Minutes

K.O.S. Editorial and Records Sub Committee

Meeting: 4 p.m. 11th September 2004 at Bromhey Farm

Present :

Don Taylor (in the chair), Gordon Allison, Geoff Burton, John Clements, Martin Coath, Nigel Jarman, Richard Jenkinson and Robin Mace.

1. Apologies for absence 

Received from Jon Braggs, Jack Chantler, Tim Hodge, Ian Hodgson, Gary Howard, Ken Lodge, Ian Roberts, Kevin Thornton, Derek Tutt, and Barry Wright.

2. Matters arising from Minutes of last meeting

Pended records for 2002 – discussed under Item 9.

Blackburnian Warbler – Barry has contacted Colin Bradshaw and will now contact the finder.

Online data entry – discussed under Item 10.

Records of Willow Tit – discussed under Item 8.

3. Notification of BBRC decisions 

(See Rarity Decisions)     

4. BB Rarities

The following have been, or will be, forwarded to BBRC for consideration:

5. KOS Rarities

(See Rarity Decisions)

The identification of the White Storks at Oare and at Shadoxhurst is accepted, but the origin of these birds might be queried.

6. Website

There was a fairly long discussion of how the E&RSC pages within the overall KOS website might be further developed as follows:

• Linking the mention of a bird in text (e.g., in the list of rarities accepted) to an image in the photo gallery.
  
• For selected species (e.g., one each of a KOS rarity and a BB rarity that appear in the list of recent decisions) provide a link to a short narrative (or summary table, chart or graph) on the occurrence of the species in Kent. Grey-headed Wagtail and Subalpine Warbler (pending decision from BBRC) were suggested for starters. Nigel would look at drafting something for the former and Geoff for the latter species.
  
• Each member of E&RSC to draft a pithy biography (short paragraph/one-liner) and to provide a suitable photograph to accompany this. The idea is that KOS membership can identify us in the field so that they might engage us in conversation on subjects of common interest. The narrative and picture should be sent to Robin by end of September/early October. He will circulate the webpage for review by the committee before making it live.
   

7. Newsletter

Ian Hodgson would like a good supply of articles for the Newsletter. Martin has recently sent an article on the subject of best and worst day’s birding. Geoff suggested that he might draft a piece on the Black Guillemot in Kent. There was general agreement from those present that articles be Kent-oriented and that articles on foreign birding should aim to give more a flavour of a country’s birds rather than being a detailed trip report, fascinating those these were. Articles on memorable “bird (and birding) moments” that did not necessarily relate to rare birds should be requested. Subscribers to KOSNet should be encouraged to write articles, but the question was raised as to what proportion of KOS membership belonged to this newsgroup.

8. Articles on Goshawk and Willow Tit

The draft articles for the Newsletter on the Goshawk (by Rob Clements) and the Willow Tit (by Phil Chantler) were discussed at length. Don will return the articles to the authors with comments and suggested amendments, and once a final version of each article is agreed, they will be forwarded to Ian Hodgson.

9. Kent Bird Report 

See Jon Braggs’ KOS Editorial Progress Report that was circulated prior to the meeting.

KBR 2001

• This is being sent out to members in the coming week (now distributed).
  

KBR 2002

• Following a discussion of the 2002 pended records, it was decided that the Rarity Panel should review the criteria by which species are added/deleted to/from the list of county species requiring a description.
  
  
• A significant number of records has been received since the species sheets were distributed to writers. It was suggested that the additional records be distributed to writers who will then make a judgement as to whether or not these records will have a significant effect on the species accounts and rewrite accordingly.
  

KBR 2003

10. BTO Birdtrack
This will be covered at the next meeting when Tim is present, but Robin commented that the user has to actively opt into the BTO passing records to the county recorder (due to Data Protection Act). A point that needs stressing to all before starting to use this method of record submission, as the KOS might then lose the records.

11. Any Other Business 

Geoff raised the issue of KOS holding information that would be useful to statutory consultees, e.g., English Nature, but that EN was not fully aware of the existence of such information. This issue was raised in the context of movement of shingle from Tankerton to Herne Bay where EN was apparently unaware of the importance of this habitat for breeding Ringed Plovers. Another example was clearing of vegetation from a brook at Swalecliffe where Water Voles breed; in this case Swalecliffe council had consulted the Environment Agency. John suggested that Geoff write to the Chief Planning Officer at Kent County Council.

Regarding the Birds of Kent, discussions with Helm are continuing. KOS wants Helm to be responsible only for publishing and not to have editorial control.

Regarding photos of description species appearing on the website, in particular BB rarities, a suitable caveat should be added to the caption where the identification of the bird has not been formally assessed.

There were no takers for an invitation for a team to take part in a Wine and Wisdom evening with Maidstone RSPB on 30th October; general knowledge rather than natural history. Martin will ask around.

12. Date and Venue of the next meeting 

The next scheduled meeting will be at 4pm on 13th November 2004. Venue to be agreed.

13. Thanks to Gordon Allison
Don Taylor thanked Gordon Allison for arranging the use of Bromhey Farm and the meeting closed at 8:30pm.