The HOS Scientific Committee has reviewed its Survey Strategy which can be read here.
Breeding season records – including breeding evidence – is welcome for Nightingale, Turtle Dove, Cetti’s Warbler, Water Rail, Firecrest and any species that fall under the remit of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel.
2025 New Forest Waders Survey
HOS has been commissioned by Forestry England to survey breeding waders across the New Forest Special Protection Area in the spring and early summer of 2025.
As with other recent New Forest surveys, we will need a large team of volunteer surveyors, so if you are interested in helping, please contact Nigel Matthews (nigel@matthews-online.co.uk), who is coordinating the survey.
The plan is to survey about 200 1km squares where Snipe, Curlew, Lapwing and Redshank are known to have bred or where suitable breeding habitat exists. Each square will need three survey visits, one in each of the following periods: 10th April – 30th April, 1st May – 21st May and 22nd May – 22nd June.
In 2019-21 a total of about 300 pairs was found, so it will be fascinating to see if the breeding density and distribution of these scarce heathland species has changed.
Hampshire House Martins
During 2025 HOS will be starting a project to find out where House Martins are breeding in Hampshire.
House Martins were put on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in 2021 following a 72% decline in the UK population over the last 50 years. We think the population in Hampshire has also shrunk dramatically but need to gather data to confirm this.
At the end of March or in early April, we will be launching a bespoke website to collate nest site records from HOS members and the general public. We would also like to send HOS volunteers to follow up on these reports and collect further information on individual nests, breeding success and surrounding habitats. If you would like to be part of this follow-up team, please let me know. We anticipate needing volunteers in each of the main Hampshire towns and villages.
In future years we hope to offer artificial nest cups to extend existing colonies. This would save House Martins valuable time, make the nests more robust and hopefully boost breeding success. By running a more structured survey, we’ll also be able to compare the current House Martin breeding population with the national survey carried out in 2015.
Nigel Matthews
nigel@matthews-online.co.uk