Art auction to help Sandwich Bay

Exceptional artists such as DIM Wallace and Peter Grant, whose illustrations are familiar to all birders, feature in a charity fundraiser for Sandwich Bay Bird Observatory Trust (SBBOT), which hopes to secure habitat for wetland birds and other wildlife.

Madeleine Floyd has donated a collection of limited-edition prints, while Bruce Pearson has also kindly contribued a signed copy of his book Troubled Waters and even painted an original watercolour on the title page. Online bidding ends on 25 October 2018; if you would like to own one of these unique pieces of art then head to SBBOT's website at sbbot.org.uk/activities/art-auction.

Artwork from the likes of Marianne Floyd (left) and DIM Wallance (right) is up for grabs; to bid, please visit sbbot.org.uk/activities/art-auction.

All proceeds will go directly to help purchase Restharrow Scrape and conserve it for the wildlife that it supports. Many wetland birds breed on the scrape, including Avocet, which nested for the first time this year, and it is one of the most important sites in Kent for overwintering Eurasian Teal. Rare and scarce birds that have stopped off recently include Black-winged Stilt, Pectoral Sandpiper, Temminck's Stint, Common Crane and Great Egret.

You can find out more about this project and also make a donation on the observatory's JustGiving page here: www.justgiving.com/campaign/scrape