Event Details
Somerset Ornithological Society Members' Afternoon and Annual General Meeting to be held at Cheddon Fitzpaine Memorial Hall at 2pm on Saturday 14 November 2026.
Cheddon Fitzpaine Memorial Hall is close to the village on the north side of Taunton and should appear on a sat nav. Note also that there are roadworks on the M5 between junctions 25 and 26, with a reduced speed limit.
Program for the afternoon
13.00 Hall set up
13.30. Hall open for Members
14.00. Meeting starts with Introductory comments by the Chairman, Mat Ridley
14.10. Bird Identification Quiz with Phil Edwards. Phil has chosen a selection from his extensive photographic collection, amassed from many years’ birding across the planet. There will be Easy, Moderate and More Challenging photographs. Score sheets will be available, to be marked after the AGM…
14.45. AGM
Re-election of Officers. The following will stand for re-election:
Mat Ridley Chairman
Nick Smith. Secretary
Nick Wall. Treasurer
County Recorder. Brian Gibbs
Asst. Recorder. Julian Thomas
Chair of Rarities Committee. James Packer
Other members of the Committee are not required to stand for re-election this year.
To elect Paul Marshall as a member of the Committee (currently co-opted).
Treasurer’s Report - Nick Wall
Motion 1: Nick Wall - The Society agrees to initiate a programme of improvements to the Society’s web-site over the next year to:
Cover essential upgrading to ensure GDPR compliance, management and security of membership lists (c.£2700) - this is not optional if we are to maintain the website.
Enhance and modernise the website, this will be constrained to a £3000 spend and will allow Members to help define the requirements. A key objective is to grow our Membership base.
The costs can be funded from savings the SOS has built up over a number of years without impacting our ability to run the Society.
Membership Secretary’s Report - Dick Best
Activities Report - Alison Everett and Mat Ridley
AOB
15.15. Refreshments
15.40. Gus Robin on the deployment of the Society’s acoustic recorders in 2026, particularly in monitoring lesser spotted woodpeckers.
16.00. Eve Tigwell with a BTO update and news on the forthcoming National and County Atlases.
16.20. Phil’s Quiz: The Answers…
16.40. Meeting closes
Timings are approximate