JANUARY MEETING

Our next meeting is on 20th January at 7.30pm. We are planning to hold this meeting by Zoom. If you have not used Zoom before enter the word 'Zoom' into your search engine and you should get the statement to 'Download Zoom'. Follow the on screen instructions and an Icon will appear on your desktop. When you want to join the meeting a link will be sent to you via e-mail. All you need to do is to click on the link and you should be connected automatically.

The title and subject of the talk is below:

Protecting and Enhancing Wildlife across the East of England by Mike Drew

Anglian Water own and manage 49 SSSIs including 10 major sites, of which Grafham Water is one. Mike will be talking about their work across the region, from North Lincolnshire to Colchester, including the Nightingale, Pool Frog and Osprey projects, and how they work in partnership with the Wildlife Trusts to protect and enhance wildlife.

The talk will start at 7.30pm. Further instructions will be sent with the link to the talk.

Peter has asked if you could tell him if you plan to attend the meeting, so please send an e-mail to him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Stuart would also like to remind you that subscriptions are now due. For a list of subscription rates please see the HFFS web site at www.hffs.org.uk. If you do not have Stuart's postal address to hand please get back to me or refer to last year's Annual Report.

With reference to the Annual Report I still have many pages that require filling. Several regular reports have not been received at present from the County recorders, so I would be grateful to receive these as soon as possible and definitely before the end of the month. We are aware that field work was limited once again, but a couple of pages is better than nothing.

 

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.