Minutes of the committee meeting held at Llandeilo on 22^nd May 2006

Present:

Ian Hainsworth, Diana Jones, Colin Jones, Neil Lewis, John Lloyd, Angela Lovegrove, Derek Moore »chairman), David Morris, Wendell Thomas

1. Apologies for absence from George Causley and Nigel Williams.

2. Minutes of the meeting on 23^rd February 2006:

An item had been omitted from the minutes i.e. that we had agreed to award a prize to our 100^th member and that this offer be publicised on the website. With this amendment, the minutes were accepted.

3. Matters arising:

a) County site guide. There is no guidance from Subuteo about a preferred format for the publication. Derek advised that we select this ourselves and seek a publisher when the book is ready. Ian agreed to write a proforma listing the type of information which is required about each site, distribute copies to the membership and collate the returns. Photographs of sites to be obtained.

b) Newsletter article on the County Rarities Panel. This will be based on an article which is to be prepared for the bird report but it is not ready yet.

c) John said that there has been no recent progress on the county avifauna.

4. Programme of meetings and the barbecue.

Wendell has prepared a programme of meetings up to the AGM in October. Derek agreed to give a talk after the AGM.

The annual social event will be a barbecue at Penclacwydd on 11^th August. Angela volunteered to organise the catering. Anyone offering to help should contact her. Cost is likely to be around £7-50 per person. As final arrangements and cost of tickets have not been decided yet, it was agreed that a booking form would be sent to all members by Royal Mail in June. The request for information for the county site guide will go out at the same time. Ian and Wendell will liase over this.

The possibility of organising a meeting in October for members to watch a ringing session at Penclacwydd was discussed. Ian said that, while he supported ringing, some members feel that ringing, particularly when it involves mist-netting, is unethical and they had mentioned this during and after the last ringing session. After discussion, it was decided that a club meeting could be held during a ringing session.

5. Newsletter.

Newsletter to be issued in the next week.

6. Treasurer’s report and membership information

George had sent a financial report and a report on membership. The current bank balance in £2077. Six new members have joined in the last three months and two lapsed subscriptions have been renewed.

Derek asked whether the membership had reached 100 and how we should to mark this occasion. Ian will contact George and discuss this with him.

It was noted that two joint members had allowed their subscription to lapse although they had previously supported the club enthusiastically. Ian agreed to write to the couple to invite them to re-join.

Thanks to George for his detailed and helpful report.

7. Proposal for a membership card.

George proposed »in writing) that a receipt should be given for the membership subscription. Some members had asked for one. Although he saw no requirement for a membership card, he suggested that the committee may wish to discuss whether the receipt should double as a membership card. In discussion, it was felt that the cost of mailing a subscription receipt did not represent good use of club funds but it was agreed that the request to pay the subscription should include a tick-box to ask for a receipt. Members would be asked to send an SAE if they want a receipt. The committee saw no requirement for a membership card.

8. Report from the BTO regional representative.

Colin said that the Dartford Warbler survey was going well. He reported a breeding attempt by a pair of Little Egret.

9. County bird report.

Derek said that all the 2004 records had been collated and that the 2005 records should be done by end of June. He regretted that some records could not be considered for acceptance because the date or other vital information was missing. Some records of rarities were also inadmissible because there was no description of the bird.

It is an advantage if sightings are posted on the website as they come to his attention quickly and it is possible to send a e-mail to the observer to prompt a description etc if the bird was a county or Wales rarity.

Derek said that the work of the recorder was extensive and he proposed that the functions of recorder and report editor should be shared between two individuals. A member was suggested as a suitable report editor and Derek agreed to approach the person to find out whether he is interested.

10. Marketing of the bird report.

Ian reported that Lesley had contacted him to say that she is not able to continue with this work due to changed personal circumstances. However, she has everything in good order and will co-operate in transferring the work to another person. Angela volunteered to take over the job and David offered to assist her as required. Angela will contact Lesley.

Wendell said that he would be willing to mail the report to members.

11. BTO - bird club partnership.

Ian said that he and Derek had agreed that the club secretary would be the named contact and this had been notified to the BTO. A copy of “BTO News” is sent to the club.

12. Proposal that the committee minutes should be posted on the website.

Ian said that in the spirit of open availability of information, it is worth considering whether the committee minutes should be more widely available e.g. through the club website. This was agreed with a proviso that any confidential matters should be edited out first. Future committee agendas to have an item to approve an edited version of the minutes of the previous meeting for the website.

13. Other business

a) Some items on the website need to be updated. It was suggested that Mark should be invited to a committee meeting. Ian will contact Mark to discuss.

b) A county record centre for Carmarthen, Ceredigion and Pembroke has been established at Whitland. Our records will be held there.

c) There is no county report in “Birdwatching” magazine. Derek and Wendell agreed to address the matter.

d) John reported that there will be a meeting of the WOS committee in July to consider the role, organisation and membership of WOS. Some comments were made about WOS and its annual conferences.

e) A new landowner at Marros mountain has removed vegetation and may have damaged the habitat of Dartford Warblers. The site, however, has no protected status. It was suggested that WTSWW should be alerted.

f) The club had received a request from World Owl Trust to participate in a survey of Long-eared Owls. However, the request had arrived too late for anything to be organised.

14. Date of next meeting.

Tuesday 22^nd August at 2.00 p.m.