As no alternative nominations for election to BBRC were received, the Committee’s nominee, Richard Millington (see Brit. Birds 102: 105), will commence his term of office on 1st April 2009. We welcome Richard, who replaces our longest-serving member Brian Small, although we are delighted to retain Brian as the Committee’s Museum Consultant.
In addition, Phil Bristow has regrettably been forced to retire from the Committee, owing to the pressure of other commitments. It will be a great shame to lose Phil, who has made a very valuable contribution to BBRC’s work, and we fully understand that this has been a difficult decision for him to relinquish his duties.
He was due to retire in April 2011, so in the meantime we have co-opted a new member to undertake his duties. We were keen to find a replacement who was also based in Wales but, despite extensive enquiries, none was forthcoming with the necessary time to commit to BBRC at present.
We are nonetheless delighted to welcome Nic Hallam onto the Committee to replace Phil from 1st April 2009. Nic is based in Oxfordshire and does much of his birding at Farmoor Reservoir, where his impressive list of finds includes Britain’s only inland Buff-bellied Pipit Anthus rubescens, along with two Bonaparte’s Gulls Chroicocephalus philadelphia, two Franklin’s Gulls Larus pipixcan and a Gull-billed Tern Sterna nilotica. His other finds in this land-locked county include Oxon’s second Pied-billed Grebe Podilymbus podiceps, and he has served on the Oxfordshire Rarities Committee for 25 years and is co-author of the county bird report.
Nic is widely travelled in Europe and further afield. He will be co-opted for a period of 12 months, and there will be the opportunity for other candidates to be nominated during the coming year for an election if necessary. Names and capabilities of potential candidates should be sent to the Chairman, supported by a proposer and seconder.
We are disappointed that we no longer have a representative for Wales, but we are grateful to Reg Thorpe, Chairman of the Welsh Records Panel and a former BBRC member, who has continued to assist the committee with Welsh records where necessary.
