The November monthly bird report for Ogston and the September monthly bird report for Carsington have now been added to the Bird Report Index pages of the website.

It is with great sadness that we have to report the death of Ogston bird club Life Member Mr James Derek Mart of Alton.

Mr Mart approached Paul Beard and myself during 2005 offering Ogston bird club a parcel of land on Press Lane at Alton should we be interested, he also offered to pay all legal fees for the transfer, after a short discussion we decided to accept and that became the start of the story of the Jim Mart Nature Reserve. Mr Mart went on to present us with another parcel of land closer to his home.

As Chairman of Ogston bird club I had the honour of presenting Mr Mart with his Life Membership certificate and remember clearly saying to him that it seemed a very poor exchange, a parcel of land for a framed certificate, his response was that he was delighted that the club had transformed the land into something he could and was very proud of.

Many members have spent lots of hours on JMNR and it has produced a phenomenal species list, particularly Dragonflies, and Butterflies and Birds, the interest in the site I am sure will continue for many years to come and will provide a lasting memorial to his name.

Keith Turton.
Chairman Ogston Bird Club.

It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of Ogston bird club member Mr Cyril Lee after a lengthy illness. He was a very regular attendee on the clubs monthly guided walk, something he and his wife Vivien really enjoyed being a part of.

His main claim to fame was his enthusiasm and passion for working at the Jim Mart Nature Reserve, his gardening skills were second to none and he laboured many hours on site. He will be sadly missed but we will always have “Cyril’s Patch” at JMNR to remember him by.

He held the respect of most members as he was one of life’s gentlemen and his favourite phrase which he used on almost everyone was that of “Guvnor”. I am sure the membership of Ogston bird club will join me in offering condolences to his wife Vivien, family and friends.

Keith Turton.
Chairman.
Ogston Bird Club.

Following on from the sad announcement of Mr Jim Mart’s passing away last week, we now have the details of the arrangements for his funeral.

The funeral will take place at 11.30 on Tuesday, the 3rd of December at Chesterfield Crematorium, Brimington.

The November Guided Bird Walk report has been added to the website, thanks to June Fox for the report.

We have just received the very sad news of the death of Jim Mart. Jim donated to Ogston Bird Club the land now known as Jim Mart’s Nature Reserve, he also paid all the conveyance costs to transfer the land to Ogston Bird Club.

Many of you will recall meeting him at the official opening when he was made a life member. He was delighted in the way the land was developed into a nature reserve, particularly the ponds and hedges. He often recalled to me stories of how he used to swim in the stream above the weir. He will be sadly missed.

As soon as we have details of the funeral arrangements we will put them on the website.

Paul Beard

If you want to see older posts that no longer show on the page you’re reading or maybe even check which birds were showing on a certain day, simply scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Older Posts” wording. A really good feature on the new website is that posts automatically get stored and saved in the site’s archives. We no longer have to delete them.

Although the new site has been only running for just over a few weeks, posts from the last year have been added and are available should you want to view them.

The Insect Show is on this Saturday 16th November at Nottingham Trent University. For more details, click on the SHOW POSTER

A couple of new images have been added to the Members Gallery. Well done everyone.