Banbury Ornithological Society - Winter Random Square Survey: 21 or 22 February 2026

A survey where observers are each given a randomly selected 1km square and record all species and numbers of each for a minimum period of 2 hours between 9am and Noon.

Aims:

to gather detailed information on all winter species so that, over time, we have a measure of birds across the whole area of the BOS;
to provide data used to identify trends in both abundance and distribution of winter species.

The results of this survey are combined with those of the previous November WRSS to obtain a winter total. This survey began in 1975 and is one of the longest running in the country.

To participate in the survey, please contact the BOS Bird Recorder: Contacts

For further details see Winter Random Square Survey.

Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury visited the BOS reserve at Balscote Quarry recently, to see conservation in action. Steve Holliday, one of the site wardens said, “Balscote may be a small site (6ha) but, through positive management, it holds Red List birds such as Lapwing and Yellowhammer, 24 species of butterfly and much more." We looked at the vital role volunteers play in habitat management on site and, in light of BOS data on local bird declines, how we can develop a more joined-up approach to nature conservation locally. We finished by discussing how new proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill can benefit, not harm, biodiversity.

Two Islands - Handa, Scotland & The Farnes, Northumberland - Graham Lenton

Handa a beautiful island off the north-west coast of the Highlands of Scotland boasts up to 150,000 seabirds. Its location seems to have its own weather pattern and the island is uninhabited apart from a seasonal warden and reserve volunteers. It is accessed by a ten-minute ferry from the hamlet of Tarbet and its white sandy shores and clear blue waters make it appear almost tropical. The seabird colonies of puffin, guillemot, razorbill, kittiwake and fulmar are easily viewed from the top of the island where sea cliffs of the Torridonian Sandstone reach over 300ft (100metres). Other notable birds that breed on the island are great and arctic skua, stonechat, wheatear, cuckoo, twite, oystercatcher, arctic tern, common, herring and great black-backed gulls, shag, eider, red grouse, ringed plover, snipe, rock dove, meadow and rock pipit and reed bunting. Most of the divers can be seen flying or on the sea around the island and black guillemots are often seen in the bay. Read more ...

Fieldwork

Winter Random Square Survey: 21 or 22 February 2026

Sean Woodcock MP visits Balscote Quarry

14 September 2026 - Indoor Meeting at 7.30pm