A NEW season of film shows, slide talks and birdwatching trips, organised by Bolton Group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, gets underway on Thursday.

The opening slide talk, What's In a Name?, is given by RSPB staff man Tim Melling.

Events will be held on Thursday evenings each month until April, at Smithills School, Smithills Dean Road, at 7.30pm.

Non-members are welcome. Indoor events, which include sales of a wide range of bird food, feeders and other RSPB goods, are interspersed with trips by coach and car to some of the best bird haunts in the North and East of the country.

The first is a full day car trip on Sunday, September 19, to a Yorkshire reserve, Tophill Low, followed by a sea cruise off Bridlington.

Details of events and membership are on the group websiteboltonrspb.users.btopenworld.com.