SOS are carrying out a county-wide Nightjar survey this summer and we are looking for volunteers to cover a number of 1km squares in known Nightjar areas in Sussex.
The survey consists of 2 evening visits between late May and late July.
The survey website, with available 1km squares is now up and running and can be found here
If you are able to help out please sign up to the survey via the website and select a square near you.
We are looking for someone to take a leading role in the SOS Conservation Team, working with three current team members, two of whom have extensive experience of the work involved. The SOS has established a unique niche in conservation matters in Sussex, using our database of over seven million records of birds in Sussex, plus the knowledge of the Society’s 2000 members, to work to ensure that development does not occur in the parts of Sussex that are still particularly good for birds.
Working with partners such as Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT), RSPB, Sussex – Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) and the Woodland Trust (a grouping known as the Sussex Planning for Nature Group) we are able to exercise considerable clout on planning issues without having to be qualified planners ourselves.
Our work is twofold:
You should be a confident communicator, able to work with the detail of planning applications. You don’t need to be a planner or an expert birder, but you will have a reasonable knowledge of Sussex and its birds. You should also be computer literate and will also need to become familiar with how to use the SOS’s bird records – this not difficult and training will be given. Work is shared among team members and prioritised, with the SOS Scientific Committee providing back-up, so the workload will always be manageable.
If this sounds like an exciting opportunity to help protect Sussex’s birds and habitats, then please contact me on 07736 788 077 or at mallalieum@gmail.com.
Mark Mallalieu
Chair, SOS Scientific Committee
Come along to our AGM to hear more about the wonderful Knepp story from Penny Green.
Date/Time: April 1, 2023 14:30hrs
Place: Adastra Hall, 31 Keymer Road Hassocks BN6 8AH
Important note: There is a rail strike scheduled for this day, so please travel to this event by other means.
Sorry, this event is for Sussex Ornithological Society Members only, if you wish to join, which is only £14pa for individuals or £17pa joint/family, please do so by this link, https://www.sos.org.uk/join-online.
Penny Green is Knepp’s resident ecologist, managing the Knepp Safaris team, volunteers and research students, and co-ordinating the biological monitoring of the rewilding project. She studied countryside management at Brinsbury College and went on to work with the National Trust, the Sussex Wildlife Trust and then the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre.
Penny’s presentation will no doubt include things about Knepp’s turtle doves, purple emperors and the plethora of other wildlife that have made Knepp their home.
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Penny is passionate about biological recording and loves to enthuse others with wildlife-watching. In her spare time, she’s having adventures moth trapping and bird-ringing, and loves to do a bit of trail running.
She sits on various committees including the Sussex Mammal Group, the Sussex Dragonfly Group, the Sussex Moth Group and the Sussex Committee for Biological Recording.
[Photos: Ben Andrew ©rspb-images.com]
Raptor persecution and its impact on wildlife – a recording of an SOS webinar presented by Jenny Shelton of the RSPB’s Investigations Unit is now available here.
A message from Paul Stevens, our new Hirundine Champion.
So many of our hirundines, especially House Martins (red listed), are in decline and support for their conservation, especially in the South East, is a growing concern.
I bring more than 10 years of expertise for the conservation of Swifts, Martins and Swallows and I am currently the voluntary conservation officer for the newly formed charity, House Martin Conservation UK and Ireland. Much of my work with this charity is providing advice to the public and private concerns about saving or renewing populations of these birds.
I have been involved in designing and building Sand Martin nesting banks in Sussex, including the one at Arundel WWT Centre.
By providing this information to SOS members it will help support their conservation further in Sussex. Enquiries can also be directed through to me for further support on bolstering, renewing and establishing new populations of our hirundines.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Paul Stevens
paulnatterjack@googlemail.com
SOS is thrilled by the news that Center Parcs have done the right thing in realising that Oldhouse Warren, a fantastic ancient woodland in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, is the wrong place for their next development. They have “analysed all the detail from surveys they have undertaken and concluded that the site at Oldhouse Warren is not a suitable location for a Center Parcs village”.
We have worked hard with the Woodland Trust, CPRE Sussex, Sussex Wildlife Trust, RSPB and local residents group Protect Oldhouse Warren to campaign against this development and convince Center Parcs of the damage that a development of this scale would do to wildlife and people. Oldhouse Warren is irreplaceable and a very special part of the High Weald AONB. Development here would make a mockery of planning law, the Government’s commitments to address climate change and the biodiversity crisis. We knew it was the wrong location from the start and would like to thank all of our members and supporters who contacted Center Parcs and campaigned against this proposal.
Working together, we have saved a very special part of Sussex. Thankyou.
Richard Cowser (SOS Conservation Officer)
Here is the LSS Annual Report for 2022
Just a reminder that there will be an Extraordinary General Meeting of the SOS to answer questions about the new Rules that have been circulated with the latest Newsletter and then to vote on whether to approve or reject them. This will be a zoom meeting on 25 January at 19:30 and joining instructions are included with the Newsletter.
If you are not planning to join this zoom meeting can I ask you to complete the voting form on the back of the booklet about the new Rules and either post it back to me or scan it and email it to me at conservation@sos.org.uk. We really hope to see as many of you as possible at the Zoom EGM, but failing that to receive as many voting forms as possible.
Thankyou
Richard Cowser (SOS Conservation Officer and SOS Council member)
We are looking for someone to take a leading role in the SOS Conservation Team. Find out more here.
The Wealden Heaths Breeding Bird Survey 2022, results and brief commentary, are available here
