The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society Website

Because of the current Covid situation, it has been decided to postpone the visit to WWT Slimbridge until March 2022.

Would a midweek visit be better than a weekend. I would be grateful for your views.

Bill Francis

This newsletter is now up on the website for viewing.

RAFOS is aiming to resume the 18 month cycle of visits to this lovely island in the Inner Hebrides following cancellations due to Covid 19 and here is a trawl for participants for the next visit.

EXPEDITION ISLAY MIST 2022

Islay Mist – a subtle and seductive mixture of smoky peat and seaweed.

Robbie’s Whisky Merchants

Known as the Queen of the Hebrides, Islay boasts a wide variety of wonderful scenery and habitats, including wild open moorland and hills, unspoilt beaches and cliffs, mixed woodlands and mudflats, all of which offer amazing birding, over 100 species being present on the island all year round. There are so many habitats here that you will never get tired of seeking out and finding birds.

islayinfo.com

In the spirit of recycling, we’re going for our money’s worth on last year’s advert.

The next RAFOS visit to Islay is planned for 7 to 14 May 2022, staying at the usual cottages at Kilchoman. The average species count from the previous 6 Spring expeditions is 120 (range 113 to 126). If you fancy some good gentle birding in beautiful scenery then contact Dick and Jan Knight at theknightsat2@gmail.com or on 01243 920289. Our deadline for booking is 6 January 2022. If you are that way inclined, serious yomping is available, but you’ll probably be on your own.

An outline Events Programme for 2023 is now published

The next Committee Meeting is scheduled for Thursday 2 March 2023 at the Chequers Public House, Brize Norton.

The next Annual General Meeting is planned to be held on Saturday 18 March 2023. The Secretary is preparing details.

The minutes and appendices of AGM 2021 are now available on the RAFOS website

under About/AGM Minutes/AGM 2021.

A Note from the RAFOS Newsletter production manager

Apologies to those members who have elected to receive a printed copy of the RAFOS Newsletter, but who have not yet received Newsletter No. 111 Spring 2021.

Owing to the Covid 19 Lock-down it has not been printed as the printing and mailing services we use are unavailable to us at this time. Once these facilities are able to return to normal working after Lock-down and a printing schedule is established, a further update will be provided.

Meanwhile please do read the e-version of the Newsletter at:

Newsletter No. 71 onwards – The Royal Air Force Ornithological Society website (rafornithology.org.uk).

The Spring 2021 Newsletter is now available on the website under Publications

The 2021 AGM is to be an on-line event as per the agenda and business email supported by a voting form and, for photo competition entries, a revised rules document. The voting form can be copied into a word processor, compiled and attached to an email.

Addition on 27 Jan 21: List of articles published in the two Newsletters of 2020 for consideration by the committee for the Best Written Article award.

The RAFOS AGM in November has been postponed until 20 March 2021. The astute among you may well have already put two and two together and come up with four reasons why the Committee has decided to postpone the AGM. First, there is this nasty little virus going around and although things seem to be improving, we are far from out of the woods yet – so the Mess may not be open for business as usual in November. Next, even if it is open there may still be several ‘frequent flyers’ to the AGM in the VP category (that’s Valuable Person) who may not be able to travel to the venue – we might not make a quorum and more importantly everyone’s health is a primary concern. Then, even if we did manage to put it all together there is a strong chance we might have to cancel at short notice if things took a turn for the worse as winter approaches. Finally, we felt a move to a spring AGM might be worth trying anyway as the recent AGM survey reported in the last edition of the Newsletter, though not conclusive, did show a slight preference for a spring meeting. Therefore, the Committee have decided the November AGM is postponed to 20 March 2021 with the expectation it will take place at High Wycombe on that date. In the meantime, the Committee will continue to make sensible decisions about funding expeditions such as WINTER DUCK and ISLAY MIST among other things until we can restore a more normal service. Stay safe folks and good birding.

It is with great regret, but unavoidable, that the planned visit by RAFOS to this venue has been cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic and the necessary restrictions on movement and association.