Membership is only £14 p.a. (£17 joint). If you join from 1 November your membership will run to the end of December 2024, and you will get THREE Sussex Bird Reports for your year’s subscription – the 2021 edition, the 2022 Report, just published , PLUS the 2023 report which will be published  in autumn 2024.

In addition, we are planning a full programme of walks in 2024, an in person Conference in January, and you will receive 4 newsletters a year, by post or email as preferred.

Life membership is a bargain £200 (Joint Life £250), and if you are a full-time student or Under 21, the rate is just £4.50.

Too good an offer to miss?  Click on “Join us” on the toolbar.

The SOS is holding a special meeting in Hailsham on the evening of 27th October, for all volunteers, and potential volunteers. If you are already involved in undertaking surveys or other work on behalf of the SOS, or would like to find out more, do come along to meet other members, and our President, Chris Corrigan. Terry Hallahan of the Sussex Barn Owl Study Group has also kindly agreed to give a presentation about the work of the SBOSG. If you are interested, please email me on chetsford@talk21.com by 13th October and I will send you further details.

This will be of particular interest to our members and others who live in or near the Adur Valley.

The Adur River Recovery Project aims to improve the overall health of this important and historic Sussex river. This project is one of only 22 landscape recovery projects in the country.

It’s vital that the project hears from local people who visit and live near the Adur.  So, the project’s partners (Knepp Wildland Foundation, Adur District Council, Horsham District Council, Ouse & Adur Rivers Trust, Sussex Wildlife Trust and Wilder Horsham District) have developed a survey to find out how people use it, and what they think and feel about it.

The survey (link below) has 26 questions and should take no more than 10 minutes to complete.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/R7VCWKN

Still plenty of spaces left!

No doubt members are being a little cautious still, but if you are planning to come and have mislaid the details and booking form which came with the autumn newsletter, then please contact me on chetsford@talk21.com or 01273 494723

The four speakers are:

Henri Brocklebank:  Director of Conservation Policy and Evidence at the Sussex Wildlife Trust (Conservation successes of SOS & SWT over the past 60 years)

Peter Hughes: Ecologist at Chichester Harbour Conservancy (conservation work in the Harbour to help the  breeding terns )

Greg Conway:  Senior Research Ecologist at the BTO (Nightjar migration and tracking studies)

Ryan Burrell: Game & Wildlife Conservancy Trust (status and conservation of waders on the South Downs, with a focus on the Norfolk estate)

Hope that many of you will soon be organising your teams for the SOS New Year Bird Race!  Last year there 16 different teams which took part; they saw 139 species and raised over £1500! The winning Team, on 102 species, were The Dynamic Duo (Elliot Chandler & John Thorogood).

Regular racers will know the Rules, and there will be further details in the winter newsletter, but the main ones are

• it must be carried out on a single day in the first two weeks of January
• you must confine yourself to within the county boundary
• teams should consist of at least 2 people
• all members of the team should see or hear the species claimed (though doesn’t have to be the same individual bird), unless the team consists of 4 or more, in which case 3 must record the species

Very good luck to all those planning to Race, which should include myself!

Contact me on chetsford@talk21.com or ring 01273 494723 for the Race Pack

The 2021 Sussex Bird Report is now out, full of fascinating information derived from your observations and survey work. There are papers describing a remarkable upward revision of the Marsh Tit population estimate, the exciting results of the Honey-buzzard survey, as well as on Dartford Warblers in Ashdown Forest, urban gulls, and Nightingales and Turtle Doves in Chiddingfold Forest. Plus lots of beautiful artwork from three well-known artists, gorgeous photos and of course the systematic list and all the other regular features. Huge thanks to Editor Mark Mallalieu and his team.

SOS members receive a copy through their letterbox, non-members can purchase a copy for £13 (includes P & P) from Val Bentley, Lanacre, Blackgate Lane, Henfield BN5 9HA mandpcommittee@sos.org.uk Cheques payable to Sussex Ornithological Society, or contact Val for bank transfer details.

BUT join the SOS now (your membership will run until 31.12.23) and get the brand new Bird Report, plus the 2022 edition when it is published this time next year  click on “Join us” for this 2 for 1 offer. Due to the amazing take up of the previous 3 for 1 offer we have now run out of 2020 Reports, but it’s still a fantastic deal!

Membership is only £14 p.a. (£17 joint). If you join between 1 November and 31 December 2022 your membership will run to the end of December 2023, so you will get TWO Sussex Bird Reports for your year’s subscription – the 2021 edition, which has just come out , PLUS the 2022 report which will be published  in autumn 2023.  We have now run out of 2020 Reports – sorry!

In addition, we are planning a full programme of walks in 2023, an in person Conference in January, and you will receive 4 newsletters a year, by post or email as preferred.

Life membership is a bargain £200 (Joint Life £250), and if you are a full-time student or Under 21, the rate is just £4.50

Too good an offer to miss?  Click on “Join us” on the toolbar.

In view of recent government statements on environmental issues, members may like to find out more by seeing the RSPB’s response on

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/rspb-news/rspb-news-stories/uk-government-attack-on-nature/?from=hphero

Tim Squire has organised great Conferences in the past five years. The first three were in-person
events at Clair Hall but when the Covid-19 pandemic struck, bringing with it all the safeguarding
measures and rules, Tim valiantly arranged two on-line Conference weekends, with talks on both
Saturday and Sunday. All were very well attended!

Tim has now stepped down and we’re looking for a volunteer to help organise our next Conference, which we hope will be an in-person event. The role includes
• booking the hall, speakers and stallholders
• compiling and printing the booking forms and programmes
• allocating stallholders to tables
• allocating volunteers to do tasks on the day of the conference
• co-ordinating the team and making sure everyone knows what they are doing on the day

It’s not as daunting as it seems – REALLY. You will join the SOS Membership & Publicity Committee
and be part of a team who help with the bookings, catering, raffle, finances and the technical
equipment – and volunteers help with the tasks on the day. Apart from the week or so in the run-up to the Conference everything can be done to your own timetable. If you are interested please get in touch with Val Bentley on chetsford@talk21.com or 01273 494723

Provisional booking of a suitable venue has already been made and we are really hoping that 2023
will see the return of a “proper” Conference!

Because of work commitments David Campbell has had to stand down as the SOS Swift Champion. The SOS thanks him for the enthusiasm and effort he has put into this role.

Happily, Dave Boddington has agreed to take on the mantle of our Swift Champion.  Dave is a member of the SOS Scientific Committee and is already well known to many Swift Groups across Sussex.  He is also the BTO’s Assistant Representative for Sussex, which role he will continue.  He can be contacted on swifts@sos.org.uk