A Happy New Year to all our members and friends!

Hertfordshire Natural History Society held its first meeting in January 1875, which means that our 150th anniversary celebrations are sadly almost at an end.

Don't, however, miss the opportunity to visit our closing exhibition in North Hertfordshire Museum which runs until February 16th (Brand Street, Hitchin, SG5 1JE, not Mondays). 

'Wildlife – for the record'  focuses on habitats, flora and fauna that are special to the north of our county, including chalk grassland, streams, and species such as White Helleborine orchids and Chalkhill Blue butterflies

It also includes displays of mammal skulls and stuffed birds from the museum's storage facility that are rarely seen in public. Notable HNHS figures featuring among the photographic displays include Flora and Beetles of Hertfordshire author, Trevor James, who was a keeper of the museum's wildlife collections during the 1970s and 1980s. For children, there is animal dressing-up (loaned by St Albans Museum) 

We have also organised two special talks at the museum: Graham White will give his popular 'Have I Got Poos for You' talk for families  on the morning of Saturday 17 January and Mike Ilett will be talking about 'The Birds of North Hertfordshire' at lunchtime on Tuesday 3 February. Tickets for both events must be pre-booked.

HNHS and Herts Bird Club members are reminded that they are invited to a lunchtime private view on Monday 12 January, but will need to RSVP to David Utting to gain access on a day when the museum will be otherwise closed.