The breeding season is already underway for some birds. Please respect the special protection for species listed in Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (see list here). For scarce breeding species in Sussex, please consider carefully the risks of disturbance before reporting sightings on social media, including this website, unless the sites […]

The society apologises for the incorrect headings in the table showing the results from the recent three seasons for the Sussex Winter Bird Survey in the 2018 Sussex Bird Report (pages 205-208). The three columns for each season should be headed: Column 1 (% of squares): is the percentage of 1-km squares (to the nearest […]

Now is the ideal time to sign up to take part in the BTO Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) for this breeding season and to arrange to come along to an informal practice session with other volunteers. This national monitoring scheme is administered by the BTO and jointly funded by the BTO, JNCC and RSPB. It […]

A superb day at Clair Hall yesterday – a full house again, and the speakers were so interesting and informative. Great to catch up with old friends and meet new ones! David Howey’s personal research on the Kittiwakes nesting at Splash Point gave so much information relevant to Sussex, but also showed how statistics can […]

During the brilliant day at SOS Conference yesterday, our Sales Team unveiled the latest addition to the SOS clothing range. A t-shirt with snappy Stonechat artwork by Clare Buckle.  Many thanks to Clare for designing this – not part of her role as Secretary to the SOS Scientific Committee!       The t shirt […]

Apologies for tardiness in updating the list – have been away from computer for several days! I suspect that virtually all the results are now in and here is the (preliminary) final order 101* Rolling Turnstones 101 Martlets 93  Dynamic Duo 93 Mike’s Mergansers 87 North Wallcreepers 87 The Ryenecks 87 The Great Twits 81 TQ01ers […]

SOS Marsh Tit survey 2020 Background Both Marsh Tit and Willow Tit, the two Poecile species in Sussex, have declined nationally. The later species is the second fastest declining species in the UK, after Turtle Dove, having declined by 93% since the 1960s. A Sussex survey for Willow Tit in 2019 failed to find a […]

The International Swan Census 2020 takes place over the weekend of 11-12 January and will gather information on numbers of Bewick’s and whooper swans as well as information on breeding success and habitat use. In Sussex the following sites will ideally be checked during or near the census weekend: Knepp Millpond River Arun (Arundel to […]

In 2020 the BTO and RSPB will jointly be running a national survey of breeding waders in wet meadows. This will be a repeat of the 2002 survey, requiring visits to the sites surveyed in 2002 and with the addition of any new wet grassland sites that are identified. It is possible that the survey […]

Click here to read the 2019 update to this survey.