LBC Info
LBC Constitution
(as amended at the 2018 AGM)
1.
The Club
1.1.
The Club shall be called the Lincolnshire Bird Club and can be referred to informally
as Lincs Bird Club and abbreviated to LBC.
1.2.
Its aims shall be to encourage and further an interest in the birdlife of the historic
County of Lincolnshire; to participate in organised fieldwork activities; to collect and
publish information on bird movements, behaviour, distribution and populations; to
encourage conservation of the wildlife of the County and to provide sound
information on which conservation policies can be based.
2.
Administration
2.1.
The Club shall be administered by a Committee comprising the five Officers and a
minimum of three elected members. The County Recorder (see para. 2.7) shall be
an ex
officio member and shall be entitled to vote. A quorum of the Committee shall
be four.
2.2.
The officers shall be a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, IT Officer and Membership
Secretary. They shall be elected at an Annual General Meeting (AGM) to serve for a
term of three years; they shall be eligible for immediate re-election.
2.3.
Ordinary members of the Committee shall be elected by the membership at an AGM
to serve for a term of three years, but are eligible for immediate re-election.
2.4.
Vacancies arising among the Officers or members of Committee for any reason may
be filled by co-option at the discretion of the Committee. Members co-opted in this
way shall serve until the next AGM, and are then eligible for election in the normal
way. They are entitled to vote.
2.5.
The Committee shall also have power to co-opt any additional individual, or
representative of any organisation whose experience or advice it requires. Such an
individual shall not be entitled to vote.
2.6.
The Committee may appoint such sub-committees as it requires to study or advise
on specific matters, and shall decide their terms of reference at the time of
appointment.
2.7.
The Committee will appoint one or more County Recorders.
2.8.
All matters relating to the business of the Club shall be decided by the Committee in
accordance with the Constitution. No individual member of the Committee may
commit the Club to any activity without reference to the Committee, except that
decisions required urgently may be made by the five Officers in consultation. Such
decisions must be referred to the Committee as soon as possible.
2.9.
Suitable distinguished persons may be asked to serve as President or Vice-
Presidents of the Club; such posts to be honorary.
2.10.
Cheques and other financial documents shall be signed by any two of the following
Officers: Treasurer, IT Officer, Secretary, Chairman. The Treasurer may operate and
have access to the club's accounts online, make payments solely, subject to a £500
daily limit, and delegate access to other Officers of the committee.
2.11.
The Statement of Accounts for each financial year (which shall be the calendar year)
shall be audited, the Auditors being appointed for the purpose at the previous AGM.
2.12.
A copy of the Constitution shall be given to every member.
2.13.
Minutes shall be kept of all business meetings of both the Club and the Committee.
Such Minutes shall be open to inspection by any member upon application to the
Secretary, at a time and place convenient to the Secretary.
3.
Membership
3.1.
The grades of membership shall be: Ordinary, Family (two adults and the children of
either who are resident with them and under eighteen); Junior (under eighteen);
Senior Citizen (over sixty); and Corporate. The appropriate membership fees for
each grade shall be determined by the Committee and put to the AGM for approval
before any changes are implemented.
3.2.
Membership will be for one calendar year starting on the date the subscription is
paid. New members will receive a free copy of the last published Bird Report.
3.3.
Any member bringing the Club into disrepute may have their membership withdrawn
after consideration of the circumstances by the full Committee; a two-thirds majority
shall be required to withdraw membership. The membership fee will not be returned.
Such a person shall have the right of appeal to an AGM, or a Special General
Meeting.
3.4.
Members shall be entitled to receive, without charge, the annual Bird Report and
Club Newsletters.
4.
Publications
4.1.
The Club shall aim to publish an annual Bird Report covering Lincolnshire, and also
a more frequent Newsletter.
4.2.
The annual Bird Report and the Newsletters shall be issued free to members. The
annual Bird Report will be available for sale to non-members.
4.3.
The Club may also publish other reports, books or other items on an occasional
basis, as the Committee decides.
5.
General Meetings
5.1.
All individual and family members over the age of fourteen shall be entitled to vote at
General Meetings. Corporate members shall have one vote.
5.2.
An AGM shall be held in March every year, to hear the reports of the Officers and
Committee, (including the Statement of Accounts for the previous year), to hold
elections and to appoint the Auditors.
5.3.
Members shall receive at least twenty-eight clear days notice of the holding of the
AGM. Seconded proposals for Officers or members of the Committee (which must
be countersigned by the member proposed), or motions for discussion by the
meeting shall be received by the Secretary at least fourteen days before the AGM.
5.4.
A Special General Meeting (SGM) may be called at any time by a majority decision
of the full Committee or at the request of ten members. Notice of such a meeting
must be given within fourteen days of the receipt of such a request or decision by the
Secretary, and the meeting must be held within twenty-eight days of the receipt of
the decision or request.
5.5.
Fifteen members present at the commencement of either an AGM or a SGM shall
form a quorum. If a quorum is not formed then the meeting shall be reconvened
within two calendar months on a date to be decided by the Secretary.
5.6.
The Constitution of the Club may only be changed at an AGM, after notification of
the proposed change to the membership by announcement on the website and
newsletter to members. To make such a change, a simple majority vote shall be
required. Changes so made shall take effect immediately.
Click here to download Membership PDF Form (print out the PDF document, complete and send to the address shown).
The club was inaugurated in September 1979 with the following aims:
- to encourage and further an interest in the bird life of the historic county of Lincolnshire
- to collect and publish information on bird movements and populations
- to encourage conservation of the wildlife of the county
- to provide sound information on which conservation policies can be based.
Joining the Lincolnshire Bird Club is a great way to make new birdwatching friends and contacts in Lincolnshire!
If you are a "beginner", but keen to become actively involved in birding, you will find that learning about your county's wild birds - how, when and where to see them - is both easier and more enjoyable when undertaken in the company of our local enthusiasts.
If you're already an active birdwatcher you can add another dimension to your birding by becoming involved in our varied local activities.
WHO are we?
All sorts of people are members, linked by their interest in birds and birdwatching in our county. Our membership covers a wide range of birding experience from the newest "beginner" to "expert". Everyone is welcome.
WHAT do we do?
Apart from providing a social forum for local birdwatchers we also
organise our own surveys of bird species in Lincolnshire
take part in national bird surveys and censuses, organised by national conservation bodies
hold an annual slide show / lecture meeting on AGM evening
hold local meetings and more informal gatherings, designed to meet the varying needs and interests of local group members provide a newsletter, Lincolnshire Bird News, at intervals through each year
publish an annual Lincolnshire Bird Report , featuring the systematic list of birds, the county ringing report, reports on long and short-term surveys, Lincolnshire site annual reviews, plus other reports on our county's birds.
HOW do we do it?
We separate the county into 7 regions (shown on the map) each with its own area representative. This means that all members have a local contact who can introduce them to the range of LBC activities in their part of the county, and to other birdwatchers there.
WHY not join us?
Fill-in the membership application form today! Yearly subscription runs from January to December, and includes entitlement to one FREE copy of the Lincolnshire Bird Report , free copies of Lincolnshire Bird News for one year, a free car sticker and either substantially discounted or free (dependent on production costs) provision of other club publications. New subscriptions received after October 1st cover the following full calendar year.
Even if you are unable to take an active part in our surveys your subscription would be put to valuable use in funding our fieldwork and in the publication of its results, both of which are important if we are to gain a better understanding of the fortunes of our county's wild bird populations.
Publications:
The Birds of Lincolnshire and South Humberside
Stephen Lorand and Keith Atkin
This meticulously researched work includes a full systematic list with comments on status, seasonal abundance and sightings. Illustrated with more than 60 photos: £12.50 + £1.50 P&P The Status of Birds in Lincolnshire 1991-1995
Anne Goodall and Keith Atkin
The first in a projected series, aiming to review the status of all the county's bird species every five years: £4.95 + £1.50 P&P The Lincolnshire Bird Atlas
Keith Atkin, Anne Goodall and Ian Nixon
Based on the results of detailed fieldwork undertaken by LBC members during the 1980's and 1990's: £12.50 + £1.50 P&P Lincolnshire Bird Reports
Each issue includes a systematic list, rarity and species accounts, county ringing report, survey results etc. and is illustrated with photographs and line drawings.
1980 to 1988 each issue £1.00 + 50p P&P for one report, 65p for 2 reports, 80p for 3 reports.
1980 to 1988 (8 issue pack) £5.00 + £3.50 P&P.
1989, 1991 Reports onwards (1990 sold out) £4.00 + 50p P&P.
2008, 09, 10, 11 and 12 Lincs Bird Reports
For FULL SALES DETAILS please see our SALE pages.
Available from;
SALES OFFICER :
Bill Sterling
"Newlyn", 5 Carlton Avenue, Healing,
N.E.Lincs, DN41 7PW
e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Also available to collect, post-free, from the above address.
Data searches
All data searches are now handled by the Lincolnshire Environmental Records Centre (LERC). They can provide data on statutory and non-statutory designated sites, habitats and species within Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. LERC currently has access to information on 4 million species records, 2000 non-statutory sites, over 300 statutory sites and 10,000 ha of habitat information relating to Greater Lincolnshire.
For a link to the Lincolnshire Environmental Records Centre (LERC) click here - https://search.glnp.org.uk/
Data searches include information provided by (but not limited to):
- Lincolnshire Bat Group
- Lincolnshire Bird Club
- Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union
- Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
For further information on the data we can provide, get in touch.
Commercial data searches are charged at £100 for the first hour and £35 for each subsequent half hour (+ VAT). The majority of data searches take less than one hour to complete. This charge is waived for searches from members of the public, for research purposes and other non-commercial uses.
The Nature Partnership has been working with its Partners to improve its service and has produced an online form designed to meet the needs of 90% of data search requests. This form can be used to request a standard data search around a 6-figure or 100m grid reference with either a 2km or 5km buffer. Results include information on:
- Non-statutory sites
- Statutory sites
- Priority habitats
- Protected, priority species and invasive species
Data searches requested using this form are charged at £100 + VAT and are usually provided with same day dispatch. If you require a more complex search - for instance a buffer around a site or a different selection of species - fill out a custom data search request form to receive a quote.
Student and LBC Members
If you are a student or LBC member and want information for non-commercial research, please contact the Lincolnshire Environmental Records Centre (LERC) for further information.
LBC is concerned with recording birds in Lincolnshire for the enjoyment of our members and to further the cause of bird conservation. We work closely with other organisations with similar aims to our own, principally BTO, RSPB and LWT. Many LBC members are also members of all or some of these organisations.
The majority of hard core birders in Lincs both serious and aspiring are members of LBC and if our collective efforts are organised we can make a difference to the position of birds in Lincs. One particular way we can do this is by helping to monitor the changing fortunes of our common and rarest birds in Lincolnshire from both a national and local perspective. A systematic list of all known and suspected breeding birds in Lincolnshire from 2000 onwards is reproduced in Table 1. Two measures of abundance are shown arising from the 2009 BTO Breeding Bird Survey (BBS). The first is the number of squares in which each species was recorded in the UK out of a total of 3,243. The second is the same statistic for Lincolnshire out of 51 squares surveyed. Many rarer Lincs species do not show up on the BBS survey because insufficient squares are covered. If you’d like to find out more about this survey and perhaps take part, find out more at www.bto.org/bbs . Unfortunately at the moment BTO splits Lincolnshire data between Lincolnshire and Humberside so at the moment certain data is missing. We are looking to address that point with BTO and hopefully we will have full data for 2010 onwards.
The next column shows the conservation status of species assessed to be of conservation concern by RSPB in 2010. Red data species have suffered over 50% falls in population since the early 70s and amber species have suffered lesser but serious falls. Some still abundant species like Skylark and House Sparrow are red listed because they are at least 50% less common than they used to be.
The final column shows the Rare Breeding Bird Panel (RBBP) status of those species which are absolutely “rare” or “less scarce” in the UK. The entry “LBC” refers to those breeding species which may be relatively common in the rest of the UK but are rare in Lincs. These birds are particularly attractive targets for egg collectors and we urge you not to pinpoint their nest sites in reports on the LBC forums or other public media. Our county recorders, John Badley (South) and John Clarkson (North) welcome all records of all rare breeding species with information about their breeding success where available, which should be sent direct to them.
If you suspect a bird is breeding and it is not on the list, please treat it as rare and contact the county recorders. Each year we compile a report to RBBP from the information you send us and other information we chase people for. The information is published annually by RBBP in the monthly magazine British Birds for the whole of the UK. The last report published was for 2008. We have submitted the 2009 data and are currently compiling 2010. For a sneak preview of the 2009 data for the whole of Lincolnshire look at Table 2.
An alternative way of looking at Lincolnshire Birds is to rank them by their relative abundance and this is shown in Table 3. The measure of abundance used in the first instance is the number of BBS squares in which each species is recorded in Lincolnshire. Where a species has not been recorded in Lincs BBS squares the UK figures are used. If we could cover more BBS squares we would pick up more species and the data would be better.
This list is very interesting and raises lots of questions. Please have a look at it and let me know if you think certain species should be added or deleted from those designated as LBC rare breeding birds with LBC against them in the final column. Finally it is interesting to ask; how does the relative density of birds recorded in the BBS in Lincolnshire compare to the rest of the UK? By looking at the relative occurrence of each species in Lincolnshire compared to UK we can get a handle on which birds our county is important for and which ones we are poor for. I’ve allocated each species for which we have data to one of 5 categories:
| Important | Lincolnshire is more than 50% better than rest of UK |
| Good | more than 10% better |
| Average | less than 10% better or worse |
| Less than average | more than 10% worse |
| Poor | more than 50% worse |
The data is in table 4. The data may not be statistically significant, does not yet cover the whole of Lincolnshire and is based on subjective measures but it does provide interesting work in progress. Once we have the BTO atlas results next year we will have a much better picture. The main headline is that Lincolnshire is important for farmland species and poor for specialist woodland species, no real surprise there but it does help focus priorities particular for our species of conservation concern, the most important red data species of which in 2009 are:
| Species |
Number of squares |
|
(out of 51) |
|
| Skylark |
50 |
| Linnet |
37 |
| Yellowhammer |
37 |
| Lapwing |
24 |
| Tree Sparrow |
16 |
| Yellow Wagtail |
12 |
| Grey Partridge |
10 |
| Corn Bunting |
9 |
| Turtle Dove |
7 |
If you have any comments on this information which it is intended will be updated at least annually please contact me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Philip Espin
About Us
We are the Lincolnshire Bird Club
Our aims are to encourage and further the interest in the birdlife of the historic County of Lincolnshire; to participate in organised fieldwork activities; to collect and publish information on bird movements, behaviour, distribution and populations; to encourage conservation of the wildlife of the County and to provide sound information on which conservation policies can be based.
Gallery
