THE SOCIETY'S CONSTITUTION

Registered Charities have been advised to make sure that their membership are given current and updated copies of the organisations' Constitutions. Last year some minor changes were made to our Constitution so now is an opportune time to distribute an updated version to our members. If you have not received a copy, either download from this page, or contact the Secretary.
View the Society's constitution

Project Parakeet

Imperial College London is researching competition for food between the UK's non-native population of parakeets and garden birds.

They are looking for people with bird feeders that are regularly visited by parakeets who would be willing to help for a yearlong observational experiment. They would be required to carry out 20 min weekly observations of birds feeding from sunflower seed feeders installed by the project. Find out more about this project at www.projectparakeet.co.uk

WINTER BIRD COUNT

With this bulletin you will find a report of last year's Winter Bird Count and a form to record birds for this year's count. If you haven't received one, it canbe downloaded by clicking 'Recording Forms' on the menu to the left.

If you've never taken part before, please have a go- we'd like as many members as possible to join in. The aim is to watch birds regularly at one or more sites of your choosing e.g your garden, local park or common, a farmland or river walk etc. You can take part even if you live outside our recording area. The form is designed for recording birds each fortnight. This year, for three of our 'red data' species: House Sparrow, Starling and Song Thrush which are all species in serious decline nationally, we would like you to count the largest number you see on any one day in each fortnight, then at the end of the two week period, enter this figure in the box. For all the other species on the list, just tick the box if you see the species at least once at the site in the two week period. The survey runs from 15th November to 15th March. At the end of the survey, please hand forms in at the March meeting or send them to Martin Chaffe (address from any committee member).

Beryl Fisher

Through corresponding with Beryl Fisher's family this Christmas, we have found out that Beryl passed away in mid-November 2010 at the age of 89. From the moment she joined the club in the late 1960s to when she retired from the Records SubCommittee in 1995, Beryl was simply a wonderful organiser and a great exponent of getting things done through gentle persuasion. She served on the Management Committee in 1973 and again from 1983-87 and was prominent on the Records SubCommittee for around two decades. In this time she was Records Analyst and BTO Liaison Officer. How did Beryl get people to help with the 1994 Gull Roost Survey in January? By the art of gentle persuasions Along with Mary Waller and Joan Allen, Beryl was an energetic member of the Arbrook Common CBC team. Her organisational skills were at the fore during the residential weekends at Gibraltar Point and most especially at the club socials of the 1970s and 80s. The first club sweatshirts were organised by Beryt. She was deservedly made an Honorary Member of the Society in October 1995 and it is a testament that she and her late husband George, photographer and artist, will long be remembered by this Society.

Request for Bird Recording in Hampton Court Park

The Club has been approached to undertake official bird recording in Hampton Court Park. They would like us to cover the whole park and are particularly keen to monitor skylarks and also reedbed habitat. There are several interesting areas inside the Palace grounds to which the recording team would be given access. We are looking to set up a small team of 4-6 people including a team leader to conduct survey visits. As a minimum, a record of birds present at each season of the year would be needed with an bird report produced at the end of the year. Depending on time available, a breeding survey could be conducted. This would require a minimum of five visits between the beginning of April and end of July. Recording forms and maps would be provided.

For those who have not carried out survey work before but who are interested in doing so, training in bird recording and survey methods would be provided by experienced members of SDBWS. If you would be interested in taking part in this survey or would like to find out more about it, please contact Thetma Caine: Tel: 01372 468432. Email: thelmacalnoS12@btintomet.com

Submitting Records on-line (from Tony Quinn, Recorder)

If you have a computer, recording sheets in Excel (Spreadsheet), Word (Table) or Works (Spreadsheet) are available for you to download and use to collect your bird records. Choose which one you feel comfortable with. These can be used to submit records online to myself and to any county recorder. Instructions as to their use is given on each sheet. They are most useful for collecting largish numbers of records (e.g. Elmbridge Commons surveys) and allow me to simply paste into our recording system. Anyone who would like to use them and experiences difficulties- feel free to contact me.

BULLETINS BY EMAIL

The Management Committee is considering the possibility of e-mailing out the Bulletin to those members who are on e-mail, if you have views about this possibility please let your committee members know.

SIGHTINGS

Records from members are from within the club's recording area, TQ16 extended on two sides. The Recorder has asked that sightings outside of this area are not submitted as they are not appropriate as club records. A map of the recording area is shown here

Email addresses.

You don't have to be a 'twitcher' to want to enjoy unusual birds locally. If you missed out on the waxwings, at Horton Country Park or the egrets on the Hogsmill, why not let us have your email address and you can be added to the Hot News circulation list. But please remember to let us know when it changes. Email addresses and comments to both Gary Caine (to add to the membership list) and Tony Quinn (for the Hot News service).

Recruiting New Members

Word of mouth is one of the best ways of expanding membership of the club. Annemarie Stiegler has generated postcard size publicity cards if you can think of anywhere to put them, or people you would like to send or give them to. Ruth Shinebaum has a stock of bird club "business cards" which members can carry when out and about, chatting up prospective new members. See either Annemarie or Ruth for supplies at the indoor meetings.

Do you live in the Elmbridge area?

There have been frequent attempts to build in the area, often to the detriment of local wildlife. Our conservation officer, Tony Quinn, is keeping an eye on things and making representations on the club's behalf where we think there will be a significant environmental impact, but it isn't always easy to be aware of all planning applications. So if you live in the area and see an application in your local newspaper or posted on a community boards or pole that you think warrants our attention, PLEASE let Tony know. He can be contacted on: 020-8241-6087 or ant.quinn@btueyonder.co.uk. Thank you.

RECORDS SUB-COMMITTEE - A PLEA TO ALL MEMBERS

A recent study of SDBWS records has shown that several sites in the Society's recording area, which over the years have produced worthwhile sightings, no longer appear to be visited regularly by Society members. Below is a list of species you might expect to see during a birding year at three adjoining sites close to Epsom.
Site + Grid RefTarget Birds
Epsom Common TQ 190 650Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Pheasant, Woodcock, Stock Dove, Cuckoo, Tawny Ow1, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, FieIdfare, Redwing, Lesser Whitethroat, Whitethroat, Garden Warbler, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Willow Warbler, Goldcrest, Coal Tit, Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Siskin, Linnet, Redpoll, Bullfinch, Yellowhammer
Rushett FarmTQ 173 608Kestrel, Hobby, Pheasant, Lapwing, Stock Dove, Skylark, Swallow, Fieldfare, Redwing Chaffinch, Brambling, Linnet, Redpoll, Yellowhammer, Reed Bunting
Stew Ponds TQ 183 609Great Crested Grebe, Grey Heron, Canada Goose, Mandarin Duck, Teal, Shoveler, Tufted Duck, Goosander, Water Rail, Kingfisher, Grey Wagtail, Reed Bunting

As the table shows, you don't have to travel far to see good birds! Other worthwhile sites not covered on a regular basis are:

o Richmond Park (southern section) TO 198 717o Hampton Filter Beds TO 130 693
o Barwell Court and Winey Hill TQ 169 630o Prince's Coverts TQ 160 610
o Fieldcommon (TQ 127 665) and its associated sites

If you live close to any of these 'forgotten' sites, please think about visiting them, the more frequent the better, and send in your records to the SDBWS Recorder, Tony Quinn.

TELEPHONE NUMBERS

Below are the Telephone numbers of members whom you might need to contact.   
CHAIRMANVacant
SECRETARYVacant  
TREASURERDavid Wooldridge020 8942 9632david@davidwooldridge.wanadoo.co.uk
MEMBERSHIP SECRETARYGary Caine01372 468432gary.caine@royalmail.co.uk
COACH OUTINGS SECRETARYBrenda Fitzgerald020 8390 3901brendafitz@live.co.uk
FIELD OUTINGS SECRETARYJon Hannam01372 470280jon.hannam@btinternet.com
INDOOR MEETINGS SECRETARYAnne Turner020 8942 1583lissiyoung@hotmail.co.uk
MINUTES SECRETARYAnne Froud020 8546 9493ea.froud@taiktalk.net
SOCIAL ORGANISERStephen Waters01372 457442stephen@swgarden.fsnet.co.uk
RECORDS SUB-COMMITTEE CHAIRMANThelma Caine01372 468432thelmacaine512@btintemet.com
RECORDERTony Quinn020 8241 6087ant.quinn @blueyonder.co.uk
BTO LIAISONBrian Wilson020 8255 7842bgwilson@blueyonder.co.uk
INTERNETNorman Ford01932 863475sdbws@encief.co.uk
eandn@encief.co.uk
BULLETIN EDITORMary Sims01932 783224marysims283@btinternet.com
PUBLICITYSami Webster07800 817027veg_webster@yahoo.co.uk
CONSERVATION OFFICERTony Quinn020 8241 6087ant.quinn@blueyonder.co.uk
INDOOR MEETINGS STEWARDDavid Abrahams020 8390 6873 

IMPORTANT NOTICE - all members please read

Management committee members each have a list of names, addresses and telephone numbers of all members of the Society. It is regularly updated by the Membership Secretary. Because of the data protection act it is important that our membership is aware of this list. If any member wishes to see what information, personal to them is on the list, they should contact the Membership Secretary, Gary Caine Tel:01372 468432 e-mail: gary.caine@royalmail.co.uk.

PS. If you are a member and are reading this, you are obviously connected to the Internet. Please e-mail the Society with a blank message so that we can get a record of your e-mail address, hopefully to make it easier to contact you if necessary