With a presentation by Stephen Boucher called “Spain 2, A Cautionary Tale.”

Birds & Beers resumes next Thursday with our final event of the season. As usual we meet at the Legion at 9202 Horton Road SW, from 5 to 9 pm. Everyone is welcome. You can arrive at any time up to 7 pm, when the presentation will begin.

Spain 2, A Cautionary Tale by Spephen Boucher:

I grew up in England and have vivid memories of long summer bike rides along quiet country lanes lined by tall never-ending hedgerows. In every season the countryside was alive with bird song, from the spring dawn chorus, Skylarks in summer and the plaintive calls of large groups of Rooks in winter. Now many years later in my retirement one of my goals has been to see and photograph European birds. This quest began with my “Clueless in Catalonia” birding trip to Spain in the late fall of 2023.That trip was amazing but there were many more European birds still to see. I knew that I would return to Spain.

My return to Spain took place in April 2025. But much had changed in Europe and the World in the intervening 18 months. The war in Europe continued, Trump took office in January 2025, weather instability had increased due to climate change and there was a movement in Spain protesting against mass tourism.

Tonight I am going to talk about my return to Spain and my experience of birding in the era of package tours and mass
tourism.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…..
“It was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”
– Charles Dickens

Please come and join me for an evening of reflection.

A reminder that we do have to pay a small fee for the room, so we ask attendees to voluntarily give a donation of $1 or $2 if they are able. Any cash above the fee amount is donated to the Legion.

Birds & Beers takes a summer break in July and August, and resumes in September.

[Subscribers who recieve these posts by email can click on the post title at the top, or here, to go the Birds Calgary website for more content.]