MANY people would not think twice about a flock of goldfinches fluttering around in a tree.

But members of the Malvern Naturalists Field Club rushed to identify the birds when they spotted them outside the Lyttelton Rooms after their annual meeting on Thursday.

The club celebrated its 150th anniversary last year and still has a strong membership, with a full programme of events for 2004. A variety of trips take place from April to October.

Club member Pauline Jones said: "These are interesting and allow us to see places we wouldn't normally be able to see."

Highlights next year include a visit to the National Herb Centre and Broughton Castle, along with a trip to the seaside town of Lyme Regis, in Dorset, which is famous for its fossils.

In winter, the club meets monthly for a variety of events including an annual lunch, coffee mornings and teas, often with lectures on natural history.

Most members are elderly, as the meetings are mainly held mid-week. Club president Maureen Mackenzie said anyone was welcome to join, but had first to be introduced by an existing member.

"They have to be the sort of people that are interested in the countryside," she said.

Going out to see wildlife in its natural environment is another important aspect of the club, which has a field section affectionately known as the welly club.

In July, a visit to Tiddesley wood, near Pershore, resulted in a number of discoveries, including at least four sorts of orchid and the devil's bit scabious.

The Naturalists Field Club is one of Malvern's oldest organisations and similar outings have been run since its foundation.

Archivist Meriel Hodgetts, a member for more than 40 years, has written a fascinating history of the club, which was founded by the Rev William Symonds, of Pendock, in 1853.

Fascinated by natural history and geology, Rev Symonds and fellow club members often hunted for fossils in the local area.

One interesting story in the club's records recalls him watching quarrymen burning dinosaur skeletons for lime at Berrow Hill and Sarn Hill.

Rev Symonds and his friends also made some amazing discoveries in King Arthurs Cave, on Great Doward Hill, above the River Wye. The remains of animals including cave lion, bear, rhinoceros, reindeer and the great Irish elk were found, along with flint weapons embedded in the bones of a mammoth. Unfortunately, none of these finds are around today.

In addition to his interest in fossils and wildlife, the Rev Symonds was also an historical novelist and wrote Malvern Chase, a story of the Wars of the Roses, and Hanley Castle, about the Civil War.

Miss Hodgetts writes that some of the club's early honorary members were distinguished figures in Victorian history.

Sir Charles Hastings, founder of the British Medical Association, Sir Charles Lyell, widely known as the father of English geology, and Adam Sedgwick, an early mentor of Charles Darwin, were all involved in running the club.

Darwin himself was never a member, although he did live in Malvern for a time, and the grave of his daughter Annie is in the Priory churchyard. The loss of Annie was said to have provoked Darwin's crisis of faith, which led to his development of the theory of natural selection.

Miss Hodgetts writes that the Rev Symonds was a defender of Darwin and was interested in the Origin of the Species but never shaken in his Christian faith.

With such an interesting history and committed membership, it can only be hoped that the club founded by the enigmatic Rev Symonds continues for another 150 years. Anybody interested in becoming a member, should contact secretary Mary Tibbles on 01684 575183.