The Valleys from Green to Black and Back

Dr. David Llewellyn gave us an excellent talk tonight about the history and environmental work going on in the Valleys Regional Park which can be see in great detail on their website http://www.thevalleys.org.uk/

David is a captivating speaker and clearly passionate about the work he is doing in the projects initiative to co-ordinate, drive and promote activities related to the environment and heritage and associated tourism activities across the valleys of south Wales, working in conjunction with the Welsh Assembly Government’s Heads of the Valleys and Western Valleys Regeneration Programmes, with marketing through the Valleys ‘Heart & Soul’ campaign, to change the reality and perceptions of the Valleys as a highly-desirable place to live, work and visit.

He also showed us many of the wonderful places you can visit as it says on the official Valleys tourism website  http://www.thevalleys.co.uk/ "The world is just waking up to the fact that The Valleys are home to a captivating choice of attractions and places to visit"

Invitation so see some excellent pictures

We received this recently from Andy Rouse who many of you may know now lives in the Cardiff Area

Greetings All

To celebrate my 9th BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year award in 7 years and RSPB Cymru's Centenary, I have pleasure in inviting you to my first major exhibition in Cardiff. 50% of the proceeds will be used by the RSPB for conservation in Wales.

The exhibition will run at the art deco Washington Gallery in Penarth from October 3rd until the 16th.

We have arranged a special Family Preview Day on Sunday 9th October between 12 noon and 4pm. I will be giving a 20 minute talk on my award winning work at 1pm and will be there all afternoon to give an insight into the pictures shown at the exhibition. 

I guarantee that the images in the exhibition will be stunning and will inspire you no matter what your interest in wildlife or photography. There will be something for all tastes, I promise you that! It's a beautiful venue and I will hang some of my most famous and award winning work on its beautifully lit walls. 

Full details of the exhibition, location and a sneak preview of some of the images I will show can be found on my website page here - http://www.andyrouse.co.uk/index.php?page_id=147

I hope that you will be able to attend the preview on the 9th October, please feel free to bring friends and family and there is no need to get any special tickets. 

I look forward to inspiring you on the 9th October!

Best wishes 

Andy Rouse

Wildlife Photographer

Photo used with kind permission of Andy

Annual General meeting and Birding in the Balkans

The 2011 indoor seaason kiked off with our AGM and an excellent talk by Paul Bowden on Birding in the Balkans

Paul showed some exellent pictures and video in his short presetation on his trip to visit a friend and  felowe birder for a week in the sunshine - YES SUNSHINE !

Paul of rouce is not just a birder, but showed some really good pictures of the insects he saw along the way.

It was a real tonic to see some blue skies at this time of year 

Regards
Andy

2011 - 2012 Programme now on-line

As you can see on the Programme page above or on the website at http://www.cardiffnaturalists.org.uk/htmfiles/programme.htm our 2011-12 programme has now gone on-line

2011 Indoor meetings
Wed	Sep	21	AGM followed by an Illustrated talk on Birding in the Balkans	Paul Bowden
Tue	Sep	27	The Valleys from Green to Black and Back	Dr. David Llewellyn
Mon	Oct	3	Danau Girang Field Centre, a research and Training Facility in a Tropical Rainforest in Borneo	Dr. Benoit Goossens.
Wed	Oct	19	Butterflies in UK and Underwater exotics	Cate Barrow
Thur	Nov	3	Northern Territory and Queensland	Margaret and John Samuel
Mon	Nov	28	The Wildside Of Crime	PC 3626 Mark Goulding
Wed	Dec	7	Xmas Bash - Guest of Honour Dr Mary Gillham	Members
2012 Indoor meetings
Wed	Jan	18	Members Evening	Members
Tues	Jan	24	Small Can Be Beautiful, The Micro Moths of Glamorgan	David Slade
Thurs	Feb	9	Birds, Ecosystems and Climate Change	Dr Rob Thomas
Tues	Feb	21	The Caves of Cefn Meiriadog, Denbighshire , a Bishop Darwin, a Chimney Sweep, Landmines and Science	Elizabeth Walker
Thurs	Mar	8	Parasites of The Eurasian Otter Ellie	Sherrard- Smith
Tues	Mar	27	Urban Tree and Woodland Management	Cameron Lewis

Outdoor meetings
2011
Sat	Sep	17	10.00	H/F	Parc Tredelerch
2012
Sun	Jan	8	9.00	F	Birdwatch, Channel View		Rob & Linda Nottage
Sat	Feb	25	10.00	F	Ogmore, Geology		Steve Howe
Sun	Mar	25	10:00	F	Blaenavon, above and below the surface		Rhian Kendall
Sun	May	13	10.00	F	Roath Park		Tony Titchen
	Jun	9/10	10.00	F	Whitford,		Gower Steve Bolchover
Sun	Jul	1	9.30	F	Cowbridge & Siginstone		Rob and Linda Nottage
Wed	Jul	11	18.30	H	Lisvane		Mike Dean
Sat	Aug	11	10.00	F	Leckwith Woods		Ben Rowson
Sun	Sep	16	10.00	F	Ashton Court, Bristol		Tony Titchen

Normally this would be posted to members with the AGM newsletter, but we've had a slight snag getting things printed this year and we will get the cards to you as soon as possible

In the mean time please spread the word to any of our members who are not on-line (or possible members who've not yet joined us) so that they can plan to come along and have some really good evenings fun during the darker months ahead

if you prefer just a list of the indoor meetings it can be found here http://www.cardiffnaturalists.org.uk/htmfiles/indoor.htm
and if you want a poster to put up at work or somewhere local then that can be found here http://www.cardiffnaturalists.org.uk/pdf/currentposter.pdf

Regards
Andy