Minutes

K.O.S. Editorial and Records Sub Committee

Meeting: 4 p.m. 13th November 2004 at SBBO

Present :

Barry Wright (in the chair), Gordon Allison, Jon Braggs, Tim Hodge, Gary Howard, Nigel Jarman, Robin Mace, Ian Roberts, Don Taylor and Ken Lodge.

1. Apologies for absence 

Received from Jack Chantler, Martin Coath, Richard Jenkinson, Kevin Thornton and Derek Tutt.

2. Matters arising from Minutes of last meeting

a) List of sightings in 2002 pended awaiting descriptions - This general discussion was coupled with consideration of KOS rarities for which descriptions are still required. It was agreed that those sightings for which descriptions were unlikely to be forthcoming should be listed on KOSNet to try to invoke a response.

It was further agreed that, wef 1st January 2002, descriptions would no longer be required for the following species unless the Recorder felt it was necessary :

White Stork; Pale-bellied Brent Goose; Crane; Grey Phalarope; Roseate Tern (at Dungeness and Thanet); Serin.

 

As so many rarities are now photographed it was agreed that we would accept photographs as documentation if submitted with a covering note or signature for accreditation. This should further reduce the list of pending records. Barry will put an appropriate note on KOSNet.

 

b) Blackburnian Warbler - Barry has not yet contacted the finder.

 

c) Narrative on rarities for the website - No progress as yet.

 

d) Goshawk article - now ready for publication in the Newsletter.

 

e) Biographies of E&R members - A few received - others as soon as possible please.   

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 record of a Caspian Gull at Elmley RSPB on 9.2.2004 is pended awaiting decisions by BBRC on many previous records.

6. Website

Further development of the website was discussed and Robin was asked to put the following points to Chris for consideration:

•  could all references to this Committee and rarities be gathered together under one button instead of being split as at present?

•  could a link to a street map for the Maidstone meetings be provided?

It was suggested that interesting articles should be published in the Newsletter before being displayed on the website.

Jon will deal with the Kent List which requires updating.

Ken to send Robin an update of the rarities descriptions statistics.

7. Newsletter

Articles on past rarities were considered and appropriate authors will be contacted

6. KBR 2001

Jon said that almost all the feedback received from members had been positive. One criticism was that coverage of the rarer birds lacked depth.

9. KBRs 2002 & 2003.

2002 -   See Jon's Editorial Progress Report, dated 13th November 2004, circulated prior to the meeting.   It was suggested that a Pallid Harrier would be an appropriate front cover.   Reports from both Geoff and Tim indicate that their input is virtually complete.

2003 - Although the WeBS data will not be available until the end of the year, Tim is still hopeful of being able to distribute the data to writers early in the New Year.

10. BTO Birdtrack

This is now operational but, as it doesn't yet have a facility which would allow counties to extract the data in a convenient format, Tim suggested that we should not yet urge members to switch to it.

11. Sample descriptions for the website.

To be further considered.

12. AOB.

Ken is finding difficulty in attending meetings on a regular basis. Agreed that he would continue with his secretarial tasks and that, in his absence, the taking of the Minutes should be on a rota system.

13. Date and Venue of the next meeting.

The next scheduled meeting will be at 4pm on 12th March 2005. Venue to be confirmed.