This book, published by Oliver V. Aplin in 1889, presents the first definitive list of the birds of Oxfordshire. Aplin was a resident of Bloxham, just outside of Banbury, so there is a significant amount of content relating to the BOS coverage area.The bulk of the book is given over to a species-by-species account of all of the birds that were regarded has having occured within the county along with their current status.

The frontspiece is notable for giving pride of place to an Alpine Chough, shot in the locality, but much disputed, even at that time, as not being a wild bird but rather more likely being an escape.

There are 242 species listed, of which 60 are classified as resident and 71 migrants, the rest being occasional or accidental visitors. 92 species are noted as being regular breeders.

A digital copy of the book can be downloaded and read from this link: The Birds of Oxfordshire.

UK currently holds approximately a quarter of the global Curlew population, with estimates for England of about 30,000 pairs. National monitoring data show that this population has been in long-term decline since the 1970s and has almost halved in the UK over the last 20 years. In lowland southern England, the population has declined to about 500 pairs, with many colonies on the verge of local extinction. Read more ...

Uzbekistan:  Birding the Silk Road in Central Asia  -  Alan Peter

A spectacular and little-visited country lying on the famous Silk Road that once connected the East with the West and one of the group of former Soviet republics which border it on three sides - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan while it’s southern border touches Afghanistan. Read more ...

The Long Day Count is carried out by teams of observers in each of the twelve 10km squares recording the number of bird species seen during a maximum of 12 daylight hours on the second Sunday in May each year. Read more ...

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