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Membership detailsGuide for Observers
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OUR MEETINGS We currently meet on the second Monday of each month at 7.30pm in the Freemason's Hall in Marlborough Street, Banbury, OX16 5DB. Our programme includes talks - usually illustrated - on a wide range of bird and other natural history subjects, given by society members, professional speakers and authors. PUBLICATIONS The Newsletter is produced monthly and is distributed at the meeting or posted shortly afterwards to members unable to attend. The monthly bird records are summarised here and there is usually a collection of articles and snippets from members. The Annual Report is a comprehensive summary of the monthly records, editorial features and reports on events during the year. Members joining this year will receive a free copy of the "The 2005 Annual Report" when it is published. Copies of some previous reports are still available, price £4 including postage from the Treasurer, Mike Lewis, Old Mill Cottage, Avon Dassett, Southam, CV47 2AE. Cheques should be made payable to "BOS". 10-year Report has been compiled five times - the most recent in 1994. For a copy of "The New Birds of the Banbury Area" - the status of birds in the Banbury area from historic times to the present including fieldwork and conservation projects. Edited by TG Easterbrook. Price ₤5 including postage. Contact the Treasurer, Mike Lewis, Old Mill Cottage, Avon Dassett, Southam, CV47 2AE. Cheques should be made payable to "BOS". FIELD TRIPS During the summer months there is at least one outdoor meeting/walk to a local venue, be it a member/farmer showing us round his favourite patch or a visit to a site to see either birds or some other aspect of the local countryside. Day trips further afield have included trips to Pulborough Brooks, Portland Bill, Leighton Moss. These are organised twice a year, usually on a fairly informal basis, depending on numbers, whether a mini-bus is used and the weather!! Two very successful holidays have also taken place - one to the Isle of Mull, the other to Majorca. THE GRAPEVINE This group is for members of the Banbury Ornithological Society and other interested people, to communicate their observations to others in the area. Please do not mention nest sites or other sensitive information. Click here or copy this URL into your search engine http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Banburybirds/ FIELDWORK The BOS has a proud history of fieldwork and the resulting data-bank is extremely well respected in the bird world. New members and new birders may find the subject daunting, but please consider how important monitoring bird species is as an indication of the state of the local environment and offer to help as and when you can. There are always experienced fieldworkers who are willing to explain and teach new skills and the more the task of covering our “patch” is divided up the easier it is for everyone. The area around Banbury which is covered by the BOS is
divided into 12 10km squares - see the map inside the cover of this
leaflet. Each square has a “Square
Leader” to co-ordinate the fieldwork within the area. He or she is also, hopefully, well acquainted with the landowners
in their patch and other organisations in the square who might notice anything
locally of interest to the BOS. The
square leaders at present are:
If you feel you would like more information on surveys or would like to learn a bit more about the square in which you live or regularly birdwatch and what it has to offer, please contact your Square Leader, who will be only too willing to help you. If you wish to become directly involved with survey work, please contact the named co-ordinator for the survey in which you are interested. Please do not feel intimidated by fieldwork. You do not need to be an experienced ornithologist to start helping with this valuable work, but you could certainly become one and also have the satisfaction of knowing that you will be directly contributing to the well-being of the birds and all forms of wildlife! SHORT- AND LONG-DAY-COUNTS The Short-Day-Count usually takes place on the first Sunday in January and lasts from 8am until 4pm. During this time birdwatchers, each representing a team for “their” 10k square, cover as much of their patch as possible and count the number of species seen in the time. Whilst the results have a serious scientific use too, the day is run as a competition, each square being handicapped according to their results from the previous five years. The square achieving the best score over their par for the day receives a small perpetual trophy to hold for the year. A Call-Over Evening held on the Thursday after the Count ensures that the social side of birdwatching is maintained and is a chance to “reveal all”. The Long-Day-Count involves a maximum of 12 daylight hours of birdwatching on the second Sunday in May each year. Many teams are found starting at the crack of dawn - others are out until dark, but the idea is the same, the best score over the square’s own par gets the trophy. WETLAND BIRD SURVEY (WeBS) During the winter months, members of the BOS contribute to this national survey of wildfowl and wading birds. Each of the main bodies of water (and elsewhere the coastline too) are surveyed on one Sunday each month - actual numbers of birds are counted, the results being collated to produce an extremely impressive annual report. Survey workers are presented with a copy of this report as a “thank you” for their support. Willing volunteers are always welcomed, if you are interested, please contact the local WeBs co-ordinator, Sandra Bletchly (( 01295 721048) MORNING BIRDWATCH Organised twice a year to encourage members to visit areas of the BOS they might not normally see in their travels and at the same time coverage is made of squares where little or no records are received. A 10km square is selected and divided into quarters. Teams are given a map of a randomly chosen quarter and spend a morning from 8.30am to noon observing and collecting records. This is usually followed by a drink at a local pub to chat about what has been seen. The Annual Breeding Season Survey originated to discover the status of a group of breeding birds that were neither scarce enough for their density to be easily established from existing records, nor numerous enough to be sampled accurately by the BTO Common Bird Census. The first survey along the current lines was conducted in 1961. In 1963 a short-list of 26 species was drawn up to be surveyed over the following 25 years. Some species were grouped together and this exercise was completed in 1987. Since 1988 repeat surveys of the original species have been conducted and the data has shown some marked changes - for example the redstart has declined over the period and no longer breeds in the BOS area at all. The survey takes place annually during the breeding season. The current survey is studying the rook. Anyone wishing to become involved should contact the Tony Brownett - field work co-ordinator (ab@brooksidebooks.co.uk) or their square leader. Our first Doomsday Survey was an inspirational survey carried out between 1982 and 1985 when a field-by-field assessment of the BOS area was mapped by BOS volunteers detailing information on the land use. A repeat of this survey began in 1992 and was completed in 1997 and this will enable the Society to compare the results and changes in habitat. This may be directly related to changes in bird populations through loss of good habitats or creation of new habitat for land use practices. The Winter Random Square Survey was first introduced in November 1975 and since then has been organised for the last Sunday in both February and November. Volunteer members are given a ‘randomly’ selected 1-km square and observe in that area for a minimum period of 2 hours between 9am and noon, where both species and numbers are recorded. Once a square has been surveyed it is not reallocated. Over time it is anticipated that all but those with restricted access of the 1,200 1-km squares will be surveyed. In recent years a Summer Random Square Survey has been introduced to determine the number of breeding pairs of each species per 1-km square. Members are allocated a randomly selected 1-km square, and are expected to make at least 3 visits spread out over the breeding season. They record all the birds present each time. This survey is carried during May, June and July. By staggering the visits, early and late breeders can be counted. For more information or for allocation of a square in future surveys please contact Trevor Easterbrook (( 01295 810835). The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) are always in need of help with their survey work, we have members involved in their on-going project The 1-km Breeding Bird Survey which is carried out each spring. If you want to get involved in this or the Atlas Work that is currently being undertaken please contact Frances Buckel 01608 644425 or email fran.buckel@btinterne.com Occasionally surveys are initiated by the RSPB and we as a society have been requested to help with the fieldwork. A recent survey was the Environmentally Sensitive Area project, work which involved estimating numbers of breeding waders and recording habitat by a proscribed method. Help with future surveys will be requested in the newsletter. A number of events are organised under the banner of Other Activities, organised by Adrian Bletchly (( 01295 721048) and whilst they do not count strictly speaking as surveys, they are a valuable source of bird records for the society.
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