Herts Bird Club – making the most of local birdwatching

Welcome to the Herts Bird Club website. We promote the study and recording of birds in Hertfordshire and encourage a wider interest in natural history including the conservation of wildlife habitats.

Covid-19: Stay safe and observe Government rules 

Please read HNHS Statement on Covid-19

Latest news

Site Update

In an effort to ensure the website list of Sites is current, make record submission easier, and to address any missing locations, we are reviewing our list of Sites and Site names used for record submission & publication.

If you have any suggestions for consideration such as:

  • new Sites
  • renaming existing Sites
  • splitting existing Sites into multiple Sites

please email birdweb@hnhs.org with details by 31 August 2021.

Use Birdtrack or eBird to submit Hertfordshire records? Where possible, please use the same Site names as used on Herts Bird Website.

Bird Photos

During the current quiet spell we thought it a good idea to publish some of the excellent photos of rare & unusual species we received earlier in 2021 which due to the lockdown restrictions we were unable to publish at the time. Look out for them on the front page!

Breeding records and unusual nest locations 2021

With the breeding season in full swing, the Herts Bird Club would again like to encourage breeding records to be submitted.  These records help us to build a picture of how species are faring, and they add particular value to the Hertfordshire Bird Report

We are happy to receive records of all species, and after the theme of urban birds in 2020, this year we are particularly keen to receive reports of farmland birds such as Grey Partridge, Lapwing, Skylark, Yellow Wagtail, Linnet, Yellowhammer and Corn Bunting

You can help by

Latest Hertfordshire Bird Report

Hertfordshire Bird Report 2019

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2019 was published and circulated to HNHS/Bird Club members in November 2020 (Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, Vol. 52 (2), pp. 89-176.)

The report reviews each of the 198 species recorded in Hertfordshire in 2019 (up five from 2018) including Little Bittern, White-tailed Eagle, Melodious Warbler and Richard's Pipit. There is also news of a belatedly accepted 'first' for the county: a Falcated Duck seen at Wilstone Reservoir in 1999. 

Read more

Latest HNHS publication

2021 subscriptions due now

Please renew your membership of HNHS and Herts Bird Club, details here.

Birds of Hertfordshire

 

Our new avifauna - Birds of Hertfordshire by Ken Smith, Chris Dee, Jack Fearnside and Mike Ilett was published on 24 February 2015.
Read the review in British Birds, here. Buy now direct from Herts Bird Club for only £34 (or £39 by post).

Herts Invertebrate Project

Read here about how to join this new recording initiative.

Herts Atlas of Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles

Please submit sightings and field signs of mammals, amphibians and reptiles to our countywide survey, full details at the Herts MARA website.

Hertfordshire Bird Atlas

All the results from the most recent Atlas (2007-12) and both previous atlas surveys available here.

Bird records

Please send us your Herts bird sightings through the records submission page. Use the Breeding status dropdown where applicable and Comment field to add notes of interest.

Latest sightings of interest are published on the right hand side of this page, once they have been checked by a moderator. Search for older published records by month/site/species in Sightings Archive. 

 

See details of some great places to visit in Hertfordshire at this time of year.

Take part in our  projects and surveys.

Buy a book, most HNHS books are now for sale at half price or less.

The success of the site depends on you, the users, entering your records and sending in interesting information, not only sightings which can be entered online but also reports on trips and additional site guides. We also welcome feedback on what you would like to see on the site: email birdweb@hnhs.org

Injured or orphan birds ? advice here.

The Herts Bird Club is part of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society and our websites are integrated. We hope this will encourage those of you who have not investigated other aspects of wildlife in Hertfordshire to have a look around the HNHS website, discover what is available. Please submit your records of other wildlife, including mammals, amphibians, reptiles and dragonflies through the HNHS website.

Who's who in the Herts Bird Club.