Category: Events

To help everyone through lockdown, we ran a series of much-enjoyed virtual talks at and after the Annual Conference.

With spring and the easing of lockdown, we have paused these events. Keep an eye on this website though, as we will have more, including an exciting one in July.

SOS Outings Programme 2021

Posted on | By Val Bentley

Many thanks to Mark Wright (Outings Organiser) for arranging the following events from this month until the end of the year  They will be subject to any future covid-19 restrictions that may be applied.

Date Event
Saturday

28th August

 Whitbread Hollow, Beachy Head: Meet at 9.00 a.m. at Dukes Drive, Holywell corner at western end of Eastbourne promenade.  (199/TV601972.).  Access: no-charge street parking; Public Transport: Southern Rail to Eastbourne Station; Stagecoach route 3 from station to Foot of Beachy Head/St Bede’s School.  Habitat guide: chalk cliff-top grassland and coastal scrub. Half day. Leader:  Mark Wright
Sunday 5th September Arlington Reservoir: Meet at 09.00 at the reservoir car park (TQ527074). Public transport: Southern Rail to Berwick station (half mile south of reservoir); by car: reservoir car park (charge) or layby outside. Toilets; cafe. Two hour circular walk including footpath across fields and over R Cuckmere.  Leader: Mark Wright
Saturday

11th September

 Thorney Island:  Meet at corner of Thornham Lane at 9.30 a.m.  197/SU757049.  All day, lunch required. Warm clothing recommended. Leader:  Richard Senior
Saturday 9th October Beachy Head (Birling Gap/Shooters Bottom): Meet at sea side of National Trust café at 9.00 (TV 5538 9611) accessible off A259 from East Dean on Beachy Head road.  Parking at NT car park (charge for non-members). Half Day. Leader: Mark Wright
Sunday

17th October

 Cissbury Ring: Meet in National Trust car park (Approach from Nepcote Lane, Findon) 198/TQ139084 at 9.30 a.m. Parking at NT car park can be limited but an alternative is to use the car park signed from A24 Findon and take path to left and walk up to the meeting point. Public Transport: Stagecoach route 1from Worthing station. Half day. Leader: Mark Wright
Sunday 22nd November Selsey/Church Norton: Meet at 9.00 a.m. in the Selsey seafront car park at southern end of B2145. 197/SZ851923. Afterwards to Church Norton. Half day.  Leader:  Andrew House.
Saturday

27th November

 The Burgh (South Downs):  Meet 13.30 a.m. at “The Triangle”, Peppering Lane, Burpham (OS sheet 197 TQ042095); limited parking – careful parking required to allow as many as possible. Distance 3.5 miles. Half day.  Leader:  Bernie Forbes
Saturday

4th December

 Dungeness RSPB: Meet at 9.30 a.m. at the reserve’s ARC Pit Car Park (TR062197) opposite main entrance to reserve (membership card or entrance fee required for subsequent entry to main reserve).  All day (bring lunch).  Leader: Mark Wright

Virtual Talk: A Journey Through the Landscapes, Flora and Fauna of Alaska

Posted on | By Chris Brown

by Dr Samantha Franks

Saturday 10th July 19:00 to 20:00

I am delighted to confirm that this exciting online talk is going ahead as planned. In a year when most of us may well not leave the UK, here is a chance to visit Alaska under the skilled guidance of Dr Samantha Franks, a Senior Research Ecologist at the BTO.

Full details of this much-anticipated talk and how to register and watch it are here.

This is currently the only SOS virtual talk scheduled until November (details to follow), so do watch and enjoy it.

Mark Mallalieu

 

SOS Outing Blackdown

Posted on | By Chris Brown

The SOS are endeavouring to kickstart the outings programme for 2021. We are going ahead with an outing to Blackdown on Sunday 30th May, limiting members to a group of 10/12 people. If you would like to attend this outing, please contact Bernie Forbes on 07852820886 or bernieforbes@talktalk.net to register your place.

Meeting place:

Sunday
30th May		 Black Down: Meet at 9.00 a.m. small car park at the far (east) end of Tennyson’s Lane on the sharp bend at SU922306. From Haslemere (accessed from A286 and A287) leave on B2131, turn right up Haste Hill, follow onto Tennyson’s Lane. All Day (bring lunch!). Leader: Bernie Forbes.

Seaford Seawatch – Sunday 2nd May (Members only)

Posted on | By Val Bentley

Places limited and must be prebooked

Meet at 07.00 on the beach just to the right of the Splash Point groyne, as seen from the bathing huts, 198/TV488982.  Telescope and deck chair useful, warm clothes advisable.  Half day, leader Simon Linington.

In order to comply with covid regulations for groups of five plus leader, email Audrey Wende at mauwende@delta18.plus.com to book your place.  Depending on numbers we will either have one group of five members, or possibly two groups, with Mark Wright leading another group nearby.

SOS Annual General Meeting 2021

Posted on | By Chris Brown

The Sussex Ornithological Society Annual General Meeting will be held by Zoom on Friday 7th May 2021 at 7pm.

Members of Sussex Ornithological Society are invited to attend and vote at the Zoom AGM (if you have not already voted by post or email).

If you would like to be sent a Zoom link then please send an email for a “Request to Attend AGM” to secretary@sos.org.uk and we will be pleased to send a link to you.

Please also contact the Secretary if you have any other queries about the AGM. Thank you.

April mid-week walks (members only)

Posted on | By Val Bentley

 We are able to offer the following two walks this month led by Val Bentley in her local patch at Henfield.   These were planned for February, but had to be cancelled due to Covid restrictions.

 

Please note that the “rule of 6” applies, and hence the group will be limited to the leader plus 5 others, so places must be prebooked by contacting Val on chetsford@talk21.com or on 01273 494723

 

Other social distancing measures should also be followed, and there should be no sharing of optical equipment etc.

 

Wednesday 14th April: Henfield Downslink walk 1 (½ day)

A walk north along the old railway line and River Adur at Henfield.  Meet 9 am at the Downslink car park, Upper Station Road TQ205161 (immediately after The Old Railway pub, formerly The Cat & Canary). Particularly suitable for those new to birdwatching as we will be aiming to identify different birds by their song. Wellies recommended if it has been wet beforehand.  Approx 3 miles, level, no stiles.

 

Friday 23rd  April: Henfield Downslink walk 2 (½ day)

A walk south along the old railway line, mill stream and fields between Henfield and Small Dole.  Meet 9 am at the Downslink car park, Upper Station Road TQ205161 (immediately after The Old Railway pub, formerly The Cat & Canary). Particularly suitable for those new to birdwatching as we will be aiming to identify different birds by their song. Wellies recommended if it has been wet beforehand.  Approx 4 miles, mainly level walking, one slightly awkward stile.

 

Virtual Talks Update

Posted on | By Chris Brown

The SOS is grateful to all the guest speakers who helped us through lockdown with their fascinating talks. We hope you were able to watch them and of course if you missed them you can still watch on our YouTube channel. With the coming of spring, we are pausing these events, but check upcoming talks  for a great talk on Alaska in July.

‘Lockdown birding in Kabul’ completed our current series. There was one question not answered live:

Are there House Sparrows in Kabul? Yes, there are, of a subspecies sometimes called Indian Sparrow. Oddly, these are more in the rural fringes of Kabul than the very urban and abundant Tree Sparrows.

Q and A: Dr Mark Eaton Talk

Posted on | By Chris Brown

Dr Mark Eaton’s talk on the work of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel is now available to watch on the SOS YouTube channel and his answers to a few extra questions are below.

 

Question Answer(s)
1 As a species that is fairly common as a breeder in the SE why is the Peregrine on the RBBP? With an estimate from the last national survey of 1,701 pairs, Peregrine sits comfortably below the RBBP’s upper threshold. While it might be seen relatively frequently, I’d argue that they’re not ‘fairly common’ in the SE – the RBBP estimates around 140 pairs in our SE region (a wider definition covering ten counties including the likes of Oxon, Beds, Bucks & Essex) though obviously that’s a lot more than there used to be. Range expansions and population increases in lowland England in recent decades have unfortunately been accompanied by losses in coastal and upland populations in the north and west
2 Mark talked about value of Birdtrack, does that equally apply to BBS surveys? The BBS is incredibly important in terms of wider monitoring of the UK’s birds. While the RBBP can access data submitted to the BBS, we would ask BBS surveyors to submit records of any species on the RBBP encountered on their surveys to their county bird recorder, (which can be done via BirdTrack) in addition to in their usual BBS submission. Results of BTO BBS surveys can be entered directly via the relevant section of the BTO website.
3 Any advice on finding evidence of breeding of ground nesting birds? Particulary Woodlark. For Woodlark, it is best to watch from a distance for evidence of, for example, nest-building or food being taken to the young. Singing birds are easy to detect as their song and song flight are distinctive.

 

Q and A: Jim Glover Talk

Posted on | By Chris Brown

This was another very well attended talk with lots of questions (see SOS YouTube channel). Only two questions were left over and Jim has kindly answered these below.

 

Question Answer(s)
1 You mentioned Hen Harrier. What are the conservation objectives at Pulborough, for this species? It is quite a while since I was responsible for conservation objectives at Pulborough and I may not be up to date. I don’t think there are any specific objectives for Hen Harrier but the policy for leaving rough areas for feeding owls will benefit them. The problem for Hen Harriers is that they are persecuted by gamekeepers on heather moors. The first conservation job I had in 1979 was surveying the Forest of Bowland where I found keepers killing the harriers and destroying their nests. This problem continued for very many years despite every effort by the RSPB but I gather that the Forest of Bowland is now one of the very few places where they now breed successfully. Conservation can be a very slow process!
2 What reptiles and amphibians do you find there? I know that there are pamphlets in the Centre at Pulborough listing all the reptiles and amphibians but unfortuntely I cannot get one because the centre is closed. However I can tell you from my own experience that it is particularly good for Adders which can be seen easily along parts of the trail in spring, Great Crested Newts kept moving into all the ponds we dug for schools pond dipping, we also had Smooth newts but I dont recall seeing Palmate. I have seen Slow Worms, Grass Snakes , Frogs and Toads but they are not very common, Common Lizards are quite common in some areas. The only species which have not been recorded as far as I know are Sand Lizard and Smooth Snake but it is quite possible that they will be introduced onto the heathland in the future, as this is quite common practice on heathland creation projects.

 

Q and A: Honey-buzzard Talk

Posted on | By Chris Brown

This was another well-attended talk with lots of questions. A few questions were missed due to lack of time or answered incompletely and these are addressed below. Please see also question 14, with a corrected answer compared to what was stated in the talk.

 

Question Answer(s)
1 Do honey buzzards eat bees as well as wasps? Yes, they do rob bee nests, including bumblebee nests in the UK.
2 Do they have any predators? Yes, Goshawks are known to kill young and adults (as mentioned in the talk).
3 During their time in Africa, do we know what they eat? I’m originally from South Africa and I seem to recall seeing a Honey Buzzard eating flying ants … could be wrong. The diet is similar to that in the breeding grounds, e.g. wasp and bee larvae, but also some amphibians & reptiles and other small vertebrates and invertebrates. Yes, they do catch insects in flight and take termites in Africa.
4 If a nest has failed early in the season, will they attempt a second brood? This is rare, but has been recorded several times, with the pair nesting at a new site.
5 How soon after fledging do the young birds return to Africa? It varies, but they may leave the natal area soon after fledging and many UK birds arrive in Africa between mid-September and mid-October. In once instance the journey from Scotland to Ghana took four weeks.
6 The pictures are amazing. Are they taken from specific honey buzzard view points/ hot spots? Or do you find a nest and then find a vantage point? You start by finding a good vantage point over suitable habitat.
7 In terms of why their population density isn’t higher, do you think it’s related to habitat quality, and perhaps lack of wasps nests / prey? Have nest sites tended to occur in the highest quality habitats, and would they tend to avoid managed forestry sites, for example? We don’t know the answer to that. They do breed in commercial forestry planatations.
8 Do we know how they find the wasps nests? They track wasps back to nests, either from perches or whilst flying around.
9 Can you please go over again how to tell females apart from normal buzzards? I missed that bit! As for male Honey-buzzards: soaring on level wings is the best feature, but the fuller wings (especially the outer hand), smaller but protruding head and longer tail are important as is the pattern of barring on the wings and tail.
10 Do young birds fly to Africa with their parents? No, they fly separately and usually rather later.
11 Do they eat honey from a bee hive or just the larvae They take larvae and pupae, not honey.
12 Hi, I’ve seen a honey buzzard near where I live. Is it likely I would see it in the same place every year? Yes, quite likely, unless you chanced upon a migrant bird.
13 What do you think is the reason for the huge descrepancy in numbers seen on migration between Spring and Autumn? Birds may take a slightly different, or broader, migration route in spring, e.g. across the Caucasus and across Sinai.
14 What is the incubation and fledgling periods for the species? 30-35 days per egg, with up to 37 days for a clutch of two eggs (two eggs is the norm). Fledging takes about 40-44 days.
15 Do the adults do aerial prey exchange like hobbies? No, I’ve not heard of or seen that.

 

Next Page » « Previous Page