What’s the difference between a Turkmen carpet weaver and the editor of the Sussex Bird Report? The weaver deliberately introduces errors as perfection is for the Almighty, whereas the editor strives for perfection but never succeeds. That is one lesson I’ve learnt from five years editing the report. The imperfections are few though, I hope, compared with the mass of data in the report. The other lesson – a very reassuring one for the next editor – is that the report is a team effort by eleven people, all of who make major contributions. As a result the role of editor is nothing like as hard work as you might think.

Each team member has their own set of skills and the Society’s members also make a huge contribution through bird records and wonderful photos. So the editor only needs to have some complementary skills to manage the whole process, of which a reasonable knowledge of British birds, drafting ability and attention to detail are perhaps the most important. An example of this team work is that the well-received new format for the report introduced from the 2021 issue was partly my idea but all the design work was done by Chris Barfield who was then our typesetter and by Laurence Pitcher, photographic editor.

So it’s not nearly as time-consuming as you might think. I was doing very intensive fieldwork from February this year, first on Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers and Hawfinches, then Honey-buzzards and now back to Hawfinches. I’m also acting Chair of the SOS Scientific Committee and a Trustee of the Sussex Wildlife Trust. I still had plenty of time for the report along with family commitments and other calls on my time.

Could you take this on even if you are working full time? Quite possibly. All of my graduate and postgraduate studies were done through the Open University when I was working full time, and the report work is a tiny fraction of that sort of commitment.

Do please get in touch even if you’d just like to know more about the role without making any kind of commitment: mallalieum@gmail.com. You will find it rewarding, a wonderful learning experience and an opportunity to get to know lots of new people. And your society needs you! Thank you.

Mark Mallalieu