After cancelling a trip planned for the day before (my fault), myself and @devilfish took a trip to three collections in the Southwest. We started with a quick stop-off at the small, but well planted, Berkeley Butterfly House which didn't take up too much time - some butterflies here and there, and the odd quail (Devilfish can tell you what they were, as I haven't a clue) . Certainly worth the trip if you're passing by! Next up was Slimbridge - having not visited since I was a child, it was nice to visit with someone who could tell me what I was looking at! Sadly, my knowledge of birds is limited, despite helping to write the recent RCP for Waterfowl and Pelecaniformes... I did get to see the Nene however, which are a personal favourite of mine, and of course the James' flamingo! After a spot of lunch, which I was kindly treated to (and a long ol' chat), we made our way to Wild Place Project to see Bear Wood. Having not seen Bear Wood like myself, Devilfish seemed rather impressed, and was surprised by the scale of it (forgive me if I'm putting words into your mouth). The Zoo has received Giraffe since his last visit, so a lot would have changed for him! Otherwise, nothing to update on since my last visit a few weeks ago. As we still has much to talk about, it was decided that a drink was in order, so we headed to a local pub for a lovely little (over two hour) chinwag. Overall, a great day, with fantastic company I imagine he has just arrived home after his two hour drive back
Sounds like a great deay out - we need to get to Slimbridge but like you, I'm not going to have much clue what I'm looking at
Yes, I know... It was a research based/organisational role in which I spent 5 weeks on the project... and learnt an awful lot! I was mostly ascertaining the number of individuals of each species in European, and then EAZA collections. After that, I wrote short reports on each species using scientific literature and the IUCN Redlist Database. The work I did actually really helped "get things going" for the RCP, as it meant that the groundwork was completed, and ready for the meeting in which the status of these birds was discussed. You don't always have to be an expert, to do a good job - many people, including my supervisor and people at the meeting, were impressed with the work I managed to complete. Maybe I should have said that "birds aren't my thing", but at the end of the day... I was honest, and was just expressing how I enjoyed a day out with a friend with more knowledge than myself.
RCP isn't an acronym, its an abbreviation. To be an acronym, an abbreviation has to make a word. Like 'Scuba' or 'Laser'. Correct English please.
