The latest print out of the list of BirdWatch Galway branch members contained 261 names. All these members contribute to BirdWatch in one way or another. However, the active core of BirdWatch Galway consist of no more than twenty or so members who do not only pay their membership fee but also participate in most of the activities the branch undertakes. Obviously, the latter group operates at the surface and gives the branch its profile but could not do so without the silent backing of our larger membership. Therefore, this report aims to honour every kind of contribution made by every kind of member. It also aims to entice more people to become involved in whichever activity appeals most and to this end I have elaborated a bit more than usual under the various headings. I hope this will result in people offering to lend a hand and I am looking forward to a positive response. Meetings As usual, ten monthly Wednesday night committee/members meetings were held from January through to December with a break during July and August. These meetings were attended by 8 to 15 committee and other branch members and minuted by Ian Brophy and Chris Peppiatt. I hereby invite more branch members to attend the meetings as they are a forum for discussion where you can contribute to shaping branch policy and planning activities.

Committee: The committee elected last year put in a lot of work, assisted by a number of very supportive branch members. Unfortunately, some of the latter have left Galway or for other reasons are not in a position to be actively involved anymore. We miss them and their input! During a perusal of the branch archive I came across a document compiled in the early 1980s listing sixteen committee duties. This illustrates that a committee of at least 8 members is no luxury and help from other branch members will always be welcome.

Talks: Our first talk of the year took place in January when the branch outing to Wexford included an evening talk by Alyn Walsh of the Wexford Slobs Reserve. In February John Murphy talked about Cape Clear Island and bird ringing there, in March branch member David O'Keeffe and Vincent Hyland presented a talk on their Antarctic travels, in September we resumed our lecture programme with a talk by Anthony McGeehan on sea-bird-watching and in November Dave Suddaby gave the last talk of the year on the Annagh Marsh project in Co. Mayo. The attendance book, administered by Mary Finnegan, shows good numbers, particularly for the last talk, which was of great relevance to land managers such as farmers and planners who were also in attendance. We thank all speakers for their excellent and interesting presentations and talk organiser Chris Peppiatt for making it all happen.

Outings: Tim Griffin expertly led most of the monthly short outings on Nimmo's Pier on the first Saturday of every month, except June, July and August. The outings attract both branch members and the general public, groups of Brownies or other interest groups. The September outing advertised as our National Heritage Day event did not attract much interest so it was decided not to repeat such an event next year. The above mentioned outing to Wexford saw 25 members travelling. This was followed by a joint outing with the Clare Branch in February, a bird race in April, the National Dawn Chorus outings in Coole Park with Gordon D'Arcy and Merlin Park with Tim Griffin, the branch outing to Clare Island in May and an outing to Ballyconneely in September. We thank all organisers, leaders and drivers for their input and Sabine Springer and Cilian Roden for a lavish after-Dawn-Chorus breakfast.
The branch has been approached a few times by people from outside the branch, or even the country, with requests to introduce them to bird watching in County Galway. A number of branch members have made themselves available to honour such requests.

Newsletter: Neil Sharkey ably edited another four editions of the Branch Newsletter. This valuable vehicle for branch communication contains regular columns by Neil, Pat Finnegan and the chair, occasional contributions by other branch members and the quarterly bird reports. In November all branch members were notified of a change in the distribution of the Newsletter and the response showed how many members appreciate receiving it. We asked whether members wish to receive the Newsletter by post or by e-mail and hope to receive a few more responses.

Web-site: Our web-site at www.birdwatchgalway.org, administered by Chris Peppiatt, attracts a lot of interest. Many requests for membership details, birdwatching advice, links to other sites and information relating to conservation issues result from access to our site.

Sightings: Every quarter yields a lot of interesting sightings, most of which are now submitted directly to our web site. Chris Peppiatt and Tim Griffin compile and edit the quarterly bird report for the Branch Newsletter. Thanks to both for their sustained efforts to keep the records straight.

Surveys: Branch members have continued to put a lot of effort in national surveys such as the Irish Wetland Birds Survey, the Countryside Bird Survey, the Garden Bird Survey, the Brent Goose census, the international Golden Plover census and ringing surveys. As part of the IWeB-survey both Inner Galway Bay and Lough Corrib were counted twice this year. These counts involve a lot of people and their commitment to this practical conservation work is much appreciated. The IWeB-survey is now in its tenth year and to celebrate this Brian Porter conducted a very enjoyable workshop with twelve branch members at the start of the counting season. We are keen to increase the number of counters so anybody wishing to familiarise themselves with the count routines should feel free to come along and learn the ropes.

Conservation: In line with the implementation of the more policy-driven approach to conservation by BirdWatch Ireland the branch concentrated a lot of effort on this by being involved with a number of City and Council bodies working on conservation policies. This has resulted in BirdWatch Galway gaining a clearer profile in such circles and securing funds to carry out more conservation work.
Following reports a branch member about out of season hedge cutting we made a submission to Galway County Council requesting to adhere to the guidelines for hedge maintenance.
The work at The Small Wood earned the Galway Civic Trust an environmental award from which we received a share. This year more trees were planted at the site by Enda McLoughlin and Padraic Keirns and a bat survey was carried out by the Galway Bat Group who also put up a couple of bat boxes. Thanks to Martin Byrnes for liasing with the Bat Group. Nest boxes were put up by Michael Davis and his team who also tidied up the hide at Belclare Turlough. Thanks!!
We were asked to monitor the terns at Mutton Island but they did not breed there this year. We re-submitted a request to Galway City Council through its Heritage Officer, Jim Higgins, to establish pedestrian access to Mutton Island to facilitate bird watching.

Media: We made sure that all our events were publicised in the local papers and on Galway Bay FM. Posters were distributed in outlets in Galway city and county. Furthermore, having more e-mail addresses of our members has made it possible to mail announcements of talks and outings and we have been able to feed information into linked web sites. An attempt to set up a regular column in a local newspaper in conjunction with the Galway Naturalists' Field Club did not get the support it deserved and resulted in only two published articles.

Liaison: We had contacts with Coillte about forest management for birds, the Fionn School Science Project, who also bought 36 of our Environmental Education booklets, NUIG about ecological networks, access to commonage and marine fauna and the Galway Civic Trust in relation to The Small Wood at Rusheen Bay and Mutton Island developments.
Aonghus O'Donaill, on behalf of BirdWatch Galway, provided training for an IRD/FAS project in Claremorris on ecological monitoring of the lake and adjoining habitats.
Neil Sharkey represents BirdWatch Galway on the Galway City Community Forum and Marianne ten Cate represents us on the Natural Environment and Waterways Group of the Galway City Development Board and the Natural Heritage Working Group of the County Galway Heritage Forum to which the branch made a written submission earlier in the year.
Several requests for information and help came from private individuals and commercial enterprises. We liased with the Galway Naturalists' Field Club, the Galway Bat Group, other branches of BirdWatch and staff members of what used to be Dúchas.

Finance: The financial statement is presented separately. Deirdre Comerford had a lot of work to do, particularly at the time of the Christmas sale. Ian Brophy was in charge of the merchandise and Neil Sharkey helped put together the annual statement. Martin Byrnes' collection box again secured a regular monthly income while we sold merchandise all through the year and at our events. Several members donated prizes for the Christmas raffle and table quiz as did Dangan Nurseries. To all a genuine 'thank you' for their continued support.

Conclusion: The amount of activity described in this report illustrates once again the dedicated involvement of a great number of people. To them and to our general membership I wish to extend our gratitude and I hope those already actively involved and those just about to become involved will make the next years as productive as the last ones.

Marianne ten Cate
16 January 2004