MEMBERSHIP
Currently the club has some 270 members, with varying degrees of participation in club activities. There is a wide range of age and experience, from relative beginners to members of the “600 Club” and professional ornithologists.
New members are always welcome.
You can just turn up at one of our club nights or field trips, or you can make further enquiries from one of the club officials.
HBOC Membership Renewal 2010.pdf
Fees
Annual membership fees are due in January and may be paid directly to the Treasurer at any club night (but note that there is no club night in January!) or posted to:–
The Treasurer
Hunter Bird Observers Club
PO Box 24
New Lambton NSW 2305
Australia
Fees are currently set at $30 per year for individuals, $30 per year for families (!), $5 per year for junior members.
Benefits
Club participation provides:
- Convivial company in which to pursue your interest in birds
- All sorts of advice relating to birds and birdwatching
- Opportunities to participate in useful research in a coordinated way
- Club nights with guest speakers
- A monthly newsletter
- The Annual Bird Report
- Access to the club’s comprehensive library of books, videos, audio cassettes, CDs and slides which may be borrowed by members
- A program of field trips to local and exotic destinations
Library
The library’s holdings include:–
- More than 440 books, magazines and reports
- Over 130 videos, audio cassettes, audio CDs and PC CD-ROMs
- Many slides
Committee
Committee members are elected at the Annual General Meeting.
Incumbents for 2010 are:
- Paul Baird (President)
- Mick Roderick (Vice-President)
- Marj Kibby (Secretary)
- Joy Nicholls (Treasurer)
- Grant Brosie
- Tom Clarke
- Darryl Luck
- Ian Martin
- Lorna Mee
- Dan Williams
- Contact details are listed elsewhere.
Committee meetings are held on the first Wednesday of each month (except in January when there is no meeting). Committee meetings commence at 6.30pm in the Staff Room of the Garden Suburb Primary School in Prospect Road, Garden Suburb. Club members are also welcome to attend.
Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of Hunter Bird Observers Club Inc is held during the February club night (i.e. on the second Wednesday in February).
At the AGM the club President reads the Annual Report which, far from being a tedious exercise, holds members in thrall as they are reminded of the manifold activities engaged in by their club during the previous year. Thus inspired, and having duly elected the élite to the club Committee, members fall over each other in the rush to fill the limited number of prestigious, and hence hotly contested, voluntary positions.
At the conclusion of this spectacle, the assembled throng regains its composure and dutifully settles down to the usual routine of guest speaker, recent sightings, and gloating over tea and bickies.
And, of course, plotting next year’s coup.…
Code of ethics
The Hunter Bird Observers Club has adopted a birdwatcher’s code of ethics:
- The welfare of birds must come first.
- Habitat must be protected.
- Nests, eggs and the immediate vicinity must not be disturbed.
- Keep disturbance of birds and their habitat to a minimum.
- Abide by the bird protection laws at all times.
- Keep your pets at home.
- When you find a rare bird, think carefully about whom you should tell.
- Make your records available to the local bird recorder.
- Respect the rights of land owners.
- Respect the rights of other people in the countryside.
- Be an ambassador for birdwatchers generally. We do not want to be unwelcome in the future.
