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.

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Latest news

What to look for in…DECEMBER

The final month of the year naturally brings concluding thoughts of the year past and renewed expectations for the year ahead.  Lists are totalled up and reviews written with fresh targets for the coming year set.  Will the focus be on the life list, the year list or the patch list? How did this year compare to previous years and what were the highs and lows?  Combined with the season’s festivities, actual birding can take a back seat and yet December comes with the potential for its own birding highlights.

Of course, the natural focus this month is on....

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2023

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2023 was published and circulated to HNHS/Herts Bird Club members in November 2024.

The report includes an account of every species seen in Hertfordshire in 2023, fascinating articles on Herts Green Sandpipers and Peregrines, and much much more. The report is decorated throughout with beautiful images of our birds taken by our many talented photographers.

For more details go to The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2023

 

New Facebook page!

Herts Bird Club has a new Facebook page – you can find it here: https://www.facebook.com/hertsbirds

We'll be using the page to share relevant news and photos and keep you informed about upcoming events and meetings.  It’s also a great place to ask us anything about the county’s birds.

We’ve also created a brand new logo for Facebook which we hope you like – it features our County bird: the Hawfinch.

Of course, please continue to submit your sightings via our Records Submission form on this website and send your photos to birdphotos@hnhs.org and we hope some of these will feature on our new Facebook page in due course.

You can Like and Follow our page to stay up-to-date with new content and please share with others you think will be interested too!

What to look for in…NOVEMBER

November can feel like something of an anti-climax after the excitement of the autumn migration period and shorter days along with colder weather brings its own challenges for birding.  However, November can turn up some excellent birds in Herts and trends observed in autumn can continue to throw up unexpected gems – maybe a lingering Yellow-browed Warbler, Hawfinch or Short-eared Owl – as, come November, migrants may decide to over-winter rather than keep moving.

If you missed ‘autumn vismig’ then it’s not too late as

Latest Hertfordshire Bird Report

The Hertfordshire Bird Report, 2023

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2023 was published and circulated to HNHS / Herts Bird Club members in November 2024. Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, Vol 56 (1) pp. 1-84.

Contents –  Review of the Year (Clifford Smout)

Systematic List

Canada Goose to Egyptian Goose (Vicky Buckel)
Shelduck to Teal (Graeme Bowd))
Red-crested Pochard to Ruddy Duck (Graham White)

Read more

Latest HNHS publication

 

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.