I am writing this in June and have recently had some wonderful visits to our reserves and been on some fascinating Member Centre outings. I have been watching Orange-tip butterflies, finding clumps of Globe Flower, listening to Garden Warblers, Blackcaps and Common Whitethroats and generally enjoying these splendid plants and birds. A particularly exciting moment came on our outing to Auchtermuchty Common when we found an Elephant Hawkmoth which obligingly posed for photographs on several t-shirts (occupied at the time) before being carefully returned to the undergrowth.
It gives me great pleasure to share such moments and to remind myself of some of the reasons for the Trust's existence, to protect such creatures and their habitats and to ensure that our grandchildren can also take delight in them.
We are fortunate in Fife in having not only a splendid suite of reserves but also a very active group of members who are prepared to give up their time for the Trust in a range of ways, from planting trees to picking up litter on reserves, from organising outings and evening meetings to baking for coffee mornings, from contributing to the committee and decision-making structure of the Trust to coming along to support our local meetings. I should like to thank all our volunteers who fulfil a range of different functions helping to make our local Members Centre viable, active and, best of all, extremely enjoyable. I look forward to meeting you all at some of our winter meetings and at the coffee morning in Crail which is an important fund-raising event for us. Do come, bring your friends, bring some baking or plants or books, come and spend some money but basically come along and enjoy what should be a sociable morning with like-minded people.