IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT STANBOROUGH GPs
Please be aware the farmer is not happy about birders trespassing off the public right of way to view the pit. Discussions are underway to agree temporary access but these may be jeopardised by disrespectful behaviour from birders, unfortunately witnessed yesterday. Please in the meantime only view from the track which is a public right of way and do not cross fences.
Power company takes swift action
When the North East Herts Swift Group needed a nesting box installed high up on a village hall before swifts returned from Africa, a power company flew in to help.
A team from UK Power Networks brought in a cherry picker and installed the specially-made box on the village hall in Albury near Bishops Stortford, just in time to offer an attractive nesting home for the migrating swifts.
Herts 48-hr Garden Bird Race – Winners Announced
The weekend of 17th-18th April saw 17 gardens take part in the first Herts 48-hr Garden Bird Race. As well as points being awarded for species according to their rarity, additional bonus points were available for extra special sightings such as “4 or more species of raptor” or for the “Wagtail Triple” – all three species of wagtail recorded. In all 89 different species were recorded over the weekend with over 1,100 points being accumulated. Go to 48hr Garden Bird Race to view full counts and species list.
Survey: Breeding Waders of Wet Meadows 2021 - volunteers needed!
It’s not too late to sign up!
This survey, last performed in 2002, aims to assess existing and new wet grassland and other breeding wader habitats. There are 24 Herts sites that have yet to be allocated to surveyors.
Go to Breeding Waders of Wet Meadows 2021 to view list of available sites, full details of the survey and how to sign up.
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
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HNHS News
Closure of Virgin Money Giving and its implications
HNHS and Herts Bird Club members who pay their subscriptions online via Virgin Money Giving will share our disappointment that the charity fundraising site is being closed down this autumn by parent company, Virgin Money. We have been informed that it will cease operating at the end of November.
The HNHS management committee is considering ways of introducing online applications, including the possibility of an online facility for paying subscriptions, and will report to members as soon as the available options have been fully explored.
Exhibition to reveal nature through a microscope
The Quekett Microscopial Club – the UK's 'learned society' for everyone interested in microscopes and microscopy – is bringing its annual exhibition to Hertfordshire in October.
Normally held at the Natural History Museum in London, the exhibition features exquisite images of wildlife and the natural world that are too small to be perceived by the human eye alone.
'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.