Banbury Ornithological Society - Short and Long Day Counts

Every year two full-day counts are held across the entire BOS area. The first is held in early January from 08:00-16:00 and the second in early May for 12 hours. The surveys complement the WRSS and SRSS in providing a count of the total number of species across the entire region, not just specific sites.

The surveys are conducted as a team, with the aim to field at least one team per 100-km square. For observers, the incentive is to beat the par species count of previous years, with awards given to the team most over par. A second award is provided for finding the "star" species of the day.

The comparitive results over the years supplements the findings from the other surveys, giving us confidence in the survey results.

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.

The Gambia - Richard Hall

Richard has visited The Gambia a couple of times and will explore the different habitats and regions of The Gambia as well as giving us some ideas of what birds are likely to be seen.

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 ...

Short and Long Day Counts

Sean Woodcock MP visits Balscote Quarry

13 April 2026 - Indoor Meeting at 7.30pm

Long Day Count: 2 or 3 May 2026