Thursday, February 23, 2012

OSNZ News

Subs Renewal and new payment option

Monday, 9 January, 2012 - 14:03

Have you renewed your subscription? If not - PLEASE DO SO! For details click here.
If you can't remember if you have renewed or not, just log in and check your details.

By the way, we now have an additional payment option for "Ordinary + Family" memberships. So if you have an ordinary as well as a family member subscription, you can now make one payment to renew both at the same time.

However, if you prefer paying a family subscription separately from your own, you can still do this by providing our Membership Secretary with an email address of your family member, which needs to be different from your own email address.

 

OSNZ Conference and AGM 2012
Thursday, 1 December, 2011 - 13:43

The 2012 Conference and Annual General Meeting will be held in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty, during Queens Birthday Weekend, 2nd - 4th June.
The Annual General Meeting is scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, June 2nd
The two-day conference programme includes

  • a series of scientific presentations on bird research and projects
  • a selection of interactive workshops designed to improve your ability to study and enjoy birds
  • a national preview of 'The Godwit Series' by Tauranga artist Katharine Steeds
  • a choice of field trips that showcase some of the best birding opportunities in the Bay of Plenty
  • plenty of time to chat to other bird enthusiasts

Register online or download the registration form for more details.

To find out how to submit a paper or poster click here.
For queries please contact us on conference [at] osnz [dot] org [dot] nz.

Book your place now - and remember to book your flights to Tauranga early to get a good deal!

Moult Card now available for download
Saturday, 12 November, 2011 - 15:05

Visit our Moult Recording Scheme page for details on how and why to fill out Moult Recording Cards, and read past reports.

Notornis and Southern Bird online
Thursday, 27 October, 2011 - 17:31

All Notornis and Southern Bird issues are now available online!

Note - the new Notornis and Southern Bird site is now up and running - with improved access and search facilities to previous issues of both journals!

If you experience any problems with this site, please report these to support [at] osnz [dot] org [dot] nz.

New Membership Secretary
Monday, 3 October, 2011 - 17:18

The Society has a new Membership Secretary - Julia White!

Many thanks to Julia for taking on this important Society position!

A big thank you also to Yvonne McLaughlan for looking after this task for the past three years, and to Roger Sharp for all his support. Roger Sharp remains our contact for backnumbers of Notornis, Southern Bird and State of New Zealand Birds 

New membership system
Tuesday, 20 September, 2011 - 15:08

The membership database is now live on the Society’s website. Those members with email addresses in the Society records will have received a message with their username (email address) and password (starting with the letter "n") to make initial contact.

This process will enable you to pay your subscription directly using the very secure Paypal system, which will save our volunteers from having to process cheques and make manual updates of the information. At the same time you will be able to check and update your membership details.

If you haven't received the message and wish to add your email address to the system, then please contact our membership secretary. If you come across something that's not working then please let us know by e-mailing support [at] osnz [dot] org [dot] nz.

I advise that the Society now has a new membership secretary in Julia White who is based in Wellington. We welcome Julia to our team but I would urge all members to utilise the online facility to reduce her workload.

David Lawrie
President OSNZ

 

Regional Newsletters Online!
Monday, 5 September, 2011 - 17:37

Check out our latest regional newsletters and read about interesting sightings and fieldtrips in your area - click here

 

New Website!
Thursday, 14 July, 2011 - 14:58

Welcome to the new Ornithological Society of New Zealand's website. I'm pleased to be able to invite you to have a look around and see the new layout. We will be continuing to update the site as necessary and as new events occur.

Some links might need checking so if you come across something that's not working then please let us know by e-mailing support [at] osnz [dot] org [dot] nz.

As you can see we now have a rolling banner of photographs of birds. If you'd like to contribute then drop us an email with your attachments (the slideshow is 676x200px so your photo would need to be able to fit/scale well to this size).

David Lawrie
President OSNZ

Checklist of the Birds of NZ
Tuesday, 14 September, 2010 - 12:28

The 4th Edition of Checklist was launched in June 2010. Special Offer for OSNZ Members: 20% off. More details can be found here

Project and Activities Committee
Saturday, 21 August, 2010 - 02:57

After a couple of years’ incubation, the OSNZ’s Project and Activities Committee has eventually hatched. The members of the new committee are Carol Davies, Eila Lawton, Mike Bell, Peter Gaze, David Lawrie (ex-officio), and Peter Frost (convenor). 

From the outset, the Committee intends to work closely with Regional Representatives to foster and support the wider knowledge and enjoyment of birds among OSNZ members and beyond. Our ultimate goal is to increase both research output and quality. We would like to help members develop and carry out their own studies, or contribute to those of others, and to publish the results. Of course, in some cases, this initially means helping people to develop basic skills in identifying, surveying, catching, handling, and banding birds, among other things. Some people may well choose to stop at that level, content simply to enjoy finding and watching birds; others may want to go further. We hope that we can serve the interests of both groups, and others besides.

The OSNZ is currently compiling a list of projects being undertaken by members of the Society. We plan to work with the project leaders to identify potential openings for others to become involved in an organised way. In some cases, there may be opportunities for training, and we will attempt to develop these. Field courses will be mounted where there is sufficient demand, and where they can be run cost-effectively. Organisations such as the Miranda Shorebird Trust already offer a number of such courses, many with inputs from OSNZ members. We encourage members to use these opportunities in the first instance. For example, the Shorebird Centre will be hosting a wader identification course over the weekend 24-25th October 2009, and a more general field course during the week 13-19th January 2010, one that includes an introduction to bird banding. Details are available at www.miranda-shorebird.org.nz/events.html.

Of course, there are subjects in which the OSNZ is best placed to develop courses, including bird catching, banding and doing moult studies, and we will do so where possible. For example, Mike Bell is planning a short field course in Marlborough in January 2010, focusing on bird banding and moult. The details are currently being worked out, but if you are interested in attending, contact Mike (skua44 [at] yahoo [dot] co [dot] nz) for further information. Based on what we learn from that exercise, similar short courses could be organised elsewhere if there are local experts willing to take the lead with our help. A more comprehensive field course in Marlborough in early 2011 is being considered.

There are clearly many things to be done, and much expectation by members to see progress on these. Rather than try to do everything at once, we want to take a more measured approach, identifying priorities – areas of most immediate need and opportunity – and endeavoring to build momentum by implementing these successfully. We cannot do this alone, and so will be working closely with Regional Representatives and Recorders, leaders and participants of ongoing projects, and those with particular expertise, to put together compelling and productive initiatives that will promote everyone’s enjoyment and knowledge of birds. We look forward to working with you on that.

PETER FROST

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