Speaker: Gordon Hamnett
Reporter: Sue Gale

Gordon Hamlett is the author of the much admired ‘Best Birdwatching Sites in the Scottish Highlands’ and this talk tells the story of its production. Gordon first visited the area in the late 1980s when he was thrilled to see his first Red Squirrels, Crested Tits and Ospreys. He started to write articles about the birds of the area for Birdwatch magazine, after which he was asked to write a book about where to see birds in the Highlands, to sit alongside similar volumes about Norfolk and Devon and Cornwall. Gordon discussed the problem issues in such an undertaking – he wanted to include creatures other than birds, and to embrace the history of the area as well as something about the many different habitats.

Speaker: Mark Avery
Reporter: Sue Gale
Mark Avery paid us a visit in January, and we were very pleased to welcome him – you can rely on Mark to make you think And we absolutely do not believe his claim that he isn’t often invited back! Mark is a naturalist, author, consultant and campaigner who admits to being ‘better’ at birds, mammals and butterflies than he is on plants and most invertebrates. He is
co-founder with Chris Packham and Ruth Tingay of Wild Justice, but he was here to promote his new book “Reflections”, in which he considers the current state of nature and of nature conservation. He took us through the book chapter by chapter for the first half of the evening, and then after the break he invited questions/ discussion. The interest aroused can be judged
by the fact that this session exceeded its allotted time and took us very close to kicking-out time.

Speaker: Steve Stansfield
Reporter: Sue Gale

Our October talk from Steve Stansfield had many of us wanting to rush off and book a trip to Bardsey Island immediately! Steve is Director of Operations on the island and has lived there with his family for 26 seasons. (They live in Norfolk in the winter.) Bardsey is a tiny island in the Irish sea about 2 miles off the end of the Llyn Peninsula. It has farmland, where Welsh Black cattle graze, at the lowland end, and the high side of the island which rises to 167m is covered in gorse and bracken. Not only is this an SSSI, with its protected seabird colonies and special flora and fauna, but it is also one of only 17 Dark Sky Sanctuaries in the world.

​Speakers: Stephen Vickers and Kirsty Franklin
Reporter: Cath Robinson

We were treated to a really interesting evening’s entertainment by two impressive and enthusiastic naturalists.

Ringing in Norfolk
Stephen gave a background to ringing in general: more than 1 million birds are ringed annually in the UK with > 3500 active ringers. He then spoke of his experience as a Norfolk ringer joining the established UEARG (Ringing Group) in 2018 since when >13,000 birds have been ringed. 100 metal rings have been recovered over this time.

​Speaker: Colin Smith
Reporter: Sue Gale

It is always great to hear about the travels of our members, and Colin Smith treated us to some excellent images and videos of his adventurous tour of Madagascar. He thoughtfully started by locating Madagascar for us, off the East coast of Africa, and made up of rainforest in the East, mountains in the middle and desert on the West. There are several nature reserves but they are mostly small and isolated, separated by villages and rice fields, and the country has suffered a good deal from deforestation. None-the-less 80% of the flora and fauna are endemic, making this a prime location for naturalists of all persuasions. Of course, the lemurs are the biggest attraction, and there are very many species, ever increasing in numbers as DNA investigations identify differences.