HOS Young Members now exceed 70! Cameron was a member of the Hampshire Ornithological Society. He was one of just two Young Members at that time – the other being Tommy Saunders. With our help, HOS were able to offer free membership for young people and it is so great that this has been such a success.

HOS now has around 40 Young Members sponsored by us and even better is the fact that a further 24 young families have chosen to join so that they and their children can benefit from the special activities arranged.

In the autumn of 2021 HOS ran four ringing events where groups of its Young Members (and parents) were able to see birds at close range. It’s such a privilege to see this and the enthusiasm of the Young Members was clearly tremendous despite the very early start times!

Some of the ringers have some small knitted birds, which they use to demonstrate the feather sequence of the birds wings... a great way of letting small children learn without actually touching a live bird.

At Titchfield Haven, there was a good fall of Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps while Keyhaven produced some of the first Redwings of the year along with Long-tailed Tits and Meadow Pipits. The first bird at Hengistbury Head was a Cetti’s Warbler which HOS’s youngest member, Rufus, instantly identified despite only the head being visible! Some of the ringers have some small knitted birds, which they use to demonstrate the feather sequence of the birds wings. This is a great way of letting small children learn without actually touching a live bird.

HOS will continue to plan more events. In the spring of 2021 Chris Packham ran a Zoom chat with over 40 HOS Young Members and brought out his feather and wing collection. He has promised to do another private chat for them again soon.