Minutes of the KOS Executive Committee Meeting
28th February 2008 @ St.Margarets

Present:   John Cantelo, Jack Chantler, Martin Coath, Mike Henty, Derek Jackson, Robin Mace, Tony Morris, Dave Sutton, Don Taylor.

1) Apologies:   Received from Chris and Annie Abrams, Gordon Allison, Tim Hodge, Ken Lodge, Barry Wright.

2) Action Points outstanding from last meeting: 
5.1   Robin reported that the front page of the website had been redesigned. There will be improved navigation and scanning facilities probably after April.

3)   Outdoor Meetings:  Don would like a fresh approach, but we all accepted that this will have to come from someone with time for a radical rethink and publicising our activities through the various media. We do concentrate on the well known and most popular sites and attenders are usually established members, but sometimes new or prospective members appear and we need to attract more of these. Weather is of course an important factor on the day. Dave had distributed 200 leaflets about KOS and its activities, but the only visible response has been two new members. Tony will talk to Ian Hodgson about possible joint meetings at Sandwich Bay. It may be possible to have KOS sponsored walks  with organisation by, say, local RSPB  groups.

4)   Indoor Meetings:   Robin and Derek will liaise and discuss the purchase of a digital projector, to be linked to a laptop. It was suggested that a standard machine, rather than something too up to date would be best, and that they buy from a local supplier with a good maintenance service, though not a maintenance agreement. Derek said that comments about the Grove Green Community Hall had all been favourable, and he had re-booked it. The meeting agreed. Audiences had increased overall and the adverts had been noticed. Derek will send leaflets to all those who had requested them.Dave was concerned about new members appearing at meetings and Martin, or whoever chairs, will ask them to make themselves known, welcome them and suggest that they make themselves known to (badge wearing) members of Committee. Martin should also mention things of interest to members in his opening remarks.Derek introduced the 2008/9 programme, which was broadly welcomed. For the future Dave pointed out that responses to our questionnaire had indicated a preference for things Kentish. Possibles are a show about Kentish rarities of the last 5-10 years. Extra slides can be taken from the internet, subject to copyright. An identification forum might be an attraction.

5)   IT Communications:   Martin thought that membership of kosnet was increasing, and will try to get the latest figure from Julian before the next meeting .We should watch that private emails with confidential details are not posted onto a kosnet message. The Moderator has dealt with one complaint.

6)   KOS News:    Martin congratulated John on his efforts. John said that he did not have much in hand, and asked committee members and others for 1-3 pages on any topic. He thanked Norman McCanch for his vignettes.John also asked that the arrangements about adverts be regularised. Martin said that adverts could be part of services to members and should be ornithologically relevant. Others said that we should also consider the commercial value of the space. Tony said that adverts in “Sandgrouse” (900 members) were £100 per page. John will find out more and let Committee know the possibilities.

7)   KBR:   Tim had reported that the systematic list is nearly finalised. The ringing report is complete and needs to be formatted. As we will not see KBR 2005 until after the AGM, Committee members expressed their concern. There are a number of areas where delays do or can occur. Some information comes in very late, especially the WeBS data. As time goes on increasingly more information will come from Bird Track. Tim is not happy to send out data until it is reasonably complete, but he does add late information to species accounts. There is a strong feeling that we should set deadlines and, if the information is not timeous, it will be held over. Dave welcomed this as the KBR is the most important service to members, and it is a disincentive to continued membership that we are so far behind.

8)   Birds of Kent:   Progress is still steady. It was felt that data from the BTO Atlas 2007-11 could be added in and there could be publication in 2012. Lynx is still keen to publish.

9)   Treasurer:   Mike presented the draft accounts. They show a healthy surplus, but he projects little or no surplus in future years. The cost of “The Birds of Kent” and its timing will be the joker in the pack for some time. Committee thanked Mike for his promptness. It was suggested that we have enough money to sponsor a species for the Atlas and we agreed to donate £2,000 to the Sandwich Tern account, with Cetti’s Warbler as second choice.

10)   Editorial and Records Committee:   Martin and Don reported back about the meeting on 23rd: the idea of a committee approach to the KBR was suggested and apparently taken on board.

11)   Conservation and Surveys Committee:   Martin read out Gordon’s report:Owen Sweeney (In his role on the Medway Countryside Forum) has requested data from KOS to challenge a large development on the Hoo Peninsula that would destroy an SSSI with an important breeding population of Nightingales.According to Sally Hunter, 390 of a potential 1007 Atlas tetrads have been allocated and 29 out of 52 10km squares have the BTO required 8+ tetrads covered. The committee still agrees that we should cover all the available squares over the four years, but we will complete the first year before deciding if we need extra surveyors.Following the success of the initial atlas meetings, Sally is planning another in West Kent pre breeding season, when Rob Clements will talk about monitoring breeding Birds of Prey. Sally is also planning to produce a newsletter, clarifying atlas methodology, by the end of March.

12)   Publicity and Membership:   Dave mentioned that we had 49 new members and seven rejoiners in 2007, and 14 new members in 2008. Some members leave us because they do not get what they expect. The lateness of the KBRs  is a factor.

13)  AOB:
a)   Barn Owl boxes:   A ringing group has carried out valuable work, but they are out of pocket. They need plywood supports for the boxes. There are precedents for such financial support, and it was generally felt that KOS should have a conservation fund, and that this would be a worthy recipient.

b)   Kent Show stand:   It was agreed that it would not be useful for the KOS stand to grace this event.

c)   AGM:Martin will send a draft of his address to Don, Mike, Barry and Gordon for the avoidance of unnecessary duplication.Don, Tony and Derek will each come prepared to present a 20 minute slide show.

d)   Liaison:  Dave was unhappy that there is no apparent liaison between KOS and both KWT and Natural England about lesser known SSSIs. A need for surveys had been identified. Kosnetters had offered their services, but there has been no response, perhaps due to misunderstandings.

The next meeting will be provisionally on Thursday 5th June, perhaps at Sevenoaks.