INDOOR MEETINGS 2009

Meetings are held at Haslemere Educational Museum, High Street, Haslemere and with the exception of the AGM, are open to both Museum and Natural History Society members without charge. 
Click here for directions to Haslemere Museum.

Guests are always welcome, and the Society would be grateful for a donation of £2.00 from non-members.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS  

OCTOBER 2010         Saturday 30^th           2.15 p.m.
WILDLIFE AND OPEN SPACES IN ALASKA                
Speaker:  John Richardson
John will talk about his experiences in Alaska over the course of three trips, the most recent in September 2009, including a 2,000-mile detour into The Yukon and North West Territory.  We will hear about his encounters with wildlife and the wonder of the wide open spaces. 

NOVEMBER 2010       Saturday 13^th            2.15 p.m.                        
A DORMOUSE IN MY POCKET
Speaker:  Andrew Cleave
A detailed account of the secret life of the dormouse and its conservation in Bramley Frith Wood, one of the country’s key dormouse monitoring sites.  Based on fifteen years of intensive study and careful habitat management, Andrew will also talk about other small mammals, and share practical advice on dormouse conservation.
(This ancient woodland in north Hampshire, which has survived for thousands of years with little change, was - up to 2006 - the site of an electricity sub-station, a field studies centre and an impressive array of native plants and animals.  The National Grid has now closed the centre and undertaken further tree-felling.)
(This talk was originally due to take place on 9^th January but had to be postponed due to adverse weather conditions)

JANUARY 2011         Saturday 8^th              2.15 p.m.
EXPLORING NATURAL CHINA
Speaker:  Heather Angel
Since Heather, a leading British wildlife photographer, first visited China in 1984 she has made over 30 visits to this vast country that spans many climatic zones.  She will show some of the rarely seen fascinating plants and wildlife that inhabit the high mountains, vast deserts, expansive wetlands, bamboo forests and tropical rainforests in this enigmatic country – including China’s national treasure – the giant panda.  Some of her China books will be on sale, including Panda, Green China and Natural China.

 FEBRUARY 2011        Saturday 12^th            2.15 p.m.
PATTERNS AND COLOURS IN MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES
Speaker:   Professor Maurice Moss
Maurice has talked to the Society on several occasions about butterflies and moths and (following his talk on fungi in 2009) makes a welcome return to describe his studies of their patterns and colours.  He will explain the nature and structure of the scales which produce the colour and pattern. 

MARCH 2011              Saturday 12^th             2.15 p.m.
SPRING FLOWERS
Speaker:  Jill Fry
Jill will be describing local flowers which can be seen in the Surrey/Sussex/Hampshire border area.  Some of them will have been seen during the walk she led for the Society at Bummoor Copse, Compton, in April 2010. 

PAST EVENTS 2010

APRIL 2010               Saturday 17^th          .
AGM AND TALK             
After the AGM Ian Neilson (Honorary Beekeeper at Haslemere Museum) talked to members about the beekeeper’s year.  Human beings’ interaction with bees started through honey-hunting and eventually led to collectors providing the bees with a stable home.  Ian displayed a traditional woven basket or skep.   He showed where the cone would be attached in which the queen would lay her eggs and where nectar and pollen would be stored and he showed his audience a modern hive - a sturdy wooden box with a heavy roof to insulate against the cold.  It was fascinating to learn about the organisation of the colony – the old queen, whose purpose is to lay eggs;  the workers (females) who do the housekeeping, make the royal jelly, collect nectar and pollen;  and the drones (males) whose function is to mate with the young queens.  Ian described what happens if the old queen leads a swarm from the colony;  how he as beekeeper creates this artificially so that he can work with the bees to maintain the collection and how he eventually collects the honey.  A lot of information was succinctly and entertainingly packed into a short talk.

MARCH 2010             Saturday 13th       
FOLLOWING THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE VICTORIAN ARTIST, MARIANNE NORTH, IN INDIA 1877-79
Speaker: Miss Laura Ponsonby
Through numerous examples, Laura introduced us to the work and travels of this globe-trotting Victorian artist. Examples of Marianne’s work were used to track her progress around the world and, more particularly, through India. Laura’s photographs of comparable scenes, together with her astute observations on the artist’s style, allowed the audience to appreciate the merits of Marianne’s work, whilst learning how she travelled, who she met and what she discovered. The talk finished with a brief introduction to the renovation and conservation work at the Marianne North Gallery at Kew.

FEBRUARY 2010        Saturday 13th        
A HISTORY OF PEREGRINES IN SUSSEX, 1904-2009
Speaker: Phil Everitt, Sussex Peregrine Study (SPS)
Very few peregrines were reported between 1957 and 1980 and the evidence pointed to the widespread use of pesticides.  But then in the 80s the birds began to be seen again and two enthusiasts set up the Sussex Peregrine Study, ringing birds and recording their DNA.  We were shown some of the birds’ more unusual nesting sites, some of them successful, others ending in tragedy.   In 2003 an unusual immature bird was discovered – a hybrid small female with a ring showing she had been bred in captivity.  There was concern that this would lead to further hybridisation.  In 2008, three nests failed at late egg/early chick stage and peregrines in Sussex continue to be shot and poisoned.  This has led to a collaborative project with the police, called “Operation Eyrie”, to bring offenders to justice.  Phil’s excellent photographs and enthusiasm brought home the importance of preserving the future of these striking birds.

PAST EVENTS 2009

NOVEMBER 2009       
Saturday 14th            
OCEANIC PLANKTON IN THE ABYSS
Speaker: Martin Angel
The two cruises in the Atlantic in which Martin had taken part for the international Census on Marine Life had been on a research ship travelling from Bremerhaven to service German stations in the Antarctic.  His talk showed how the zooplankton had adapted to their niche in the thousands of metres below.  For most, their form and colour was a defence against predation.  Form might involve spines, hydroids, luminous tips to pincers, tail and armpits, a flashing “fishing rod”.  Colour might be absent and the animal be transparent, it might have white pigment “mirrors” on its sides to reflect light;  near the surface it might be blue, or below 1,000 metres where there is no light,  red.  Martin’s photographs showed these animals, strange to most of us, in pristine condition – they had been photographed on the boat.  It was a revelation to us to see life from so deep down in the ocean.

APRIL 2009
Saturday 18^th                                       
AGM AND TALK
After the AGM, Bruce Middleton (Northern Area Manager with the South Downs Joint Committee) gave atalk about "Protecting the Western Weald".
It was a pleasure to be reminded of the mosaic of features which make up the Weald and the importance of the natural history unique to each.  Bruce’s photos showed the habitats and, inset, one or two of the species associated with them.  It was a very deft demonstration of natural history subjects in the context of their natural surroundings.  He described the management needed to sustain some of them, the changes in farming practices and woodland industries, the impact on wildlife and the role of the South Downs Joint Committee.