Barry Hudson, secretary of Oxford Ornithological Society, outlines its agenda

The Oxfordshire Ornithological Society (OOS) is currently running several projects to help some of our most vulnerable birds, including the Tree Sparrow Project.

The programme of assisting this once fairly common bird was taken on by eight volunteers after seeing its numbers had dropped by more than 80 per cent nationally in recent times and it had become virtually extinct to the south of Oxfordshire.

A programme of establishing feeding sites and providing nest boxes has seen sparrow numbers rising from occasional sightings to an estimated 1,000 birds in residence at a couple of sites at the end of the breeding season.

This is most heartening, of course. But with bird seed to feed the sparrows costing thousands of pounds annually, we now need to look further to find why they need assisted feeding. If we can solve that one, we really will have succeeded.

Ornithologists are able to study in detail the birds of Oxfordshire through the OOS’s annual report.

Titled Birds of Oxfordshire, it is fronted by an illustration of one of the ‘best birds’ of 2010, the lesser yellowlegs.

The image comes from the brush of Ian Lewington who, apart from being a bird illustrator of international renown, is the County Recorder for Oxfordshire and heads our editorial team for this publication.

Containing some 1,600 records received, Birds of Oxfordshire is a wide-ranging record of the birds seen and reported by the many birdwatchers in the county, including casual kitchen-window watchers, dog-walkers and ramblers who help to build up a more complete picture by reporting their sightings to the website of the OOS.

Browsing the many lists in this report will give you a great deal of information, including ringing reports compiled by George Candelin, who heads this important aspect of bird recording.

Species groups are written up by some 20 contributors, each with specialist knowledge of a particular bird family.

There is also a month-by-month account of the rare or unusually high number of common birds reported during the year.

Throughout, you will find tables indicating where the records were received from, and also maps showing the county’s birding ‘hot spots’. Many of the tables give comparative details from previous records to give an idea of the changing fortunes of our county’s birds.

This publication is the yardstick for everyone from interested amateurs to professionals who need information about the avifauna of Oxfordshire.

The 2010 annual report is £6.50, plus £1 postage, from the Secretary of the Oxford Ornithological Society, Barry Hudson, 9 Cottage Road, Stanford in the Vale, Faringdon, Oxfordshire SN7 8HX.

The Oxford Ornithological Society welcomes all who have an interest in birds and birdwatching — young or old, expert or novice — with activities to designed to suit a range of interests and levels of experience. Contact Barry Hudson on 07833 35028 for information.