Kent Ornithological Society Providing information about birds and birdwatching in Kent (Registered charity 21489)

• Martin Collins
• 18-Apr-2025
• Basic page

KOS has agreed with the RSPB at Dungeness to run open days throughout the year. This is a great opportunity to develop a physical presence and meet you, our members, face to face.

This is the place to come to find out the dates of future events and the programme we hope to be running.

Our dates for 2025 are:

Sunday 11 May – with a focus on spring.

Sunday 17 August – timed to coincide with the returning waders.

Sunday 28 September – our second Big Kent Bird Migration Watch.

We’re grateful to the RSPB for this opportunity and we will, in addition, be running KOS activities as part of other RSPB organised events at Dungeness.

We’re looking for volunteers to help us at Dungeness – if you are interested do get in touch with the chair This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – a full briefing will be available and, of course, you’ll be able to take advantage of some great birdwatching.

• Martin Collins
• 18-Mar-2025
• Basic page

The volunteers that manage the Kent Ornithological Society are dedicated to operating with the utmost transparency and accountability. To ensure we uphold the highest standards of governance and service, we have established a set of policies and procedures. Below, you will find links to key documents outlining our approach to areas such as financial management, safeguarding, data protection, and volunteer engagement. We encourage you to review these documents to gain a deeper understanding of our commitment to ethical and responsible practices, as regulated by UK charity law. 

KOS_Rules_-_March_2025.pdf

KOS_Privacy_Policy_-_March_2025.pdf

• Chris Roome
• 15-May-2023
• Basic page

• Super User
• 7-Apr-2022
• Basic page

Sensitive records

To discourage disturbance to scarce Kent breeding species during the breeding season some records will be automatically marked as confidential and not displayed on the Headlines or Bird News pages. All records will, nevertheless, be included in the database and used to produce the annual Kent Bird Report. A list of these sensitive species, with the range of months for which records will be hidden, is shown below. The status of breeding birds in Kent is constantly changing, sometimes rapidly, and the following list and concealment rules are reviewed regularly.

When submitting species in this list you will receive a message indicating that they will not be displayed - 'x record(s) marked as confidential due to sensitivity rules'. You can also mark as confidential individual records of species not on this list. If you are logged in to the website, you will see your own confidential records in the Bird News and in the results of a Database Search. The fact that they have been flagged as confidential is indicated by the icon.

• Super User
• 28-Jan-2022
• Basic page

If you do not already have an account on the system please create one by visiting the registration page.

• Super User
• 21-Jan-2022
• Basic page

Bird record submission Not logged in

You need to be logged in to submit records to the KOS sightings database. If you have already registered and have an account on the system, please login here. Otherwise please create an account by visiting the registration page.

• Super User
• 20-Jan-2022
• Basic page

The Kent List

The Kent List is composed of all of those species that have been reported in Kent, and accepted by both the Kent Ornithological Society Records Panel (KOSRP) and the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC), and are included on the official British List kept by the British Ornithological Union Records Committee (BOURC).

The British List currently follows that published by the British Ornithologists Union, following the sequence recommended by the International Ornithological Congress (IOC V15.1 Feb 2025). From January 2026 it will follow AviList Ver.2025, and the order of species on the Kent List will be adjusted accordingly at that time.

The following species currently await submission, or are in circulation, with the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) –

Pied Crow, Corvus albus.

A bird, first seen coming in off the sea at Joss Bay on 6^th May 2019, wandered the north Kent coast as far west as Swalecliffe until 21^st. A potential first for the UK and Kent. This bird has been accepted by the BBRC, and is awaiting categorization by the BOURC.

Masked Booby, Sula dactylatra.

A bird was seen flying past North Foreland, on the 21st October 2022, and identified from photographs at a later date. A potential first for both Britain and Kent.

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler, Phylloscopus orientalis.

A singing male was found in the trapping area at Dungeness BO, on 25th May. Calling frequently, it was extremely illusive, and its identification was eventually confirmed by sonogram. A potential first for Kent if accepted.

Splits and Lumps

Common Redpoll, Lesser Redpoll, and Arctic Redpoll, have been lumped as a single species to be known simply as Redpoll, Acanthis flammea flammea, with two sub-species Lesser Redpoll, Acanthis flammea cabaret, and Arctic Redpoll, Acanthis flammea exilipes. Hence two former full species are removed from the Kent List.

New Species

American Yellow Warbler, Setophaga aestiva.

The first-winter male first found flycatching along the Mill Stream, at New Hythe, on 24th December 2024, has been accepted by the BBRC. A first for Kent.

Booted Eagle, Hieraaetus pennatus.

Following a review of records of this species by the BOURC, the bird first seen at St Margarets-at-Cliffe on 28^th September 1999, and then again at Dungeness on 7^th April 2000, and at Cliffe the following day, has been accepted onto the British List, and constitutes a first for Kent.

The Kent List currently stands at 434 species.

Inclusions:

Records from KOSRP, 27^th June 2025

Records from BBRC WIP, 1^st July 2025

Records from BBRC Report on Rare Birds in Great Britain in 2023, British Birds December 2024

Records from Kent Bird Report 2023 (Aug 2025)

Changes to the British List, BOURC, 12^th August 2025

Keith Privett.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

August 2025

The Species

• Super User
• 9-Jan-2022
• Basic page

Obituaries of members that have made a significant contribution to ornithology in the county will appear in the Kent Bird Report for the year in which they passed away. These are replicated here along with obituaries of other significant or well known Kent birders.

Dave Davenport (1946-2008) by Chris Wheeler

Bob Scott (1938-2009) by Stephen Moss

Geoffrey Munns (1920-2011) by Jim Flegg

Maurice Davenport (1947-2012) by Bill Harvey

Gordon Allison (1961-2012) by Alan Johnson

George Shannon (1920-2013) by Chris Cox

Jim Allen (1915-2015) by Ian Castle

Owen Sweeney (1943-2016) by Murray Orchard

Tony Holcombe (1935-2018) by Norman McCanch

Martin Woodcock (1935-2019) by Chris Cox

Geoff Orton (1946-2020) by Murray Orchard

Don Taylor (1938-2023) by Andrew Henderson

Ian Hodgson (1951-2023)  

• Super User
• 8-Jan-2022
• Basic page

Login

You need to login to this website to be able to submit bird records using the form below. You will then be taken to the records submission page.

• Super User
• 4-Jan-2022
• Basic page

Honorary Life Presidents

Ken Lodge, John Cantelo, John Hollyer

Executive Committee

Editorial and Records Committee

Engagement Committee

Conservation and Surveys Committee