Wader Tales - Green Sandpipers at Lemsford Springs
In his latest WaderTales blog, Graham Appleton has worked with Ken Smith, Mike Reed & Barry Trevis to tell the tales of territorial Green Sandpipers at Lemsford.
Go to Winter Territories of Green Sandpipers to read the article.
This is the 67th blog in the WaderTales series, each of which translates recent research information about waders into an article that will appeal to birders. Graham is the former Communications Director for BTO.
Follow Graham on twitter @GrahamFAppleton
Photo: Green Sandpipers at Lemsford Springs 5 August 2018 ? Alan Reynolds
A new BTO survey - English Woodland Birds - Get Involved!
A BTO new survey for 2019 plans to provide data on how birds have colonised woods planted in farmland.
Since 1988, over 22,000 farm woods have been planted in England. The woods are mostly small, between 1 and 5 hectares in size, which will make survey coverage quite quick and 
straightforward. These farm woods were planted in a wide variety of settings, ranging from complete isolation through to alongside existing established woodland. This provides a very interesting natural experiment to assess how well birds have colonised these new woodlands on farmland.
Go to the Survey and Projects page for further information including how to register.
Outstanding 2018 Records and Descriptions
If you have any outstanding records and/or descriptions for 2018 it would be greatly appreciated if you could submit them as soon as possible.
Thank you
Hertsmere Local Plan - Proposed Development at Tyttenhanger
Read the Herts Bird Club and HNHS objections to the proposal here.
Hertsmere Borough Council have released a public consultation document covering a number of potential sites for housing and employment. One of the sites 'H2' is a proposed 'garden village' at Tyttenhanger covering a large area either side of Coursers Road and incorporating Tyttenhanger Farm and New Plantation Wood.
The full plan can be accessed at Local Plan Hertsmere by downloading the pdf document 'final version of our sites document'. Page 10 shows a map highlighting the various sites proposed for development including 'H2' at Tyttenhanger which is explained in more detail on pages 146-149. This development would undoubtedly impact negatively on the wildlife at Tyttenhanger, including, of course, the local Tree Sparrow population which is the last remaining colony in Hertfordshire and one of the last in the whole of the south east of England.
Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits
For November, in his monthly Noting Nature column for the Herts Advertiser, Herts birder Rupert Evershed writes about his local patch Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits - one of the best places in Hertfordshire to watch birds. Read Rupert's article here:
Noting Nature - Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits
For more information on Tyttenhanger, including details on access, visit Tyttenhanger GPs under Site Guides
Pages
HNHS News
Annual meeting hears how 'Ratty' returned to a riverbank in Herts
A Hertfordshire comeback story of Water Voles – famous to generations as ‘Ratty’ in the children’s novel Wind in the Willows – was told at the HNHS annual meeting, held online on Saturday 27 November.
Josh Kalms, People and Wildlife Officer with the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, described the careful process by which 150 of the bank and stream dwelling creatures were reintroduced to the River Ver this summer.
HNHS honours two exceptional naturalists
Exceptional, long-term work for wildlife carried out by two leading Hertfordshire naturalists has been recognised by the presentation of prestigious HNHS awards.
Picture shows Stuart Warrington (left) at Digswell Lake and Bob Reed (right) at Pishiobury Park
HNHS wildlife calendar is back!
We are pleased to announce that our calendar of wildlife meetings – suspended during the Covid lockdowns – is back.
If your organisation has a forthcoming meeting related to wildlife in Hertfordshire, let us know and we will add it to the website.