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

48-hr Herts Spring Garden Bird Race - THIS WEEKEND!

9pm on day one of the first Herts 48hr Garden Bird Race and as the halfway point of the competition approaches 74 species have been recorded from Herts gardens including a Curlew, Cetti's Warbler, Raven and Mandarin Duck.

With a full day of the competition remaining tomorrow its not too late to join in. To take part simply record your sightings on the 48-hr Spring Garden Googlesheet which also includes the rules and latest leaderboard.

There are three prizes up for grabs: most points, best bird and most improved, and like the 24-hr Feb garden race there are bonus points to play for too!

Hertfordshire Rookeries 2021

Rookeries have been surveyed in Hertfordshire for many years, and in 2021 the Bird Club has received records of over 4000 nests from more than 200 rookeries.  This year a new interactive map has been produced to show the sites and nest counts, as well as known sites that have not yet been checked, and sites previously used but found to be abandoned this year.

It is not too late to contribute by checking the outstanding rookeries or submitting details of other unrecorded sites via the records submission page. Please include a nest count and grid reference where possible

The map can be found here

Any feedback or errors with the map can be sent to Graham Knight: gpk593@gmail.com

 

April Garden Bird Challenge 2021

April 2020 proved beyond doubt what a huge variety of birds visit and fly over our Hertfordshire gardens with 123 species being recorded from 113 gardens.  While lockdown restrictions are easing and many will seek birds further afield, there remains the opportunity to continue recording what we see and hear from our garden this April.

We are therefore encouraging everyone to add their sightings to the Spring Herts Garden Watch Googlesheet during April – spending as much or as little time birding from your garden as you like.  There’s lots of potential with Spring migrants arriving and, for the more intrepid, the possibility of “nocmig” records of birds migrating at night. Please email  for any issues using the Googlesheet.

To add a further challenge, we are planning a 48-hr garden bird race on the weekend of 17th/18th April with bonus points and prizes up for grabs!

As with previous garden bird counts, any birds seen or heard from your garden or house can be counted.  The only rule is that you must be present – so records from a recording device are not permitted.  We’ll be posting a weekly “Garden Bird Report” to the website with highlights of each week’s sightings.

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.