Wall charts from the Blencathra Centre!

Several villagers have asked if they can purchase fold–out charts at Blencathra. The answer is sometimes! The Field Studies Council sell over 400000 copies, though alas not all at Blencathra. You will see copies in local bookshops, at National park Information Centres, Whinlatter and Threlkeld Mining Museum. You may also have notice the BBC presenters using them on Springwatch. Last week at the Centre we had a course on Butterflies and Moths and they avidly used the field guides. This week we are running a course ‘Using a Flora’ – not the spread!

Our latest publication is the Guide to British owls and owl pellets. Produced in conjunction with the Hawk and Owl Trust, this chart is both an identification guide to owls and a practical resource for investigating owl pellets.
Included are colour paintings of the 5 species of owl permanently resident in the British Isles, shown both perched and at rest, illustrations and written descriptions of the different pellets produced by each species of owl and by other birds (kestrel, sparrow hawk, gull and corvids) that could be confused, and a systematic identification key to the contents of owl pellets, including complete skulls, jaws, teeth and other recognisable bones and animal parts.
Text on the reverse side provides background information on the taxonomy of owls, their adaptations for hunting, food chains and conservation status. Further identification information for each species - body length, wingspan, call, habitat, UK breeding range, main prey and conservation status - is given in a table. Guidance is also included on where pellets can be found and how they can be prepared and dissected.
You can always order these on line through FSC publications

Tim Foster - Head of Blencathra Centre - Cumbria.

For more information you can email Tim Foster