Sunday 28th June 2009

These maps include all 2008 SOS records, as well as 2008 TTV, Birdtrack and roving records. The maps do not include ANY records from Garden Birdwatch, the BBS, the nest record scheme or the ringing scheme. These records will be incorporated at a later date.

BUZZARD – First breeding season (Apr – Jul 2008) provisional distribution map.

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Buzzards will have laid their eggs in April so about now you should be able to see and hear young still dependent on adults (FL = confirmed breeding). Buzzards have already been recorded in almost 38% of tetrads, with probable, possible and no breeding evidence each recorded in 11 to 12% of tetrads. However, breeding has only been confirmed (the large dots in the map above) in 2.4% of tetrads.

Interestingly, in the last Atlas Buzzard was recorded in just 30 tetrads across Sussex in the breeding season, whereas it has already been recorded in nearly 13 times as many tetrads in the first year of the present Atlas.

YELLOWHAMMER – First breeding season (Apr – Jul 2008) provisional distribution map.

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Yellowhammers have so far been recorded in 36% of the county’s tetrads, with over half of these records being of possible breeding. 10% of records are of probable breeding, so listen out for the distinctive song "little bit of bread and no cheese", and if you hear it repeated in the same place for more than a week record it as T, territoriality = probable breeding.

Better still, Yellowhammer young should be fledging now, so look out for family groups with young still dependent on adults (FL = confirmed breeding).

CETTI'S WARBLER – First breeding season (Apr – Jul 2008) provisional distribution map.

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This is an easier bird to hear than to see, so do listen out for its loud, explosive song – you may still hear it. If you do and you hear it again a week or more later record it as T, territoriality = probable breeding.

The young of Cetti's Warblers should be fledging about now, so you may be lucky enough to come across a family group with young still dependent on the adults (FL = confirmed breeding).

Over half the breeding season records of Cetti’s Warbler only record possible breeding, so there is still time to upgrade such records to a higher breeding status.

Not sure of what the various breeding status codes are? Click here:
www.bto.org/birdatlas/taking_part/bevidence.htm