Dennis Ockleton Award
Photo: Gi Grieco
Steve Piotrowski was presented with the Dennis Ockleton Award by John Grant for his services to the Suffolk birding community. He then entertained us with a talk on his birding experiences in Suffolk. Steve has been on Council in various roles for 38 years and will continue to run both the SCBOP and CARP campaigns.
Minor changes to the SOG constitution were proposed and endorsed by members present as follows. Two new additions to Council were voted in, bringing us back to full strength. We know Samantha Lee from the RSPB, whilst Alex Rafinski, new to SOG, joins us as Communications Officer. In addition, the role of Membership Secretary and Treasurer has been formally divided into two distinct roles with Kevin Verlander elected Membership Secretary and Matthew Deans continuing in his role as Treasurer. The SOG accounts can be viewed via the website.
John Grant presenting the Denis Ockleton Trophy to Steve
Edward Jackson
SOS Swifts – Project Update Our joint SOG/Suffolk Wildlife Trust project is designed to raise awareness of the steep drop in Swift numbers in recent years and to encourage individuals, communities and county-wide organisations to take action to help reverse these declines. As we move into the project’s third season here are areas where we have been active in the past 12 months and some of our plans for 2016.
Swift events for local communities Our July evenings at Lower Layham and Blaxhall both involved an illustrated talk on Swifts followed by watching the local colonies in and around their nesting sites. We are planning at least two events in different parts of the county this summer. Details will be posted on the SOG and SWT websites, so please do come along if you can.
Recording Swift colonies and nest sites By 2020 we are aiming to know where all Swift colonies are in Suffolk and whether they are present or absent in each rural parish and urban ward. Last year Suffolk Biological Recording Centre helped us set up a dedicated Suffolk Swift Survey page on their website (see link below). Please use this as much as you can this summer to record Swift screaming parties and known nest sites (both in buildings and in artificial nest boxes). If you know of a long-established colony or a nest site that has regularly been in use for some time, please say so on your record. As the Swift is a Suffolk Character Species, these records are being regularly forwarded by SBRC to all the District and Borough Planning Departments and are therefore
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