HUNTINGDONSHIRE FAUNA & FLORA SOCIETY

WINTER PROGRAMME 2021-2022

Dates of forthcoming meetings:

14th October - Air Pollution and its Effects on Wildlife – the Answer is Blowing in the Wind by Gordon Wyatt

18th November - All you would like to know about bats by Aidan Matthews, of the Wildlife Trust
As well as being the West Cambridgeshire Reserves Manager for the Trust, Aidan is an active member of the Bedfordshire Bat Group and is on their Committee as the National Bat Monitoring Programme Co-ordinator and the trainer for roost visits. He will share his extensive knowledge about this fascinating group of mammals and the many and varied species that are found in our local area. He will also demonstrate some of the technology that is used for monitoring bats.

2nd December - Christmas meeting. Details to be announced near the time, so we comply with the latest Covid advice.

20th January - TBA

17th February - TBA

26th March - Annual General Meeting

All meetings will be at the Hinchingbrooke Country Park, Kestrel Room and will begin at 7.30pm

Conditions:

We have taken advice from various organisations and the NHS. We are therefore applying the following at our winter (indoor) meetings.

We ask that you only attend if you have been double vaccinated and also ask that you wear a cloth face mask during the meeting. Clear visors are not acceptable. These are frowned upon by the National Health Service because they do not restrict air flow around the nose and mouth. The doors and windows will be open to allow circulation of air throughout the room. It is probable that the room will be cold with the air circulating, so wear adequate clothing to keep yourself warm. Chairs will be spaced apart, but couples who live together can move the chairs next to each other. There will not be any refreshments served after the meeting, so if you think you might need a drink please bring your own. You will be asked to leave the meeting as soon as possible after the talk has finished, so please minimise getting together in groups, especially indoors. 

Do not attend the meeting if you have received a positive Covid test within two weeks of the meeting. Do not attend the meeting if you have any symptoms that could relate to Covid: Headache, Sore throat, Continuous Cough, loss of taste or smell, a high temperature or generally feeling unwell. 

At present we will see how well the October meeting is attended  and depending on how good the turnout is we will decide if we should continue with the following meetings. If the following meetings go ahead they will be subject to change, even at short notice, because the Covid and possible Flu situation can change rapidly. We want to keep members as safe as possible, so we will follow the latest guidelines issued at the time of each meeting. 

If Barry does not have your e-mail address please send it to him as soon as possible. We cannot send a letter by post to those who have not supplied an e-mail address to update you every time the situation changes. We will endeavor to keep the website up to date as far as is reasonably possible, so you can keep up to date with any changes in the situation. Barry can also be contacted by phone on 01480-475689.

 

Portholme Fritillaries 2021

Over Christmas 2020 the Great Ouse flooded significantly so much so that Portholme flooded to a depth that it was possible to windsurf over it. The waters returned in mid-January and remained for several weeks.

A large puddle remained across the path that goes from the Godmanchester lock to Brampton. This extended over part of the area where the large concentration of Fritillaries grow. It remained from February and still had not completely dried up in mid-April when the ground around was still saturated.

The Fritillaries on the dry areas grew as usual but in the area that remained wet they seemed to be much later in coming up and many had no flower, those that did had smaller flowers and a much higher percentage were white.

It will be interesting to see next year, if it doesn’t flood for such a long period if they return to normal and there are fewer white ones.

Normal Dry Area Wet Area Drying Out

 

Huntingdonshire Fauna & Flora Society - AGM 2021

The AGM was held by email and post this year and the members of the committee are as follows:

  Committee
Gordon Wyatt (Chairman)
Julian Limentani (Secretary)
Stuart Irons (Treasurer/Membership)
Peter Lake (Programme Secretary)
Henry Arnold (Report Editor)
Barry Dickerson (Communications)
Heather Twinn      
Tin Reed
Jane Croft
Mick Twinn
Mike Drew
Andrew Frost

 

Hunts Fauna & Flora Society Facebook Group

The Society now has a proper Facebook group forum on which you can post your sightings and interact freely with other members. Take a look here, sign yourself up, and get posting! The Sightings page on this site will no longer be updated.