At the October meeting of the SOS Scientific Committee we discussed plans for forthcoming survey work. On-going projects such as WeBS, BBS and SDFBI will continue as usual but there are two new projects planned for 2019.

National Willow Tit Survey

The endemic race of Willow Tit (Poecile montanus kleinschmidti) is the second-fastest declining species in the UK, after Turtle Dove, and is Red-listed. This resident subspecies has been lost from large areas of southern and eastern England in recent years.

In 2019 RSPB are organising a national Willow Tit survey which SOS have been asked to support. Although we are pretty sure that Willow Tits are no longer present in Sussex there are a few tantalising records that hint that they may just be hanging on in an odd corner of wet woodland. The new playback protocol which will be used in this survey has found Willow Tits in woods where they had been thought extinct, notably in Hampshire, so there is an outside chance that they will be found in Sussex too. We have decided that it is worth having a concerted look at the last few places with definite or probable records just to be absolutely sure. We think this comes to about a dozen sites/tetrads.

This will be an early spring survey with two visits between mid-February and mid-April using playback every few hundred metres to attract the birds. We have been assured that a mobile phone is all the equipment needed for the playback and a set of standard calls will be available for download. You will of course need to know how to download calls onto your mobile and how to make it play them which may be a challenge for some of us! If you are taking part in the survey there will be no need for a licence to use playback. If there is enough demand, we will organise a training day in January/early February to try out the protocol.

If you would like to help with the survey or know of a likely site that should be surveyed please contact Rich Black now so he can feed it into the planning for the survey. A list of priority sites/tetrads should be available before Christmas.

Contact: Rich Black (richard.black1@rspb.org.uk)

SOS Turtle Dove survey

Turtle Dove is the most rapidly declining species in UK and is the subject of a conservation initiative involving many organisations (Operation Turtle Dove). The core breeding range now stretches from Hampshire through Sussex and Kent and into East Anglia. Sussex is very much on the southwest edge of the range but still holds significant and nationally important numbers. In the 2008-11 breeding atlas there was evidence of breeding (proved, probable and possible) in 195 Sussex tetrads. Since then there have been between 200-300 records submitted each year. There are also at least two sites in the county (Butcherlands SWT and the Knepp Estate) where Turtle Dove numbers have increased in response to large scale habitat change.

Our objectives in 2019 will be to look for changes in the distribution of Turtle Doves in Sussex over the last decade and to estimate the county population by re-surveying a sample of tetrads which held breeding birds during the 2008-11 atlas.

To allow comparisons with the 2008-11 atlas data the tetrad will be the basic sampling unit. We will ask observers to undertake two complete surveys of their tetrad between mid-May and the end of July. We will provide maps and recording forms. The tetrads will be selected randomly from those with breeding evidence in the 2008-11 atlas. Our current thinking is that we will need to survey around 80 tetrads but the exact number will depend on the level of support. In addition to the formal survey we will encourage observers to submit all records of Turtle Doves and check out their local haunts over the summer.

Over the last few years RSPB have monitored a sample of 1km squares nationally to understand the effectiveness of Turtle Dove recovery initiatives. In Sussex there are ten such squares in and around the Adur valley. Five of these were surveyed in 2018 and the other five will be surveyed in 2019. We will be sharing data between the two surveys and, by covering a sample of squares over the whole county, the SOS survey will complement the RSPB work.

Please get in touch now if you are happy to help with the survey next year.

Contact: Ken Smith (ken.smith.lsw@gmail.com)

The RSPB’s South Downs Farmland Bird Monitoring project is not being continued next year, but the SOS has agreed to try to find volunteer surveyors if the farmers involved would like to see surveys continue in order to maintain an understanding of how farming practices are affecting their breeding birds. This is an excellent opportunity to get to know and help local farmers as well as improve our knowledge of the status of farmland birds in Sussex.

There is one request already, from the owners of Saddlescombe Farm above Poynings at approximately TQ2711. If you would like to survey this farm, or just find out more about what is involved, please contact Mark Mallalieu at recorder@sos.org.uk

We do not know how many other farmers will come forward, but if you would like to register your interest in carrying out such surveys elsewhere, or if you were already a volunteer on this project and wish to continue, please also contact Mark.

The survey methodology can be simpler than that used by the project and can be agreed between surveyors and farmers, though the SOS will provide advice and the methodology used by the RSPB is a very useful reference. Farmers will probably wish to know the locations of certain breeding species, especially those that were the target of the RSPB project (Corn Bunting, Skylark, Lapwing, Tree Sparrow, Linnet, Turtle Dove, Grey Partridge, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting and Yellow Wagtail).

Please note that the South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative is different (see https://www.sos.org.uk/survey-south-downs-farmland-birds).

Last month (around 22nd/23rd) we had a problem with the site which caused a “site unsafe” message to be displayed in visitors’ browsers. It was fixed within about 36 hours but some people experienced the problem for a little longer due to a condition known as “caching” in which an old (and in this case, bad) version of the website is stored by the browser or the internet service provider (such as Virgin or Sky or BT) preventing the fixed version of the site from being displayed.

Caching usually clears on its own within a day or two. If it is still persisting there are two things you could try:

1. Clear your browser’s cache (best to Google how to do that for your particular browser).
2. Power your router off, leave for a minute and then power it back on.

I’d like to know how many people are still experiencing this problem. If you are, please email me at webmaster@sos.org.uk with details – PC, Mac, phone (iPhone, Android etc), browser and the message you’re getting.

Please contact me by email rather than via the Sightings page.

Note that the site is NOT unsafe. If your browser allows it just “continue” to the website.

Chris Brown.

We are urgently looking for a couple of surveyors to carry out turtle dove surveys in Sussex. The 1km squares we still need to cover are: TQ1717, TQ1719 and TQ1921 (Adur Valley, north-west of Henfield)

Survey details:

• Surveyors need to undertake two surveys during the breeding season (early May – late July), with a minimum of four weeks between visits. A habitat survey is also required but can optionally be done at the time of the first bird survey.
• Visits should be conducted during the first two hours after sunrise, as after this time turtle dove activity will reduce.
• Methodology is similar to the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS).
• Surveyors would need to sign up as a RSPB volunteer if they haven’t already.
• Be able to identify turtle doves and other common farmland birds by sight and sound (a list of birds to be recorded will be provided).

If you are interested and would like to know more please email Caroline French, Conservation Monitoring Officer, at caroline.french@rspb.org.uk.

Hawfinches: request for information

I plan to write a short paper on the Hawfinch influx into Sussex during 2017/18 and would welcome any information, not yet in BirdTrack or published on popular social media sites, on the following:

1. Large counts.
2. Evidence of birds on active migration.
3. Food other than hornbeam and yew seeds.
4. Roosting behaviour (including at Kingley Vale).
5. Song or courtship.
6. Predation by birds of prey.
7. Perching on man-made objects.
8. Weights and wing lengths of birds ringed.

I am also preparing an illustrated talk and would be very grateful for any high-quality photos, including any showing unusual behaviour or numbers.

Many thanks,

Mark Mallalieu
SOS County Recorder
Recorder@sos.org.uk

…well not exactly again as it never happened last week, contrary to my previous post.

There are still one or two issues I’d like to resolve before we do switch over to its new location but the actual timing of the change may be out of my control.

So, as before, please be patient if you suddenly find it’s behaving differently. Some sightings will go missing and you might be told that some aspects of the site are insecure.

If the site does disappear for a while we’ll keep you informed via our Facebook page.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

Chris Brown.

Over the next day or so this website will be moved from its current hosting space to a new provider.

During that time you might experience some odd behaviour. Pictures in sightings or entire sightings might go missing. The site might disappear for a while. You might get a worrying-looking message telling you that the site is unsafe – it isn’t really.

Please bear with us while this transfer takes place. Hopefully it will all be back to normal before too long.

Chris Brown.

We are currently carrying out a visitor survey at Warnham Local Nature Reserve and we would like your views of the Reserve. Your views will help shape the future of Horsham town’s only designated nature reserve and give us the opportunity to improve your visitor experience. It is so important to have local support for nature reserves and we would like to understand why Warnham LNR is valued by you. The survey only takes a few minutes to complete and we really would welcome your feedback.

If you have never visited the Reserve your feedback is also welcome as to why, whether it is travel links, lack of hot food offering etc, all of these will help shape the Reserve for the better and ensure its long-term survival as a vital greenspace in the Horsham district.

You have until Monday 30th April to give us your views.

To take our short survey please go to:
https://t.co/cBL46rf7ws

Jacob Everitt
Reserves and Ecology Manager

The RSPB is six years into a programme of monitoring farmland birds across over thirty farms on the South Downs to see how populations respond on a landscape scale to habitat management advice.

We are looking for two additional bird surveyors with good identification skills and preferably some experience of territory mapping to undertake four early morning surveys during the breeding season. The farms in question are both at the western end of West Sussex, one near West Marden and the other near South Harting.

The surveys are carried out between mid-April and the end of June, with a minimum of two weeks between each visit. Each survey should take around four hours. You would need to map presence of up to ten target farmland bird species and list all the species observed during the surveys. A preliminary visit to meet the farmer is also required.

Training in territory mapping can be provided but the ability to identify all common birds, and especially farmland birds, by sight and sound is essential. You will also need to be able to walk several kilometres over ground which might be rough or steep in places.

If you are interested in helping the RSPB with this project and would like to know more, please contact Caroline French, Conservation Monitoring Officer, at caroline.french@rspb.org.uk or 07736 722208.