If you are new to this site you should read the User Guide found on the Historical resources page
The material on this web site derives from an initially personal desire for easy access to published material about the birds of Shropshire for use in my own researches; I have a long-held interest in historical ecology in general and in the history of birds in particular and it was three years ago that I began by scanning for myself a complete set of SOS Annual Bird Reports.
However now, using technology and thanks to the dedicated website work of my brother Peter, the material I have accumulated is available to everyone. The result is a valuable (and possibly unique) county scientific resource. It is also timely because work is about to start on a Shropshire Avifauna for which the material on this site will prove invaluable as historical background in general and in the preparation of individual species accounts in particular.
This site is available as a link from the Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS) web site and there is a complete hard copy deposited with the SOS; I also have a hard copy. The menu All historical documents lists all the materials online in February 2012. The Historical resources menu gives access to a range of useful items including a Citations List of all material, a Species Index of more than 10,200 entries and a Shropshire gazetteer with over 7,400 entries. A volunteer to prepare a Site Index would be most welcome.
A late addition has been of data from museum specimens (skins and eggs) in the collections of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, with thanks to Phil Watson the Collections Manager, and links to ringing data at the British Trust for Ornithology, with thanks to Rob Robinson of the Ringing Unit.
Citations of this work should read Tucker, J.J. & Tucker P.G.(2012) The Historical Ornithology of Shropshire. http://www.lanius.org.uk/sos/
John & Peter Tucker
23 February 2012