FIELD NOTES
APRIL 2002 continued....
RECENT EVENTS
The New Book on the Mammals , Amphibians & Reptiles of Hertfordshire
The new Society book, Mammals, Amphibians & Reptiles of Hertfordshire, by Michael Clark , published in association with Training Publications at Watford, sold 90 copies on the evening of its launch alone. About 700 have been sold in the first two months of its appearance.
The Society has had great support from Training Publications throughout the production of the book and we look forward to further joint projects. It has over 640 illustrations, mostly in colour, which portray the animals and many of those involved in their study . The text describes what members have discovered about the distribution and lives of these animals over the last thirty years.
Most of the distribution maps cover the 1970-2001 period, but there are additional maps in some places where the status of the species described (such as the water vole) has changed significantly. It has been a great joint effort by members to survey so much of the county since the tetrad system was introduced.
Copies of the book can be obtained from Training Publications, PO Box 75, Stockport, Cheshire SK4 1PH at £20 plus £4.50 postage and packing.
Lee Valley Bird Fair
Following the increasing success of other bird fairs around the country , the Lee Valley Park Authority ( LVPA ) decided to combine the traditional Bird Race with the first ever Lee Valley Bird Fair . Based at the popular Hayes Hill Farm at Fishers Green , the nucleus of the fair was a large heated and carpeted marquee which housed a number of stands ranging from national organisations such as the RSPB , BTO and Butterfly Conservation , local groups , books, paintings , bird food supplies , birding holidays and even a fudge shop .
Other satellite events included guided walks taking in the famous Bittern Watch Point hide , bird ringing demonstrations and a series of lectures. Despite the fairly inclement weather with high winds on Saturday and rain on Sunday , the inaugural Lee Valley Bird Fair was a tremendous success with 1800 visitors over the two days.
The Herts Natural History Society shared a stand with the Herts Bird Club and the Herts Dragonfly Group . The stand attracted a great deal of interest , resulting in thirteen new members and the sale of many books and reports to help the HNHS funds . It was also a great opportunity for those on the stand to renew old acquaintances and make new friends in the natural history world .
Following the success of this year's event , I am sure it will become a regular feature in the LVPA calendar and I strongly recommend that you give it a try next year .
Herts Bird Club and British Trust for Ornithology Conference
The 2002 conference entitled "MIGRATION" took place on Saturday 2nd March, one of the brighter Saturdays in recent weeks and attracted 107 attendees. The conference was held at the conference hall at Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden in the centre of the county.
The conference was opened by Nick Carter, Development Director of the British Trust for Ornithology , who briefly outlined the importance of continuing to study Migration as without the information from these studies it was not possible to assess where we should be making our major efforts for conserving some of our fast disappearing species .
The first speaker was Jacquie Clark also from the BTO who took us through some of the trials and tribulations of preparing " The Migration Atlas " which will be published later this year. In addition Jacquie outlined some of the contents including a selection of the many maps of where birds go.
The second speaker was Herts Bird Club member Barry Trevis who took us on a trip to Chokpak in Kazakhstan to study the migration routes of central and northern Asia. With great enthusiasm Barry told us how the birds avoid the major mountain ranges and how they trap and ring birds in Kazakhstan. Of course, Barry also showed us some splendid slides of exotic birds including some of Eagles in the hand -well almost.
The tea interval was taken up by the Bird Club AGM and visiting the varied range of displays.
After tea Ken Smith forgot about Bitterns for a few minutes and brought us up to date with his talk Green Sandpipers -20 Years On. Unfortunately there appear to be less Green Sandpipers today than in 1982 when he started the study. However the talk also highlighted the benefits of colour ringing.
Finally Graham Appleton ,the BTO's fundraising manager and author of "Rusty Flies South" gave a splendid presentation on what we should be doing for conservation in the future and took us through when we should be looking for our summer visitors.
Our thanks go to Tim Hill for organising a very successful conference (95% of completed Conference Questionnaires said the conference was good or very good) and to the BTO for the superb support that they gave us.
Peter Delaloye
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