Herts Bird Photo of the Year 2025 - WINNER
Congratulations to Dave Hutchinson whose beautifully captured Firecrest at Chipperfield Common 
was voted Herts Bird Photo of the Year 2025 at the Herts Bird Conference on 7 March 2026.
View all ten finalists here > 2025 Bird Photo Finalists
What to look for in......MARCH
Call for Art! Abbey Fliers
An art Exhibition celebrating the birds of the Abbey train line between Watford and St Albans.
Submissions open until 23 February.
Find out more here >> Abbey Fliers
Broadwater Lake SSSI Under Threat
Broadwater Lake, Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) is under threat again by Hillingdon Council's Watersports Development.
Find out more here >> Broadwater Lake
Submit objections and comments by Friday 9th January 2026 here >> Planning Application Hillingdon
Herts Christmas Bird Count 2025
Total Species : 118 records as at 1200 1-Jan-2026
Wow! What a Christmas Count that turned out to be!
The period got off to a strong start on Christmas Day with a Marsh Harrier over Wilstone Reservoir, along with a Great White Egret and a Yellow-legged Gull. And the first of six Firecrest found during the count was at Northchurch.
Things really gathered pace on Boxing Day. At Wilstone Reservoir, a drake Smew was located early in the morning, followed later by
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HNHS News
The Hertfordshire Naturalist 2026 – contributions sought
Stuart Warrington, editor of the Hertfordshire Naturalist, is looking for for contributions to the 2026 edition.
These can be articles or observations or photos about the wildlife, habitats or geology of the county. We are happy to look at a range of content and styles, so please do consider making a contribution to our long-running journal.
Website Upgrade
The HNHS and Bird Club management committees are working together to redevelop and upgrade the HNHS and Bird Club websites. The project is currently in the early planning stages and, as part of this, we would like users of the websites to provide feedback on the websites to help us understand what needs improving via two short surveys linked below. All feedback received will be collated and reviewed during the planning process.
Please provide feedback on the HNHS website here.
Please provide feedback on the Bird Club website here.
How to help Swifts – the 2026 Herts Bird Conference
The 2026 Hertfordshire Bird Conference attracted a full house of HNHS/Bird Club members and friends on Saturday 7 March to hear fascinating talks on Swift conservation, birds in urban greenspaces and the 'journey' of a bird record submitted through the Bird Club website.
Videos of all the main presentations can be found on the HNHS YouTube channel
Swifts are our fastest bird in level flight and famously only land when nesting. They otherwise feed, drink, sleep and mate on the wing.