branch meeting programme 2008/2009

Welcome to the 2008/2009 Winter Meetings Programme. We hope that you enjoy the selection of topics and speakers this year. Please support your local branch by going along once a month to listen to some of the superb presentations and to meet up with your fellow SOC members.

Your SOC membership entitles you to attend meetings anywhere in Scotland so if you find yourself away from home in another branch area, feel free to go along to any of the meetings. It is an excellent opportunity to meet new people.

All the best for the 2008/2009 season!

Ayrshire

Meet at Monkton Community Church and Pioneer Cafe (Tue 7pm for 7.30pm). Contact: Duncan Watt 01294 832361.

  • 09 Sep: Duncan Orr-Ewing – Raptor studies
  • 14 Oct: Paul Walton – Global impact of invasive alien species
  • 11 Nov: Mark Davies – Peregrinations
  • 09 Dec: Edmund Fellowes – Northern birds
  • 13 Jan: Angus Hogg – Antarctica
  • 10 Feb: Rebecca Johnson – Nightjars
  • 10 Mar: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 14 Apr: AGM & Liz Leyden – Galapagos

Borders

Meet at Scott Room, George & Abbotsford Hotel, Melrose (Mon 7.30pm). Contact: Graham Pyatt 01721 740319.

  • 08 Sep: Ray Murray – Costa Rica
  • 13 Oct: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other wildlife
  • 10 Nov: Russell Nisbet – Some Mediterranean islands
  • 08 Dec: Members' 10 Minute Night
  • 14 Jan: Joint Meeting with RSPB, The Corn Exchange, Melrose (NB: Wednesday evening)
  • 09 Feb: Mike Thornton – Andalucian nights and their top avian predator: The Eagle Owl
  • 09 Mar: Derek McGinn – Birds in Western Australia
  • 13 Apr: AGM & Social Evening

Caithness

Meet at Thurso Club, Janet Street, Thurso (Wed 8pm). Contact: Stan Laybourne 01847 841 244.

  • 08 Oct: Ron Forrester – Birding in Africa
  • 05 Nov: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 04 Feb: Michael Thomas – Antarctica: Birds and beauty
  • 04 Mar: Chris Spray – Swanning around in Scotland and Iceland: The Whooper story

Central Scotland

Meet at Smith Art Gallery, Dumbarton Road, Stirling (Thu 7.30pm). Contact: Roger Gooch 01259 742326.

  • 02 Oct: Carol James – Canyons, coyotes & condors
  • 06 Nov: Chris Spray – Swanning around in Scotland and Iceland: The Whooper story
  • 04 Dec: James Pearce-Higgins – A year in the life of the Golden Plover; Cheese & wine evening
  • 08 Jan: John Simpson – Birding round Scotland
  • 05 Feb: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 05 Mar: Stan da Prato – Svalbard and Greenland
  • 02 Apr: Liz Humphries – B.I.G. (Biodiversity in Glasgow)

Clyde

Meet at Zoology Department, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow (Mon 7.30pm). Contact: Sandra Hutchinson 0141 943 1816.

  • 01 Sep: Members' Night
  • 06 Oct: Mike Martin – Great Auk on the May? What next?
  • 03 Nov: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other wildlife
  • 01 Dec: To be announced
  • 05 Jan: To be announced
  • 02 Feb: Chris Spray – Swanning around in Scotland and Iceland: The Whooper story
  • 02 Mar: Ian Thomson – RSPB investigations and wildlife crime
  • 06 Apr: AGM & Members' Night

Dumfries

Meet at Cumberland St Day Centre, Dumfries (off Brooms Rd Car Park) (Wed 7.30pm). Contact: Pat Abery 01556 630483.

  • 10 Sep: Keith Kirk – Wildlife watching in Dumfries & Galloway
  • 15 Oct: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other wildlife
  • 12 Nov: Russell Nisbet – Some Mediterranean islands
  • 10 Dec: Brian Morrell – Red-breasted Geese
  • 14 Jan: An evening with Edmund Fellowes
  • 11 Feb: Gordon Yates – Snowy Owl: King of the Arctic
  • 11 Mar: Chris Waltho – Eider: a Clyde perspective
  • 22 Apr: AGM & Mick Durham – Home and away

Fife

Meet at St Andrews Town Hall Supper Room (Wed 7.30pm). Contact: Rob Armstrong 01334 838279.

  • 10 Sep: Members' Night
  • 08 Oct: Carol James – Namibia: Whydas, warthogs & welwitchia
  • 12 Nov: Mike Thornton – Andalucian nights and their top avian predator: The Eagle Owl
  • 10 Dec: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 14 Jan: Clive McKay – Visible migration
  • 11 Feb: Stan da Prato – Baja California: Humming Birds to whales
  • 11 Mar: Derek McGinn – Birds of Western Australia
  • 08 Apr: AGM & Members' Night

Grampian

Meet at Sportsman's Club, 11 Queen's Road, Aberdeen (Mon 7.30pm). Contact: John Wills 01467 651 296.

  • 08 Sep: Ewan Weston – Little Auks in Greenland
  • 06 Oct: Chris Waltho – Eider: A Clyde perspective
  • 10 Nov: Roy Dennis – A life of Ospreys
  • 08 Dec: Bob Swann – The Canna Seabird Recovery Project
  • 12 Jan: Hywel Maggs – Corn Bunting conservation in Scotland
  • 09 Feb: Dominic Funnell – Strathbeg after the dust has settled
  • 09 Mar: Andy Thorpe – Overwintering shorebirds in Oman: the results of expeditions to study their abundance and ecology
  • 06 Apr: AGM & Chris Gibbins – What makes gulls so interesting?

Highland

Meet at Culloden Library, Inverness (Tue 7.45pm). Contact: Ann Sime 01463 790249.

  • 09 Sep: Moroccan Magic – with branch members
  • 07 Oct: Ron Forrester – Birding in Africa
  • 04 Nov: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 02 Dec: Hugh Insley – Petrel highlights
  • 13 Jan: Simon Foster – Thirty years of wader and wildfowl studies in the Moray Firth
  • 03 Feb: Michael Thomas – Antarctica: Birds and beauty
  • 03 Mar: Chris Spray – Swanning around in Scotland and Iceland: The Whooper story
  • 21 Apr: AGM & talk by David Jardine

Lothian

Meet at Meadowbank Stadium, London Road, Edinburgh (Tue 7.30pm) except **Waterston House, Aberlady. Contact: Colin Beckett 0131 663 4143.

  • 09 Sep: Members' Night
  • 14 Oct: Mike Thornton – Andalucian nights and their top avian predator: The Eagle Owl
  • 11 Nov: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other widlife**
  • 09 Dec: Jacqui Kaye (Scottish Promotions Officer, BTO) – Surveys and bird recording
  • 13 Jan: Bob McGowan (Senior Curator, Birds, NMS) – The Tiree Frigatebird and other unusual specimens
  • 10 Feb: Mike Martin – Great Auk on the May? What next?
  • 10 Mar: Derek McGinn – Birds in Western Australia**
  • 14 Apr: AGM & Members' Night

Orkney

Please check time and venue before each meeting (Thursday). Contact: Colin Corse 01856 874484.

  • 09 Oct: Ron Forrester – Birding in Africa
  • 06 Nov: Norman Elkins – Climate change and wildlife
  • 05 Feb: Michael Thomas – Antarctica: Birds and beauty
  • 05 Mar: Chris Spray – Swanning around in Scotland and Iceland: The Whooper story

Stewartry

Meet at Kells School, New Galloway (Thu 7.30pm). Contact: Joan Howie 01644 430 226.

  • 25 Sep: Geoff Sheppard – Barn Owls
  • 16 Oct: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other wildlife
  • 13 Nov: Russell Nisbet – Some Mediterranean islands
  • 04 Dec: Barbara & Richard Mearns – Travels of J.K. Townsend, collector for Audubon
  • 08 Jan: Chris Rollie – Burns and birds, followed by New Year's Welcome
  • 12 Feb: Gordon Yates – Snowy Owl: King of the Arctic
  • 12 Mar: Chris Waltho – Eider: A Clyde perspective
  • 02 Apr: AGM, Survey News & Members' Night

Tayside

Meet at Methodist Church Halls, 20 Marketgait, Dundee (Thu 7.30pm). Contact: Brian Boag 01828 686669.

  • 11 Sep: Jacqui Kaye – Tracking Scotland's birds in gardens and the countryside
  • 09 Oct: Stan da Prato – Baja California: Humming Birds to whales
  • 06 Nov: John Harrison – Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve
  • 04 Dec: Mike Groves – Raptors and quiz night
  • 08 Jan: Jeremy Greenwood – How bird watching has reformed the European Agricultural Policy
  • 12 Feb: Edmund Fellowes – Some northern birds
  • 05 Mar: Derek McGinn – Birds in Western Australia
  • 09 Apr: AGM & Members' Night

West Galloway

Meet at Stranraer Library, North Strand Street, Stranraer (Tue 7.30pm). Contact: Geoff Sheppard 01776 870 685.

  • 14 Oct: David Catt – Malawi and Eastern Zambia: Birds and other wildlife
  • 11 Nov: Russell Nisbet – Some Mediterranean islands
  • 09 Dec: Gordon Riddle - Isle of Canna
  • 13 Jan: Members' Night and social evening
  • 10 Feb: Gordon Yates – Snowy Owl: King of the Arctic
  • 10 Mar: Chris Waltho – Eider: A Clyde perspective