26 hardy souls braved the weather last night at the Town Hall to hear Tim Melling's mouth-watering talk on Svalbard. I'm sure that everyone who attended would agree that our new meeting venue is very satisfactory and comfortable, so well done to Chris Abell for securing this for future meetings.

We again have a change of speaker for the next meeting on the 26th with Susan and Alan Parker talking on La Mancha and Extremadura. I'm sure that everyone will find the description of these great birding areas to be most rewarding.

In addition the grand raffle that was scheduled to take place last night has been held back until the 26th, so you will all have that extra time to save up for your tickets.

Finally, please forward your 2009 records to Brian Armitage as soon as you are able. We are anxious to progress with the compilation of these as quickly as we are able.

Alf