Meet the Committee!

Meet the Committee

Meet the Chairman:

Jonnie Fisk

"I'm 19, from North Yorkshire (though I had the misfortune of being born in London, Thus my first bird- heard only- was probably a Ring- necked Parakeet, a devastating reality). By day I work as a field officer on a N Yorks wet grassland reserve and by night in a restaurant kitchen. In my spare time I enjoy the music of Halls & Oates and googling pictures of hepatic Cuckoos. Don't believe there's more to life than birding."

Meet the Vice Chair:

Josie Hewitt

" I've had an interest in nature for as long as I can remember but in the last 6 years this has developed into a full on passion and one that I hope to make a career out of! I am a very keen birder, dedicated patcher, occasional twitcher and qualified bird ringer. I go out birding or ringing whenever I can and more recently have tried my hand at nest finding, as part of the BTO NRS scheme, however it's safe to say much more practice is needed to home my skills!"

Meet the Trip Officer:

James Shergold

A man of few words..

" My names James. My hobby is birdwatching, I live in the Midlands. Yes I'm interested in birds. As stated above it's my hobby."

Meet the Bird Development Officer:

Jake Gearty

" I'm Jake, 21 years old. I'm currently studying Adult Nursing (2nd year) at the University of East Anglia, I originate from the seaside city of Brighton & Hove, however spend most my time in Norfolk now. I've been a part of this crazy train known as NGB from the start, even before NGB when it was formally known as Young Birders! I've always been a 'birder' per say, my inspirations for the hobby came from my granddad who would take me out birding to the local nature reserves and point out the basics, a few years later I'd be teaching him stuff! My most memorable birding experience was when I first heard the wonderful song of the Nightingale, it still is to this day my favourite bird and was sort of the defining moment that I knew I was probably going to keep at this hobby for many years to come!"

Meet the Blog Editor: 

Dan Rouse

" I'm Dan from the wonderful country of Wales. I'm 19 years old and currently working for the WWT down in Llanelli where I'm a Learning Assistant. I have a huge love for raptors and owls but a soft spot for Wigeon (that call just makes me melt!), I'm a trainee ringer and plan to do a lot more regarding that aswell. I bird mainly Wales, but do the odd bit of twitching thanks to a certain someone and travel to Portugal a few times a year for birding. I love collecting, my collection is mainly pellets, claws and feathers, but I have more books than I need which have formed a collection of their own. I have an interest in reptiles, butterflies and bats! "

Meet the Newsletter Editor:

Jonathan Scragg

"My name is Jonathan Scragg, I am 20 years old and I am currently 2 years into studying Ecology at Lancaster University. I have been a birder for as long as I can remember and my main passion is patch birding, hence why I help to run Patchwork Challenge alongside my work with NGB. Beyond birds I am very interested in butterflies and moths and I currently have a part-time job surveying Bats in the North-West, basically anything that flies interests me!"

NGB Introducing: Liz Clipson

Being born on the infamous north Norfolk coast, I guess it is in my blood to birdwatch, however it took until April 2013 until I really started to take note of this calling. My dad was also brought up in Norfolk and used to visit many of the reserves we all know and love, so I guess it was a given when one afternoon in the aforementioned April when I threw out the suggestion of going birdwatching.

As a youngster, I was fortunate enough to have a field to play in and Nature was just part of my everyday life, birds, insects, amphibians… even plants! I had an interest in it all. One of my earliest memories is my mom making nets for moth trapping which me and my dad used to do in the summer, and also being woken “late at night” aged about 5, to my dad showing me my first privet hawk moth which landed on my head. However, a visit to the local falconry centre stole my heart when I was allowed to hold a barn owl. He was called Oscar, and I remember being in awe and blown away from his beauty.

At age 10, we moved away from Norfolk and made home in Worcestershire. We always fed the birds and always kept a record of what came in to feed in the pokey 10mx15m garden. Highlights have including, siskins, goldcrests and hobby, and mammals including foxes and hedgehog.

Aged 18, I was fortunate enough to travel to Zakynthos, Greece to work with ARCHELON, to aid in the breeding season for the Loggerhead Turtles, which enabled me access onto protected sites, and have been fortunate enough to sit behind a female and watch her lay eggs… not a lot compares to that! However, whilst I was there, I was able to observe a pair of breeding Eleonora’s falcons, and also be literally surrounded by Barn Owls on a regular basis.

Now in the “real world”, I work in radiotherapy, and as well as working full time, I am studying for a graduate diploma and a masters… some say I am a glutton for punishment, however come September I should be free of academia and plan on pursuing my hobby further, hopefully find my own patch, and potentially get involved in ringing.

My Inspiration

I guess I can say that I have been inspired by the usual greats; David Attenborough, Steve Backshall, the team from the really wild show, Simon King and the team from Big Cat Diary….. Pretty much any TV show that had animals, birds, insects etc, I was sat in front of. As a physicist, I guess there has always been a lack of female inspiration in work and I guess nature isn’t much different so Michaela Strachan I guess was quite important and I am glad she is still on the TV for the next generation of girls!

Also my Dad is a pretty big inspiration as he was always very encouraging and since April 2013 we have learnt a lot together! And there is also another NGB member who I won’t embarrass too much, but he has really helped both my dad and I develop ours skills, but both of us wish we had his knowledge in the field!

Best Birding Experience

It is really hard to pick just one, so, I am going to choose a month of birding. October 2014. The first weekend of October, I was on a birding trip to north Norfolk, and we had an incredible weekend. The Friday night was pretty epic, sat in Burnham Overy overlooking a pool watching a Black Necked grebe as the sun went down, the starling roost and Chinese water deer. Then there was 2 barn owls hunting, followed by thousands and thousands of pink footed geese overhead, which was awe inspiring. The weekend was finished off with going out to Thornham point, after a black redstart, and strangely enough it seemed the only place I could get 3G phone signal to hear about the Steppe Grey Shrike…. The yomp back to the car included jumping down the dunes and walking very quickly through RSPB Titchwell telling people as we left.

Mid October we were back in North Norfolk, and again, an epic day. Started with sea watching for Skua, which we did eventually get, we decided to head home. Walking back through RSPB Titchwell, Craig Reed, stopped to look at a female stonechat and he called a Penduline Tit. I remember just thinking get the photos!!! Record shots were poor but enough to get the bird accepted by the BBRC and Craig spent most of the time getting others over to see the bird…. Causing a twitch in Norfolk is a funny experience really!

Favourite bird

This is a really tough one for me as I have a general love of a few. I have to say, I do like ducks. Strange really… it seems that it just happens that way, my teddy growing up was “quack quack” and you guessed it, it is a duck. I have also fallen in love with Eiders. I mean what’s not to love! I saw my first wild eider at Penmon Point, Anglesey, in April 2014, and close enough to hear them calling! I can often be found near the Eiders at WWT Slimbridge, and I will admit (and anyone that has been birding with me can vouch) my incoming text message alert in indeed an Eider!