The Society was founded way back in 1881 to encourage the study of natural history in all its forms in the Reading area (for more on our long history see here). Our members come from all around Reading but the ‘district’ covers a large area including neighbouring counties. Natural history covers all wildlife including birds, mammals, wildflowers, fungi, butterflies, insects, fish, mosses and almost everything else.
From October to March our fortnightly indoor meetings feature invited guest speakers who come and give an illustrated talk – either at Pangbourne Village Hall or online on Zoom.
At Christmas we hold a Christmas Party and at this event we hold a members only photographic competition.
We meet for regular walks in and around Reading throughout the year (normally within a 25 mile radius). These are either ‘Field trips’ (normally at the weekend) or ‘Wednesday walks’ which are less formal and end with the option of a pub lunch. Some field trips focus on a particular aspect such as birds, moths, geology or fungi.
On this web site we have reports of all our recent excursions including some photographs of what we saw. We send a programme card of all the forthcoming events to members twice a year.
The Society produces an annual publication “The Reading Naturalist” sent out free to members – this includes a summary of all our activities throughout the year and also reports by the society’s recorders on botany, moths, and vertebrates. Copies of the Naturalist are available to view online.
We send out an email newsletter to members every month containing details of forthcoming society events as well as other organization’s events nearby and general wildlife news stories.
In addition, we have a Facebook group that anyone can post and comment on and a ‘Wildlife News’ blog.
Recorders welcome observations from anyone in the Reading area on what they have seen themselves – both members and non-members. We have a section on how you can submit records to us.
If you want to know more about the society or have a specific query on a talk or walk please use our contact form.
If you would like to join the society, please refer to the ‘Join Us’ page for more details and an application form.
Our Logo is the Herb Paris flower that can be found in some of the ancient woodland in the Reading area.