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Watford Local Group

NewsLetter Summer 2015

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a Registered Charity: England and Wales 207076, and in Scotland SCO37654

Edited by Janet Reynolds 01923 249647

Welcome to the newsletter.

As our 40th season draws to a close we have both good and sad news. We have organised our usual range of talks and trips, even offering a special anniversary reduced price trip to Slimbridge in November. Our anniversary china mug featuring our group bird the green woodpecker has been popular, but at the time of writing there are still some available. We were all saddened by the sudden death of our treasurer, Daphne Dew, in February. Daphne had not only been treasurer for 10 years, but had always been one of the first to volunteer to help out at events – assuming she wasn’t already committed to helping one of the numerous other organisations she volunteered with. As we passed on the news one phrase kept coming up – “a lovely lady”. Fortunately Steve Bowen has come to the rescue by taking over the treasurer role. Thank you, Steve.

Photo of Daphne from the Order of Service at her Celebration Service.. Rob Purbrick, Wellspring Church.

Sadly David Evans is also standing down from the committee to attend to family matters. Would you like to join the committee or to help out in any other way? We are supported by many other helpers who run the raffle, serve the teas, set up the room, organise stamp and foil collections, deal with the seed sales and generally step in when needed. Thank you to all. But we are in need of more help. If you came to the excellent talk on swifts in January you may remember Edward Meyer (what an enthusiastic and inspiring speaker!) showing a picture of the wall of the Intu shopping centre and saying “if only...”. Well, this may be going to happen.

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Steve tells of the group trip in September 2014

Stone-Curlew

Jon White contacted us about his very ambitious project to create multiple Homes for Nature in the roof areas of Intu. This is still in the planning stage, but is likely to include nest boxes and bug houses in the first phase. We hope to be supplying the nest boxes and have put Jon in touch with Edward Meyer to take forward the swift plan.

Norfolk September Steve Bowen This turned out to be an exceptional trip. Seven of us went, based at the Blue Boar in Great Ryburgh. On the Monday, after the customary stop at Walker’s we visited Cavenham Heath where the hoped-for stone- curlews abounded. We counted over 50 standing in clear view now they had no nests to protect. Further on we spotted several woodlarks dust-bathing. We then headed to Lakenheath Fen which gave us good views of hobby and a variety of ducks. Then on to Flitcham Abbey, Sculthorpe Moor and the village hide at Ryburgh. Some places were more productive than others and apart from a marsh tit at Sculthorpe we were amazed by a rotund brown rat the size of a rabbit that repeatedly hauled itself up onto the feed table to gorge itself. However we did the same at dinner at the Blue Boar with some excellent 14 oz steaks on the menu ! So we were well prepared for the next day with Ashley Saunders

of Oriole Birding. For me, used to summer migrants and winter waders, it was to be an entirely new birding experience as we were after winter migrants blown towards Norfolk by the prevailing north-easterlies. Tuesday morning’s weather was perfect – misty, low cloud and occasional drizzle – just right to encourage a fall of birds. We started at Burnham Overy Staithe and walked out towards Gun Hill passing two spoonbills and an active flock of bearded tits. A bit further on we saw pied flycatcher, whinchat and redstart all in the same bush. From Gun Hill, out to sea several Sandwich terns were fishing and occasional gannets passed in the murk. A single fulmar, red-throated diver and great skua were also seen, as well as a large mixed roosting flock of dunlins, ringed plovers and sanderlings.

Yellow-browed warbler

Back towards the boardwalk we spent a while with a crowd of photographers peering into a scrubby bush for some fleeting views of a barred warbler amongst several garden warblers. But then came the event that marked the day as special. Ashley heard a tweet … “yellow-browed warbler”. The bird had indeed dropped into a nearby crab apple tree where it gave us super views as it flitted about. It is a colourful, tiny bird hardly bigger than a goldcrest and

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Redstart

Kingfisher

where does it normally reside – the Siberian taiga ! Finally we headed back, passing a black-necked grebe in the lagoon. It had been a longish morning and walking the dunes does get tiring. After lunch by the A149 we moved on to Warham Greens and Garden Drove to catch a red-breasted flycatcher alongside its pied and spotted counterparts. To end the day we headed for Wells Woods and, after a quick cuppa, started with a pair of tawny owls roosting in a Scots pine. These were not really that hard to find, as their favoured tree had a sock tied to the trunk ! As we followed the main track by the woods, the birches came alive with three redstarts, three willow warblers and three pied flycatchers flitting among the foliage. Two siskins and a brambling appeared too, along with a number of goldcrests. Walking back to the car park it seemed there were birds bursting out of every bush - chiffchaffs, four more willow warblers, blackcap, garden warbler, treecreeper! As the light faded, a common sandpiper and a kingfisher perched by an upturned boat rounded off a truly memorable day. Next day the weather started similarly; we visited Warham Greens and Stiffkey Greens but there were fewer birds about. Nevertheless we saw linnets, also lesser and common

whitethroats. Out on the saltmarsh there were some 20 little egrets dotted about. Several of us – myself included – thought that some might be great egrets but Ashley warned that the haze made such birds look larger – so beware !

Little Egret

However a return visit to Wells Woods for lunch gave us a further fall of birds with sometimes half a dozen different species in one tree to test our birding skills. To end the day we headed for Titchwell RSPB. The freshwater marsh was teeming with water birds and we had superb close up views of ruff, dunlin and spotted redshank by the main path. Further out a single pintail and a smart grey plover were also seen. The wader highlight was provided by ten superb little stints, smart in their juvenile plumage, and two curlew sandpipers feeding alongside some dunlin for comparison. A single passing Mediterranean gull, some common snipe, five golden plovers and two yellow wagtails rounded off an excellent two days with a flurry of new species.

Mediterranean Gull

In total we saw 118 species in an extraordinary three days thanks to the weather and Ashley’s exceptional bird finding skills.

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Hebrides Wikiedia

Black-throated diver

Hebrides Trip (John Fisher) Making a late booking, I was the eighth person on this Oriole Birding Trip led by Ashley Saunders. So on a surprisingly calm and mild day I found myself in Oban boarding the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry for a five hour voyage to Lochboisdale on the southern tip of South Uist. The sea birds were spectacular and, as we cruised between Mull and Adnamurchan, we saw gannet, guillemot, kittiwake and even a Mediterranean gull. Best of all were the skuas, as we saw arctic, great and pomarine skuas from the open deck. Later we were joined by at least 20 common dolphins and harbour porpoises as the ferry made its way over the flat calm sea. My sea sick pills stayed in my pocket. By the time we landed it was dark, but the hotel was only 100 metres from the quay. Our first day on the island was settled with virtually no wind which did not auger well for those amongst the party who wanted to see windblown rarities. Just about the first bird we saw that morning was a ringtail hen harrier flying low over the moorland, but that morning we were on a mission as a scarlet tanager, an American bird, had been on Barra for the last four days. To get to Barra we drove over to Eriskay and then took the short ferry ride drifting through four flocks of 35 black-throated divers along with 10 red-throated and a couple of great northern. Once on Barra

we soon found ourselves searching a small copse of sycamores looking for this real UK rarity. We searched along with few local birders for some time without success and, in fact, the bird was never seen again. The bonus was that we saw lots of European migrants like robins, stonechats, redwings, song thrushes, bramblings and yellow-browed warblers. Every bush and shrub seemed occupied by birds. The calm overcast conditions meant these birds were held up on their southern migration. Back on Eriskay we found a few more yellow-browed warblers and a flock of common redpolls, the larger and paler version of our lesser redpoll. We also went to Askernish to look for the reported shore lark which was soon found feeding on the sea weed at the high tide mark. It seemed a lot darker that the ones I have see on the Norfolk coast and it was reckoned that it was an American horned lark.

Long-tailed duck

It seemed that about half the area of the Uists was lochs and it was great to get really close views of long-tailed ducks, divers and Slovenian grebes on really calm water. While taking in these, one of the party noticed a pair of adult white-tailed eagles at some distance on the other side of the loch and while trying to drive closer we were treated to close up view of a female peregrine

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Jenny describes our trip to Titchfield Haven

Whooper Swan

cruising past the van. In fact birds of prey were an outstanding feature of the trip. Practically every day we saw golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, peregrine, merlin, kestrel, sparrow hawk and hen harrier. One day we also saw a marsh harrier, a rare bird in these parts, and a short-eared owl, which should have been on its way south by now. The best sighting of all was a male and the much larger female golden eagle on the top of a grassy hillock just 200 metres from us. We watched the pair for about 30 minutes while drinking tea and eating cake and then a second male flew in and was attacked by the first male with talon on talon clash. The incomer was soon seen off and they resumed their procession of the hill top. My best ever views of eagles.

Golden Eagles John Fisher

For waders one of the best spots was near the Hebridean Jewellery shop which was close to a wide sandy sea inlet. Here we saw all the common waders, but failed to find the reported solitary western sandpiper amongst the thousands of sanderlings. All through the week whooper swans were flying in, and one evening as we drove back to Lochboisdale, a group of eight

kept pace with the bus at 35 mph for about five miles. On the final morning we crossed back to Oban after seeing the sunrise over Ben Nevis at breakfast. Again the sea was smooth and pomarine, arctic and common skuas were all performing close to the boat. Dolphins followed us again and a flock of about 40 barnacle geese flew behind the boat for a while. A great finish to this trip to a wonderful group of islands.

Titchfield Haven Jenny Hill Titchfield Haven, on the north-east shore of the Solent, is a worthwhile visit at any time of year. It has been designated a National Nature Reserve, and is managed by Hampshire County Council. Its 360 acres lie on either side of the River Meon, stretching two miles inland to the outskirts of Titchfield village. There is a wealth of habitats - river, fen, freshwater scrapes, reedbeds, water meadows, hedgerows - with hides on each side of the river, and a track running south to Posbrook Flood from the village. All this is without what’s on offer out on the Solent or in Hill Head Harbour close to the reserve entrance. Our car-share visit to Titchfield Haven this year was on 15 March, on the early side for most migrants, but with some signs of breeding activity. Nine of us went. It’s a pleasure arriving at the Haven. Having slogged down motorways and the A27, I felt

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Great Black-Backed Gull Brian O’Riordan

Turnstone

tension dissolving on the little road that wends and winds from Titchfield village to the sea. There we turned left, along with the road, and parked facing onto the Solent - right next to the other cars in our group. Getting out, we were hit by the clamour of black-headed gulls out of sight on the scrapes. There were also hammering noises from what turned out to be people mending a groyne on the beach. The weather was dry with a biting wind, and lots of sailing boats were showing far out on the horizon. The tide was well down, and on the sea and shingle we saw brent geese, oystercatchers, a great black-backed gull, and a pair of shags sitting on a sandbank. In Hill Head Harbour, where the Meon emerges, there were at least a dozen busy turnstones, a single redshank, and 2 squeaky-voiced black swans. We also looked from the road onto the reserve’s nearest pool, and found several avocets and a small flock of black-tailed godwits, some of them well into breeding plumage. Now it was time for the reserve proper, so we moved in and got our tickets. House sparrows were bustling about at their nest boxes on the Visitor Centre. There’s a great little ‘taster’ hide close by, with public access and an invitation to buy a ticket for the reserve. It gives good views of feeders, a stretch of grass, and a section of pool and reeds. In the short time we spent there we saw blue tits, great tits, green

finch, chaffinch, a pheasant, a green woodpecker on the ground (and a dummy great-spotted on a post!), and tufted ducks out on the water. Reed buntings often visit. All quite enticing.

Green Woodpecker Bob Tompkins

We next headed up the Boardwalk Trail to the east of the Meon, finding goldcrests in the conifers on the way, and with Cetti’s warblers making themselves heard. From the Suffern Hide, overlooking river and reed bed, we saw a good array of duck - mallard, gadwall, teal, shoveler, pochard, wigeon, shelduck and pintail. There was a cormorant perched on a tree in the distance, and several different-year common gulls were sitting on posts, handy for comparing their feathering. Moving on to the Meadow Hide (clue is in the name) we added a marsh harrier flying back and forth, a little egret, and a number of Canada geese and lapwings. We continued to the final hide, having seen someone coming back from it with a serious looking camera, but didn’t find anything much. Having retraced our steps, we stopped off for soup and drinks at the excellent cafe at the Visitor Centre, then walked back along the sea front to join the Scrapes Trail on the western side of the Meon. Here we had good views of

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Lapwing

The tale of the group trip to Romania by an anonymous reporter with illustrations by Anna Marrett

Water Vole

the raucous black-headed gulls displaying and vying for nesting sites, and it was satisfying to make out three Mediterranean gulls amongst them. They are regular visitors to Titchfield Haven. We also watched and listened to lapwings displaying, and spotted a common snipe creeping about in the reeds. The receptionist at the Visitor Centre had suggested we drive inland to Titchfield village and walk back along the track running south from there by the Titchfield Canal. The two mile long Canal is interesting in itself. It isn’t navigable any more, though still in water. The Earl of Southampton had it built in 1611, and there are different theories as to why. It could have been to transport goods to Titchfield which was then a port, or it could have been to do with drainage or irrigation. It did coincide with the Earl having the outlet of the Meon dammed to make it non-tidal so, whatever the reason, the work will have contributed to the habitat that’s there today, so I suppose we have to thank him for Titchfield Haven. It was the first time any of us had walked the track down to Posbrook Flood. Bird-wise we added buzzard, stonechat, chiffchaff and stock dove (conveniently perched right next to a wood pigeon), taking our total up to 58 species. We also had great views of several mammals – a water vole moving low down along the bank of the canal, a fox crossing a field, and a stock-still roe deer on the edge

of a stretch of woodland. It made a great end to a most enjoyable day. All I can say is, though it’s a bit of a haul down there, Titchfield Haven is well worth the effort.

A Lapwing Mystery On holiday on the outskirts of Larnaca I visited Oroklini Lake a few times. There are quite a range of birds there including the very visible flamingos and, to me, much more interesting a blue throat in a bush right in front of the hide. The lake is renowned as a breeding site for black-winged stilts and for spur-winged lapwings (or spur-winged plovers depending on which name you use). Well I didn’t see any stilts at all – and neither did a couple of birdwatchers who had been there for a longer holiday. I did see the spur-winged lapwings and found them very elegant birds.

Spur-winged Plover/lapwing

There was also, at times, a flock of our more familiar lapwings. But this was a case of ‘either /or’. The two varieties weren’t there together. (The other couple also commented on this). Any ideas as to why this should be?

High rollers in Romania ‘Sloop’ 4.30 am on a Bank Holiday Monday is not the best time to start a week’s holiday. Stansted Airport was crowded and chaotic,

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Danube Delta Wikipedia

but all of the party found each other and were eventually off to Bucharest. Things were a bit better there – the airport was more civilised to start with – but we had to wait around for three hours as our tour bus had been delayed in traffic, and then the driver had to take his allotted rest break. We spent the time studying the local race of jackdaws flying around the airport buildings. Things could only get better – and they certainly did! After negotiating Bucharest’s equivalent of the M25 we were soon in the flat open country of the Great Romanian Plain, but gradually the scenery got more interesting and the birds began to appear.

Roller Anna Marrett

Probably the highlight of the journey for many people was the European roller – the first of many which we were to see in the next seven days. After five hours driving we reached the regional centre of Tulcea – a town about the size of Watford - which was to be our base for three nights. The next two days were spent in a variety of habitats; mountain foothills, steppe woodlands, plains, coastal lagoons, and finally the Black Sea coast. The

skies were wide, the horizons were distant, and the spaces were boundless. Our list of birds increased steadily, and although many of us had seen some of the target species elsewhere, we were all impressed by the sheer numbers, bright plumage, and close proximity of the birds that we saw. For example the adult male Pallas’ gulls (aka great black-headed gulls) were easily visible with binoculars and were absolutely superb through a telescope, and so well worth seeing even for those who’d seen them before. And then we transferred to our ‘hotel boat’, a large and comfortable barge which we learned later was a converted prison ship! With its ten ensuite bedrooms, comfortable saloon, well-stocked bar and high observation deck which gave us great views over the reed beds, it was a splendid base for our excursions by small motor launch through the expanses of the Danube Delta. The area can be likened to the Norfolk Broads on steroids, with extensive cuts, channels, inlets, lagoons and floating islands of reeds – but without any roads, bridges, or cars.

Bee-eater Anna Marrett

Each night we moored up on a different stretch of water, hitching the boat to a tree stump, and waking up next morning to a dawn chorus of cuckoos, Savi’s

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The audience John Fisher

warblers, and frogs. And each day we were served a substantial breakfast and a three course lunch and dinner (accompanied for some of us by quite acceptable Romanian wine). So the accommodation was fine, but we’d gone there for the birds. And they were everything that we’d hoped for. With a total list of almost 170 species, everyone had at least one life tick – even Ashley who hadn’t seen thrush nightingale previously – and everyone had their own favourites. For some it was the two pelicans (Dalmatian and white), for others the ubiquitous squacco herons (or any of the other seven species of heron and egret that were seen) and for yet others it was any one of the sixteen different raptors.

Pelican Anna Marrett

And then there were the colourful passerines – from rose-coloured starlings, multi-coloured bee-eaters and hoopoes, to those blue and chestnut rollers which were seen high on the wires. All in all it was a superb trip, and our thanks are due not only to Ashley, our local guide Dan the Man, and our hostess Foxy Roxy, but also of course to John Fisher for organising it all on our behalf. Next stop Extramadura.

40th Anniversary and photo competition

Our celebratory evening was punctuated at intervals by loud bangs as the balloons Jenny had carefully decorated the hall with burst! Despite this it was a very enjoyable evening. Andy and Mel Jardine delivered a very entertaining talk on Patagonia showing both birds and whales. This included many video clips. With the aid of a length of string, Mel illustrated that the whales were longer than the hall. Refreshments featured the magnificent cake baked and decorated by Janet Martin.

The cake John Fisher

After the interval we were entertained by Jenny with a story into which she had crammed 100 bird names. Very amusing. Steve then delivered some of his poems one of which was dedicated to the anniversary. Somehow he managed to narrate the poems and manage the projector at the same time providing apt illustrations. Some of our former leaders said a few words Gwyneth Bellis,

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Goldfinch

Steve’s Poem

Long-tailed tit

Puffin

Graham and Anna Marrett and John Britten attended in person and there was a message from Arthur Boyt. We also held our annual photo competition. This year 43 photos were entered by eight people. Again the standard of entries was very high. In the ‘other wildlife’ category most entries were dragonflies and there was one butterfly and two mammals. The winner was Ken Miller’s emerald damselfly. The winners in the main bird class were: 1st Grey heron by Peter Draper. 2nd Puffins by Carrol Scott. This was one of three puffin photos this year. 3rd Juvenile sparrowhawk by Colin Rowe and 4th Black-headed gull by Steve Bowen. The photo with the highest number of votes in the audience vote was a lovely goldfinch by Colin Rowe, but Colin generously allowed the prize to go to the runner up Peter Leppert’s charming long-tailed tit. Thank you again to Andy Robertson for judging. The winning photos and a selection of others will appear in our 2016 calendar which should be available in the autumn. Sorry -You have to wait till then to see the photos!

40 Years Steve Bowen ‘Tis 13 years since I joined the Group, Retired with ‘nothing’ else to do. But my first indoor meeting put all that to rights; T’was all about “Oystercatchers : Despots in Pink Tights.”

Oystercatchers

And a few weeks ago on the North Norfolk Coast I had the good fortune to see Two green woodpeckers just by a post, oblivious of me. Together they pecked for the ants they sought: That’s a jolly good omen, I thought.

Green Woodpecker Doug Cooper

I try to explain to the people I meet That watching birds is more than a treat; To hear a chiffchaff and spot where it’s at Encourages me, and what’s more, The bird itself feels happy, I’m sure To know that I’ve seen that it’s there. I’m not sure this applies to all; The bittern and the little crake

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Bittern

Mug

Still some mugs for sale

Perverse delight must surely take In keeping mostly out of sight; With booming call to let you know “I’m here – but I shall rarely show.” So what of our Group in its 40 years ? Of indoor meets we’ve had more than a few; About 380 I can tell you. Times have changed and the venues too; No more the Kodak Carousel; It’s digital that serves us well. Throughout we owe our gratitude To speakers all – a multitude, Who’ve kept us happy and enthralled. With exploits and their photographs To marvel at, and make us laugh. So what is it that makes the Group? The RSPB – first of all And Lottery Funding ‘Awards for All’; Committee & Helpers – we always need more, And Members like you – out there on the floor; Tea and biscuits and Christmas mince pies Yaffles and raffles – each win a surprise; Seed & feed and nestboxes too, Pin badges, stamps and old iron from you. Community talks and John Hurrell walks Coach trips & car trips & weekends away

Our photo comp – we all like to take part For our programme and calendar – true works of art! The £’000s of pounds that we raise every year All go to good causes we all hold so dear But though these things our Group may be It’s not just them, in truth. It is the BIRDS we love to see; THEY are the reason we are here, So here’s to THEM and our next forty years.

Looking Forward

We have again got a varied programme to look forward to. The season begins with a talk on woodpeckers followed by the first shared transport trip to Jubilee River and Christmas Common. The first coach trip in November is to Pagham Harbour. I am particularly looking forward to our November talk ‘Birds in a Cage’. Can I draw your attention to the overnight or short stay trips to Norfolk in December, Portland in April and Bempton in June. There are only limited places on these – early booking is strongly advised to avoid disappointment. Thank you to Ian Bryant for stepping forward to manage our seed sales.

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Word Search

J Y B B O H C N I F N E E R G

N A R E R E S N A G R E M O R

E J C R O S S B I L L D U O E

V A U K I N G F I S H E R K E

A E V O D H C T A H T U N C N

R E L B R A W W O L L I W U W

G H I T N A W N W E L R U C O

A E A A G I I O O R I O L E O

D N R T G G F H R B Y O W L D

W Y A E H A U E S M R N O D P

A I O T E A L N I I T E E U E

L N J N D L M A S H F K F C C

L A I E O D A R K W I F O K K

R U C R O W R C I V I E U O E

G N I W P A L I N N E T R R R

In the grid you can find the names of 40 birds written horizontally, vertically and diagonally

backwards and forwards. Some letters are used in more than one name. The unused letters will form

the name of another bird.

auk, canary, crane, crossbill, crow, cuckoo, curlew, dove, duck, emu, fulmar, gadwall, greenfinch,

green woodpecker, guinea fowl, hen, hobby, jackdaw, jay, kingfisher, lapwing, linnet, merganser,

nightjar, nuthatch, oriole, owl, puffin, rail, raven, roller, rook, ruff, siskin, wagtail, whimbrel,

wigeon, willow warbler, wren, wryneck