NEW AFRICAN RAPTOR GUIDE AND WILDLIFE ART GALLERY – INVITATION TO LAUNCH IN SOLVA

From local bird artist Rob Davies  - I would like to invite all Pembrokeshire Birders to the launch of a new wildlife art gallery in Solva on Tuesday 12th March. This launch coincides with publication (finally! – longest gestation period of any book) of African Raptors: a fieldguide by Bill Clark and Rob Davies. Bill did the words, I did the pictures. There are 52 colour plates in all featuring all 106 species of diurnal African raptors including Eurasian migrants. Some1200 figures on these have taken me 20 years to complete. We also did the new range maps based on data in African Raptor Databank from mobile phones all over Africa. Original plates will be on display and copies of the book which is published by Bloomsbury in the Helm Identification Guide Series. Some 300 colour photos too of all those tricky African raptors.

Please come along if you are able to. The doors open at 5pm Tuesday 12 th March and there will be
refreshments and snacks. For directions to the gallery: From Haverfordwest, drive up through Solva
until you are about to leave the village for St Davids. You will see a small wood on your left with a
walled garden. Turn left in here where you see signs for Llanunwas and follow the signs for Rookwood. There is an overflow carpark in the farm yard if the gallery car park is full.

The gallery is designed to be a permanent outlet for artwork celebrating the natural history and
wonderful landscapes of Pembrokeshire as well as further afield. The three themes are Wild, Wings and Water. At the moment on show are boat and beach scenes by Lia Pellegrini, landscapes and bird
paintings by Paul MacDermot (nice Merlin and Barn Owl) and the dramatic underwater photographs
captured by marine biologist Dr Lou Luddington who has been helping develop the gallery with Rob.
There is also a website www.rookwoodstudios.co.uk featuring more work and a new printing service. It would be great to see you, please come along if you are able to.