SOS Conservation team, at the invitation of the Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) team at the Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre (SxBRC), is drawing up a list of locations that are important for birds in Sussex, but currently have no level of protection. SxBRC is run by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and has lead responsibility in the county for the LWS system. LWS status does not give statutory protection, but is nevertheless of some value in protecting a site from development. The SOS drew up the criteria for applying LWS status for sites good for birds, and these were accepted by SxBRC. The criteria are based mainly on the range of red- and amber-listed breeding species and the number of species recorded in the last decade. If you would see these criteria in full, please email me at the address below.

Most of the places birded regularly in the county already have some form of protection, from Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) like Pagham Harbour down to the lowest designation of LWS, such as at Wisborough Green. These designations help protect sites if they become the subject of planning applications to local councils. We are most keen to highlight those places of value for birds that currently lack protection of any kind with a view to encouraging LWS designation to be secured, and you may visit a little known site that deserves such status. SxBRC is focussing on LWS designation in particular, but the SOS is also keen to identify sites that may already have this designation, but merit stronger, statutory protection. West Rise Marsh is a good example of the latter.

It would assist the Conservation team if members of the Society provided details of sites, preferably with Ordnance Survey co-ordinates, that they are keen to see protected, but fear may have none, or might merit upgrading. The extent of the site is of little consequence. Notification of a site of concern will not guarantee the application of LWS (or better) status, but we will do our best, assuming the criteria are met. Please email details of your candidate locations to conservation@sos.org.uk in the first instance.

Terry Allen
Conservation Team

Sadly for the SOS Martin Orchard-Webb shall be stepping down from the role of Assistant Recorder, a post he has held for the last six years. Martin’s hard work and diligence over this time is much appreciated by all of us and he will be sorely missed!

Consequently we would love to hear from anyone interested in assuming this position. Tasks involve assisting the County Recorder by working in tandem, ensuring that the list of scarce birds reported (those requiring descriptions) is well maintained and up-to-date. Although the Assistant Recorder does not assess records, he or she will liaise directly (usually by email) with those on the Rarities Commitee, preparing batches of records for circulation and following up on them to ensure that they are assessed in a timely and efficient manner.

Interested parties are kindly asked to send an email to the following address : recorder@sos.org.uk

Wealden Heaths Breeding Bird Survey (West Sussex)
Surveyor needed urgently from 2024

This long running survey monitors 21 breeding species with emphasis on heathland specialists by the simple method of detecting males holding territory. The core heaths of West Sussex have been surveyed for twenty-five years and we are now in need of a surveyor for the important site of Weavers Down SU8130.

Nightjar, Woodlark, Dartford Warbler, Tree Pipit and Stonechat are the prime targets however this heath also good for Redstart and Linnet.

The Survey starts in mid-February, (to find the Woodlarks taking up their territories) and carries on mid-July. We try to cover the individual sites entirely on at least four occasions, including one early year visit as mentioned, and two visits (more if you have the inclination and the time) about two weeks apart during May when song activity is at its peak. There will be at least one evening visit in May or June to detect Nightjar.

The survey is not particularly demanding but the continuous nature, providing so far, twenty-five years of data has enabled us to assist with management advice and other conservation issues such as planning that might affect the heaths.

If you are interested please contact Alan Perry for more details on 01798 344417 or email aledgehill@outlook.com

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 is a good time of the year to consider taking part in the BTO Breeding Bird Survey (BBS), because if you take on a square you will also have the option to take part in the Sussex Winter Bird Survey (SWBS) by surveying the same square over the coming winter, beginning on 1 November 2023. Some squares have recently become available and there are plenty of squares available right across the county; some of these squares are accessible if you have limited mobility or if you are reliant on or choose to use public transport.

This national monitoring scheme is administered by the BTO and jointly funded by the BTO, JNCC and RSPB. It has been running since 1994 and its primary aim is to provide population trends for common and widespread bird species in the UK. Population trends for Sussex are also produced and published in the Sussex Bird Report. Survey plots are randomly-selected 1-km squares and the same squares are surveyed each year. Volunteers visit their squares three times each year during the breeding season, once to record simple habitat data, and twice to walk a fixed route, recording birds seen and heard. There are more than 200 BBS squares across Sussex, covering every type of habitat, and new volunteers are always needed.

Volunteers must be able to recognise common and widespread birds by sight and sound, and must be able to physically get around a survey route reasonably early in the morning, but beyond those requirements absolutely anybody is welcomed into this survey scheme. Previous experience of survey work is not necessary and help and support from experienced volunteers can be arranged if required; there will also be some informal practice sessions arranged in Sussex in March and April 2024. Finally there is no requirement to conduct surveys alone – take a friend with you!

The BBS squares (asterisks indicate priority squares that have been surveyed before) in Sussex which currently need volunteers for the 2024 breeding season are (updated 2/1/2024):

SU7800 near West Itchenor
SU8102 near Bosham Hoe*
SU8307 near West Stoke*
SU8527 near Milland*
SU8605 central Chichester*
SU8612 West Dean
SU9113 near East Dean*
SU9207 near Boxgrove*
SU9729 near Northchapel*
SU9923 near Petworth*
SZ7996 East Wittering*
SZ8199 near Birdham
TQ0124 near Kirdford*
TQ0205 near Lyminster*
TQ0322 near Codmore Hill*
TQ0826 Billingshurst
TQ1337 Okewood Hill (Surrey)*
TQ2022 Cowfold*
TQ2536 Gossops Green
TQ2638 Langley Green*
TQ2836 central Crawley
TQ4612 near Ringmer*
TQ4716 near Isfield*
TQ4821 Uckfield*
TQ4938 near Blackham*
TQ5026 High Hurstwood
TQ5128 near Crowborough*
TQ5130 central Crowborough
TQ5220 Blackboys*
TQ5228 near Crowborough*
TQ5312 Golden Cross*
TQ5435 near Eridge Station*
TQ5511 Lower Dicker*
TQ5523 near Hadlow Down*
TQ5738 Tunbridge Wells*
TQ5901 Willingdon*
TQ6419 Earl’s Down*
TQ7111 near Ninfield*
TQ7624 near Bodiam
TQ7811 Hollington*
TQ8518 near Udimore*
TV5797 near East Dean*

The following BBS squares may be accessible to you if you have limited mobility (including using a wheelchair) as the survey routes are entirely on pavements and minor roads:

SU8605 central Chichester
SZ7996 East Wittering
TQ2638 Langley Green
TQ2836 central Crawley
TQ4612 near Ringmer
TQ5130 central Crowborough
TQ5639 Tunbridge Wells
TQ5901 Willingdon

The following BBS squares may be accessible by train as they are close to rail stations (other squares may be easily accessible by bus):

SU8605 central Chichester
TQ2836 central Crawley
TQ4821 Uckfield
TQ5130 central Crowborough
TQ5738 Tunbridge Wells
TQ5901 Willingdon

For further information, please contact Helen Crabtree at hcrabtree@gmail.com.

The new WeBS season starts in September and there are sites across Sussex that need new volunteers; now is a really good time to get started with this survey.

WeBS is the principal monitoring scheme for non-breeding waterbirds in the UK which aims to provide data for the conservation of their populations and wetland habitats. The data collected are used to assess the size of waterbird populations, assess trends in numbers and distribution, and identify and monitor important sites for waterbirds.

Once-monthly, synchronised counts are carried out (primarily September to March) at as many wetland sites as possible. Counts can take anything from 15 minutes to 3 hours depending on the size of the site. Dates of the counts are pre-determined by the BTO and are set on Sundays. It is generally accepted that a count can be carried out a day or more either side of these dates if counters have other commitments and there is not an interchange of species with other neighbouring sites.

Sites requiring new volunteers are listed below (updated 16/11/2023). For further information please contact:

ARUN VALLEY: Helen Crabtree (hcrabtree@gmail.com)

Pulborough Brooks (to join existing team): counts carried out each month on a Monday morning

COASTAL SITES: Dave Boddington ( davebodds@yahoo.co.uk)

Cuckmere Valley (between Exceat Bridge and Charleston Reedbed)
East Hastings Beach
Norman’s Bay
Shinewater Lake (Eastbourne)

INLAND SITES: Helen Crabtree (hcrabtree@gmail.com)

Bewl Water (to join existing team)
Glynleigh Level (Pevensey Levels)
Manxey Level  (Pevensey Levels)
Manxey Moat  (Pevensey Levels)
Mark Dyke  (Pevensey Levels)
Marsh Foot and Church Farm (Pevensey Levels)
Old Haven  (Pevensey Levels)
Wallers Haven North (Pevensey Levels)
Wakehurst Place Lakes

These and other more minor vacant sites are all viewable on the map here.

David Campbell has set a high standard as our County Recorder since 2020, drawing on his outstanding knowledge of birds and bird identification. He has combined this voluntary role with a very busy working life, but decided recently that the time had come to stand down. The Society is extremely grateful to him for all he has done during his tenure. David Thorns kindly agreed to take over as Recorder, effective from 1 August. David is a very experienced birdwatcher who lived in Sussex for many years before moving to France. He is well travelled overseas and has had several articles and letters published in birding publications such as Forktail, Cotinga and British Birds.

David is now back and based in Eastbourne. He has become familiar with the local birding scene and quickly established his birding credentials by finding several notable birds in the area including two firsts for the county, for which many SOS members have been most grateful. We wish him all the best in his new role and the Society will of course give him all the support he needs as he settles in.

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

Volunteers with Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) squares have the option to survey their squares for butterflies during July and August, as part of the Wider Countryside Butterfly Survey (WCBS) which is a collaboration between the BTO and Butterfly Conservation. Volunteers taking on new squares now can take part in the WCBS and then have the option to survey their squares over the winter for the Sussex Winter Bird Survey before breeding bird surveys begin next April.

The BBS is a national monitoring scheme administered by the BTO and jointly funded by the BTO, JNCC and RSPB. It has been running since 1994 and its primary aim is to provide population trends for common and widespread bird species in the UK.

Survey plots are randomly-selected 1-km squares of the National Grid, and the same squares are surveyed each year. Volunteers visit their squares three times each year during the breeding season, once to record simple habitat data, and twice to walk a fixed route, recording birds seen and heard. There are more than 150 BBS squares across Sussex, covering every type of habitat, and new volunteers are always needed.

Volunteers must be able to recognise common and widespread birds by sight and sound, but previous experience of survey work is not necessary. Help and support from experienced volunteers can be arranged if required.

For the WCBS, volunteers walk their usual BBS routes and record butterflies. Volunteers must be able to recognise common butterfly species but no special expertise is required.

The BBS squares (asterisks indicate priority squares that have been surveyed before) in Sussex which currently need volunteers are (updated 30/6/2023):

SU7604 Thorney Island*
SU7800 near West Itchenor
SU7808 near Woodmancote*
SU8102 near Bosham Hoe*
SU8307 near West Stoke*
SU8527 near Milland*
SU8605 central Chichester*
SU8612 West Dean
SU8624 Tote Hill near Midhurst
SU9207 near Boxgrove*
SU9729 near Northchapel*
SZ7996 East Wittering*
SZ8199 near Birdham
SZ8696 Pagham Harbour*
SZ8698 Sidlesham*
TQ0124 near Kirdford*
TQ1337 Okewood Hill (Surrey)*
TQ2022 Cowfold*
TQ2122 Cowfold*
TQ2536 Gossops Green
TQ2638 Langley Green*
TQ2828 Staplefield*
TQ2836 central Crawley
TQ4612 near Ringmer*
TQ4821 Uckfield*
TQ4938 near Blackham*
TQ5026 High Hurstwood
TQ5128 near Crowborough*
TQ5130 central Crowborough
TQ5220 Blackboys*
TQ5228 near Crowborough*
TQ5312 Golden Cross*
TQ5435 near Eridge Station*
TQ5523 near Hadlow Down*
TQ5738 Tunbridge Wells*
TQ5829 near Mark Cross*
TQ5901 Willingdon*
TQ6419 Earl’s Down*
TQ7111 near Ninfield*
TQ7811 Hollington*
TQ8518 Udimore*
TV5797 near East Dean*

For further information, please contact Helen Crabtree at hcrabtree@gmail.com.