Once again the Breeding and Wintering Atlas project dominated the Society’s work in 2004 and will continue to do so in the forthcoming twelve months.

Many fieldworkers will be revisiting their tetrads to try to find birds they did not find in their first year, and in particular for evidence of successful breeding, which proved more difficult to discover than many imagined! Some are also taking on new tetrads as well and a trickle of new recruits has swollen the number of fieldworkers to over 300, well over half now being CAWOS members. Ways of measuring abundance are being investigated and will be put into operation during the forthcoming breeding season. When all the 2004 breeding season returns have been submitted and analysed, and promises of coverage for 2005 included, only about 100 tetrads out of the 670 will not have been covered by the beginning of the final breeding season in 2006.

Sponsorship of individual species, which has continued steadily and is now over the 100 mark, will similarly be close to completion. A Steering Committee to guide the Atlas project to completion is in the process of being established. The first Atlas bulletin was produced in February of this year. Several fieldworkers have expressed the need for more training in fieldcraft and a number of Atlas Coordinators have volunteered to lead field walks at the beginning of the next breeding season; it is hoped there will be a good response. Thanks are due to all those who have put in such a lot of time and effort to get the project off to such a good start.

A feature of the Atlas fieldwork has been its popularity with those taking part; many people have spoken of the added interest to their birdwatching which the project has inspired, and this extract from a letter from a member sums it up:

"I seem to see something different or learn something new each time I go out on my tetrads. It has certainly added a new level to my birdwatching experience. I wish I had taken part in a similar project years ago as it would have made me much more knowledgeable."

What is particularly interesting is that this fieldworker is surveying semi-urban tetrads which could not remotely be described as ‘hot spots’.

This enthusiasm has been reflected in the membership figures; 36 new members joined in 2004 – eight more than in 2003 – and of those 16 have become Atlas fieldworkers. A mailing about CAWOS to all fieldworkers who were not CAWOS members has already brought in 11 members. I share, too, the Chairman’s optimism that the renewed interest in the Society will encourage more of the new members to play a more active part in running CAWOS; although some signs are encouraging it is still true, as I said last year, that this work is in the hands of dangerously few people.

We are pleased to welcome Richard Smith as Editor of the Systematic List for the Bird Report, whilst Sheila Blamire will take on the role of Technical Editor. We still, however, need someone to take on Publicity and are lacking once again an official Editor for Bird News and a Conservation Coordinator.

The Atlas project has enabled us to continue to work closely with our affiliated societies and RSPB groups, many of whom have been very active in recruiting volunteers and also in selling copies of the Bird Report.

The indoor programme for 2005 will include speakers such as Tim Loseby, Tim Melling, Andy Hirst, Keith Offord, and Paul Hackett; the full programme will go out, as usual, with the July Bird News. It is unfortunate that we have had no option but to drop the annual meeting held at the Grosvenor Museum, Chester, as the response to this from members in west Cheshire and Wirral has been very disappointing; at the last meeting held there in December 2004 members from north and east Cheshire far outnumbered those from near Chester.

Finally, I would like to thank all those who have helped me in the work of the Society and in particular our retiring Chairman. Sheila has worked very hard and has been brilliant in encouraging and advising not only me but many others in CAWOS, and although she is stepping down as Chairman it is good that we will still have the benefit of her knowledge in the years ahead.