Mammal, amphibian and reptile atlas – survey help wanted
Survey work on the new Hertfordshire Mammal, Amphibian and Reptile Atlas (Herts MARA) is now in its final year. And the organisers need help surveying a few localities from which an improbably low number of records has been received.
HNHS Awards for 2024
If you know an outstanding Hertfordshire naturalist or someone who has made outstanding contribution to natural history in our county consider nominating them for an HNHS Award this year.
Continuing concern over Broadwater Lake SSSI future
Despite receiving more than 1,200 objections to its plans the London Borough of Hillingdon still appears intent on creating a large watersports centre on the Broadwater Lake Site of Special Scientific Interest. The lake is part of the Colne Valley wetland system which extends into Hertfordshire and is nationally important for wintering wildfowl.
Optimow 2024 – citizen science to help garden pollinators
Scientists are inviting gardeners interested in helping bees, butterflies and other pollinators to take part in a study to discover how grass mowing can be timed to maximise their impact.
Participants in the Optimow 2024 project, organised by the Brown Lab at Royal Holloway, University of London will be asked to follow a mowing frequency plan, while submitting weekly counts of the key pollinators sighted in their gardens.
Conference highlights varying fortunes of wildfowl and wetland birds in Herts
The 2024 Hertfordshire Bird Conference drew a capacity audience at Affinity Water’s headquarters in Hatfield on Sat 2nd March 2024. The theme was wetlands and especially gravel pits with talks by Graham White on the fortunes of waterbirds on the restored gravel pits of the Colne Valley and a talk by Herts. Bird Club Chair, Rupert Evershed, on the birds of Stanborough Gravel Pits.
This report includes links to videos allowing those who missed the conference to catch-up with the main presentations.