Archived AGM reports
2022 AGM report
2021
Tas Field Naturalists Committee elected on 4th. March 2021 at the AGM held at Mathers House, Hobart
President: Eddie Gall....................................................president@tasfieldnats.org.au
Vice-President and book sales: Anna McEldowney..... booksales@tasfieldnats.org.au
Secretary: Lynne Maher................................................secretary@tasfieldnats.org.au
Treasurer: Jane Catchpole............................................treasurer@tasfieldnats.org.au
Naturalist Editor: Sabine Borgis....................................editor@tasfieldnats.org.au
Bulletin Editor: Kristen Groom.......................................tfn.bulletin.editor@gmail.com
Walks and Talks & Public Officer: Amanda Thomson..
Librarian: Kevin Bonham...............................................librarian@tasfieldnats.org.au
Website: Deirdre Brown................................................web.master@tasfieldnats.org.au
General Committee members:
Bruno Bell
Jenny Schorter
Annabel Carle (and Archives)
Outgoing President's Address at AGM 2021 (Annabel Carle)
"The ones that got away" a presentation about invasive species in Tasmania.
Secretary's Report presented at AGM 4th. March 2021
2020 has been a year like no other in the club’s history. We no sooner held our AGM and elected Annabel Carle as the new President than the Covid 19 virus struck and everyone was placed into lockdown.
General meetings came to a halt with the closure of UTAS however the committee continued to look after the club’s affairs via Zoom video link. We are very thankful for Deirdre Brown’s expertise with the website and The Bulletin which keeps everyone up to date with the ever changing situation.
With the gradual easing of restrictions excursions recommenced in July and 29 members took the opportunity for a walk along the Pipeline Track at Neika. The visit to the Marion Bay wetlands in October was attended by 38 members and in November 28 people visited Growling Swallet in the Florentine Valley. General meetings recommenced in October at Mathers House in central Hobart.
The club funded the reprint of 1000 copies of A Field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi by David Ratkowsky and Genevieve Gates but as the entire stock sold out in six months we have now printed another 1000 copies of the book.
In order to support local wildlife charities the club made donations of $500 each to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, Raptor Refuge and the Tasmanian Land Conservancy (toward the purchase of land at Tinderbox Hills). A donation of $500 was also made to the Biodiversity Heritage Library in Victoria who have scanned copies of The Naturalist and the club newsletters and made them freely available on line.
After granting a Life membership of Janet Fenton in March we were finally able to present her with a certificate at the October meeting. Tonight we are pleased to present a Life Membership certificate to Genevieve Gates for her long and continuous service to the club.
Mick Brown and his helpers have published another excellent edition of The Naturalist. Mick has now handed the reins to Sabine Borgis and we thank him for his work over the past five years.
We also thank Annabel Carle, Anna McEldowney and committee members for their sterling efforts to keep the club functioning in these uncertain times and look forward to another successful year.
Margaret Warren, Secretary
2020
Tas Field Naturalists Committee elected at 7 March 2020 at the AGM
President: Annabel Carle.....................................president@tasfieldnats.org.au
Vice-President: Anna MacEldowney
Secretary: Margaret Warren................................secretary@tasfieldnats.org.au
Treasurer: Jane Catchpole...................................treasurer@tasfieldnats.org.au
Naturalist Editor: Mick Brown...............................editor@tasfieldnats.org.au
Bulletin Editor: Deirdre Brown..............................tfn.bulletin.editor@gmail.com
Walks and Talks: Amanda Thomson....................
Librarian: Kevin Bonham.......................................librarian@tasfieldnats.org.au
Website: Deirdre Brown........................................web.master@tasfieldnats.org.au
General Committee members:
Sabine Borgis
Lynne Maher
Eddie Gall
Outgoing President's Address at AGM 2020 (Kevin Bonham)
"And they all invaded....slowly" a presentation about introduced snails.
Secretary's Report presented at AGM 5th. March 2020
The past year has been another busy and successful year for the club.
The second edition of Genevieve Gates and David Ratkowsky’s ‘Field Guide to Tasmanian Fungi’ has sold out and the club provided the funding for a new edition of Simon Grove’s ‘Seashells of Tasmania’, which was published in December.
In 2018 the club nominated Simon Grove for the Australian Natural History Medallion organized by the Victorian Field Naturalists. The award that year went to Sarah Lloyd of the Central North Field Naturalists however this year we were delighted to hear that Simon was the winner of the medallion. To have Tasmanians win the award two years running shows the high calibre of our naturalists.
The club also nominated Kristi Ellingson and Tony Daley for the Le Souëf Award for amateur entomologists. Although they did not win there is a very strong chance they will be successful in 2020. By co-incidence this year’s award went to Ken Harris from Victoria who was a member and past president of our club in the late 1970’s.
During the year we heard from many interesting speakers, a record number of 75 members and visitors came to hear Stefan Eberhard recount his cave diving exploits. Deep sea corals, sea birds, kelp, bats and mosses were among the other topics covered by our speakers.
In February we had a weekend trip to the Big Punchbowl Reserve, followed in March by a visit to a property at Lonnavale to study the fungi and forest regeneration after bushfires. Twenty six people participated in an Easter Camp at Mole Creek in April, and in October the North East Field Naturalists hosted the Federation Weekend which was enjoyed by eight of our members.
James Wood conducted a tour of the Botanical Gardens Seed Conservation Centre while Rod Hewer demonstrated his lapidary skills and showed his extensive collection of gemstones and fossils.
Sadly one of our life members, Isa Hurburg passed away in June, not long after celebrating her 100 th birthday. Isa and her husband Marcus were valuable members of the club for many years. Recently while walking at Mortimer Bay I was pleased to see a reserve named in honour of Priscilla Park who is another of our life members.
This year we will see some changes in the make up of the committee, Kevin Bonham will step down after being president for the past six years and also continuously on the committee since 1988. Genevieve Gates, another long time committee member is taking a well-earned break, Margaret Williams and Abbey Throssell are also stepping down. We thank everyone for their work and dedication to the club.
We welcome the new president and committee and look forward to another exciting year.
Margaret Warren, Secretary
2019 AGM
Tas Field Naturalists Committee elected at 7 March 2019 at the AGM
President: Kevin Bonham......................................president@tasfieldnats.org.au
Vice-President: Genevieve Gates
Secretary: Margaret Warren................................ secretary@tasfieldnats.org.au
Treasurer: Jane Catchpole...................................treasurer@tasfieldnats.org.au
Naturalist Editor: Mick Brown..............................editor@tasfieldnats.org.au
Bulletin Editor: Deirdre Brown.............................tfn.bulletin.editor@gmail.com
Walks and Talks: Amanda Thomson....................
Librarian: Annabel Carle.......................................librarian@tasfieldnats.org.au
Website: Deirdre Brown........................................web.master@tasfieldnats.org.au
General Committee members:
Anna McEldowney
Abbey Throssell
Margaret Williams
Secretary's Report presented at AGM March 2019
At the end of what has been another good year for the club I would like to thank the committee members, most of whom have been serving on the committee for many years and who keep the club running smoothly.
Another vote of thanks goes to Amanda Thomson who organised all the interesting speakers and the excursions we have enjoyed throughout the year. The average attendance at meetings was 30 and 15 at excursions.
In March, members explored Tooms Lake, a place first visited by field nats in 1949 and the site of an Easter camp in 1969.
In September Maria and John Grist revealed the sites of some of the old huts on Mt Wellington and told of their history.
Also much appreciated by members was a tour of the TMAG collections facility at Rosny in November. Most people drive by these buildings without knowing what wonders are held within and Cathy Byrne gave us a most interesting and informative tour.
In December we ended the year with an excursion to Echo Sugarloaf and a well attended BBQ at Randall’s Bay.
Lastly a thank you to everyone who contributes photos to the Field Nats Facebook page. The site is followed by people not only from Tasmania but from all parts of the country. It is a good way of attracting new members and particularly young people who are the future of our club, so keep up the good work.
Speakers in 2018
February: Simon Grove: Sinking to New Depths in Pursuit of Rare Tasmanian Mollusks (37 Members and Guests)
March: Kevin Bonham: Highlights from Field Nats Bulletins (22)
April: Els Wakefield: The Natural Wonders and People of Zambia, Botswana and Namibia (23)
May: Peter Fehre: Another Natural Asset – Tasmania’s Native Orchids (37)
June: Richard Robinson: Fungi, Fire and Forestry (27)
July: Rod Griffin: Reproductive Biology of Australian Acacias (37)
August: Stephen Harris: Tasmanian Callitris (27)
September: Maria and John Grist: Mt Wellington Huts (35)
October: Helen Fitton: Seaweed Science (17)
November: Cathy Byrne: Lepidopterist’s Taxonomic Toolkit & Thalaina (Satin Moths) (35)
December: Members Night (28)
Excursions
February: Gould’s Lagoon (18 Members and Guests)
March: Toom’s Lake (13)
April: New Town Falls (17)
May: Handsome Caves (19)
June: Woodvine (16)
July: Mt Pleasant Observatory (14)
August: Eucalyptus Id with Mark Wapstra (14)
September: Mt Wellington Hut Ruins (14)
October: Rheban Beach (10)
November: Tour of TMAG Collections and Research Facility (13)
December: BBQ - Echo Sugarloaf, Randalls Bay (18)
Margaret Warren, Secretary