Evening Nature Talks: 2026 - 27

These meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month from September to April, at 7.15 for 7.30 pm, Pallant Suite, 7 South Pallant, Chichester PO19 1SY.
Meetings are free for members.  Non-members and guests are very welcome, visitors' entrance charge £3.
The format for the evenings is:
          7:15: doors open.
          7:30: meeting starts with Chairman's notices followed by the lecture.
          INTERVAL: time for a chat and enjoy some coffee or tea and biscuits. (No charge but donations welcome. Please bring your own mug).
          8:30: second part of lecture
          9:00 Close of meeting
Please bring along a mug if you would like a tea or coffee during the inverval. 

Car parking: The Cawley Priory car park and many other CDC car parks charge for parking up to 8pm. Cattle Market is free after 6pm.
 

Wednesday 2nd September – Joint meeting with Chichester RSPB Group
Honey-buzzards and Hawfinches in Sussex by Mark Mallalieu
Mark is an ornithologist and a leading figure in the Sussex Ornithological Society. His many hours studying the scarcest breeding birds found in Sussex’s wooded interior has revolutionised our understanding of these exciting birds. He is a retired senior civil servant who served in international development overseas for 40 years mainly in African and Asian countries. He is also a trustee of the Sussex Wildlife Trust.

Wednesday 7th October – Nature Talk, speaker to be advised.

Wednesday 4th November – 
Wildlife Gardening by Kate Bradbury
Kate is an award-winning garden writer, broadcaster and TV presenter, specialising in wildlife gardening. She's the author of six books including ‘One Garden Against the World’ and ‘Wildlife Gardening for Everyone and Everything’, and lives in Brighton. She will focus on the power of small fixes to increase biodiversity in our gardens and connect them to others, which, of course, form corridors to the wider landscape.

Wednesday 2nd December – 
Christmas Party and Wildlife Photography Competitions
A social evening with fun wildlife quizzes and the John Kelsall Photography Challenge and the Junior Photo Competition. The natural history themes for your photos this year are:
•    Around Water
•    Blue
•    On the Downs
Start looking out for those perfect photos now - full competition details below

Wednesday 6th January 2027 – Nature Talk, speaker to be advised

Wednesday 3rd February 2027 – 
Why we should cherish our Chalk Streams with Sarah Hughes
Chalk streams, including the Ems & Hambrook, are a natural resource which need to be protected and cared for. Sarah, the Chalk Stream Resilience Officer for the Western Sussex, Rivers Trust will reveal the wildlife that rely on these crystal-clear waters for their food, home and safety, and how we can take action to protect them.

ChiNats Photography Competitions 
The John Kelsall Challenge 2026
The natural history themes for your photos this year are:
•    Around Water
•    Blue
•    On the Downs
Start looking out for those perfect photos now! You do not need a special camera - one of the winning photos in 2025 was taken with a mobile phone camera.
The small print:
You can enter a maximum of one photo into each category. You can enter a photo in one, two or all three categories, as you wish.
All photos to be taken in Sussex (or southeast Hampshire).
All photos should be size 7” x 5”.
Please don't use AI to sharpen your images or remove imperfections.
The photos will be displayed at the ChiNats Christmas Party on 3 December 2026 and the meetings in the new year.
Members will vote for their favourite photo in each category.
There will be a prize winner in each category plus an overall winner of the John Kelsall Challenge 2026.  
Please bring along your photos, together with a card/caption for each including the subject and where the photo was taken.

ChiNats Junior Photography Competition 2026
For children, grandchildren or other young relatives of ChiNats members aged 16 and under.
This gives you the chance to encourage your young relatives to gain an interest in wildlife and photography and take a photograph to enter the competition.
The theme is any aspect of natural history/wildlife/plant/animal.
The photos can be taken anywhere in Britain.
The juniors should write a very short explanation to accompany their photos of what they have photographed and where.
One, two or three photographs should be brought to the Christmas Party so that they can be displayed.
 

Lunchtime (pub) meetings

If you are able to take on responsibility for organisation of these popular get togethers so that they can resume, please contact any member of the Committee.