This evening’s meeting was the society’s AGM and our president John Gardner breezed through this formality with his usual speed and good humour. There was some discussion about increasing the annual subscriptions due to the speakers fees and there was general agreement by the members that there should be an increase from next year. Also discussed was the peregrine nestbox that was attached to the tower on Wakefield Cathedral by seven of our own members bringing the project to a successful  conclusion. More details will follow on the website. We hope that the single peregrine, which has been using the spire as a perch for many months, can attract a mate. The box can easily be seen on the east side of the tower from the Kirkgate precinct. Thanks go to Sheffield University for all their help and advice and donation of the nestbox.

Following the AGM, one of our own members Francis Hickenbottom very kindly stepped in to replace the advertised speaker, who had to pull out due to ill health. Francis is a keen and very knowledgeable astronomer, and gave us an interesting talk based on his own photographs of the stars and planets taken while on holiday in Wales. It was very much an audience participation evening, where everyone had to work out where the various constellations were, and identify some of the brightest stars in the night sky .

 Thanks to Ron Marshall from Barnsley for standing in at short notice at the October meeting. As always,  Ron gave us a most interesting talk illustrated with his professional grade photos of a trip he took with his wife to Manitoba in June. He flew to Winnipeg and visited the Ridings National Park, a huge reserve covering 1148 sq. miles of unspoilt forests, lakes and streams. The park is famous for its black bears, and holds one of the  largest concentrations in North America. Ron took some excellent shots while being careful not to get too close, as black bears can run extremely fast if they feel threatened. Also seen in the park, were nesting great northern divers in their beautiful summer plumage, Bonaparte’s gull, and perhaps most spectacular of all, the scarce great grey owl, a huge bird with bright yellow eyes set in large feathered facial discs.

Wanting to visit Churchill near the Arctic circle, Ron had to take the two day journey on the sleeper train as there are no roads to this remote town. Churchill grew from a remote outpost to a bustling seaport with the construction of the Hudson Bay railroad and port in the 1920s, but its now a world renowned hotspot for bird and wildlife watching in spring and autumn. In June many of the breeding birds are in full summer plumage particularly the black throated diver and red necked phalarope both photographed with a stunning backdrop of wildflower blossom.

Due to illness, Mike Richardson is unable to be with us on Tuesday 8th October but our old friend Ron Marshall has stepped in and will show us some wildlife images from Manitoba including spectacular breeding waders and also black bears in the vast forests. Should be one not to miss.