WOS

The Society has no paid staff and is managed by its volunteer trustees, elected for terms of five years by members at the Annual General Meeting. Council usually meets three times each year and minutes are vaulted in our archive once they have been approved.  For full details of how Council works, see the Constitution.

President
Iolo Williams was elected President in 2009, succeeding David Saunders OBE. Iolo is a well known radio and tv presenter, who has done much to raise the profile of birds and nature conservation to the Welsh public on the BBC and S4C, and through the Welsh language bird guide, Llyfr Adar. He has studied upland birds, especially birds of prey, for three decades and co-authored the landmark book Birds in Wales, which reviewed all the birds that have ever occurred in the country.

Chair (email)
Mick Green has been a WOS trustee since 2008 and was elected Chair in 2015 (term ends in 2020). He is an independent ecologist based in north Ceredigion. He has special expertise in uplands and waders, including innovative projects using radio and satellite tracking. He works mainly in Wales, but also on projects in the Middle East and Africa. Mick has also worked on policy development and research for several national NGOs and is a policy advisor to Whale and Dolphin Conservation. He is a trustee of the Welsh Kite Trust and Rewilding Britain.

Vice chair and Editor (email)
Julian Hughes has been a WOS trustee since 2008 (term ends in 2019) and uploads the monthly sightings to the website. He has taken over the editorship of the Wales Bird Report from Rhion Pritchard, starting with the 2016 report and is site manager of RSPB Conwy nature reserve, having previously been Head of Species Conservation at the RSPB’s Bedfordshire headquarters. He regularly appears in the regional media, writes a weekly birdwatching column in The Daily Post and leads on WOS press releases.

Secretary (email)
Ian Spence has been secretary of WOS since 2007. His term ended in 2016 but with no-one willing to take the role, Ian was co-opted by Council for a further year and was re-elected as a Trustee for a further term at the AGM in 2017 (ends in 2022). He is also county bird recorder for Denbighshire and Flintshire, chairing the Clwyd Bird Recording Group. Ian is a keen ringer and a director of Cofnod, the biological records centre for North Wales. 

Treasurer (email)
Steve Sutcliffe was was elected as Treasurer in 2016 (term ends in 2021). He has lived in Pembrokeshire for most of his life and has a particular interest in seabirds. He organised the last Seabird Census in Pembrokeshire, is a former Warden of Skomer NNR, Secretary of the BTO and Board Member of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, and currently sits on their Islands Advisory Committee. Following a management career in industry, Steve has helped to establish an ecology consultancy and has spearheaded the restoration work on Skokholm leading to its re-opening and re-establishment as an accredited Bird Observatory.

Membership Secretary (email)
Alan Williams was elected membership secretary in 2016 (term ends in 2021). He is heavily involved in birding in Gwent, being a previous chairman of Gwent Ornithological Society and one of the authors of the county avifauna, Birds of Gwent.

Heather Crump has been a WOS trustee since 2017 (term ends in 2022) and manages the Society’s Twitter and Facebook pages. She has a PhD from Aberystwyth University, relating to the decline of Golden Plovers in Wales, utilising geographical information systems (GIS) and remote sensing. She has also completed a post-doctorate with the Spatial Modelling Laboratory at Aberystwyth University. Heather is a trustee of the Ecology Matters Trust and works for Natural Resources Wales.

Richard Facey has been a WOS trustee since 2011 (term ends in 2019). He is Conservation Officer with Natural Resources Wales and an active member of Cardiff Bird Ringers. Within WOS, Richard takes the lead on our work for younger birdwatchers, administering the Derek Moore Student Research Award and the Young Conservationists’ Bursary. Contact email.

Bob Haycock has been a WOS trustee since 2011 (term ends in 2019). Retired as warden for CCW’s Stackpole and Corsydd Llangloffan NNRs, he is the BTO representative for Pembrokeshire and, with his wife Annie, regularly leads bird identification courses for the Field Studies Council in Pembrokeshire and seabird monitoring courses in conjunction with Pembrokeshire College and University of South Wales. Bob is currently chairman of the Pembrokeshire Bird Group and is also a director of West Wales Biodiversity Information Centre. He was one of the organisers and co-authors of the Pembrokeshire Breeding Bird Atlas 2003-07, and played a leading role in monitoring the impacts of the 1996 Sea Empress oil spill.

Keith Noble was elected as a trustee in 2015 (term ends in 2020). He moved to Brecon in 2007 after retiring from the RSPB where he worked for 30 years in South-east England. He regularly contributes sightings and photographs to Brecknockbirds blog and the Breconshire Bird Report; he is a member of its Records Committee. He was a trustee of Council of Brecknock Wildlife Trust for six years, including a term as Chairman, is Dragonfly Recorder for VC42 Breconshire and a Director of the local record centre, the Biodiversity Information Service for Powys and Brecon Beacons National Park. Keith helps to organise our annual Conference.

Carlton Parry was elected at the 2012 AGM (term ends 2017), having served on Council previously. Growing up on the Welsh border, much of his early birding was in Radnorshire (mid Powys) where he has lived since 1985. A long-time member of the BTO he is currently their Regional Representative for Radnor. He is also a keen ringer and active member of the Llangorse Ringing Group. Carlton maintains the events area of our website.

Giles Pepler email
Giles was elected at the 2015 AGM (terms ends 2020). A BTO member for more than 50 years, he has served on the Ringing & Migration Committee and BTO Council. He is Secretary of the Clwyd Bird Recording Group. A keen ringer, Giles leads our work with affiliated bird clubs and manages the website.

Rhion Pritchard has been a trustee since 2015 (term ends in 2020). He is the county recorder for Caernarfonshire, was editor of the Cambrian Bird Report from 1996 to 2008, and has been editor of the Welsh Bird Report since 2009 – the 2015 report will be his last one. Author of county avifauna Birds of Meirionnydd (2012), and Birds of Caernarfonshire (2017). He was also one of the editors of The Breeding Birds of North Wales (2013).

Danielle Rouse
Danielle was co-opted on to the Council following the 2017 AGM. Dan has a passion for wildfowl and spends a majority of her time on the Burry Inlet, where she surveyis the geese flocks through the winters. She currently works at WWT Llanelli, and is also BTO Assistant Regional Rep for Carmarthenshire. She can regularly be found on Radio Cymru talking about ornithology and wildfowl. She will be taking responsibility for the e-newsletter.

BTO Cymru representative
Kelvin Jones attends WOS Council meetings as Development Officer for the BTO in Wales, and has been a major player on the Welsh birding scene for some years, as police Wildlife Crime officer and ringer. He is also a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Cymru.

Former RSPB Cymru representative
Reg Thorpe has attended WOS Council meetings as Head of Conservation Management for RSPB Cymru. He is an active birder, holding the record for the most species seen in Wales in one year, and until 2016, chair of the Welsh Records Panel. Reg has now retired after long and distinguished service; the RSPB has agreed a replacement and details will be posted shortly.