There are currently 285 paid up members of the Galway Branch of BirdWatch Ireland, although this figure does not include the full number of people who are covered by family membership. All of our members are important, both because of the support that they provide and because of the fact that the greater the number of members an NGO has, the greater the amount of influence it can bring to bear. The core membership of BirdWatch Galway numbers perhaps 15 or 20 and it is this group which participates in the Branch's activities. This report details these activities, mentioning the contributions that members have made. I also hope that this will stimulate other parts of our Branch to become more involved in our activities.

Meetings: As usual ten monthly meetings were held on Wednesday nights at the Anno Santo Hotel. We had our usual July and August break. Meetings were attended by 8 to 16 members and the minutes were kept by Ian Brophy and Marianne ten Cate. We would be delighted to see more branch members attending these committee meetings.

Committee: This year's committee put in a lot of work, all of which was with the support of other members of the branch. The officers of the committee consisted of Marianne ten Cate (Secretary & Merchandise), Deirdre Comerford (Treasurer), Pat Finnegan (Talks), Tim Griffin (Recorder & Nimmo's Pier trips), Chris Peppiatt (Chair) and Neil Sharkey (Newsletter and Accounts). Enda McLoughlin left for work in England with the R.S.P.B.; we wish him well until we see him again. This loss was balanced by the welcome return of Dermot Breen. Very sadly, Bernie McGrath died during the summer after several months of illness. Her contribution to the Branch was significant over many years and she is sadly missed.

Talks: We had four very successful talks during the year- on the 'Birds of Glenveagh National Park' by branch member Aonghus O'Donaill on the 16th of January, on 'Turloughs' by Eugenie Regan on the 12th of March, on the Seabird 2000 project and surveying breeding petrels by Steve Newton from Head Office on the 15th October and on the 'Birds of Africa' by Kieran Grace on the 26th November. Mary Finnegan again kindly kept the attendance book, which showed healthy turnouts of 30-50 people. Many thanks to Pat Finnegan for organising these talks. Also many thanks to Jenny Whilde for baking mince pies, to Deirdre Comerford for also bringing food and to Henry Comerford for serving everyone with mulled wine at the Christmas Sale.

Outings: Tim Griffin again kindly and most expertly led the short outings at Nimmo's Pier on the first Saturday of the month (with a break in the summer). These outings were again well attended, particularly by children and by members of the public who would not otherwise have attended branch activities. Our first other trip was on the 4th of January, when members visited Rine Point on the Co. Clare side of Galway Bay and were rewarded with views of a flock of Snow Buntings. We had members of the Liffey Valley Branch visit on the 21st of February at Nimmo's Pier, after which they visited Rahasane Turlough on their way back to Dublin. A school outing was taken to Kilcaimin and Tawin on the on the 6th of March by Marianne ten Cate. National Dawn Chorus Day was on the 16th of May and the branch held an event with great success at the NUI Galway sports ground at Dangan. Some members visited Inishmore on the 22nd/23rd of May. The weather was wonderful and good birds (including a Turtle Dove and a Green-winged Teal), flowers and butterflies (including Marsh Fritillary) were seen by all. Thanks very much to Marianne ten Cate for arranging the travel and accommodation for this trip. The GNFC had a trip to north Mayo during the June Bank Holiday weekend and 5 BirdWatch Galway members joined them for the day on the 5th for a guided tour of the Annagh Marsh/Belmullet Natura 2000 project, kindly given by Dave Suddaby of BirdWatch Ireland. Chris Benson (the only regular bird ringer in the county) very kindly hosted a ringing display session on the 27th of June at his home near Milltown, Tuam. We had a joint outing with the new Mayo Branch at Kilcummin Head on the 29th August (where Arctic, Great and Pomarine Skuas, Sooty Shearwater, Leach's and Storm Petrels and Sabine's Gull were seen). The Mayo Branch visited us at Nimmo's Pier in Galway City on the 11th of September in return. Due to the poor attendances at previous events, the Branch did not take part in this year's National Heritage Day.

Publications: The Newsletter was again ably edited by Neil Sharkey and the four editions were packed with interest. Thanks to Neil for the editing, Pat Finnegan for his regular poetry spot and to all of the other contributors during 2004. We maintained the practice of mailing the Newsletter directly to members, although it was decided that this would have to cease after Issue 50 (July 2005) and that distribution would have to be by e-mail and website download alone. During June the new 'Birds of Galway', covering the years 1991 to 2000, was published. This follows the previous version, which was published in 1990. Initial sales have been good. Thanks are due to the compilers, editors and all who contributed articles and photographs.

Web-site: Our web-site at www.birdwatchgalway.org, attracted 3,000 visits in 2004 and continues to be a route via which many first time Branch contacts (from both within Ireland and from overseas) occur.

Sightings: The quarterly bird report (included with the Newsletter) continued to be compiled by Chris Peppiatt and County Recorder Tim Griffin (thanks Tim!). Many sightings are now submitted directly via the web site, although personal communication still plays its part.

Surveys: Branch members have continued to put a lot of effort in national work such as the Irish Wetland Birds Survey (I-WeBS), the Countryside Bird Survey (CBS), the Garden Bird Survey, the Brent Goose census, and ringing surveys. As part of the IWeBS survey, both Inner Galway Bay (three times) and Lough Corrib (twice) were counted twice this year. Some members put in work to survey/resurvey heronry sites as part of the work on breeding bird colonies and important bird areas that is being done as part of the Branch's contribution to the County Galway Heritage Forum. Also some members put in time to survey the tetrads (2 km by 2 km squares) that cover Galway city as part of a breeding bird survey that will be used to create a breeding bird atlas. It is hopes that the work on all of these projects will be able to continue into 2005.

Conservation: BirdWatch Ireland's local reserve at the Small Wood on Lough Rusheen (generously donated by the O'Malley family) has continued to provide interest for members and a chance for the Branch to showcase bird conservation in the local area. The Galway Civic Trust/FAS group scheme has again carried out invaluable maintenance work on the site and thanks are due to Michael Davis for leading this work. Other members made the effort to collect rubbish from the site (unfortunately this continues to be a minor irritant) during the year. Marianne ten Cate made an application to the CVI/Vodafone Nature Fund on behalf of the Branch for funds to continue the improvement and maintenance of the Small Wood. The branch also received news about new overhead ESB powerlines in both Co. Galway and Co. Clare and representations were made to try to ensure that these were fitted with markers to make them visible to birds like swans that might be flying through these areas.

Media: We made sure that all our events were publicised in the local papers and on Galway Bay FM. Posters were displayed in outlets in Galway city and county. E-mail was used extensively to make announcements of talks and outings and we were able to feed information into linked web sites.

Liaison: Neil Sharkey continued to represent BirdWatch Galway on the Galway City Community Forum and to serve on the Birdwatch Ireland council. Marianne ten Cate represented 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. Money was provided via the County Galway Heritage Forum for the compilation of a report detailing the locations of important breeding bird colonies. This work surveyed the available literature and records (including those new ones gathered by members in the spring). This research work was carried out by Ann Fleming (thanks Ann!). It is hoped that information will enable county planners to help avoid the destruction of bird colonies. Marianne also served on the steering committee for the project which mapped the habitats in Galway City as part of the Galway City Development Board-funded inventory of habitats in Galway city. Chris Peppiatt represented the Branch at Galway City Council on the Terryland Forest Park steering committee. We also received communications from Clare County Council re. their Biodiversity Action Plan. We also liaised with the Galway Naturalists' Field Club, other branches of BirdWatch Ireland and staff members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Finance: The financial statement is presented separately. Thanks are due to our Treasurer Deirdre Comerford and to Neil Sharkey, who helped to put together the annual statement. Martin Byrnes' collection box again secured a monthly income and Ian Brophy started one too. Marianne ten Cate looked after the merchandise and we sold this all through the year and at our events. Several members donated prizes for the very successful Christmas Sale, as did Dangan Nurseries. To all a genuine 'thank you' for their continued support.

Conclusion: The activity that has been described illustrates the commitment and involvement of many people. I would like to extend my own personal thanks to them and to the general membership. I hope that those already actively involved will continue to be so and that others will join them.

Chris Peppiatt
19th January 2004