ideal, but the numbers walking were fewer than last year, not surprisingly. Interestingly, there are 

 now many "regulars" for whom Friday morning walks around the park are part of normal life. 



High spots of the year were the visit to Plantlife's reserve at Ranscombe Farm in Kent, where many 

 unfamiliar species were found, mainly arable "weeds" but also bee and man orchids. The autumn 

 trip to Wakehurst Place to see autumn colours was also successful. Some members resolved to 

 go there in the spring/summer to see some of the choice wild species growing there. 



Informal relations have been established with the Friends of the new nature reserve at Fobney 

 Island. Development of plant communities will be recorded there. During 2012 a plant species list 

 was produced for the very biodiverse levelled landfill site at Field Farm, Burghfield Bridge. The 

 future of that site is undecided. 



It will be fascinating to see how the seasons develop in 2013 and how, for instance, orchid 

 populations were affected by the extreme wet of 2012. 



IVIEIVIBERSHSP 



Norman Hall 



12 new members joined the society in 2012: 



Maureen Carver of Tilehurst Jean Hall of Tilehurst 



Stephen Coulson of Thatcham Mrs A. Hawthorne of Woodcote 



Avril Davies of Henley-on-Thames Andrea MacGregor of Henley-on-Thames 



Phil Dean of Thatcham Ken White of Ashford Hill 



Roger Dobbs of Thatcham Jennifer & Victoria Wickens 



Carolyn Gowers of Burghfield Common 



MEMBERS' OBSERVATIONS 

 Ricki Bull 



Before each evening talk, members and visitors are invited to announce their recent observations. 



3 Jan 



Chris Bucke - Lesser Celandine in flower on 2nd Jan. in West Wycombe and at least 15 



different species in flower during any walk in December. 



Jan Haseler - Cowslips and other plants in flower on the Berkshire Downs. 



Sally Rankin - Loddon Lily already in flower. 



Fred Taylor - Mushrooms and toadstools still to be seen. 



Colin Dibb - Tree in Pangbourne with at least 30 clusters of Mistletoe. 



17 Jan 



Chris Bucke - Bullfinch along the Thames Path near Tilehurst Station; 25 species of plants in 

 flower at Brimpton. 



Jan Haseler - Stinking Hellebores at Streatley 



Kit Brownlee - Painted Lady Thursday the 12th Jan at Watlington Street. 

 Martin Sell - 5 Bullfinches along with Redwings in garden. 

 Renton Righelato - 1-2 Bitterns on White Swan Lake at Dinton pastures. 

 Sally Rankin - Evening Primroses in flower; 10 Goldfinches feeding in garden 



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