2012

24th Sept. We start our winter programme with the subject of “ Migration”. All organisms adapt to the world they find themselves in or die. The ability of to fly has rendered them the dinosaurs that avoided extinction. This talk explores the huge variation in bird movements which fascinate and delight us each year. MARTYN STENNING is a congenital naturalist dedicated to understanding and helping to maintain biological diversity. He has worked at the University of Sussex since 1976 teaching, researching and facilitating the research within the School of Life Sciences.

1st Oct. Based upon five visits to New Zealand, usually in the company of expert local bird watchers and botanists, JOHN COLE has experienced a wide range of that country’s diverse habitats. His talk “The Natural History of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands” will range across North Island, South Island and Stewart Island and illustrate their present-day natural history, as well as noting that have become extinct. Then he will take us to the Chatham Islands in the Pacific, a territory of New Zealand, 400 miles east of the mainland. The Chatham’s have many endemic species, some of which have survived by a hairsbreadth, and a thriving crayfish fishery.

8th Oct. HNHS member SU REED has a lifelong interest in natural history, especially entomology. In “Butterfly Isles” she will show some of her butterfly photographs taken in 2012 and describe her exploits in getting them.

15th Oct. In his talk “The Wildlife of - from coast to Amazon” ANDY TUCKER takes us on a wildlife- laden voyage from the Pacific Coast to the Amazonian rainforest, ending at the Lost City of the Incas, . En route we cover Humboldt Current seabirds, macaw clay clicks, oxbow lakes and hummingbirds and tanagers.

22nd Oct. Sussex has one of the most historically important populations of peregrine falcons in the world, with detailed records dating back over 100 years. The Sussex Peregrine Study www.sussexperegrines.co.uk lecture “The History of Sussex Peregrines” presented by MIKE NICHOLLS and JON FRANKLIN will show the population trends of the Peregrine in Sussex from 1904 – 2011 including its unprecedented expansion into inland and urban sites.

29th Oct. HNHS member ROGER MASON is one of our regular speakers. His title this evening “Wildlife in House and Garden” takes a look at some of the things you might find, including some of the less obvious forms of wildlife and some of the familiar faces.

5th Nov. “Sussex Ponds” will look at the history and ecology of Sussex countryside ponds. It will include a look at the issues affecting the habitat quality of ponds today, and what can and is being done to improve a vitally important but sadly degraded habitat. Our speaker this evening is BEV WADGE who is Pond Survey Co-ordinator for the Sussex Record Centre (SxBRC) and Pond Officer for Sussex Amphibian and Group (SARG). She has many years’ experience in pond survey and management, and holds a Great Crested Newt licence.

12th Nov. HNHS member PHIL EVANS is a regular on our winter programme with his own brand of Audio- Visual HD Presentation. This popular format has been used over several years to show us some of Noreen and Phil’s countrywide travels. “Out and About No6” will show us what they saw in and around Gloucestershire and Northumberland.

19th Nov. Annual General Meeting followed by “What Makes a Great Day Out?” In the last winter programme we had several members tell us about their “Great Day Out” and the question was asked by a member if we could hear about what makes one. There will be at least three members telling us, all probably with a different slant.

26th Nov. Over the last 25 years JOHN HORNE has created a small nature reserve of some eight and a half acres, with 9 ponds and a small lake. He has 18 breeding species of dragonflies, a pair of barn owls, eight of the twelve species of and amphibians and probably the only site in the U.K. which has both species of glow worms, the common and lesser. It is the latter that are the subject of the lecture this evening “The Secret Life of the Common and Lesser Glow Worms”. It sounds unmissable.

3rd Dec. HNHS was asked to survey the wildlife at Amberley Working Museum, which was last done about 30 years ago. A team of members have conducted the survey during 2012 and this evening we will reveal what was found. As is usual with a presentation of this type there will be contributions from several members.

10th Dec. LINDA PITKIN started diving in 1979, and took her first shots underwater when her husband Brian handed her a camera a year later. Her passion for underwater photography, especially of wildlife, developed alongside her career as a biologist at The Natural History Museum in London, but she left there in 2005 to concentrate on photography. Linda is the author and photographer of four books and a number of articles, and her photography features widely in other books, newspapers, magazines, and exhibitions. She has had several of her own exhibitions, the most recent being at the London Zoo (ZSL) for four years until 2010, has won many awards in national and international competitions, and is in the Women Divers Hall of Fame. In 2008 she was honoured to participate in the nature photography project ‘Wild Wonders of Europe’ www.wild-wonders.com, and is currently one of 20 wildlife photographers working on ‘2020VISION’ www.2020v.org, the most ambitious nature photography project ever staged in the UK, showing the link between healthy nature and healthy people. “Wildlife underwater – through the eyes of an underwater photographer” sounds like an excellent way to finish 2012 and a glance at her website www.lindapitkin.net should convince you.

17th Dec. Christmas Party and “Tillin Cup & Coxon Plate Competitions”. See newsletter for details.

2013

7th Jan. “The Great Dragonfly Hunt” describes a national hunt in an attempt to see all the native species of dragonfly within one calendar year by JACOB EVERITT, Countryside Warden of Warnham LNR. It meant two trips to Scotland, one to the Peak District and several other long distance journeys in the trail of the next dragonfly species. From Azure Hawkers on the Scottish Lochs to Brilliant Emeralds in Horsham this talk will inspire all to go on their own Dragon Hunt. But did Jacob achieve his aim? Come along to this first lecture of 2013 to find out.

14th Jan. Roger Patterson has recently made two trips to Austria’s Ziller Valley, in May 2009 and June 2012, the latter with Jacky Jeffery. Many of the flowers photographed on the 2009 trip proved difficult to identify so advice was sought from ARTHUR HOARE. He will describe the wild flowers from both trips and give hints on taking photographs to aid identification. Roger (and possibly Jacky) will talk about the local area and other wildlife seen in “Austria’s Ziller Valley”.

21st Jan. JONATHON HUET last visited HNHS in 2006. This evening’s talk “Ancient Woodlands” will explore the history of our woodlands using poetry and natural props to bring the presentation alive. Jonathon has been lecturing for over 15 years and has an infectious enthusiasm for his subject. Walk with Trees www.walkwithtrees.co.uk, the full-time initiative Jonathon runs promotes the importance of woodlands through lecturing, guided walks, camp crafts and storytelling.

28th Jan. “Kruger National Park & Drakensburg Mountains, South Africa” is this evenings title describing a journey from the Drakensburg Mountains via the Wakerstroom Wetlands to the famous Kruger National Park and then back via the Blyde River Canyon. HNHS member JOHN HAMILTON is the speaker with his usual popular mix of birds, , some flowers and scenery. 4th Feb. Our Sussex hedges largely emanate from woodland assarting with little history of Parliamentary Enclosure. In "Sussex Hedges-Their Past, Present and Future" PETER CHALLIS on his first visit to HNHS will talk about the research he has been doing for the last ten years as an unpaid volunteer at Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre. He has been working solely on Sussex hedgerow research and data gathering with support from SWT, WSCC, ESCC, South Downs National Park, etc. - recording data on Sussex hedges, species content, management regimes etc and predictions that may be made as a result.

11th Feb. JACQUI and BRUCE MIDDLETON will begin their talk "An Introduction to Lichens” with the folklore, history and uses of lichens. They will show how to identify one lichen from another, then have a question and answer session, followed by a short session where we can look at some real examples.

18th Feb. “The Two Roger’s” are now a permanent fixture and as always their subject is the previous summer’s plant course that was organized by ROGER MASON and the plants will be described by him. The subject for the 2012 course was “Plants of Water and Water-side” and takes in a wide variety of habitats from pond to seashore. The plant course covering six venues is one of the highlights of the summer programme and always produces many interesting things, not only plants. ROGER PATTERSON has put the presentation together from the hundreds of images taken by several attendees, and will chip in with a few anecdotes and the usual helping of banter.

25th Feb. The MEMBERS EVENING is the opportunity for those who would like to share with members some aspect of their own interest or natural history experience. The rules are simple :- Members “speak” for around 10-15 minutes. The presentation can be illustrated with anything you like, but if slides or PowerPoint please advise. If you would like to share your interest with us please contact Roger Patterson, but be early to avoid the rush.

4th March. Dr DANIEL ALLEN www.drdanallen.com, an affiliate member of the IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group, is author of Otter (2010). Virginia McKenna OBE described the book as ‘the most brilliant mix of facts ancient and modern about the otter species. In “Otters of the World” Daniel chats about his lifelong enthusiasm for otters, sharing lively anecdotes from folklore, tradition, popular literature, television and the ongoing challenges otters face around the world.

11th March. “A Look at the Wildlife of Bulgaria” is the title of this evening’s lecture by popular HNHS speaker MADELEINE DOUGHARTY. We will be shown some of the amazing birds, flowers and rural countryside that Madeleine and Frank saw during 10 days in 2011.

18th March. Dr BRIAN HOPKINS FLS was the first academic ecologist in Nigeria where he lived for 13 years. In addition to teaching and research, he wrote the first ecology textbook for West Africa. He has been an editor of The Journal of Ecology and President of the Chichester Natural History Society. His subject is “African Savanna” where he will cover a wide variety of topics including vegetation, animals, seasonal changes and the role of fire. We welcome him on his first visit to HNHS.