Publications
The BOS produce a variety of publications based on our survey work. These include our newsletters, annual and 10 year reports.
Annual Reports
The BOS has published annual reports since 1966. Each report summarises the activities of the society over the year and a review of the bird sightings. Read more ...
Newsletters
The BOS has produced a monthly newsletter since January 1956. All members receive a copy of the newsletter each month. It contains the recent bird sightings and other articles of interest to members. Past newsletters are available to download for each year from the files below. The newsletters have been compiled into an annual report with an index at the beginning so you can quickly locate the newsletter for each month, except for the years 1956-1963 which are only a few pages long. Note that some December and January newsletters have pages omitted where the society's accounts have been removed. The older newsletters have been digitally scanned from the original reports, which in some cases means that the legibility is poor due to the way the originals were reproduced. In most cases it should be possible to perform textual searching within each document, allowing information on specific species to be located, for example. Read more ...
Bird Trends in the Heart of England 1977-2016
This BOS report reviews the population trends of Farmland and Woodland species in south central England compared to the whole of England for the 40 year period 1977 to 2016. Read more ...
Farmland Birds in the Heart of England 2018
The BOS gave a short presentation at the TVERC 2018 Spring Recorder Conference on the state of farmland birds in the BOS. You can view the Microsoft PowerPoint presentation by clicking here: Farmland Birds in the Heart of England 2018.
Birds of the Heart of England
The product of annual surveys since 1952, this book documents remarkable changes in the distribution of many birds through the use of clear colour maps, species accounts and a variety of illustrations. Read more ...
Subcategories
Ten Year Reports
The BOS Ten Year reports summarise the bird sightings and activities of the society in each ten-year period since the society's foundation in 1952. No reports were produced for the periods 1995-2001 or 2002-2011, but this period is covered in the 60-year report Birds of the Heart of England.
Historic Publications
Prior to the foundation of the BOS, bird recording in the local area was carried out by individual naturalists. A key figure is O.V. Aplin, who, in conjunction with family members, compiled the first systematic list of birds of the area now covered by the BOS. Key historic publications used by the BOS are listed here. These publications are still important since they provide evidence on the abundance and distribution of species at that time. We can use this information to help understand the changes in the populations of the species within our area.
Sean Woodcock MP visits Balscote Quarry
Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury visited the BOS reserve at Balscote Quarry recently, to see conservation in action. Steve Holliday, one of the site wardens said, “Balscote may be a small site (6ha) but, through positive management, it holds Red List birds such as Lapwing and Yellowhammer, 24 species of butterfly and much more." We looked at the vital role volunteers play in habitat management on site and, in light of BOS data on local bird declines, how we can develop a more joined-up approach to nature conservation locally. We finished by discussing how new proposals in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill can benefit, not harm, biodiversity.
Outdoor Meeting: 10 August 2026 @ 7pm
A walk round Farnborough Lakes and Woodland
Take Main Street into Farnborough from the A423 – the Southam to Banbury road - where Rachel and Gary will meet us at the Village Hall, (post code: OX17 1ED) where there is parking for about 10 cars. Please car share where possible and park responsibly in the village if the car park is full.
The walk from the Village Hall is less than half a mile downhill to the lakes. Those who would prefer a shorter walk or to avoid walking back up the hill later may like to park in the National Trust carpark at the bottom of the hill by the side of the lakes. Wait there for the main group to join you. Read more ...