The OSME Summer Meeting and 37th AGM
The OSME Summer Meeting and 37th AGM will be held at BTO Headquarters, Thetford, Norfolk on Saturday 4 July. Doors open 10.00 and talks start at 11.00. Come for coffee and meet old and new friends! Non-members welcome. No attendance charge. The Meeting theme is: Illegal bird killing in the OSME Region
We have again arranged a meal at the Mulberry restaurant in Thetford after the meeting. We hope you will be able to join us. Please contact Nick Moran via email nick.moran@bto.org or mobile 07778 601996 – from whom further details can also be obtained.
The detailed Programme is as follows.
11.00 Introduction & welcome – Rob Sheldon, OSME Chairman
11.15 The value of bird monitoring – Andy Clements, BTO
12.00 A review of illegal bird killing in The Mediterranean – Anne-Laure Brochet, BirdLife International
12.45 Birds of The Middle East, Arabic Edition – Richard Porter
13.00 Lunch break A range of sandwiches and drinks will be available.
14.00 37th Annual General Meeting
14.30 Addressing illegal hunting at Batumi through education and awareness raising – Oliver Reville
15.15 Short break
15.30 Working with local hunters in Lebanon to develop sustainable hunting practices – Assad Serhal
16.15 Monitoring illegal bird trapping: a vital part of the long-running campaign to halt bird killing in Cyprus – Simon Wotton, RSPB
17.00 Drawing of raffle and closing remarks.
17.15 Close of meeting
OSME RAFFLE 2015 All profits from this year’s raffle will be go towards the publication of an Arabic Edition of Birds of The Middle East. Further details of this exciting project will be revealed by Richard Porter.
Getting to the BTO
By Rail to Thetford Station Thetford is on the Birmingham-Norwich line. From London travel via Cambridge. Taxis are available at Thetford station.
By Road The Nunnery is on Nuns’ Bridge Road which is off the A134 to the south of the town. To obtain a map of the area visit www.multimap.co.uk and enter postcode IP24 2PU. There is a large car park at The Nunnery.
Accommodation can be found in Thetford, Bury St.Edmunds, Norwich, Newmarket, Barton Mills. See also http://www.leapinghare.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=6&Itemid=128
Minutes of 2014 AGM
The following are the Minutes of last year’s AGM:
Minutes of the 36th Annual General Meeting held on Saturday 5th July 2014 at the premises of the British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford, Norfolk, UK
Members Present –. Ibrahim Al Farwi, Nabegh Ghazal Asswad, Raffael Aye, Dawn Balmer, Janet Barber, Mick Carroll, Sal Cooke, Elaine Cowan, Peter Cowan, Paul Donald, Helen Demopoulos, Adam Gretton, Ian Harrison, Phil Heath, Chris Hughes, Mike Jennings, Johannes Kamp, Maxim Koshkin, Chris Lamsdell, Andrew Lassey, David Lindo, Brian Meadows, Nick Moran, David Murdoch, Frank O’Connell, Geoff Randall, Mike Reed, Steve Rooke, Rob Sheldon, Elis Simpson, Rick Simpson, Peter Walton, Effie Warr, John Warr.
1 – Apologies for absence were received from: AbdulRahman Al Sirhan, Mike Blair, Phil Cannings, Mick Green, Guy Kirwan, Tristan Reid, Sven Wair.
2 – Minutes of the 35th Annual General Meeting held on 6th July 2013. Acceptance was proposed by Mick Carroll, seconded by Elaine Cowan and accepted unanimously. Rob Sheldon, Chairman, signed them as a true record of the Meeting.
3 – Matters arising. There were no matters arising.
4 & 5 – Presentation and adoption of the Accounts for 2013/Appointment of Accounts Examiner for 2014.
A leaflet with the summarised accounts for 2013 was distributed at the meeting and the contents, with additional detail, were described in a graphical presentation by Chris Hughes, Joint Treasurer. He drew attention to the following:
a) there had been a slight decrease in the number of subscriptions.
b) £25, 860.00 was available for use by OSME, plus £40.00 in restricted funds.
c) administrative costs continue to be well controlled and are broadly in line with previous years.
d) Mike Jennings was thanked for agreeing to examine the accounts.
In response to a question from the floor regarding possible reasons for people no longer wishing to remain OSME members, the following was noted:
- the main value of OSME for most members is Sandgrouse.
- the age profile of OSME membership inevitably means a reducing membership as members die.
- Several members have not increased their standing orders and continue to pay subscriptions at previous rates (but do not receive Sandgrouse).
- OSME has about 1,100 Twitter followers versus 720 members.
The Treasurer explained that Mike Jennings had examined the 2013 accounts for no remuneration and had expressed his willingness to act as Accounts Examiner for 2014. Acceptance of the accounts and Mike Jennings as Accounts Examiner for 2014 was proposed by Mick Carroll, seconded by Janet Barber, and carried unanimously.
6 – Election of officers:
Vice-Presidents: No nominations.
Council Members: There was one nomination for Council Membership – Dora Querido – proposed by Sal Cooke, seconded by Chris Hughes, and carried unanimously.
7 – Any other business.
Sandgrouse online. As part of the official launch of the digitization of Sandgrouse being placed on the Biodiversity Heritage Library platform, Sal Cooke gave an explanation of how this had been achieved and thanked Effie and John Warr for their support and help. She noted that the issues of the previous three years would always remain unavailable.
There being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 14.20.