As many members may know the Retired & Leisured (R&L) Group had been organised and chaired by Margot Bentley for a number of years. Unfortunately, due to some health issues, Margot has been unable to continue in this role in 2018. In a moment of weakness and with Margot’s assistance I decided to try and get the R&L group going again.

The first meeting this year was held on Wednesday 16 May. Seven members attended and the general feeling was that everyone would like the group to continue if possible. Three members gave informal talks on subjects of interest to them. All three were informative:

1. Otto Mueller had some insect specimens which he circulated and discussed with his usual passion for the subject. I particularly found the pinhead-sized fly and wasp fascinating.
2. Ian Abbott spoke on avifauna of the western suburbs. He has been visiting remnant bushland in the area and spoke briefly of the birds he has observed. Ian is interested in obtaining historical records of the birds observed in the region, especially Bold Park and surrounding remnant bushland, to compare with his observations.
3. Alex Lawley gave a brief overview of sponges and circulated a beautiful sponge skeleton which is a truly remarkable piece of engineering in the natural world.

The second meeting of the group was held on Wednesday 20 June. Again, seven members attended, although not all the same people as for first meeting. This meeting was given over to a talk by Alex Lawley titled “2, 3, 5, 8: who do we appreciate?” It was a very interesting and informative talk on Fibonacci Numbers and how they occur in the plant world. It was not our usual kind of talk, in that Alex had us doing hands-on exercises with graph paper and the graphical representations of sunflowers and pine cones to see how plants have evolved to use Fibonacci Numbers to maximise exposure to sunlight, pollinators etc.

There was no meeting of the R&L Group in July as due to external circumstances I was unable to organise a meeting. I will consult with those who have attended the previous meetings and see if we can organise a meeting for August (Check the Calendar for any R&L events)

For anyone interested, meetings are held at Naturalists’ Club Library, First Floor 82 Beaufort St, Perth, with some meetings being excursions—when they can be organised. We would like to build the group up again and everyone is welcome and suggestions for speakers, topics and someone to assist me will be greatly appreciated.

Doug Hide