will this year be backing the BBRC Vagrants team. We have made a significant donation to the team and hope you can make a donation too, no matter how small it all goes to help Birdlife Cyprus put a stop to the illegal slaughter of birds.
Donate today to stop the slaughter
More details on the race can be found here - champions-of-the-flyway.com/cause.
Donate to the BBRC Vagrants team here - justgiving.com/COTF2015BV
Rare Bird Alert
02 February 2015
