Last news update: 8 May 2008
Some Observations of a Local Birdwatcher
Colin Humphrey, a committee member, continues his thoughts and observations for this month:
The first week or so of May usually provides an evening or two of fine clear weather when the world seems to have changed totally. From the drear of late winter while we wait for spring, suddenly crystal clear evenings with hardly any humidity and you can see forever. The emerging leaves the new grasses all seem so clean and fresh, such was an evening last week when with Merle I set off to investigate a new Sand Martin colony.
I parked the car, with about a mile to walk. We set off first past a long abandoned orchard full of evening bird song, Blackcaps with their abrupt endings, Whitethroats in the overgrown hedgerow and nettles, a Blackbird and Song Thrush, Chaffinch and Greenfinch all seemingly in competition. Across some open pasture with a lark high in the sky and a check on a large fir where Kestrels have nested for several years and were active earlier this year, but no sign this evening. The pasture ends in a stile and a path with hedges on either side for about two hundred yards, always a place to linger and look across the fields on either side, that evening was no exception, two male muntjac deer browsed some hundred yards away upwind oblivious of our presence. As we started along the track a large dog fox stepped casually out of the hedge and trotted along ahead of us, much to the interest of Merle, we followed at a discreet distance. He stopped and sniffed and we stopped, eventually he ducked back into the hedge and was lost to our sight.
At the end of the track we stopped again before emerging into the fields where the Sand Martin pit is located, the reward for that, a male Kestrel with a shrew in his right claws, lifted off from the long grass less than twenty yards away. He banked away and headed up to the fir tree where no doubt he was welcomed with supper.
On reaching the pit, about forty Sand Martins were flying around briefly landing on the face and then away again to join the wheeling throng, still too early to have actually got down work excavating the nest holes but I'm pretty sure they meant business and will have started by now.
With the sun setting and a definite chill in the air we left the Martins to it and headed back to the car, a last treat as the usual late Crow passed over, a fine male roe deer watched us from a safe distance on the other side of the pit his antlers silhouetted against the evening sky.
Later this week back to winter, I shall be looking for, amongst other things, Antarctic Terns on the beaches of the South Atlantic near to Cape Town in the southern hemisphere winter.
A Trip to the British Bird Fair with the Berkshire Ornithological Club
Saturday 16th August 2008 - Our good friends the Berkshire Ornithological Club are running a coach trip to the British Bird Fair at Rutland Water on Saturday 16th August 2008. There will a host of books, art, holidays, talks, optics, clothing and more in the various marquees, plus good birds to be seen from the hides. The price of £28 will cover the transport and a day ticket to the fair. The coach will pick up passengers from the Braywick Nature Reserve (Hibbert Rd) at 7.30am. Contact: Ray Reedman (0118 9864338) early to reserve a seat.
Talk on Marine Protected Areas - Monday June 17th 2008
The Wycombe FOE have organised a talk by Bill Rigby (Secretary of MARINET) entitled Crisis in Our Seas – The Need For Protected Areas.
This event takes place at The Wycombe Environment Centre (on Holywell Mead, Bassetbury Lane, High Wycombe, HP11 1QX, at 7.30 p.m. on Monday June 16th 2008.
Increase in Membership Fee
For the first time in over 10 years, it has been necessary to increase the membership fee. This now stands at:
£6.00 per person if paying by cash or cheque, or
£5.00 per person if paying by Standing Order.
Those members who already have Standing Order arrangements with their bank will need to inform the bank of the increase.
100 Club
Having investigated other types of lottery draws, the Committee has decided to re-launch the ‘100 Club’ in April 2008 as a fund raising activity.
The prizes will be:
1 x £100.00; 2 x £30.00; 4 x £10.00
A total of 100 numbered tickets will be available at all Group events at a cost of £5.00 per ticket and sales will be restricted to Group members only. There is no restriction to the number of tickets that an individual member may purchase.
The draw will be made at the Group’s Social Evening on Thursday 11th December 2008.
For more information and ticket sales, contact Jacqui Green on 01494 522740
Otmoor RSPB Reserve
Pipe laying has now been completed and Otmoor Lane leading to the car park has been re-opened to vehicles.
Successful Application to ‘Awards For All’
The Group has been fortunate to be awarded £1600.00 by the Lottery funded ‘Awards For All’ in order to purchase a laptop computer, digital projector with software and accessories. This equipment will enable us to give digital presentations at our indoor meetings. Also, we will be liaising with local community organisations to raise awareness of environmental issues and to introduce the pleasures of bird watching.
The application process has been somewhat protracted and we must thank our recently retired leader Ken Panchen for his hard work and determination to get things started.
Bird Survey Work in Berkshire
The BTO is this year launching a project to produce a Bird Atlas of Britain. At the same time, as in several neighbouring counties, we want to produce a Bird Atlas of Berkshire using the data we collect in both projects. This entails 3 years of survey work before the results are collated and printed. We want to survey EVERY tetrad (a square of sides 2km) in Berkshire both in Winter and during the breeding season. We already have just over 100 volunteers who take part in the annual Berkshire breeding bird survey, but there are over 300 tetrads in Berkshire and we would be grateful if anyone would be willing to help with survey work. This is not an onerous task. If you are able to identify the more common birds by sight or sound and can spare 2 hours twice in the winter and/or twice in the breeding season, we would like to hear from you. The first survey will be carried out in November this year.
By comparing the results of this project with previous atlases, we will get the best possible picture of changes in species numbers and distribution.
If you can help in any way, please contact Roy Ellis, e-mail r.allis@hotmail.co.uk
Mandarin Ducks Seen at Burnham Beeches
Ken Panchen along with Sandy and Gerry Studd spent a pleasant sunny morning at Burnham Beeches (near Farnham Royal), on Wednesday 31st January, 2007. We decided to check out the area as a possible site to visit with the group. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of woodland birds around and enjoyed exceptionally good views of Mandarin Ducks. 4 males and 3 females were seen on the Upper Pond, with 15 males and 10 females on the Middle Pond.
For a very amusing video clip of Mandarin Duck chicks leaving a nest site (in a tree trunk) go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth/realmedia/ (opens new window)
Open the 'Living Organisms - 97 clips' window, find 'Birds', then click 'Mandarin duck dive'.
Outbreak of Disease in Gardens
(Photograph by Ken Panchen) The finch species has been affected by a disease caused by a Trichomonas parasite. Fortunately there is no threat to the health of humans, cats or dogs.
Greenfinches and Chaffinches have been seen in gardens with signs of general lethargy, fluffed up plumage together with laboured breathing and signs of food regurgitation. Many birds have died due to this infection.
The parasite is probably transmitted between birds when feeding young; through food or drinking water contaminated with recently regurgitated saliva, or possible from droppings of an infected bird.
We can lower the risks of this disease to the birds in our gardens by regular cleaning of all feeders, bird baths and feeding surfaces.
You can find more information on diseases of garden birds and sensible hygiene measures at your feeding station on the RSPB's website at www.rspb.org.uk.
Sparrows - Part 1 (£1000.00 donation to halt Tree Sparrow decline)
The group has raised funds from various activitives over the last twelve months and the committee has decided to donate £1000.00 to an RSPB project.
The project that we have decided to support encourages farmers to undertake actions beneficial to the Tree Sparrow - a bird that has suffered alarming population declines in the last 30 years. Already nest boxes have been provided on 15 farms that have existing Tree Sparrow populations. The money should fund more nest boxes and feeding stations at Tree Sparrow 'hot spots'.
Sparrows - Part 2 (House Sparrow decline - why it has happened)
'The Independent' offered a £5000.00 prize for the solution as to why the House Sparrow, one of Britain's most familiar birds, has been vanishing from London and other towns and cities.
The prize has been won by Kate Vincent, producing her PhD thesis at De Montford University Leicester by studying House Sparrow breeding success. House Sparrows are granivorous birds - they live on grain and other seeds. However, Ms Vincent found that if Sparrow chicks were not fed animal protein such as small grubs, flies, aphids and spiders in the first week of their life they could perish, particularly if they were a second brood.
The strong implication is that insects and other invertebrates are becoming much scarcer in Britain in summer. It is now accepted that insect decline has caused the disappearance of the House Sparrow.
Interestingly, also, the RSPB provided mealworms to hundreds of House Sparrow nests at 26 breeding colonies across 76 London gardens. The initial results show that many more fledglings were counted at fed colonies compared to unfed colonies.
Our Website
Since modifying our website in March 2005, the number of visitors to the site per month has risen from 209 in April 2005 to 781 in January 2006.
This has been due partly to regular updating of the site, introduction of the Photo Gallery and News Page combined with the generous efforts of our Webmaster, Paul Baker, at ClockTowerWeb Ltd, a local web development company based in Maidenhead.
Any contributions from members for the website is a big bonus. If you have photograph, news or any information, please contact Gerry Studd on 01494 715609.