gnsadmin

The GNS Annual General Meeting took place as planned on Friday 18 March in Cirencester, with the President, Mrs Anna Ball, in the chair.  The Meeting re-elected the existing Executive Committee, except for Lynne Garner and Gordon Avery who had stood down in the course of the year; it elected Ben Locke and Martin Matthews as members of the Executive Committee.  It was agreed not to appoint a new Hon Secretary, and to go ahead with the redistribution of tasks as already agreed: Andy Oliver will take over the initial screening of Grant Applications; the Chairman will complete the annual return to the Charities’ Commission.   The Committee is looking for a volunteer to act as Minutes Secretary.

David Scott-Langley had stood down after ten years as Chairman of the Cirencester Branch, but remains on the Cirencester Branch Committee as Treasurer; Andy Bluett has joined Ken Cservenka and Rob Curtis as the other members of the quartet; there will be a rolling Chairmanship.

Gordon Avery (former Bird Recorder), Roger Gaunt (former Moth Recorder), David Haigh (Spider Recorder), Colin Twissell (Amphibian Recorder) were appointed Honorary Members of the Society; all have made major contributions to the recording of these taxa; Colin thanked the Society on their behalf.

David Scott-Langley has also for many years been Chair of the Scientific and Publications Sub-Committee, a really crucial position within the Society Society.  David of course remains Recorder for a variety of invertebrates and hence a member of this Sub-Committee, and is to continue editing “The Gloucester Naturalist”, quite apart from continuing as Vice Chairman of the Society.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in partnership with Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society will be running “Ecology for Beginners” on 17th April 2016 – a chance to learn some new skills and to explore and understand the interdependence of animals, plants and the environment.

Full details for booking on the flyer here – Ecology for beginners course 2016

Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society has supported the publication of Cleeve Common and its Wild Flowers by Ian Howes by grant aid funding. We are pleased to publicize the book on behalf of the author and the good cause to which it contributes.

“Cleeve Common and its Wild Flowers” is a book produced for the charity ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’ (in memory of the remarkable Stephen Sutton). All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to the charity. The author, Ian Howes, gained his interest in wild flowers during his school years in Cheltenham, joining a local Natural History Society. He went on to do his degree in botany at University College London.

Ian, thinking of his own enthusiasm about wild flowers when at school, thought to produce a book that would appeal to young people today and make them want to be out in the countryside. The book is a photographic guide to the wild flowers found on Cleeve Common. Points are scored for finding plants (depending how difficult they are to find!) and ticked off as they are found!   Also included are some interesting landmarks that can be seen when walking the Common. Most of the photographs have been taken by Ian on the Common and arranged in the book by flower colour. Cleeve Common is an increasingly rare habitat of unimproved limestone grassland which needs to be protected for future generations.

The book can be purchased online for £6.50 (inc. postage) at;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/-/301872503542

All profits from the sale of the book will be donated to ‘Teenage Cancer Trust’.

The next GNS Indoor Meeting is due to take place on Friday 12^th February – At Cirencester Branch, takes place at Watermoor Church Hall, Watermoor Lane, Cirencester GL7 1JR, 7pm for a 7.30 start

An illustrated talk by Helen Mugridge ARPS, renowned wildlife photographer, entitled Wildlife Photography at Home and Abroad – for a taste of what might be seen have a look at the web-site – Promises to be a feast of very fine photographs and interesting dialogue.

http://willridgeimages.co.uk/.

Field Meeting – The Awre Peninsula

And the next field meeting on Sunday 14^th February Awre Peninsula, Estuary Birds and Wildlife to be led by Mike Smart (01452 421131). Meet at the centre of Awre village at SO 705 084 – leave the A48 and follow the signs to Awre. 11am to 2pm. Binoculars or Telescope a distinct advantage and please dress appropriately, it may be cold, wet and muddy but will be interesting.

Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society will publish a special edition of “The Gloucestershire Naturalist” (TGN 28) in April 2016: Dragonflies & Damselflies of Gloucestershire by Ingrid Twissell, the Gloucestershire Odonata Recorder.

The result of a long and careful campaign of fieldwork and recording, this publication is an important addition to Gloucestershire fauna reference works and contains much useful information about dragonflies & damselflies in the county complete with distribution maps, flight times, sites guide etc. It is lavishly illustrated with photographs of both species and habitats.

GNS members will receive an invitation to reserve a copy by mail together with their copy of TGN 27 which is due to be published shortly.

Non-members may apply to reserve a copy at a cost of £15 + £2.50 post and packing by e-mailing the membership secretary, at gnsmembership@btinternet.com or by writing to GNS Membership Secretary, 50 Kingsmead, Abbeymead, Gloucester, GL4 5DY.

A Live Animal Event for February half-term week 2016

Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group is presenting “Breeding Honey-buzzards in the UK”, an illustrated talk with Steve Roberts on Tuesday January 26th 2016 at Ribston Hall High School, Stroud Rd, Gloucester (GL1 5LE) – doors open 7pm for a 7.30 start. Refreshments available at a small charge.

Steve will talk about this enigmatic and hard-to-find species.  He has been studying breeding birds all his life and Honey-buzzards for the past 25 years, which has resulted in him having two major papers published in British Birds as well as other papers elsewhere. Steve is well respected in birding circles, and is an excellent speaker.

This event is ticket-only, available online via the GRMG shop at http://glosraptors.co.uk/shop/. Bookings will be confirmed by e-mail, please bring proof of booking with you on the night – a printed copy of the e-mail will do.  

GRMG doesn’t have members paying subscriptions, so needs to make a charge to cover the costs of these talks.  Any surplus made on ticket sales will be used by the group for raptor conservation in Gloucestershire.

GRMG is just a little over one year old, but brings together a number of members of GNS and other groups, all of whom have a special interest in birds of prey and owls and has been supported by GNS with grant aid funding enabling the construction and siting of Owl nest boxes. Monitoring, recording and ringing of other birds of prey is carried out by some members of the group, other activities in support of raptors is planned for the future including a special survey of Little Owls beginning in 2016. More information can be found at www.glosraptors.co.uk.

Many members of the GNS will already be subscribers to British Birds or may have taken up trial offers. Whether or not, you may like to receive their free e-newsletter every month. This offers a flavour of what has been published recently and what is in the pipeline in areas such as book of the month, news and comment, the rarities section and special offers.

This is a new initiative from one of Britain’s leading birding publications. It covers the UK and Western Palearctic and has been the birdwatchers’ journal of record since 1907. It is read and recommended by many amateur and professional ornithologists, writers and photographers with Simon King stating that ‘British Birds is the gold standard of ornithological literature in the UK’.

To receive the newsletters, just go to www.britishbirds.co.uk and enter your email address on the right of the page.

Changes to the Rules of the Society were proposed and approved by the membership at a Special General Meeting on 27^th March 2015, subject to the final approval of the Charity Commissioners.

The requirement for Charity Commission approval is enshrined in rule 18 which requires that “No amendment to Rule 2 (Objects of the Society), Rule 17 (Dissolution) or Rule 18 (Alteration to Rules) shall take effect without the written consent of the Charity Commissioners thereto”.

In essence, by updating Rule 2, the “Objects of the Society”, rule 18 came into play; however, the Charity Commission now has quite specific guidelines that govern what can be both an “Object” and be considered to be “wholly charitable”. As a result, some re-drafting of the proposed objects was necessary before the Charity Commission gave final approval to the change in writing, in an e-mail, to the Membership Secretary, on 12^th December 2015.

The Society now has a fully approved, new set of rules, copies of which are available to read or download as a .pdf file below, or as a hard copy by post from the Membership Secretary upon request.

GNS Rules of The Society 2015 CC Approved