RUTLAND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY

2nd March 2010

AGM

Followed by

A Presentation of Phil Rudkin's

Winning Awards

As usual the society AGM proceeded smoothly and quickly under the guidance of its President Sir Clifford Boulton. The committee was re-elected in full with the formal appointment of Martin Grimes who had been co-opted during the year as Treasurer to replace Derek Lee who along with his wife Frances had left the area. The society is extremely grateful to Derek & Frances for all their hard work over the years.

The speaker, following the Society’s AGM, was member and former chairman, Phil Rudkin, who gave a presentation of his winning sound recordings. 

The policy down the years, after an AGM, is a shorter talk than on the usual evening talks and lectures.  Therefore, the speaker selected some of the winners from his first entry into sound competitions, from 1977 onwards.  These were from the ‘Sounds from Nature’ sections.  Phil had also entered many Documentaries and Reportage programmes, which had involved some of the Rutland Natural History Society field meetings.   But, these were maximums of 8 minutes long, so, only the nature-recording winners were played on this occasion

The first one, from 1977, finished 4^th, and was of a Sedge Warbler, in full song, on the edge of Barnsdale Woods, at the newly created Rutland Water.  Phil also had a special award for his first ever Documentary, on ‘British Woodpeckers’ in the same competition.

The 1998 British Amateur Tape Recording Competition proved very rewarding, with an entry ‘ Grey Seals and their Pups’.  This was recorded on the Lincolnshire coast, at ‘Donna Nook’.  The speaker had left Stamford in the early hours of 23rd November 1997, and travelled in thick fog via Boston, Mablethorpe and North Somercotes to the sand dunes of ‘Donna Nook’.   With permission from the Lincs Wildlife Trust wardens, Mr. Rudkin walked amongst these large wild mammals, and recorded a group of females with their pups.   This won the Sounds from Nature section, and also won the International section.

Other placed winners included the stirring sounds of an April Rookery in a spinney near the village of Wing, in Rutland, 2002.   A colony of Natterjack Toads, in their breeding pools amongst the sand dunes in the Norfolk Broads, 2003.  Singing Reed Warbler, also in the Norfolk Broads, 2004.  Lesser Whitethroat, singing from a large hedge, near Great Casterton, 2007.  Mating Common Frogs, in the recordist’s back garden pond in Stamford, 2008.

Finally, in the 2009 competition, the winner of the ‘Sounds from Nature’ section, for a recording of a ‘Dawn Chorus’ in western France farming country, in April 2009.  Which also resulted in another International winner (eleven years after the first International winner).

Graham Worrall, membership secretary, and botany recorder gave the vote of thanks. 

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