Raquel and I attended the British Birdwatching Fair that took place from 19th – 21st August at at Egleton Nature Reserve, Rutland Water, UK, to mark REGUA’s 10th anniversary at this globally important event.

Organized by REGUA volunteers, Rachel Walls, Lee Dingain and Sue Healey, with the additional support from Alan Martin, the stand offered a formidable team to meet the public with their interest and enquiries.

The Birdfair is one of the best venues to present REGUA’s conservation efforts and results to date as well as showcase the great birds whose habitat it seeks to protect.

Considering this was our first time at the Birdfair, both Raquel and I found it of overwhelming proportions given the number of marquees, stands and visitors present.

So many visitors passed by the REGUA stand to say hello and we were touched by the compliments received from all those who had visited REGUA over the last few years.

On behalf of the REGUA project and all those who work here, we wanted to thank everyone who came by to meet us or to say hello, but above all to especially thank Lee, Rachel, and Sue for their passion and zeal in the Birdfair preparation for what we thought the best stand ever, and to Alan and Ken Sutton for their attentive support in caring for so many visitors at the stand. Also, thanks to Ken Coppleston for carving a number of beautiful wooden toucan napkin holders (that we use in the lodge) for us to sell on the stand.

This year’s Birdfair coincided with the end of the World Land Trust Olympic Forest Reserve Appeal to raise £40,000 to purchase 221 ha of primary Atlantic Forest in the upper Guapiaçu valley and protect this as a reserve to celebrate the Rio 2016 Olympics (more on this shortly).

We were fortunate enough to have our Wildscreen film shown on the huge screen in the food court, and also for the first time REGUA gave two lectures at the Birdfair, both of which were very well attended.

Thank you to everyone who came and supported us. We look forward to seeing some of you at REGUA soon.