Category Archives: News

Curious Minds is back – with an even bigger and better programme of live talks in the Soutar Theatre PLUS simultaneous participation by Zoom from the comfort of your own home.

The live talks and Zoom are open to the general public. To start with, we are limiting the numbers of live attendees to well below the Covid guidelines. That will be constantly reviewed. But there is no limit on Zoom participation. Tickets for the live events, and for Zoom, will be available on the Culture Perth & Kinross website at www.culturepk.org.uk/curiousminds6

See our Curious Minds page for full details of all the talks. 

A mind-bending photograph of an orangutan with the sky reflected in water has won first prize in the Nature TTL Photographer of the Year 2021 competition.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-57335458

The COVID-19 restrictions are easing off, but we must remain vigilant; there is guidance in the programme. Our programmes have always provided opportunities for physical and mental health and they have a role to play in the easing of restrictions.

Two sites are covered in the programme, each with two visits, to maximise numbers who can attend. The first meeting will finish in the middle of the afternoon and the second about 8.30 pm. You can book to come on both meetings on the same day and fill the gap as you choose. Or book to come on both meetings on different days, or book on just one meeting.

Our programme will evolve as we continue to follow the advice of the Scottish Government and any changes that it makes. We should remain positive and retain a tradition that has lasted 150 years of recording and enjoying our Perthshire flora.

PSNS Botanical Section summer Programme 2021

The finalists for the Bird Photographer of the Year 2021 (BPOTY) competition have been chosen from more than 22,000 entries from 73 countries.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-56654460

Dear Member,

This is a request for your thoughts and observations on how the world has changed locally since the 1980’s (or earlier) and/or how Covid has affected the pursuit of your interests and its impact on the natural world locally.

The subjects currently being worked on range from photographic techniques, ecology, climate, access and storage of social archives, to what we see on our daily walk.

Photographs, audio recordings, self recorded Zoom, short videos, scanned scribbles, sketches, artwork – they are all welcome, from rants to more measured and researched thoughts.

What will be done with them? At the very least they will be put in a 2020/21 Folder and archived for future generations. The archive will be linked to the PSNS website for ease of access. Anonymity can be arranged, copyright protected.

A few members have already written articles. Some are short, simply presented as a few paragraphs.  Others are longer, some showing off excellent desktop publishing skills.

For some examples from differing ends of the spectrum, click here.

Margaret Borland-Stroyan, David Perry, Jeff Banks, Malcolm Lind, John Jessop, Clare Scanlon, Frances Whittet, and Roben Antoniewicz are all available to help.

We hope you can see the pleasure that a wide range of topics and styles will bring to our fellow and future members as well as promoting the Society to the wider public.

David Bowler

President

secretary@psns.org.uk

These are being reviewed by Council and will shortly be circulated to all members by email. The minutes and the associated reports are available, to members only, from the Secretary upon request.

On Friday 19 Feb 2021, our own Jeff Banks kick-started the first of a series of mini-Curious Minds lectures, on the subject of “A Bird Supersense” – studies into the Herbst corpuscules at the tip of wading birds’ beaks.

The video is available on youtube:

Photography in the PSNS – from Analogue to Digital

Roben Antoniewicz (2021)