Good morning COG members and chat line subscribers, a reminder that COG’s/Canberra Birds’ AGM and the November normal COG meeting will be held tomorrow evening Wednesday 8 November at our usual Canberra Girls Grammar School venue from 7:30
pm. Details are below.
Everyone is welcome so please come along to the AGM (only financial members can vote) and then to listen to Libby Robin telling us about a very important part of COG’s history, the hosting the International Ornithologists Congress in 1974,
with which I expect not many of the current membership will be familiar,
If you have a copy of her book and bring it along, Libby will be happy to sign it.
There will be the usual raffle and you will also be able to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee after the meeting.
Jack Holland
The November meeting will be a face-to-face one held at our usual venue. Attendees should heed social distancing and good hygiene practice etc, and use their common sense and stay home if they have COVID
symptoms. Mask wearing is recommended.
AGM – see details below
Libby Robin - Canberra Ornithologists Group goes International
The AGM will be a combined meeting – in-person or by Zoom. The link is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89483563926?pwd=aFVsN293TGNad3g4d2RscHJaY3U1Zz09
Email if you have trouble connecting and we will try to help.
If you do attend by Zoom, please email during the meeting to record your attendance.
The agenda and financial reports are available here -
https://canberrabirds.org.au/about-cog/annual-reports/
After the AGM there will be a single speaker:
Libby Robin, Emeritus Professor from the Fenner School of Environment and Society at the ANU,
will be presenting on “Canberra Ornithologists Group goes International”,
a major inclusion in her
recently published book What Birdo is That? A Field Guide to Bird People.
It is nearly exactly 50 years since Canberra hosted the first meeting in the Southern Hemisphere of the venerable International Ornithologists’ Congress in 1974. Ninety years after
its first meeting in Paris in 1884, the IOC broke with its tradition of European meetings and came to Australia.
Libby will explore the way local birdos pitched in to make the social and intellectual life of the congress in a very young city rich and varied. The conference’s theme focused
on the contributions made by the Southern Hemisphere to bird-knowledge. Its presenters included many of the leading scientists of the day. International conservation negotiations were also important. The XVI World Conference of the International Council
for Bird Preservation, also met in Canberra, straight after the IOC.
What made the all the intellectual and diplomatic achievements possible, however, was the work of the local organising group, who found themselves hosting unexpected birding excursions, and helping people
who’d had a very difficult time getting to Australia in very practical ways. It was August and it snowed! Other complications included a major airline strike (delegates found themselves stuck in remote parts of Australia). There was no oil for the heating
because of an embargo. But with some high-level negotiating from the Australian Academy of Science and others, and the energetic enthusiasm of COG volunteers and CSIRO family members on the ground, the Canberra IOC was voted a resounding success.
