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Winter Talk this Wednesday - 15th January - Free on Zoom 7.30pm

 KOS Free Winter Online Talk  

This Wednesday - January 15th 7.30pm by KOS Member - Simon Ginnaw 

 "Elmley Conservation and the Curlew Recovery Project”

 Just 40 miles from London, at Elmley on the Isle of Sheppey, sits the highest density of ground nesting waders in the UK away from the Scottish islands.

KOS member Simon Ginnaw, Warden and Lead Guide, will explain about the Reserve, its conservation story and objectives, and how the pro-active ground -breaking Curlew Project is proceeding.

                                                 ________________________________________________________

KOS is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: KOS Winter Talk - Elmley Conservation and the Curlew Recovery Project

Time: Jan 15, 2025 07:30 PM London

Join Zoom Meeting

Click link below to join meeting:-

 

https://zoom.us/j/99455968972?pwd=nuAqmQQ0QauCbDH53tsLbTDHfDwahB.1

 

Meeting ID: 994 5596 8972

Passcode: 155047

Talks last approximately 40 minutes with time then for questions and discussion from participants.  We look forward to seeing you 'online' on the January 15th.  

Kent Birding – Highlights of the Week

Smew

Smew, Seaton GPs – photo Richard Collins

The two star birds from last week lingered into this reporting period, but were tough to connect with. The American Yellow Warbler at New Hythe was last seen the morning of 3 January. Despite extensive searching, it wasn’t seen on subsequent days. While the weather got a little bit colder, it still was a surprise that it would have moved on at this time of year. Perhaps it has perished, or, more hopefully, maybe it will be refound in the area in coming days or weeks. The Eurasian Scops Owl is still around, but only shows briefly and irregularly, frustrating observers, some of whom have already tried three or four times to see it. The bird was only seen on 5 and 6 January this week on its favoured fence at Broadstairs cricket ground.

The best new bird for the week was a female Smew at Seaton GPs. This is a rare bird these days in Kent, with some winters where there are no records at all. This female may be the same individual that was seen earlier in the winter at Worth Marshes. Another good sighting was a juvenile Iceland Gull at Deal Beach on 9 January.

KOS Field Trip Report Thursday 2nd January 2025

                 Ray O’Reilly - KOS Field Trip Organiser writes:- 

 “We wasted no time in getting our 2025 Kent Ornithological Society Field Trips underway this year with our first outing taking place on Thursday January 2nd.

We had a record five cancellations for this outing mainly due to ill heath but we still managed a group of eight of us for the day.

 We started at the RSPB's Cliffe Pools and it was a classic case of what a difference a day makes. New Year’s Day’s high winds and rain had given way to a dry, cold windless morn with beautiful sunny spells in the afternoon. Cetti's Warbler and a bonny male Stonechat were two of the first birds recorded and a couple of Song Thrushes serenaded us as we walked the trail. Ralph Todd found a Sparrowhawk and we admired several Redwings and marvelled at 35 Little Grebes or Dabchicks as they are colloquially called.

Kent Birding - Highlights of the Week - 2 Jan 2025

When we decided to start a ‘Kent birding – Highlights of the Week’ from January onwards on the KOS website, we could not envisage it would start with two mega rarities. What had so far been a modest year for rare birds in Kent, ended with a bang. On 24 December, an American Yellow Warbler, was discovered at the sewage works at New Hythe GPs. The first ever for Kent and an amazing record also for British and European standards. Extraordinarily, the location was not far from the famous Golden-winged Warbler, also a warbler from America, that was seen in the winter of 1989 near New Hythe. If that wasn’t enough, news of the third Scops Owl for Kent, and the first since 1971, broke on 28 December. It had been present for a few days in trees along a cricket field at Broadstairs. Both birds were seen by many observers, although they could be elusive, and were not seen on some days at all. Particularly with calm, sunny weather, the Yellow Warbler showed well. Both birds were still present in the New Year.

Happy New Year and a look forward to 2025 - by Andre Farrar

Can I offer my best wishes to you all for 2025. The eternal optimism that comes with the start of a new year has recently been tempered by the turmoil we see around the world. The environmental crises face us every day – the loss of birds and wildlife is felt most keenly by those of us that study and enjoy birds on a daily basis. But we also witness successes and positive outcomes from conservation efforts across Kent – new nature reserves establishing, innovative projects starting to deliver real results as well as farmers and landowners working to make the countryside richer in wildlife as part of their land management.

That Was The Year That Was - by Andre Farrar

I’d like to wish all our KOS members a very Happy Christmas and extend my thanks for another year of your support. It’s been a positive year for the KOS and that would not have been possible without the hard work of many people. I’m grateful to the members of the executive committee for all their efforts and wise council. In particular I’d like to thank Brendan Ryan for his time as secretary, although he has stepped down from that role, I’m delighted to say that he remains very involved especially in taking forward the Birds of Kent.

KOS Winter Talks Programme 2024/5

New - KOS Winter Talks

There will be a programme of talks beginning on Wednesday December 18th with

Nicole Khan - KOS Member -' Surveying the Turtle Dove Population in Kent' 

 [Other talks in the year will take place on January 15th - Simon Ginnaw on the Curlew introduction programme at Elmley; February 19th - Barry Wright will talk about Swanscombe Marshes  and on March 19th Conor Jameson will talk about Goshawks.  More details closer to the dates of each talk will be sent to all members]

BTO Winter Gull Survey (WinGS) 2024-5

BTO Winter Gull Survey (WinGS) 2024-25

CALLING KENT LAROPHILES!

Some key sites still not allocated or need more volunteers for this winter’s count – target date January 21st. 

The Key Sites concerned are: -

*Inner Thames (Gravesend-Dartford)

*Stour Valley

*Deal-Walmer

*Folkestone-Hythe

 Please read on for for further information…

KOS November 19th Field Trip to Dungeness

November 19th 2023 - KOS Field Trip to Dungeness 

 Ray O' Reilly, KOS Field Trip Organiser, writes:- "Yesterday, 19th November 2023, we carried out our monthly KOS Field Outing once again to Dungeness and it proved to be a fruitful venue.

New addition to the KOS merchandise store

For those cooler days that will soon be here - beanie hats are now available from the online store.  

Merchandise Beanie

Other news pages

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The Kent Ornithological Society was founded in 1952

Our aims are to record and monitor the county’s bird life providing both an accurate historical record of Kent’s birds but equally importantly providing data that can be used to help protect valuable habitats from development and other threats.

In doing this, we seek increase knowledge and understanding of birds and their habitats in the county and encourage and support people seeking to take up birdwatching as a hobby.

Membership of the society is open to all and costs £15 a year. Members receive a free copy of the annual Kent Bird Report and regular electronic newsletters. See details

The Society runs regular online talks and an outdoor programme of field meetings. They are opportunities for both beginners and experienced birdwatchers to meet others in the county and to develop their knowledge and skills.

We are a charity regulated by the Charity Commission registered as charity number 212489.

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