bou annual report of council and annual accounts 2002

Ibis

(2003),

145

, 532–545

© 2003 British Ornithologists’ Union

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UKIBIIbis0019-1019British Ornithologists' Union, 2003 July 20031453MiscBOU Annual ReportBOU Annual Report

BOU Annual Report of Council and Annual

Accounts 2002

Membership of Council

President

: Prof I. Newton OBE FRS;

Vice Presidents

:

DrM.W. Pienkowski, Mr T. Appleton;

Honorary Secretary

:Mr N.J. Bucknell;

Honorary Treasurer

: Dr R.G. Clarke;

Members

: Dr H.Q.P. Crick, Dr E. Dunn, Prof C.J. Feare(Chairman, Meetings Committee), Dr J. Gill, Dr B. Hatch-well, Mr. E.R. Meek (Chairman, Records Committee), MrD. Moore, Dr G.R. Potts, Mr N.J. Redman (Chairman,

Ibis

Committee), Dr T.M. Reed (Chairman, OrnithologicalAffairs Committee), Dr J. Sears.

Editor of

Ibis

: Dr A.G. Gosler, assisted by Dr J. Lindsell,Ms C. Devereux;

Checklist Editor

: Prof J. Kear.

Staff at 31 December 2002

Administrator

: Mr S.P. Dudley;

Administrative Secretary

:Mrs G. Bonham.

British Ornithologists’ Union

Founded 1858 – Registered Charity No. 249877

The British Ornithologists’ Union is an unincorporatedcharity whose object is the promotion of the science ofornithology. Its governing document is the Rules adopted atthe Annual General Meeting in 1999. Its correspondenceaddress is The Natural History Museum, Akeman Street,Tring, Herts HP23 6AP.

The Union seeks to further its objectives by the publica-tion of ornithological research, in particular through itsjournal

Ibis

and the

Checklist

series, by the organization ofconferences, by maintaining the official list of birdsrecorded in Britain, by making grants available for ornitho-logical research and by offering ornithological advice toother organizations and agencies. Under the rules, theCouncil of the Union is responsible for the running of theUnion’s business, supported by the its staff. Council maydelegate functions to standing or

ad hoc

committees whichreport to Council. The Union’s Council retains overallresponsibility for matters so delegated. The reports of thepermanent committees on their activities during the yearare set out as part of this report.

BOU Mission Statement

The British Ornithologists’ Union will promote under-standing and conservation of the world’s birds, advanceornithology within the scientific community and promotescientific ornithology to the wider birdwatching public.

The BOU’s mission will be achieved by the followingmeans:

1 The publication of

Ibis

as a leading international journalof ornithological science.

2 The publication of the BOU Checklist series, togetherwith other publications.

3 The organization of a programme of meetings andconferences.

4 The provision of grants for ornithological research.5 The encouragement of liaison between those actively

engaged in ornithological research.6 The provision of a representative body of the scientific

community, ornithological information and advice togovernment and other policy makers.

7 To maintain and publish the official list of birds recordedin Britain – known as The British List.

Annual Report of Councils 2002

2002 saw the beginning of the Union’s new publicationarrangements with Blackwell Publishing and the launchof the on-line version of

Ibis

. Preliminary indications arethat both innovations have been a success. The move toBlackwell Publishing has put an end to the drain on theUnion’s slender resources and provided a source of addi-tional funds for the Union’s activities. Authors have takento on-line publishing, with, in addition to all the papersthat appeared in the printed issue, a further 21 paperspublished as part of the on-line only supplement, and sotaking advantage of a greatly reduced publication delay.

A Joint Publications Committee with the British Orni-thologists’ Club was established following agreement in2001 to publish the

Checklists

series jointly with the Club.As a result, the Union’s Publications Committee hasbeen suspended. A new committee to oversee

Ibis

hasalso been established. It is Council’s view that these twoseparate publishing interests will be better served withtheir own dedicated group.

In the course of the year, Council has also consideredtwo matters for the future. Firstly, it is hoped to establishan internet newsgroup as a forum for the exchange ofinformation and news. Secondly, much thought has beengiven to fundraising, not an easy task for a body whoseaim is the promotion of science rather than the directpromotion of conservation issues.

A successful conference on the theme of

ClimateChange and Coastal Birds

was held in Hull in March. Unfor-tunately another conference on

Birds and Public Health

scheduled for the autumn had to be cancelled following

© 2003 British Ornithologists’ Union,

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the failure of the specialist journal responsible for distrib-uting the booking forms to circulate them. This meetinghas been rescheduled for autumn 2003.

The Annual General Meeting saw the retirement ofTony Marr at the end of his period as Chairman of theRecords Committee. Tony did much to raise the profile ofthe work of the Committee in the popular birding press,which was helped by a number of timely and promptconsiderations of high-profile records of species new to theBritish List. The Union is grateful to him for his efforts.The Union welcomed his successor Eric Meek, and theHonorary Secretary, Neil Bucknell, was reappointed for asecond four-year term. As ever, Steve Dudley and GwenBonham worked tirelessly to support the Union in all itsactivities and Council is grateful to them for their efforts.

Ornithological Affairs Committee

Chairman

: Dr T.M. Reed;

Members

: Ms S. Davies, Dr M.Marquiss, Dr S. Ormerod, Dr S. Whitehead, Dr W. Peach.

The Committee met once during the year and alsoconducted business by post and email. Dr Mick Marquissand Professor Stephen Ormerod retired from the Com-mittee. We thank them for their contributions. Replacingthem, we welcomed Drs Phil Shaw and Shelley Hinsley.

Research Grants

The Committee considered ten applications for fundingunder the Union’s Scheme. This is the lowest number ofapplicants for some years. Council accepted the recommen-dation that the following projects be funded:

Arthur, D. (UK). Observations and ringing study of WinterRing Ouzels

Turdus torquatus

and their habitat in the HighAtlas Mountains of Morocco (£450)

.

Bogomolov, D. (Russia). Neglected and reconstructed territoriesof Central Russia as the core diversity of birds (£350).

Shaw, P. (UK). Status and habitat requirements of theKaramoja Apalis

Apalis karamojae

in the Wenbere Steppe,Tanzania (£550)

.

Szabo, Z. D. (Hungary). White Stork breeding success, foragingand survival in Romania (£750)

.

The BOU Ibis Award

The Committee revised the paper for an award targeted atthose in the early/mid stages of their careers. This wasagreed by Council and named the BOU Ibis Award. Ashort list of potential awardees was provided to Counciland the first award is due to be given in 2003.

Alfred Newton Lectureship

Council agreed the proposal that Professor C.M. Perrinsbe invited to present the 4th Alfred Newton Lecture.

Fittingly, this will be given at the joint conference with theEdward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, in April 2003.

Ibis

Committee

Chairman

: Mr N.J. Redman;

Members

: Dr W. Cresswell, DrH.Q.P. Crick, Mr S.P. Dudley (Administrator), Dr J. Gill,Dr A.G. Gosler (Editor), Dr M.W. Pienkowski.

The new

Ibis

Committee was established in May 2002,following the formal suspension of the PublicationsCommittee and the establishment of a new BOU/BOCJoint Publications Committee which will oversee all non-journal publications. The

Ibis

Committee will act as anadvisory group to help determine the journal’s directionand to advise the Editor and Administrator in the manage-ment of the journal. Its members include active researchbiologists with a wide experience of current journal andresearch environments, publication requirements, sciencecitation and current practice in peer review.

Business was conducted by email and no meetings wereheld in the period to 31 December 2002.

Ibis

– the BOU’s international journal of avian science

The year 2002 marked an important point in the historyof

Ibis

with the first full year’s publication with BlackwellPublishing and the introduction of

Ibis Online –

www.ibis.ac.uk. In addition to the printed version, all thepapers from each issue were published in full on-line.

IbisOnline

also included additional papers which werepublished on-line only (the abstracts of which are alsopublished in the printed issue). These papers have beenelected for on-line only publication by the authors,because they can be published more rapidly.

During 2002, 183 manuscripts were received from 37countries. The quality of papers submitted generallyremained high, and many of the papers rejected by

Ibis

because, for example, they were considered to be of localrather than international interest, will probably bepublished elsewhere. The delay between acceptance andconventional (printed) publication for papers now stood ata little under a year but, for ‘on-line only’ publication, thishas been as little as six weeks.

There was a welcome increase in submissions from theUSA in 2002, building on increases in the previous two years,and these now exceed the total received from Spain. Thus,while 18% of papers came from the UK (the same percent-age as 2001), 12% came from the USA and 9% from Spain.

Ibis Online

has been warmly welcomed by authors, andfigures from the publishers indicate that it has been exten-sively used by readers. The number of ‘accesses’ made tothe

Ibis Online

website has increased steadily since itslaunch in January 2002, and in September alone, the tableof contents was accessed 960 times, and PDF files (i.e.access made to a paper) were accessed 900 times. BlackwellPublishing confirms that this compares very favourably withother journals.

534

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After some difficulties encountered early in the year, all

Ibis Online

papers now appear in

Web-of-Science, ZooRecord

and

Biological Abstracts

, and a number of ‘on-lineonly’ papers have already been cited in published paperselsewhere. It is now hard to believe that on-line publica-tion of

Ibis

is just a little over a year old. During 2002 welearned that the SCI impact factor for

Ibis

improved from1.0 in 2000 to 1.136 in 2001.

Four issues of

Ibis

were published on time, in January,April, July and October. Volume 144 contained 70 scientificpapers (some 300 000 words). These were also publishedas part of

Ibis Online

, which also included 21 paperspublished on-line only – the equivalent of a little morethan a full issue. Within the

Ibis

Office, the use of on-screenediting and increased use of email has significantlyimproved the speed of dealing with papers, and this hasbeen applauded by authors.

One of the main reasons for changing publishers was toreduce the overall cost of delivering

Ibis

to members andinstitutional subscribers. By the end of 2001,

Ibis

wasoperating with an annual deficit approaching £20 000. Bythis time action had already been taken and at the end of2000 the publication of

Ibis

was put out to tender. By early2001 the decision to move the journal to BlackwellPublishing had already been made. At the end of our firstyear with our new partners, Blackwell Publishing, we arepleased to report that the decision to change publishershas been justified on financial grounds, and we are also verypleased with editorial and management arrangements. Theaccounts show that

Ibis

in 2002 made a surplus, a tremen-dous achievement in the first year of the new publishingarrangements, and on which we can continue to build. Theprofitability of

Ibis

is not only key to the future success ofthe journal but also to the future of the Union. A surpluswill allow the Union to consider the future growth of thejournal, as well other aspects of the Union’s work.

We are very grateful to the staff at Blackwell Publishing,in particular Alison Brown, Susan Hewitt, Lynne Miller,Colin Robertson and Amanda McLean-Inglis, for thesmooth transition during the hand-over of the journalfrom the previous publisher and for their valued input tothe management of the journal during this first year of ournew partnership. The Editor would like especially to thankPatrick Smith (

Ibis

Production Editor at Blackwell Pub-lishing). We are extremely grateful to all members ofthe

Ibis

Editorial Board for their continuing excellentwork in undertaking the major part in co-ordinating peerreview.

During 2002, Jeremy Lindsell left Oxford to take up apost with the RSPB. During his time as

Ibis

EditorialAssistant, he made substantial improvements to the

Ibis

database. The Editor in particular wishes to record histhanks to Jeremy for this, and for his efficient day-to-dayrunning of manuscript management, and for helping tokeep Associate Editors and referees on their toes. We wishhim every success in the future. Jeremy set a high standard,

which his successor, Claire Devereux, has maintainedadmirably. We are grateful to both of them.

We also wish to thank Dr Linda Birch for continuing tocommission and edit the book reviews.

Ibis

is unique inthe quality and comprehensiveness of its book reviewsand this is a valuable part of the journal. The Editor hasalso been assisted greatly by Dorothy Vincent, who haschecked all

Ibis

proofs during the year. Apart from hergeneral skill as a proof-reader, Dorothy’s detailed knowledgeof ornithological literature means that her contributionis outstanding.

BOU/BOC Joint Publications Committee

Chairman

: Revd. T.W. Gladwin;

Members

: Miss. D.V.Breese, S.P. Dudley (Publications Manager), J.A. Jobling,Prof. J. Kear (

Checklist

Editor), D.J. Montier, N.J. Redman.This joint committee, with each organization taking

the chair every two years, was established in May 2002. Itis responsible for the management and production of allBritish Ornithologists’ Union and British Ornithologists’Club non-journal publications, including the Union’s

Checklist

series.Three meetings were held in the period to 31 December

2002 and significant progress has been made throughoutthe year with a number of publications.

Conference proceedings

The conference proceedings

Why Museums Matter: AvianArchives in an Age of Extinction

is to be published by theBOC as a supplement to the

Bull. Brit. Orn. Club

(expected March 2003). The Committee is particularlygrateful to Dr. N. Collar, Dr. C.T. Fisher and Prof. C.J. Fearefor their efforts in securing publication of these importantproceedings.

The BOU’s publication of the conference proceedings

Climate Change and Coastal Birds

has been generouslysupported by Northumbrian Water and is due to bepublished in 2004.

The print edition of the BOU publication

Ecology andConservation of Lowland Farmland Birds

sold out in spring,since when it has been available on CD.

Checklists

No new titles were published in the series during the year,but work continued on

The Birds of Morocco

and

The Birdsof Hispaniola

, both now due for publication in 2003. TheCommittee’s Publications Manager also commencedwork with the authors of

The Birds of São Tomé, Príncipeand Annobón

, due for publication in 2004.In addition to the above, the Committee inherited a list

of some further 21 working titles which are overseen bythe

Checklist

Series Editor. These are at various stages,from proposals under consideration to near-completedmanuscripts close to submission. Careful monitoring of thislist, and the thorough assessment of future proposals, will


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ensure that our limited resources are directed at titles thatthe two organisations are confident match our publishingcriteria.

The Committee is grateful to Janet Kear and SteveDudley for their continued management of the individualtitles and progress of this important series.

Other publications

Work continued on the

Bird Atlas of Uganda

. With all mate-rial now received, layouts are being prepared. Publicationis now expected in the autumn of 2003. The Committeeis grateful to Nigel Redman for overseeing this project.

Meetings Committee

Chairman

: Professor C.J. Feare;

Members

: ProfessorR.A. Cheke, Dr W. Cresswell, Dr B. Hughes, ProfessorG.R. Martin, Dr M.M. Rehfisch and Dr J.D. Wilson.

2002 proved to be another mixed year in terms of ourconferences. In April, we visited the University of Hull for ascintillating weekend discussing the likely effects of climatechange and sea-level rise on our coasts, their birds, and theplant and animal communities that support them. About100 delegates attended

Climate Change and Coastal Birds

,representing seven countries, and they heard an excellentseries of talks that described effects already visible, ecolog-ical, economic and political problems that await to befaced, and predictions on the future effects of theseproblems. The Union is grateful to our co-sponsors of theconference, the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association,and to Northumbrian Water and The Marine BiologicalAssociation for their support. For a full report see DavidParkin’s synopsis in

Ibis

144

: 704–766. The Committeeis also grateful to Mark Rehfisch for co-ordinating theprogramme for this conference and taking the lead on thepublished proceedings, to all the speakers and authors ofposters presented during the weekend, and to Gwen Bonhamand Steve Dudley for their planning and organisation. Theproceedings of the conference are to be published with thegenerous support of Northumbrian Water.

The second meeting that had been planned for the yearhad to be cancelled, our second cancellation in successiveyears. The problem was outside the Union’s control.

Birdsand Public Health

had been planned as a one-day meeting inLondon, aimed at an industrial/governmental audienceand therefore promoted through relevant trade literature.Unfortunately, the trade magazine that had agreed todistribute our 7000 publicity leaflets, failed to includethem with their mailing. Although we received sufficientbookings to break even on the meeting, we decided topostpone it, because such a thin meeting would not havejustified the participation of the excellent speakers, andwould have disappointed others who would have liked toattend this meeting, had they known of it. This meetingwill now take place on 27 November 2003 at the BritishAcademy. The Committee is grateful to Chris Feare and

Steve Dudley for their efforts in the original planning ofthis meeting.

We look forward to the spring 2003 conference,

LongTerm Studies of Birds

, which breaks the mould of BOUconferences by linking with the Edward Grey Institute,University of Oxford, to co-host a conference at whichstudent papers will predominate. The Meetings Commit-tee feels that the Union badly needs this concentrationon youth.

In 2002, Drs Clem Fisher and Lincoln Fishpool retiredon rotation and we thank them for their valued inputsinto the Committee’s deliberations and planning. Theyhave been replaced by Dr Richard Bradbury, of the RoyalSociety for the Protection of Birds, and Dr Baz Hughes,of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

Records Committee

Chairman

: Mr E.R. Meek;

Secretary

: Dr T.M. Melling;

Members

: Dr M. Collinson, Mr A.H.J. Harrop, Mr P.V.Harvey, Mr I.D. Lewington, Mr R.Y. McGowan, Dr A.J.Prater, Dr R. Wilkinson, Prof. C. Bradshaw (

ex officio

).The Committee’s 29th Annual Report was published

in January 2003 (

Ibis

145

: 178–183) covering the periodOctober 2001 to September 2002 and including details ofchanges to the British List. Six new species were added tothe List: Red-billed Tropicbird

Phaethon aethereus

(at sea,20 miles (32 km) SSE of the Isles of Scilly, 7 June 2001);Snowy Egret

Egretta thula

(Balvicar, Seil Island, Argyll, 5November 2001 and various West and South-west Scottishlocalities into 2002); Slender-billed Curlew

Numenius tenui-rostris

(Druridge Bay, Northumberland, 4–7 May 1998);Mourning Dove

Zenaida macroura

(North Uist, WesternIsles, 14–16 November 1999); Gray Catbird

Dumetellacarolinensis

(South Stack, Holy Island, Anglesey, 4–5October 2001) and Siberian Blue Robin

Luscinia cyane

(Minsmere, Suffolk, 23 October 2001).Following the separation of British and Irish records in

1998 (

Ibis

141: 175–180), it proved necessary to determinewhich was the first British record for ten species for whichthe previous first record had been in Ireland. The speciesinvolved were Black Duck Anas rubripes, AmericanGolden Plover Pluvialis dominica, Black-billed CuckooCoccyzus erythrophthalmus, Swainson’s Thrush Catharusustulatus, Zitting Cisticola Cisticola juncidis, Pallas’s Grass-hopper Warbler Locustella certhiola, Philadelphia Vireo Vireophiladelphicus, Red-eyed Vireo Vireo olivaceus, Dark-eyedJunco Junco hyemalis and Rose-breasted Grosbeak Pheucti-cus ludovicianus.

Of species already on the British List, new first recordswere confirmed for Canvasback Anas valisineria(Cliffe, Kent, 7 December 1996) and Baltimore OrioleIcterus galbula (Unst, Shetland 26 September 1890). Inaddition, the record of a Blue-cheeked Bee-eater Meropssuperciliosus on Tresco, Isles of Scilly, 13 July 1921 wasconfirmed as belonging to the subspecies persicus.

536 BOU Annual Report

© 2003 British Ornithologists’ Union, Ibis, 145, 532–545

The Taxonomic Sub-committee of the BOURC made anumber of recommendations affecting the British List(Ibis 144: 707–710). Those affecting the make-up of theBritish List involved the elevation to specific status of thefollowing taxa previously considered to be subspecies:Macqueen’s Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii (previouslyconsidered conspecific with Houbara Bustard C. undulata);Eastern Olivaceous Warbler Hippolais elaeica (previouslyconsidered conspecific with Western Olivaceous WarblerH. pallida); Sykes’s Warbler Hippolais rama (previouslyconsidered conspecific with Booted Warbler H. caligata)and Hooded Crow Corvus cornix (previously consideredconspecific with Carrion Crow C. corone). As a result ofthis review, Houbara Bustard has been removed fromCategory B of the British List and replaced by Macqueen’sBustard, and Sykes’s Warbler and Hooded Crow have beenadded to Category A. Eastern Olivaceous Warbler isretained in Category A but the position of Western Oliva-ceous Warbler is being reviewed.

The above changes mean that the British List currentlystands at 565 species (Category A: 542; Category B: 14;Category C: 9). Species in Categories D and E (birds ofdoubtful status and escapes) do not form part of the officialBritish List.

Other important work carried out by the TSC involvedthe publication of Guidelines for assigning species rank(Ibis 144: 518–525). This landmark paper was a responseto the evident need for a set of guidelines to try to ensureconsistency in taxonomic decision-making and to assistnon-specialists to understand the rationale behind anychanges to the British List; and it has been well receivedworld-wide.

The newly designated role of Convenor of the TSC waskindly taken on by Dr Martin Collinson, who was himselfelected on to BOURC to replace Tony Marr who retiredfrom the position of Chairman. The role of Chairman hasbeen filled by Mr Eric Meek.

Work on preparing a new edition of the BOU’s Check-list of the Birds of Britain and Ireland, to update the SixthEdition, was continued throughout the year, a large part ofthe Committee’s June 2002 meeting being devoted to itscontent. The Committee is especially grateful to SteveDudley, Mike Gee and Tim Melling for their work on thisproject.

The Committee continues to work closely with theBritish Birds Rarities Committee, especially through theBBRC Chairman, Prof. Colin Bradshaw, who is an ex officiomember of BOURC. The Committee could not operatesuccessfully without the considerable help it receivesfrom many people. We particularly wish to thank GwenBonham, Ian Dawson, Steve Dudley, Mike Gee, NickGreen, Andreas Helbig, Tim Inskipp, Keith Naylor, AlanKnox, Phil Palmer, David Parkin, Dennis Paulson, RichardPorter, Peter Robinson, Mike Rogers, George Sangsterand Grahame Walbridge for all their help, and apologiseto any others we have omitted to mention by name.

The work of the BOU Office

Administrator: Mr S.P. Dudley; Administrative Secretary:Mrs G. Bonham.

2002 saw the BOU Office implement the many chal-lenges set by Council in 2001. Changes to routine adminis-tration and the servicing of the Union’s Council andStanding Committees were undertaken in order to be morecost-effective, including increased use of email for Counciland Committee business and the reduction of the numberof meetings held.

Following the transfer of Ibis to our new publishers,Blackwell Publishing, the BOU Office continued to man-age the non-editorial aspects of this new partnership. Aswell as holding meetings with Blackwell’s to discuss andplan management, marketing and growth of the journal,the most important element was to deliver the surplus thatwas forecast during the search for a new publisher in2000. From a significant deficit position in 2001, it isrewarding to have achieved this. Profitability of Ibis isessential for the Union, not only for the journal itself togrow, but also to provide much-needed funds for otherUnion activities. The BOU Office would like to thank ournew friends at Blackwell Publishing.

The first year of Ibis Online saw a good take-up frominstitutions but only a modest take-up from the BOUmembership. In its first year Ibis Online was an optionalextra for members, but from 2003 members have theopportunity to choose how they want to receive the jour-nal, either on-line, in printed form or both. This changeincreases slightly the time spent administering the Union’smembership.

Although no new titles were added to the ChecklistSeries during the year, the Administrator progressed workon both The Birds of Morocco and The Birds of Hispaniola,both now expected to be published in 2003, and towardsthe year-end commenced work on The Birds of São Tomé,Príncipe and Annobón.

Following the agreement in 2001 to publish the Check-list Series jointly with our sister organization, the BritishOrnithologists’ Club, a joint publications committee wasestablished to oversee all non-journal publications of thetwo organizations. As well as servicing this committee, theBOU Administrator sits on this committee as a full,permanent member and acts as Publications Manager forboth organisations for all non-journal publications. To thisend, the Administrator was involved in the management ofthe proceedings of the BOU’s Why Museums Matter con-ference (1999) which will now appear as a supplement tothe Bull. Brit. Orn. Club in spring 2003.

With Ecology and Conservation of Lowland FarmlandBirds selling out of the printed edition, the BOU Officeproduced a CD version of this popular title. The moveto publishing on CD is a new departure for the BOU and,with steady sales of this first title, it is likely that other pub-lications may be published using this format in the future.


BOU Annual Report 537

The Administrator was also heavily involved in thepreparation of a new edition of The Checklist of Birds ofBritain (formerly The Checklist of Birds of Britain & Ireland).

The BOU Office was again responsible for the planningand running of the BOU conferences during the year.This included the Annual Conference at the University ofHull in March on Climate Change and Coastal Birds andthe postponed Birds and Public Health meeting inNovember (all the planning and organization of which hadbeen undertaken before cancellation). During the year,work continued on the 2003 Annual Conference to beheld jointly with the Edward Grey Institute at the Uni-versity of Oxford, and planning began for the second farm-land birds conference scheduled for spring 2004.

Again, due to lack of sponsorship, no new edition of TheBritish List was published this year. This project remainsa priority for the Union and a sponsor is still being sought.

The BOU Office continues to manage and develop theBOU website (www.bou.org.uk) which promotes theUnion to a wide audience and is increasingly important forrecruiting new members, attracting delegates to Unionconferences, disseminating information about the work ofthe Union, and for selling BOU books and other goods.A disadvantage to having a website is the increase inincoming emails, many of which can be classed as junk ornuisance. Some are, however, valid correspondents want-ing to learn about the work of the Union or enquiring aboutornithological issues. Such correspondence takes time andthe BOU Office is to look at ways of reducing the amountof time spent dealing with this increase in correspondence.

Media interest in the Union reached new heights withthe admission of Slender-billed Curlew to the British List.With this being the last confirmed sighting of this speciesanywhere in the world, working closely with the RSPB’spress department, the BOU’s press release was used by theRSPB to good effect in promoting their support of workresearching this species, which is close to extinction. Theresult was increased coverage for the BOU, includingbroadsheet features, several smaller items in tabloid andregional press and excellent coverage on national BBCradio. In addition to this high-profile item, the BOUcontinued to receive regular coverage in the UK birdingpress, and Juliet Vickery again managed to get severalitems based on papers appearing in Ibis published in BBCWildlife, each mentioning the relevant Ibis paper.

The Union’s membership saw another drop, againowing mainly to retirements from active ornithology or tochanges in career emphasis. It emphasizes the need toattract greater numbers of younger members as theyembark on careers in ornithology and related areas. It ishoped that initiatives such as joining up with the EdwardGrey Institute to co-host their annual student conferencein April 2003 and the move to on-line publishing, willencourage more young researchers to join the Union.Universities now produce students of general ecology,with few specializing in narrower subject areas such as

ornithology. We again urge all members to help by encour-aging their friends and colleagues to join the BOU. Themembership of the Union at 31 December 2002 stood at1551 (1661 in 2001).

The following members were elected during 2002: MsA.A.Y. Adams*, F.K. Ammer*, Ms M.H. Bakermans*, E.Beer, Ms K. Borgmann*, V.D.S. Braz*, Ms J. Broussard*, N.Buckley, Dr T. Boulinier, G.B. Cabau, C.D. Cadeno*, R.Caliman, Mrs S. Calvert-Fisher, P.T. Castell, Ms N.Chong*, M.M.N. Coelho*, G.J. Colorado*, P. Combridge,Ms P. Coulter*, M. Coumbe, M. Dagis, Ms V.L. D’Amico*, H.Deavin, E.G. del Rey, Ms R. Duraes*, R.F. Fadini*, A.Given*, Ms R.E. Goddard, T.G. Gunnarson, Y. Hayashi, S.Haysom, Ms J.D. Hilburn, Ms M.J.F. Jausegar*, Ms G.Jehle*, Dr J.P. Kelly, M. Kilpi, P. Koskimies*, S.-I. Lee*,L.O. Leite*, R.-S. Lin, L.E. Lopes*, J. Lovett, S.W. Lowe,R. McAndrew, Dr J.H. Mackintosh*, Ms H. Markland*,S.M.P. Marques, J.-E. Martinez-Gomez*, D.E. Marx*, A.S.Merlgoza*, Ms J. Nooker*, F. Padu*, J. Pascual-Parra, C.Pendlebury, B. Pleasance, R.A. Powell*, L.F.A. Ramos*, R.Ribon*, Ms A.M. Ross*, Ms W. Schelsky*, A. Scheuerlein,J.C. Scullen*, P. Servat*, W.S. Svagelj*, R.P. Tipper*, M.B.Tirado, Ms W. Tori*, A. Vitz*, J. Waldenstrom, K. Walton,D.C. Webb, D.M. Whitaker*, M. Widmer, K. White, T.Wood, Ms H. Woodward*, Dr F. Woog and G. Wragg.

34 resignations were accepted during the year andCouncil noted with regret the deaths of the followingmembers: G.B. Blaker, R.J. Brown, P.B. Clarke, Prof. P.R.Evans, M.P.L. Hemple, J.M.B. King, Prof. Dr F.W. Merkel,Dr K.E.L. Simmons, S. Speich, Prof K.H. Voous and V.J.Wood.

Finance

Honarary Treasurer: Dr R.G. Clarke.I am pleased that in 2002 the Union is able to report the

first operating surplus for almost a decade. However, incommon with many organizations, the Union sufferedlosses on its investments due to the continued fall in thestockmarket, and these outweighed the surplus made. Thenet fall in Unrestricted Funds was £8159.

The operating losses, which the Union suffered annuallysince 1993, were recognized to be unsustainable soon afterI took office in 2000. As outlined in my 2000 report, thelosses were largely due to the financial structures of twoprincipal sections of our operations – Ibis and the Checklistseries. The switch to less costly publishing arrangementsfor both Ibis and the Checklists was therefore put inmotion. The first years in which these measures take fulleffect financially in the Union’s accounts are 2002 forIbis and 2003 for the Checklist series. Published withBlackwell Publishing from the start of 2002, Ibis showeda surplus of £10 096 in 2002 compared to a loss of£18 400 in 2001.

* for 2003



In 2001 we were delighted to announce that publica-tion of future Checklist volumes is to be shared with theBritish Ornithologists’ Club. This will lighten the load ofwhat is an activity in furtherance of the Union’s objectsrather than a commercial venture.

The drop in membership was reflected in the fall insubscription income. Conference activities contributedless to the Union’s financial activities in 2002 than fore-cast, due to the cancellation of the Birds and Public Heathmeeting. A tight rein has been kept on management andadministration costs.

The fall in investment values in 2002 was of the orderof 8% for the Union’s portfolio, compared to falls of almost25% in the normal stockmarket indices. Income from theUnion’s investments has remained buoyant, being morethan double that of the average yield on equities. TheUnion’s Investment Trustees consider that the Union’scurrent investments, mainly held in low-risk compositefunds, remain appropriate whilst the Union continues toview the funds invested as long-term in nature.

Statement of Council members’ responsibilities

Charity law requires the Council as Trustees to prepareaccounts for each financial year which give a true and fairview of the state of affairs of the charity and of its financialactivities for that period. In preparing those accounts theCouncil is required to:

(a) Select suitable accounting policies and then applythem consistently;

(b) Make judgements and estimates that are reasonableand prudent;

(c) State whether the policies adopted are in accordancewith the SORP ‘Accounting by Charities’ and withapplicable accounting standards, subject to anymaterial departures disclosed and explained in theaccounts;

(d) Prepare the accounts on the going concern basis unlessit is inappropriate to assume that the charity willcontinue in business.

The Council is responsible for keeping proper accountingrecords which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any timethe financial position of the charity and to enable them toensure that the accounts comply with the Charities Act1993. They are responsible for safeguarding the assets ofthe charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for theprevention and detection of fraud or other irregularities.

Reserves and investment policies

In view of the erosion of its unrestricted reserves over thelast few years, and the need to maintain an adequate buffershould future commitments and expenditure not be

covered by concurrent income, the Union has taken stepsaimed at halting the reduction in unrestricted reserves andat building them up to an appropriate and practicallevel to be determined in the light of the Union’s ongoingdevelopment of its activities and financial performancein the coming periods. The Union’s investments are heldin low-risk funds consistent with providing a reasonablelevel of return given prevailing market rates, with themajority held in composite funds designed to give grossrates of return to charities.

REPORT OF THE INDEPENDENT AUDITORS TO THE COUNCIL OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS’ UNION

We have audited the financial statements of The BritishOrnithologists’ Union for the year ended 31 December2002 which comprise the Statement of Financial Activi-ties, the Balance Sheet, and the related notes. These financialstatements have been prepared under the historical costconversion as modified by the revaluation of certain fixedassets and the accounting policies set out therein.

This report is made solely to the union’s members, as abody. Our audit work has been undertaken so that wemight state to the union’s members those matters we arerequired to state to them in an auditors’ report and for noother purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we donot accept or assume responsibility to anyone other thanthe union and the union’s members as a body, for our auditwork, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

Respective responsibilities of the Council and Auditors

The Council’s responsibilities for preparing the Council’sReport and the financial statements in accordance withapplicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standardsare set out in the Statement of Council Members’Responsibilities.

We have been appointed as auditors under section 43 ofthe Charities Act 1993 and report in accordance with reg-ulations made under section 44 of that Act. Our responsi-bility is to audit the financial statements in accordancewith relevant legal and regulatory and United KingdomAuditing Standards.

We report to you our opinion as to whether the financialstatements give a true and fair view and are properly pre-pared in accordance with the Charities Act 1993. We alsoreport to you if, in our opinion, the Council’s report is notconsistent with the financial statements, if the charity hasnot kept proper accounting records, or if we have notreceived all the information and explanations we require forour audit.

We are not required to consider whether the statementin the Council’s Report concerning the major risks towhich the charity is exposed covers all existing risks and



controls, or to form an opinion on the effectiveness of thecharity’s risk management and control procedures.

We read other information contained in the Council’sReport and consider whether it is consistent with the auditedfinancial statements. We consider the implications for ourreport if we become aware of any apparent misstatementsor material inconsistencies with the financial statements.Our responsibilities do not extend to any other information.

Basis of opinion

We conduct our audit in accordance with United KingdomAuditing Standards issued by the Auditing PracticesBoard. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, ofevidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in thefinancial statements. It also includes an assessment of thesignificant estimates and judgements made by the Councilin the preparation of the financial statements, and ofwhether. the accounting policies are appropriate to thecharity’s circumstances, consistently applied and ade-quately disclosed.

We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain allthe information and explanations which we considered

necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence togive reasonable assurance that the financial statementsare free from material misstatement, whether caused byfraud or other irregularity or error. In forming an opinion,we also evaluate the overall adequacy of the presentationof information in the financial statements.

Opinion

In our opinion the financial statements give a true and fairview of the state of the charity’s affairs as at 31 December2002 and of its incoming resources and applicationof resources for the year then ended and have beenproperly prepared in accordance with the Charities Act1993.

AlliottsChartered Accountants and Registered Auditors,

96 High Street, Guildford,Surrey GU1 3DL, UK

Date: 12 March 2003July 20031453MiscBOU Annual ReportBOU Annual Report



British Ornithologists’ Union Statement of Financial Activities for the year ended 31 December 2002

Note

Unrestricted Funds

£

Restricted Funds

£

Endowed Funds

£

Total 2002

£

Total 2001

£incoming resourcesSubscriptions 2 40 104 40 104 42 423Life Member subscriptions 962 962 1 381Publications income:– Ibis 2 50 009 50 009 96 948– Checklists 6 425 6 204 12 629 9 292Investment Income 9 126 6 545 15 671 12 542Bank and other interest 685 685 1 308Sundry other income 1 777 1 777 4 435Conference income 14 207 5 000 19 207 4 924Donations 811 811 9 226Legacy 6 417 10 726 17 143

Total Incoming Resources 124 106 24 166 10 726 158 998 182 479

Resources expendedCharitable ExpenditurePublication costs:– Ibis 39 913 39 913 115 348– Checklists 5 500 5 500 2 003Research Grants 3 2 287 2 287 1 500Meeting expenses 4 180 4 180 3 237Subscriptions paid 888 888 828Conference expenses 14 071 14 071 4 228Goods 979 979 Management and Administration 4 53 491 53 491 58 014

Total Charitable Resources Expended 4 119 022 2 287 121 309 185 158

Net Incoming/(Outgoing) Resources 5 084 21 879 10 726 37 689 (2 679)Losses on investment assets:– Realised (183) (183) (159)– Unrealised (13 243) (10 722) (23 965) (18 443)

Net movements in funds (8 159) 21 879 (179) 13 541 (21 281)

Balances brought forwardat 1 January 2002

132 929 34 289 105 848 273 066 294 347

Balances carried forward at 31 December 2002

£124 770 £56 168 £105 669 £286 607 £273 066



British Ornithologists’ Union Balance Sheet as at 31 December 2002

2002 2001

Note £ £ £ £

Fixed AssetsInvestments 6 226 282 254 295Current AssetsStock 23 871 30 107Debtors:– Sundry debtors and prepayments 16 214 2 975Cash at bank and in hand 59 711 21 663

99 796 54 745

Less creditors: due within one yearDeferred income:– Subscriptions in advance 28 669 29 713Sundry creditors and accruals 10 802 6 261

39 471 35 974

Net current assets 60 325 18 771

Total net assets 7 £286 607 £273 066

Endowed funds 8 105 669 105 848

Restricted funds 9 56 168 34 289

Unrestricted funds 10 124 770 132 929

£286 607 £273 066

Approved by the council on 12 March 2003. I. Newton (President) and R.G. Clarke (Treasurer).



British Ornithologists’ Union Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2002

1. Accounting policies(a) Accounting Convention. The accounts of the Union are prepared in accordance with The Charities (Accounts and Reports)

Regulations 1995, the Statement of Recommended Practice ‘Accounting and Reporting by Charities’ and with applicableaccounting standards. They are drawn up on the historical accounting basis except that investments are carried at market value.

(b) Subscription Income. Subscription income is credited to the Statement of Financial Activities for the year to which it relates. Where subscription income is received from members relating to the following year the income is deferred.

(c) Life Membership. Life membership is credited to the Life Members Fund on a receipts basis; the income is transferred to general funds over the estimated average life of life members.

(d) Publication Income. Publication income arises in 2002 from a profit share on production, publication and distribution by an independent publisher of the Union’s research journals and in 2001 from the contribution to costs primarily by non-membersfor the research journals and checklists published by the Union, in pursuit of the Union’s charitable objects. Income is credited to the Statement of Financial Activities in accordance with the date of the issues published during the year; incomerelating to the following year’s publications is deferred.

(e) Investment Income. Dividends are included in the Statement of Financial Activities when they are declared. Bank interest is included on a receipts basis.

(f) Expenditure. Direct charitable expenditure relates to all expenditure that promotes the charitable objects of the Union.(g) Investments. Investments are recorded in the balance sheet at market value.(h) Stock. Stock is valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value.(i) Foreign Currency. Monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are translated into sterling at the rate of

exchange ruling on the balance sheet date.

2002 £

2001 £

2. Subscription incomeSubscription income received 39 060 40 742Deferred income:

– brought forward 29 713 31 394– carried forward (28 669) (29 713)

£40 104 £42 423

Unrestricted publication income

This income received 37 216 50 334This income debtorDeferred income: 12 793 –

– brought forward – (46 614)

£50 009 £96 948

3. Grants paid 2002 £

2001 £

Grants paid out of the Research Fund (restricted) to individuals and organizations totalled

£2 287 £1 500



British Ornithologists’ Union Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2002 continued

4. Analysis of total resources expended

Staff Costs £

Other £

Total £

Direct charitable expenditure:Publication costs:– Ibis – 39 913 39 913– Checklists – 5 500 5 500Research grants – 2 287 2 287Meeting expenses – 4 180 4 180Subscriptions paid – 888 888Conference expenses 5 000 9 071 14 071

5 000 61 839 66 839

Other expenditureGoods – 979 979Management and administration 30 630 22 861 53 491

£85 679 £121 309

Management and administration of the charity

2002£

2001£

Staff costs – salaries 30 630 36 019Other costs:– Printing and stationery 2 866 1 640– Postage and telephone 3 703 4 486– Sundries 11 634 11 714– Office equipment 2 484 1 687– Auditors’ remuneration:– Audit fees 1 939 2 001– Other 235 467

£53 491 £58 014

5. Employees’/trustees’ remunerationNo Council members received any remuneration, although the following expenses were reimbursed to the Council members:

2002 £

2001 £

Travelling and meeting expenses for members £924 £885

The average number of employees was 2 (2001–2) and total emoluments were £35 780 inclusive of employers NIC £2502 and employer’s pension contribution £2916 (2001 – £36 058, NIC £2609, Pension £2587).




6. Investments

Unrestricted General

£

Unrestricted Designated

£

Endowed Funds

£Total

£

Market value at 1 January 2002 121 869 26 811 105 615 254 295Disposals at open market value – – (6 340) (6 340)Losses on disposals – – (183) (183)Revaluations (9 120) (4 123) (10 722) (23 965)

Market Value at 31 December 2002 112 749 22 688 88 370 223 807

Uninvested cash – – 2 475 2 475

£112 749 £22 688 £90 845 £226 282

Cost £74 196 £11 131 £55 911 £141 238

All the above investments are listed on the London Stock Exchange as Government stocks or indirectly through unit trust and common investment funds.

Government stocks 6 802 – 11 573 18 375Common/collective investment funds 105 947 22 688 76 797 205 432

£112 749 £22 688 £88 370 £223 807

7. Allocation of charity net assets

Investments £

Net Current Assets

£Total

£

Endowed funds 90 845 14 824 105 669Restricted funds – 56 168 56 168Unrestricted funds 135 437 (10 667) 124 770

£226 282 £60 325 £286 607

8. Endowed fundsAll funds are permanent.

Balance at 1 January

2002 £

Incoming Resources

£

Resources Expended

£

Investment Gains

/(Losses) £

Balance at 31

December 2001

£

The Landsborough and Mary Thomson Research Fund 69 154 – – (5 283) 63 871The Research Fund 36 694 – – (5 622) 31 072The Hutt Legacy – 10 726 – – 10 726

£105 848 £10 726 – £(10 905) £105 669

The Landsborough and Mary Thomson Research Fund represents a fund set up by individual donors to fund research. The income arising from the capital held in investments is credited to the restricted Research Fund.

The endowed Research Fund represents the permanent capital the income from which is transferred to the fund of the same name inrestricted funds.




9. Restricted funds


2002Incoming

ResourcesResources Expended

Balance at 31

December 2002

The Research Fund 34 289 6 545 (2 287) 38 547Hispaniola Checklist Grant – 6 204 – 6 204The Clancey Legacy This Fund – 6 417 – 6 417Northumbrian Water ClimateChange Conference Proceedings – 5 000 – 5 000

£34 289 £24 166 £(2 287) £56 168

The Research Fund represents the income arising from The Landsborough and Mary Thomson Research Fund and The Research Fundendowed funds. Its purpose is to fund research in accordance with the objects of the Union.

10. Unrestricted funds


2002 £

Incoming Resources

£

Resources Expended

£

Transfers Between

Funds £

Investment Gains

/(losses) £

Balance at 31

December 2002

£

Designated:Life Members’ Fund 43 126 2 311 – (3 865) (4 123) 37 449Conference Fund 18 172 14 207 (14 071) – – 18 308

General Fund 71 631 107 588 (104 951) 3 865 (9 120) 69 013

£132 929 £124 106 £(119 022) – £(13 243) £124 770

bou annual report of council and annual accounts 2002

Documents