Society Publications and Annual Report

Each year since it's formation in 1979, the Society has produced an Annual Report. The style, contents and quality of this report has varied over the years, but has now settled down into a word-processed, double sided photocopied A4 booklet with a card cover and some form of binding/stapling. It features a Chairman's Report, Bird Report, Plant Report, Insect Report and Mammal Report plus various other articles on e.g. nest boxes, survey work, field trips and so on. The report also features artwork provided by Society members. The Annual Report is normally first available at the October indoor meeting so that e.g. the 2000 report will be first available at the October 2001 meeting. Copies normally cost about £2.00-£2.50. The Society Secretary holds a copy for every year on behalf of the Society and these are available to members. In addition, a copy of each report is also lodged in Nantwich Library for the public. Further copies are provided to English Nature, Cheshire & Wirral Ornithological Society, Cheshire Wildlife Trust, The Grosvenor Museum in Chester and Cholmondeley & Combermere Estates. This ensures that each of these organisations can make use of the information contained within the Report.

Andy Green and Mike Holmes decided to document each record of rare and scarce birds in the geogrpahic area covered by the Society. The result was the very popular "Rare and scarce birds in the Nantwich area 1850-1996". Andy tackled records from about 1950 onwards, whilst Mike was responsible for digging out some of the more ancient ones !! The report covers all kinds of species from the nationally rare (e.g. Little Bittern) to Cheshire county rarities (e.g. Golden Oriole) and still squeezes in many Nantwich local rarities like Black Tern, Whinchat and Ring Ouzel. Such was its appeal that Mike was invited onto BBC Radio Stoke to talk about the Report and the way it was put together. Featuring artwork by excellent young Society member Tom Lowe (a prize winner in the British Birds Young Ornithologist of the Year awards) the Report was excellent value at £2.50.

Forthcoming publications are expected to include a mammoth work by Paul Griffiths provisionally entitled 'Moths of the Nantwich area'. This book has already been in preparation for over a year and will detail every species recorded with distribution maps, status information, flight periods and general comments. It will be well worth the wait.

Also in the pipeline is a series of articles on 'Where to watch wildlife in the Nantwich area'