About Assynt Field Club
Assynt Field Club was founded in 1986 and currently has over 175 members.
Our Club is an unincorporated association, whose aims are to encourage the study and enjoyment of Assynt’s wildlife, landscape and geology. To help us achieve our aims we prepare a programme of indoor talks and other events during the winter and organise field trips in the summer.
As mentioned below our members continue to participate in a variety of projects and surveys, many of which have resulted in reports or publications.
Membership of the Field Club is free and open to all. Being an Assynt resident is not necessary. Funds are raised from donations at meetings and from the sale of publications. All of our members are contacted in the spring and autumn once we have compiled our programme of events.
Committee and contact
The Committee of the Club consists of three Officers elected annually, Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer, and six other members. Currently, these are:
Chairman: Andy Summers 01571 844654
Secretary: Gwen Richards 01571 844032
Treasurer: Eilidh Summers 07484 762392
Committee Members: Vickii Campen, Ian Evans, Romany Garnett, Avril Haines, David Haines, Charlie Leeson
Membership of the Field Club is administered by our Membership Co-ordinator Romany Garnett. If you would like to become a member of Assynt Field Club please contact Romany at assyntwildlife@gmail.com or telephone 01571 855332 to be added to our electronic mailing list.
Wildlife records are co-ordinated by Ian Evans at assyntwildlife@gmail.com
Achievements
Surveys undertaken and reports and publications produced by the Club include:
Amphibian Survey (1993)
Assynt Nature Calendar (1995, 1996)
Garden Bird Survey (1997-present) More information here Assynt Field Club Garden Bird Survey
Birds of Assynt (1998; 3rd edition 2004, price £2.80)
Assynt Cetacean Survey (1998, 1999)
Muirburn in Assynt Project (2004-06) More information here Muirburn in Assynt Project (2004-06)
Quinag Lochs Project (2010) More information here Quinag Lochs Project Final Report – A Study of Aquatic Invertebrate Communities
Assynt Seashore Project (2015-16) More information here Assynt Seashore Project 2015-16
British Trust for Ornithology’s Non-Estuarine Waterbird Survey (2015-16) More information here Non-Estuarine Waterbird Survey (2015-16)
Atlantic Hazel Audit of Assynt and Coigach (2017-18) More information here Atlantic Hazel Audit of Assynt and Coigach (2017-18)
Little Assynt Wildlife Project (2018) More information here Little Assynt Wildlife Project (2018)
Assynt Wildlife Records Digitisation Project (2018-19) More information here Assynt Wildlife Records Digitisation Project (2018-19)
UK National Tree Seed Project (2018-20) More information here UK National Tree Seed Project (2018-20)
Quinag Wildlife Project (2020) More information here Quinag Wildlife Project (2020)
Sounds of Nature Project (2020) More information here Sounds of Nature Project (2020)
Assynt Wildlife Mapping Project (2020) More information here Assynt Wildlife Mapping Project (2020)
Community-led Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Project (2022) More information here Community-led Marine Biodiversity Monitoring Project (2022)
The Club is also affiliated to the Highland Biological Recording Group. In addition we are represented on the Sutherland Partnership Biodiversity Group. Throughout the year we collect wildlife records, but only from Assynt. In addition our members have contributed to a number of special projects. Projects of note include: the Sutherland Biodiversity Action Plan (2003); the Sutherland Marine Audit: Pilot Study (2009); and a survey of freshwater habitats on the Little Assynt Estate – Little Assynt Lochs Project (2011)