Coming WNFC attractions News items

Wexford Naturalists’ Field Club
WNFC Newsletter
Issue Number 17, March 2010
WNFC, c/o Wexford Wildfowl Reserve, North Slob, Wexford.
Website: www.wexfordnaturalists.com.
Email: [email protected]. Telephone: (053) 912 3129.
Coming WNFC attractions
April. Thurs 1st: Lecture “Hedgerows and their
conservation” by Lorcán Scott, NPWS District Conservation
Officer. Sat 10th: Fieldtrip to the Snipe Fields, Wexford
Wildfowl Reserve (WWR), to study pond life with Dominic
Berridge, Warden. Meet at 2pm at the WWR car park (T 076
239). Thurs 15th: EGM on Recording at 7.30pm in the
Pump House at the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve (details
below). Fri 30th: Weekend trip to the Burren, Co Clare. For
further information and booking, contact Mary Foley at
(053) 914 6573 or [email protected].
May. Thurs 6th: Lecture “The Natural History of Tintern
Abbey and environs” by Jim Hurley, SWC Promotions. Sat
8th: Fieldtrip to Tintern Abbey for identification of wild
flowers in small groups with Dominic Berridge, Zoë Devlin,
Jim Hurley, Frankie Tennant, and Roy Watson. Meet at 2pm
in the car park at Tintern Abbey (S 974 100), Saltmills.
Thurs 20th: Prize-giving ceremony for the annual WNFC
Children‟s Art Competition, in association with Wexford
County Council, at 2pm in the Visitor Centre at the Wexford
Wildfowl Reserve.
June. Thurs 3rd: “An introduction to the John F. Kennedy
Arboretum” by Geoff Michael, OPW Park Superintendent,
followed immediately afterwards by an old woodland walk
to see trees and to hear late evening bird song. Meet in the
reception area of the Visitor Centre of the Arboretum (S 727
193) at 8pm. Sat 12th: Nature walk along the River Barrow
towpath from St Mullins to Graiguenamanagh with Edno
Delaney. Meet at 2pm in the riverside car park at St Mullins
(S 727 377), Co Carlow. This event is a joint outing with
members of the Dublin Naturalists‟ Field Club.
News items ………………
New members. A special welcome to the following 13
new members who joined our ranks since the last issue of
this newsletter was distributed: John and Pamela Aldrich,
Crosstown; Jonathan Bulfin, Waterford; Willie Delaney,
New Ross; Edwina Dunne, Colestown; Richard Gaul,
Enniscorthy; Paul Green, New Ross; Judy Kearney,
Shelmaliere Commons; Jo Matthews, Kilmore; Brian
O'Connor, Coolcotts; Tom O'Connor, Gusserane; Mary
Watson, Blackwater; and Caroline Wilson, Wales.
AGM. The AGM took place at 7.00pm in the Pump House
on Thursday 4th February 2010. Copies of both the Chair‟s
Annual Report and the amended Constitution are available
from Dominic Berridge, Secretary, at
[email protected] or telephone (053) 924 0738.
Recording. As detailed in the last issue of this newsletter,
the 2009 club committee proposed a change to Article 2.3 of
the constitution with regard to the role of the club in
recording. The committee deemed the proposed change
necessary. Chris Wilson tabled a counter proposal to the
effect that no changes should be made. So many conflicting
issues were raised at the AGM that members requested that a
vote on the matter be postponed pending the convening of an
Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) to allow time to
reflect and to provide further clarification of the role of the
club in keeping records. At election time at the AGM, Chris
Wilson was the only member nominated for the post of
Records Officer and was duly elected. Five days later he
informed the committee by email; “On reflection and due to
personal and family commitments I do not feel that I can put
in the required effort to be Records Officer for the Club. I
therefore hand in my resignation.”
The EGM is scheduled for 7.30pm on Thursday 15 April in
the Pump House at the Wexford Wildfowl Reserve. You are
invited to attend and to participate in defining the role of the
club in assisting to record the wonderful biodiversity of
County Wexford going forward. The event will be an
information evening and brain-storming session. No
proposals to change the constitution are being taken.
Following a brief introduction, Simon Collins, former
Records Officer, will set the scene by giving an overview of
the club‟s present holding of wildlife records, by reviewing
recent recording activities, and by outlining the main areas of
concern, as he sees them. That presentation will be followed
by a question-and-answer session and open forum.
Nominations for a Records Officer for the remainder of 2010
will then be called for. If a Records Officer is elected, that
person will be co-opted onto the committee and his or her
particular duties will be threefold: (1) to advance ideas put
forward at the EGM, (2) to help further define club policy on
recording, and (3) to coordinate the club recording activities
during the 2010 field season.
It has been suggested that the EGM be confined to a duration
of one hour. An attempt will be made to keep the meeting as
short as possible but as so many members have strong views
about the topic under discussion it is important that everyone
is afforded an opportunity to make a contribution.
Juniors on board? Yes, by decision of the AGM, young
people are now officially welcome as members of the club.
At present, all members of the club are Adult Members (18
years of age and over) and pay an annual subscription of
€25.00. The recent AGM sanctioned the new category of
Junior Member (aged 10-17 years). At its February meeting,
the committee decided that the appropriate subscription rate
for Junior Members is €10.00. Those interested in becoming
Junior Members should fill in an Application Form on the
pink club brochure at an early date. Prospective Junior
Members are reminded that they are very welcome to attend
club events but may do so only “provided they are in the
guardianship of an adult.”
Committee members also discussed family membership. A
difficulty arose with regard to how, for example, „the
Murphy family‟ could join since individual members need to
be named for both
Primrose
club recordkeeping and
insurance
purposes. The
committee decided
to introduce a
concessionary
family subscription
rate of €50.00.
This new rate covers one or two Adult
Members living together as a family
unit at the same address plus an
unlimited number of Junior Members in
their family or extended family, that is,
children, nieces, nephews,
grandchildren, etc. Pending the
redrafting of the club‟s application form
for membership, applications for adult
or junior membership from now on
should, therefore, indicate on the
existing form in the pink brochure if the
applicants wish to avail of the special
family subscription rate. Some existing
Adult Members may wish to change
over to the new rate and are, of course,
very welcome to do so.
Members are also reminded of the longstanding club policy that, for insurance
purposes, participation in fieldtrips,
outings and away trips is confined to
members of the club.
All queries with regard to membership
should be addressed to Dominic
Berridge, Membership Secretary, at
[email protected] or
telephone (053) 924 0738.
Subscriptions. Very many thanks to
all the members who renewed their
subscription so promptly during
January and February; your continued
support for the club is greatly
appreciated. At the February committee
meeting it was decided that those who
have not yet renewed their membership
for 2010 would receive a reminder with
this mailing and that failure to respond
to that reminder would result in their
membership lapsing by default.
Newsletters via email. As
announced in the last newsletter, this
newsletter is being circulated by email
to those members who give an email
address in their contact details. The
purpose of the change is to save on
printing and postage and to help reduce
our club‟s carbon footprint. One
member with a slow internet connection
requested that he continue to receive a
hard copy in the post. It has always
been club practice to give a newsletter
to each member. Two members living
at the same address and with no internet
connection requested that they share
one mailing to reduce waste. All
requests for changes to how you receive
The Spring Redtail, formerly known as the Large Red Damselfly, is very easy to identify as it is
the only red-bodied damselfly found in Ireland. It is also the earliest on the wing so its
appearance in spring heralds the arrival of the flight season of dragonflies and damselflies.
Photo: Edward Delaney.
your newsletter can be facilitated by
contacting the Newsletter Editor
(contact details below).
Birdwatchers. Two reminders arising
from the club‟s recording workshops in
January: (1) forms for the Garden Bird
Survey should be returned by 1st April,
and (2) Simon Collins‟ offer to bring
small groups (1-4 members) on bird
identification fieldtrips is still open.
Plant recording. The Botanical Society
of the British Isles (BSBI) has arranged
a number of field meetings in County
Wexford during 2010 and the leader,
Paul Green, BSBI County Recorder for
Wexford, very kindly invites WNFC
members interested in plant recording
to attend. The first series of meetings
takes place in June. The venues are
Telegraph Hill at Blackwater Head on
Friday 4th June and Ferrycarrig on
Sunday 6th June. The main focus on
both of these trips will be on finding
small plants of sandy areas. Both days
should be easy walking. Bring packed
lunch and suitable clothing and
footwear. For detail and to book contact
Paul at (051) 445 541, mobile (087) 778
2496; or email him at
[email protected].
Date for your Diary. Chris Wilson,
Don Conroy and Alan McGuire are
doing their Dawn Chorus walk on
Sunday 16th May in John F. Kennedy
Park (note new venue). Meet in the car
park at the Arboretum at 4.30am.
Shop and save. On production of a
Eyes down for plant recording on a WNFC
fieldtrip. Photo: Martin O‟Connell.
current WNFC membership card,
members enjoy a 10% discount on
goods purchased at Great Outdoors,
Chatham Street, Dublin 2. If you have
lost your membership card, talk to
Dominic Berridge, Secretary, at
[email protected] telephone
(053) 924 0738. Please note that the
„Map and Compass‟ outlet in Wexford
town has ceased trading and has closed
down.
Questionnaire. Many thanks to all
those who returned the questionnaire
made out by Jim Hurley and distributed
by him with your December newsletter.
WNFC sales. At lectures, copies of
The Lepidoptera of County Wexford (€7
members; €10 non-members) and car
stickers (€1) may be purchased from
Rose Hurley, Treasurer. Orders for club
jackets (€40) may be placed with Mary
Foley.
Contact details. If any of your
contact details change please do update
Dominic Berridge, Membership
Secretary, [email protected]
or telephone (053) 924 0738, so he can
keep club records up to date.
Deadline. This WNFC Newsletter is
produced quarterly and is emailed and
posted to members towards the end of
March, June, September, and
December. News items, snippets and
photographs for inclusion in the next
issue are very welcome and should be
submitted to arrive not later than
Friday 11th June. Items for inclusion
may be
 posted to Jim Hurley, WNFC
Newsletter Editor, Grange,
Kilmore, Co Wexford;
 e-mailed to him at [email protected];
 texted to (086) 163 7199; or
 telephoned to (053) 912 9671.
-o0o-