Tyttenhanger GPs Bird Report 2019
The Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits Bird Report for 2019 is now available.
Edited and produced by Ricky Flesher and Peter Christian the excellent 70 page report includes a review of the year, accounts for all of the 133 species recorded at Tyttenhanger in 2019, many photos, tables and graphs, and finders' accounts for the three new birds added to the Tyttenhanger list that year: Yellow-browed Warbler, Common Crane and Cattle Egret.
Download a copy HERE, it's well woth a read.
Go to Tyttenhanger Site Guide to download reports back to 2011.
Herts Winter Garden Count
Please use the Winter Count Googlesheet to enter your counts.
The count runs from 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021 and all birds seen or heard whilst you are within the boundary of your property can be counted. You can record birds on any and as many days as you wish or are able to.
If you need any help please email
Photo: Siskin at a Welwyn Garden City garden, Jan-21 © Huw Lewis
Publication of records during Covid-19
In support of the HNHS Statement on Covid-19 the Herts Bird Club have decided not to publish sightings that may tempt people to travel outside their home area. In particular, records of species that would normally be highlighted in red as rare or unusual.
New Year's Resolution? Give us a Grid Reference!
One way of making your birding count in 2021 is to add a grid reference to the records that you submit to the Herts Bird Club.
In 2020 just over 40% of submissions to the website had a grid reference, and these records allowed the creation of the attached map which shows all of the identified 1km squares, giving us a good idea where our records came from. Accurate locations, ideally provided by six-figure grid references, also allow others to see birds that you have found.
Herts Christmas Bird Count 2020
Subject to late records and rarity decisions the final species count for the Herts Christmas Bird Count 2020 is 111, a very good total; just two fewer than 2019 and one more than 2018.
This included four species: Cattle Egret, Great White Egret, Short-eared Owl and Mealy Redpoll, not seen over the Christmas period in past two years bringing the total number of species recorded across the three years since we have run this count to 121.
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HNHS News
'Lockdown birding' yields highest haul of Herts records
An entire night huddled in the garden listening for over-flying ducks, leaning from a bedroom window to hear Whimbrel and an extravagant cry of 'YES!' on sighting a Starling were among the more eccentric moments of 'lockdown birding' recalled at the 2021 Herts Bird Conference on Saturday 20 March.
Yet despite outdoor movement restrictions in response to the Covid pandemic, the number of species seen in Hertfordshire in 2020 is expected to equal the 198 recorded the previous year and may – once rarity verfication is complete – pass the 200 mark.
The conference, jointly organised by the Herts Bird Club and British Trust for Ornithology – drew an online audience of over a hundred who heard how the lockdown had stimulated bird watching and recording, even though travel was largely banned. No fewer than 23,000 records were submitted – an increase of 6,000 on the previous highest total.
Wildlife Recording in the Urban World
The National Forum for Biological Recording's online conference on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 May focuses on urban wildlife recording – from birds to 'under-appreciated' groups like slugs
https://www.field-studies-council.org/shop/courses/national-forum-for-biological-recording-2021-conference/. It costs just £5 to sign up for the full programme.
Online Herts Bird Club / BTO Conference – March 20 2021
We are delighted to announce that the annual Herts Bird Club / British Trust for Ornithology will go ahead this year – as an online event on the morning of Saturday March 20.
The programme, which runs from 10.30am to 12.40pm, combines speaker presentations with popular perennials such as Graham Knight's 'What did you miss?' review of county birding highlights for 2020 and the bird photograph of the year.