Honorary Secretary’s Report 2019-20
The trustees of the charity forming the club committee during 2019-20 were Martin Davison (Chair), Jo Bentley (Treasurer), Tim Dean (Recorder), Trevor Blake (Sales), Steve Anderson (Outdoor Meetings), Steve Barrett (Bulletin Editor), Graham Sorrie (Twitter account)  and Andrew Brunt (Secretary).  The committee functioned with one member short for the year. Martin Davison continued with the work of planning and booking speakers for the Indoor Meetings.

After the AGM in October Iain Robson explained his reasons for visiting Taiwan – a low crime rate, no man-eating wildlife, plenty of flights and excellent birds, and some endemic species to see. The endemic pheasants and partridge and Taiwan Barbet were all shown along with a very full explanation of the transport, accommodation and best online information. The Turtle Dove is a Rare Breeding Bird in the Britain and was the subject for Richard Baines in November. He described the hazards the bird faces that we are only too familiar with, and how the “Turtle Dove Project” in the North Yorkshire Forests is progressing. Zoe Smith summarised the work of the Hawk & Owl Trust in December in her talk titled “Conserving Birds of Prey and their Habitats”, paying especial attention to urban Peregrines. Her talk contained some revealing and informative images of the Peregrines on Norwich Cathedral tower, and she also explained what a difference the Peregrine Project had made on awareness of the birds amongst the non-birding public. At our meeting in January the title “Wild Shetland” was aptly given to his talk by Steve Race, and super photographs of the breeding birds of Shetland were enjoyed by all. Some strange behaviour on the part of Red Throated divers was captured in a particularly enthralling sequence, in addition to the beautiful plumage of the birds. In February club member Mike Henry drew on his many visits to Southern Sweden in a talk titled “Raptors, Wrynecks and Rosefinches”. He described the habitat types present in the 1980’s and the changes that have taken place since affecting the birdlife, all illustrated with photographs and images from his sketchbook. In March Cain Scrimgeour, a wildlife cameraman and a club member, showed us some of Redesdale wildlife and life beyond his new home, using both stills and moving pictures. Because of Covid -19 restrictions there were no further meetings at our usual venue in 2020. The April meeting was cancelled, and our new season began in September with a meeting on-line hosted from Aberdeen University by Katie August. Her subject was the Goshawk, and how it has fared in the UK since its unofficial reintroduction in the 1960’s. Katie also told us about the main part of her studies looking at the population dynamics by using camera traps to either read colour-ringed birds or look at plumages differences of the birds to find out how the Goshawks are dispersing through the forests. The committee thanks Martin Davison for his time and effort contacting people and arranging such a wide variety of speakers.

Steve Anderson has continued to coordinate our outdoor programme. For the same reasons as above, the programme was curtailed. A trip did go ahead in August in search of waders along the coast led by Tim Dean, and was successful and enjoyable. The Committee thanks all the leaders, especially Steve for coordinating the programme.

Our thanks also go to Steve Barrett and his team of writers for their regular commitment in getting the Bulletin out every month. Much appreciated also are the photographic contributions which enhance the appearance and interest value. Steve has also managed the digitizing of our paper bulletins. The process is nearly complete but Covid 19 has delayed access to the library hard copies of the first years' bulletins.  When complete and available in pdf format the bulletins will be fully searchable, and so their research value is considerably enhanced.

Andy Mould and his team have continued to develop the quality of production of our Annual Report in its relatively new format. Andy has reported to and met with the committee to present alternatives and discuss its future. Some earlier Annual Reports up to 2017 are now available as downloads from the website.

We continue to receive requests for data from our past surveys. An administration charge is made for this when appropriate. Requests for survey data are currently managed by the Secretary.

The vital role of regular monthly records collection is currently very effectively managed by Clive Hampton. Clive recently took over the role from Tom Brewis and has proved equally dedicated and reliable, as well as finding time to introduce some new efficiencies.