Programme

Our programme for 2018/2019

Details are added here as soon as meetings are arranged and confirmed.

Indoor meetings start at 7.30pm in Room 0.23 (ground floor) of the Cardiff School of Management Building, Metropolitan University, Llandaff Campus, Western Avenue, Llandaff, Cardiff, CF5 2YB - unless otherwise stated (*).

Meetings 2018/2019

Monday 24 September 2018	AGM  followed by a talk 'Natural Wonders of Alaska'	Speaker: Eirian Edwards
Tuesday 16 October	'Wildlife responses to habitat fragmentation and degradation in the Kinabatangan Landscape of Sabah, Borneo' An overview of current research in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary conducted by the Danau Girang Field Centre, eastern Sabah, Borneo	Benoit Goossens
Monday 29 October	'Big Beasts, Birds and Buddhas of the Indian Subcontinent'	Linda and Rob Nottage
Thursday 15 November (*)	Dr Rhys Jones  (of 'Rhys to the Rescue' fame) Wildlife Crime (*) This is a combined meeting held with WTSWW and WILDSOC. Wallace Lecture Theatre, Main Building, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff.
Tuesday 27 November	'Plant Hunting in Wales'	Alan Parfitt
Monday 17 December	XMAS BASH  with speaker Meriel Jones (Bute Park Education Centre) on 'Bute Park honey bees' Bee hives in Bute Park once supplied honey to the wealthy Bute family and their guests in Cardiff Castle, but over 60 years have passed since honey was last produced in the park. In 2016 Meriel Jones, Education Officer became a Bee Keeper and hives are now well established in the city park. Meriel will explain how honey bees have returned to Bute Park and the story so far.
2019 Sunday 6 January (*)	Annual Cardiff Birdwatch Meet 10am Channel View, Cardiff Bay CF11 7HB There is parking overlooking River Taff opposite the Channel View Centre on Jim Driscoll Way off Avondale Road, Grangetown, We’ll take a leisurely walk around parts of Cardiff Bay. In previous visits we’ve seen unusual winter migrants like Long-tailed Duck, Lesser Scaup and Great Northern Diver amongst the water birds. Weather permitting we’ll continue into the afternoon so bring a packed lunch if you intend to stay. Linda and Rob Nottage will lead this joint meeting with the Cardiff Group of the Wildlife Trust and Cardiff University’s WildSoc.
Monday 14 January	Members Evening    Contact Hilary Wicks if you want to contribute to the evening (indoor@cardiffnaturalists.org.uk).
Tuesday 22 January	'Restless Planet: volcanoes, earthquakes, mountains, and shifting continents'  Dr Geraint Owen  This talk will show how earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the formation of mountains and the drifting of continents are linked through the process of plate tectonics and will touch on the earthquakes in South Wales earlier in the year and the ongoing volcanic Eruptions in Hawaii.	Geraint Owen
Monday 11 February	Living Seas A talk about the Wildlife Trust's 'The Living Seas Wales Project', by Beverley Phillips, the Engagement Officer for the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales, based at the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlife Centre. Living Seas is the Wildlife Trust's vision for our marine environment, aimed at inspiring and educating others to love and protect our Welsh coast. It is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Visit Wales and the People's Postcode Lottery. With a background as a Mental Health Nurse and a passion for wildlife and the marine environment, Beverley Phillips is encouraging others to become inspired about our beautiful coast and to take part in community activities to help protect and restore it. Through these activities, she is trying to reduce social isolation, hopefully improve mental health, and make a real difference both to people's daily lives and our marine environment.	Beverley Phillips
Thursday 28 February  (*)	'Recapturing, enhancing and celebrating the unique Gwent Levels Landscape—the work of Living Levels Landscape Partnership". Gavin Jones (*) This is a combined meeting with WTSWW and WILDSOC. Wallace Lecture Theatre, Main Building, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff.	Gavin Jones
Monday 11 March	An evening of two parts: Oonah Lessware 'An assessment of coral reef fish assemblages and how they may shift towards or away from specialism in response to coral damage, bleaching or death.' The winner of this year's CNS Biosciences Prize, awarded in memory of Prof Ursula Henriques and Dr Mary Gillham, will receive their award and give a presentation on their award-winning fieldwork, as a student in the School of Biosciences, Cardiff University. Dan Rouse will be the second speaker of the evening. Dan is a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Ambassador for Carmarthenshire and will talk about her involvement in the annual 'Champions of the Flyways' competition and the protection of vultures in Kenya. 'Leica Welsh Red Kites' are the first team of birders from Wales to participate in BirdLife's Flyways competitive birdwatching race in Eilat.
Tuesday 19 March	'Butterflies Flora and Fauna of N E South Africa' A two-week tour of the Limpopo province of South Africa primarily looking at butterflies in the Soutpansberg mountains, but including the mammals and colourful birdlife we saw on a daily basis.	Phill Blanning