There are currently 299 paid up members of the Galway Branch of BirdWatch Ireland, a slight increase on last year's membership. This number would be greater if account were taken of 'extra' people who are covered by family memberships. All of our members are important, both because of the financial support that they provide and because of the influence that they give to BirdWatch Ireland locally and nationally. The core of active BirdWatch Galway membership numbers perhaps 15 or 20 and this report details the branch's activities in 2005, mentioning the contributions that members have made. I hope that other local members will become part of this active core group during 2006. All are welcome!

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 6 to 14 members and the minutes were kept by Brendan Dunne 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), Neil Sharkey (Newsletter and Accounts) and Chris Peppiatt (Chair). Unfortunately, Dermot Breen has returned to his home county of Offaly, although he continues to visit Galway often, both to contribute to branch counts and for his own birding. Michael Davis took over as I-WeBS coordinator. Many thanks to Neil Sharkey for his ten years' service as the previous coordinator.

Talks: We held four very successful talks during the year at the Anno Santo- 'An Irish Naturalist in the Azores' by Gordon D'arcy on the 4th of February, on 'Galway City Habitats' by Richard Nairn on the 4th of March, 'Introduction to BirdTrack' by Niall Hatch of BirdWatch Ireland and 'Birds of South Africa' by Co. Clare member John Murphy on the 7th October and on the 'Arctic Birds' (birds near to Churchill, Canada) by Pat Lonergan on the 18th of November. Mary Finnegan again kindly kept the attendance book, which showed healthy turnouts of 24-34 people. Many thanks to Pat Finnegan for organising these talks. Branch Secretary Marianne ten Cate also gave a talk about garden birds for senior citizens in Moycullen on the 28th of October.

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 1st of January, when members visited the Flaggy Shore on the Co. Clare side of Galway Bay. On the 21st of May twelve members visited Inishmurray in Co. Sligo. Eider duck and breeding Shag were amongst the highlights, as were the monastic remains on the island. Special thanks are due to local Sligo member Martin Enright who acted as our guide for the day. Four members visited the Bridge of Ross and Loop Head in Co. Clare on the 27th August. Finally, ten members were on the trip, kindly led by Dermot Breen, to Little Brosna and Ashton's Callow on the 26th of November. In addition to our own trips, branch members attended and contributed to those held as part of Karen Moore's Local Environment Group (LEG) scheme during October and November. Special thanks to Pete Capsey, who led trips to Rahasane Turlough, and to Pat and Mary Finnegan, who did the same at their native Loughrea. The branch's contribution to the national dawn chorus day event was held at the NUI Galway sports grounds at Dangan on the 15th of May. This event was attended by 56 people and was led by Tim Griffin and Chris Peppiatt. Thanks are due to NUI Galway and Gar Hartigan for their cooperation with the dawn chorus event.

Publications: The Newsletter was again ably edited by Neil Sharkey and the four editions were up to the usual standard. Thanks to Neil for the editing, Pat Finnegan for his regular poetry spot and to all of the other contributors during 2005. The Newsletter passed a landmark 50th issue in July.

Web-site: Our web-site at www.birdwatchgalway.org, attracted 3,438 visits in 2005, an increase of over 400 on the year 2004. The web site is a route via which many first time Branch contacts (from both within Ireland and from overseas) occur and sightings are received.

Sightings: The quarterly bird report (included with the Newsletter) continued to be compiled by Chris Peppiatt and County Recorder Tim Griffin (thanks Tim!). More than 50 people contributed sightings, many via e-mail.

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 this year. The five-yearly national wild swan census was carried out on the 15th of January and the county's wetlands were well covered by our volunteers. A group of members also put in time to survey 16 of the 24 tetrads (2 km by 2 km squares) that cover Galway City as part of the breeding bird survey that began in 2004.

Conservation: The Galway Civic Trust/FAS group scheme has again carried out invaluable maintenance at our local reserve, the Small wood at Lough Rusheen. Thanks are due to Michael Davis for leading this work. Four members participated in tree planting at the Small Wood on the 20th of March. Other members collected rubbish from the site during the year. The hide at the reserve in Belclare in the north of the county had become a little shabby and five members joined in the cleanup work of the 24th of September.

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 the Newsletter is now distributed by this means and via download from the web site.

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 production of a CD with Anne Fleming's important breeding bird colony report from 2004 on it. GIS tables were also produced so that the locations of these important sites can easily be displayed on digital maps. Chris Peppiatt represented the Branch at Galway City Council on the Terryland Forest Park steering committee. We also received communications from Clare County Council, the Galway Naturalists' Field Club, other branches of BirdWatch Ireland, staff members of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and members of both NUI Galway and IT Sligo.

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. Collection boxes hosted by Martin Brynes and Ian Brophy again provided valuable extra funds. Marianne ten Cate looked after the merchandise and we sold this all through the year and at our events. Our Christmas Sale was held on the 8th of December. Several members donated prizes, as did Dangan Nurseries. To all a genuine 'thank you' for your continued support. A bequest was received from the estate of the late Bernie McGrath and it has been decided to use this to purchase a digital projector.

Conclusion: I would like to extend my personal thanks to both to our active stalwarts 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
18th January 2005