Present: John Lloyd, George Causley, Rob Hunt, Wendell Thomas, Owen Harris, Angela Lovegrove, Dave Morris, Diana Jones, Colin Jones
1) Apologies:- Nigel Williams, Derek Moore
2) Co-opting of Committee members:-
Rob Hunt and Diana Jones were duly co-opted on to the committee .
3) The Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on the 22nd
August were accepted as a true record.
4) These were duly approved for publication on the Club’s website. Owen to arrange.
5) Matters Arising:
The Club Website:
It was felt that this is a good site but three areas were identified for possible improvement.
a) The site information should be brought up to date. This was discussed under item 7 below.
b) It was pointed out that the records check on the web site only covers the period up to 1991. Rob stated that he had the copies of the 1992-2000 »with the present exception of 1994) reports in electronic form and offered to get in touch with Mark so that these could be uplifted onto the website.
c) It was agreed that BTO surveys could be added to the site. Colin to see to this in consultation with the webmaster.
100th. Member
The member has been identified and a book has been bought. The Chairman agreed to sign it for presentation.
6) County Bird Report:
Wendell reported on behalf of Derek that the records are on the verge of completion, and it was expected that the write up would take another four weeks. Discussion on suitable printers ensued. It was agreed that the following people would investigate possibilities to obtain some ballpark figures:
Angela:- Gomer Press
Owen:- Just Print
Wendell Printers of Glamorgan and other county reports.
Dave:- Neighbour involved in printing.
Owen would co-ordinate these and pass on the information but the final decision will have to wait until the exact size of the report is known.
7) Publications:
County Site Guide
It was felt that at the moment it was necessary to concentrate on updating the site information on the website. Some sites- in particular Machynys- had changed out of all recognition and access information on all sites needed updating. An appeal for volunteers would be placed in the newsletter by Diana and information would be collated by Owen
Birds of Carmarthenshire
This is a review of all birds on the county list. John is in the process of writing and hopes to have all the species accounts completed by the end of winter. It would then undergo peer review. It was felt that there was no need to make a decision about publication at present but progress would be reviewed at the next meeting. Suggestions were made that the site guide and County Atlas might at some stage be included in the publication. These would be kept in mind.
8) Coedbach
It was noted that the lease on this site is coming up for renewal. The land is owned by Kidwelly Town Council. John has had preliminary discussions with a council employee who has asked the club to provide suggestions for and commitment to the future of the site. It was agreed that John and Derek would continue exploratory discussions and report back to the committee.
9) BTO Report
Colin sought a timetable to prepare for the Atlas counts that begin on 1st. November 2007. This would be both a winter and summer atlas on two levels:
Firstly on the level of the 10km. square to establish those birds present
Secondly and primarily on the level of the tetrad where there would be a series of timed counts. There is an aim to provide training days for this.
It was agreed that Colin is to address the February club meeting. There would be publicity in the newsletter and Colin would contact people to find volunteers to take responsibility for organising the Atlas counts in individual 10km. squares.
10) Programme of Meetings
Good turn outs at both the AGM and the Lougher walk were noted.
Future Events
6.12.06 Ilustrated talk on the Gower Bird Hospital by Simon Allan
13/01/2007 Whitford Burrows with Gwent O.S. Meet Cwm Ivy at 9.30.
07/02/2007 Illustrated talk by Ian Tew on Birds of Goa
07/03/2007 Illustrated talk on Birds of Lesbos by Gary Harper.
28/04/2007 RSPB Dinas. Meet at Reserve car park at 9.30.
Wendell is inviting suggestions for outings for May, June, July and August.
11) Secretary’s Report
a) An e-mail has been received from Birdwatching Magazine requesting a monthly County report. Wendell agreed to supply a monthly summary of Penclacwydd sightings and Owen agreed to combine this with the website sightings and submit the report.
b) Ian had exchanges e-mails with The Bird Watchers Year Book re the publication of outdated contact names particularly that of recorder. It seems that ACRE had not been informed of the change. Owen undertook to communicate the change of Recorder to ACRE.
12) Newsletter
Diana will contact Alyson and Ian and Wendell to ensure that a newsletter appears before Christmas. Colin agreed to provide an article on the new reserve at Trosserch Woods.
13) Treasurer’s Report
The Current bank balance is £3,077.67. It is intended to open a deposit account with the club’s bank for part of the club’s funds.
Current membership stands at 4 Free or Honorary members and 117 individuals. Nine subscriptions were not renewed in 2005/6 and 33 subscriptions are due for the current year. It was agreed that George would write asking if the intention is to renew this year.
14) A.O.B
None
15) NEXT MEETING:- National Trust Offices, Llandeilo 20th. February 2007 at 2.00 pm.
