RSPB CHESTER GROUP NEWSLETTER Swift Survey 2016 – 2017 The recording of swifts in Chester and surrounding villages for the new Swift Survey is nearly done for this year. I would

Edition 87

August 2016

Yellowhammer – Summer 2016

©Helen Wilson

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RSPB CHESTER GROUP

NEWSLETTER rspb.org.uk/groups/chester

facebook.com/RSPBChester/ @RSPBChester

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Group Leader’s Spot

Spring has finally turned to summer. Our Great Tits have fledged and gone, the starlings over the neighbours’ house have fledged and we see the young squabbling frequently in our garden. House Martins are nesting next door. One delight is that we have a solitary bumble bee nesting in a bird box we put up for Blue Tits. She has been really busy. A Jay demolished most of our fat ball feeder, then cleaned up the bits from the ground after, closely followed by the female Great Spotted Woodpecker who also decided to finish off the fat balls. We had two male Great Spotted Woodpeckers fighting over food, or maybe territory, in June. Has anyone else seen this behaviour?

The Peregrines at Beeston laid three eggs, but only one hatched this year. Still, the pulli is getting well fed and was ringed, tagged etc. on 25 May. Many thanks to all those giving up their time to protect this schedule one bird. We know that we have thwarted at least two human attacks on the nest this year. The dawn chorus (at least on Tuesdays) has been wonderful. I’ve also seen badgers and foxes at that time of day.

We have had a really good season of talks and walks. For details of next year, see the programme included with this newsletter.

One slight disappointment is that the Liverpool Group cannot run their Liverbird cruise this year. The Mersey Ferry Company has had to mothball another of their boats due to cut backs, so cannot spare a boat for these popular trips.

Thank you for your support of the Chester Group, but more importantly, thank you for supporting the biggest conservation charity in Europe.

Norman Sadler

The Membership Secretary’s Report

We now have 144 members and it is that time of year again when your membership of the RSPB Chester group is due. If you paid last year you will automatically get the August newsletter and a renewal form sent to you. Otherwise you will need to download a form and send it to Margaret Bain with a cheque or pay at the first indoor meeting. We have an interesting programme of indoor speakers and outdoor trips which you will not want to miss. The fee for a casual visitor is going up to £4 so if you attend regularly it is much cheaper to join for the year.

The membership form can be found here rspb.org.uk/groups/chester and following the link ‘It's so easy to join us now’.

Margaret Bain

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Swift Survey 2016 – 2017

The recording of swifts in Chester and surrounding villages for the new Swift Survey is nearly done for this year. I would like to say a big thank you to all those group members who have been counting swifts in their particular corner of Chester in the last few months. The weather has not been kind to the birds: the cool weather in May meant that swifts were slow to arrive and start breeding, and then the wet June made things worse for the incubation and feeding stages.

At the time of writing, birds are finishing their breeding activity: I think the juveniles in the nest on my house have just fledged, but it’s almost impossible to distinguish young birds from their parents so I can’t be sure. By the time you read this, the great majority of swifts will have left the UK. The next stage of our work is to make sure everyone’s data is loaded on our local recording database ready for some preliminary analysis. Over the autumn and winter we can use those data to support conservation initiatives with the council, local developers and so on. We will be repeating the survey next spring, after which the data can be fully analysed and reported. If you think you would like to join in the surveying next year, please e-mail me at [email protected]

Roger Nutter - Education

Outdoor Events

Unless otherwise stated our meeting location is the Sainsbury end of Caldy Valley Neighbourhood Church car park, Caldy Valley Road, Chester, CH3 5PR

Newcomers and beginners are particularly welcome on these trips. Please contact the leader at least three days beforehand to confirm arrangements. If the leader does not know you are coming, they cannot let you know of any last minute changes to the trip. Wherever possible, car sharing is encouraged. If you would like a lift, let the leader know.

Saturday 24 September – Hilbre Island (low tide) Inquisitive seals plus migrant, sea and estuary birds. Appropriate footwear required for the wet and slippery conditions.

Leader: John Chapman 01244 316590 Time: 09:00

Sunday 23 October – Venus Pool and Ellesmere We will explore the Shropshire Ornithological Society site which has a diverse range of habitats; open water, scrape, reedbeds, woodland and wild meadow.

Leader: Tim Carley 01244 680460 Time: 09:00

Sunday 20 November – Owls of Chester Meadow (Evening) Location: Chester Meadows. Meet at Bottoms Lane:

Leader: Julie Rose c/o Roger Nutter 01829 782237 Time: 15:00

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Saturday 17 December – Parkgate and Heswall Gutters Expect lots of waders, gulls and maybe the odd bird of prey.

Leader: Roger Nutter 01829 782237 Time: 09:00

Indoor Meetings

Our meeting location is Christleton Parish Hall, Village Road, Christleton, CH3

7AS. Time 19:30, member’s fee £2; non-member’s fee £4 including refreshments.

Wed 21 September Aristocrats of the Air Keith Offord How birds achieve and sustain effortless flight.

Wed 19 October Birdlife International Italy David Lingard About David’s work in the UK, for birds in Italy

Wed 16 November Jewels of the Gambia Ashley Grove Kingfishers, Bee-eaters, Rollers and more

Wed 07 December Christmas Special Join us for pre-Christmas fun. A quiz, maybe some slides and nibbles.

Mediterranean Spring

Away from the busier, more-touristy resorts of Kefalonia in the south and the up-market yachting harbour in the north, island life still revolves largely around farming with olive growing the main product. We base ourselves in a small village on the east of the island which overlooks the southernmost tip of the nearby island of Ithaca. Walking opportunities are plentiful either along the coast or through the abundant olive groves and both provide a range of wildlife sightings. From the shore leaping tuna can be observed chasing their prey while loggerhead turtles paddle serenely by. The higher cliff paths provide views of migrating Bonelli’s and short-toed eagles returning to Europe from

their winter vacations while each olive tree seems to have its resident sardinian warbler which mutters at you as you pass but keeps itself almost invisible in the foliage. The purring of turtle doves is a welcome sound after the species decline in the UK.

At this time of the year, the fields and the olive groves are full of wild flowers ranging from poppies, scabiousa, valerian cornflowers and delphiniums.

All these flowers also mean a profusion of insects; some less welcome than others. The butterflies get everywhere; even sitting under the canopy of the local taverna a wandering swallowtail will pay a visit. Probably because of their size the eye-catching species are the two varieties of swallowtail and the two-tailed pasha, while dozens of grayling congregated in, or near to, the apricot

Sardinian Warbler ©Brian Webster

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tree in the hotel garden. However, based solely on numbers, 2016 has to be the year of the Cleopatra butterfly.

In Greece things get done but not at the same speed as in the UK, particularly at Kefalonia’s much undersized airport when leaving. However, the profusion of wildlife, the Greek pace of life and the warm climate all combine to make this a most attractive destination after our cold, wet winters.

Joyce & Brian Webster

In search of the Resplendent Quetzal

5 am on a cool, misty morning at Savegre Reserve in the central highlands of Costa Rica, I excited by the thoughts that I was about to see my first quetzal. It wasn’t long before one was seen in the almond tree. This particular bird kept himself and his two foot long tail streamers well hidden, just a tantalising glimpse of bright blue-green plumage, still a quetzal is a quetzal.

I was on a three week trip to Costa Rica visiting the wildlife hotspots in this beautiful Central American country. With the help of our guide, Chris Gardner we managed to identify over 250 bird species, we saw many more than this but it is very hard to identify all the LBJ’s in the rainforest.

The trip started in the North on the Caribbean coast. The highlights here were the beautiful blue-crowned and turquoise-browed motmot, one landed just a few feet away affording a privileged close up view of the beautiful plumage and strange racquets on the end of the tail.

From here we moved on to Cano Negro, a remote area, often submerged by flooded rivers. Early morning and late afternoon boat trips revealed brightly coloured kingfishers darting up and down the waterways, including the tiny American pygmy kingfisher, eight species of heron and egret, including the extraordinary boat-billed heron. We had fabulous views of a black-collared hawk fishing and my highlight was a three-toed sloth hanging upside down

high up in a tree.

Next stop was Laguna del Largarto famous for the green macaws also the exotic keel-billed and chestnut billed toucan as well as their close relative the aracari. Characterful parrots, tanagers and flycatchers kept me busy for hours. Rufous and broad-billed motmot were seen in the day, but at night more treasures were revealed. The sounds and smells of the rain

Keel-billed toucan ©Helen Wilson

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forest are intensified in the dark. Owls and nightjars can be seen by catching a glimpse of eye shine. Nocturnal mammals such as woolly possum, racoon and kinkajou come out to play.

We moved south and climbed the mountains of the Cordillera Central, into the cloud forest. I had no idea that we would see so many different hummingbirds at these elevations. The exquisite fiery-throated hummingbird the miniscule volcano hummingbird, the aptly named magnificent hummingbird, to name but a few.

From the mountains we travelled to the hot, humid Pacific coast. The lodge

could only be reached by boat, located deep in the forest, at night we looked for moths and (to my horror) found a hand sized orange-kneed tarantula, with black fangs 1cm long.

Our final destination was Bosque de Cabo. Four species of monkey swing from the canopy, while agouti, coarti and armadillo forage in the undergrowth. Tent making bats are abundant, green and black poison frogs hop out of your path and huge owl moths flutter by.

A quarter of the Costa Rica is national park and the friendly, welcoming people actively look after the wildlife. I would urge anyone with a passion for birds and wildlife to visit.

Helen Wilson

Barn Owl Ringing - Broxton Barn Owl Group (BBOG)

"What's that? Why bother?" I hear you cry. In essence the BBOG tour all the boxes (approx. 450) in their area, look in to see if anyone is at home and ask the birds to take part in an annual census. The resulting data indicates which boxes are in use, which pairs have bred successfully and how many little ones they have. The process repeated year on year gives a fairly accurate trend of the total barn owl population in the area. It is not totally comprehensive as it is known that some barn owls shun the modern “doll's house on a pole" for the delights of traditional hollow trees thus avoiding the "mid day" knock on the door by the enumerator.

"Why ring the birds?" you now ask. Like certain religious orders the message is "catch them while they are young". Time your knock on the door right and you corner the chicks when they are big enough to have a metal ring put on their leg but not big enough to either put up a fight or fly off.

Magnificent hummingbird ©Helen Wilson

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Once a bird is ringed it is likely to be caught again at some stage, usually in another year and another box. This enables you to get a picture of local migrations and the longevity of the bird.

"How is it done?" Bernard convenes a squad of "volunteers", drills them, briefs them, loads them into a convoy and drives them into the countryside to known boxes. On arrival they move in a well drilled manner. Bernard has his cup of coffee; the "blocker" inserts a "pad on a pole" over the front door, the troops assemble and erect the ladder; Bernard finishes his coffee, ascends

the ladder and enquires whether anyone is at home by thrusting his hand through the "back door". If it is nipped or scratched Bernard retaliates by gently but firmly seizing the bird, extracting it from the box and inserting it into a bag where it weighed. Then exposed to the air it is held gently while a ring is pressed around the leg with special pliers before being returned to the box with a muttered "Sorry to have disturbed you so early in the day".

Great in theory but what did our day reveal?

Firstly there are some very nice big houses in the area. Owners were happy to move the Maserati and let us past the swimming pool into the back fields.

Secondly some boxes get blown down over the winter.

Thirdly the boxes are very popular with other types of birds, especially stock doves. Fourthly we never actually found any barn owls at home. (Approx only 20% of boxes are ever actually used by barn owls)

And finally Bernard is “bloody good “at ringing. Two feisty “teen age" kestrels were “like putty in his hands". Extracted, weighed, ringed and returned to the box in a competent and caring manner leaving the rest of the group to think “not sure I could do that"

In short, a fascinating way to spend a morning in typical Cheshire weather in marvellous countryside around Shocklach. Give Bernard a call next year; he'll let you carry his ladder and you'll have a memorable day. The barn owl ringing season goes through to August.

John Dawson

Barn Owl Ringing ©Bernard Wright

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Protected Places

Protected areas set up under the 1949 National Parks and access to the Countryside Act have previously been considered together with the areas set aside under legislation following on from European Union Directives.

Special Protection Areas (SPA’s), set up under the Birds Directive, are worth considering further. At the time of the Birds Directive (1979), the European Commission asked BirdLife International – then known as International Committee for Bird Preservation (ICBP) – to identify areas that could be considered for designation as SPA’s. ICBP came up with the concept of “Important Bird Areas” (IBA’s) and these were used as the basis for the network of SPA’s within the European Union. All IBA’s within the EU are now SPA’s. Criteria for IBA’s can be found in BirdLife publications.

The IBA concept has now been extended to cover most of the world; over 12,000 have been identified and the final total is likely to be around 15,000. Not all IBA’s outside Europe are protected and few receive the protection and scrutiny that SPA’s receive.

BirdLife is also responsible for the preparation and up-dating of the Red List for the world’s threatened birds for IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature). The Red List and IBA’s are clearly connected – conservation requires that we know which birds are threatened and then that we know and can protect their most important habitats. Conservation has to be international.

An example of international initiative is the Convention on Wetlands, generally known as the Ramsar convention. This was signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971. It provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are some 2,225 sites in 169 countries at the moment, 154 are in the United Kingdom. The sites nearest to us are:

Mersey Estuary

The Dee Estuary

The Mersey Narrows and North Wirral Foreshore

These are particularly large and varied areas; details can be found on the Ramsar site: ramsar.org The information sheets for each site are very detailed and informative. The sites often include SPA’s, SCA’s and other protected areas, giving them an additional layer of oversight and protection. The Dee Estuary has been listed under the Convention as a site under threat and management plans have been implemented to lessen adverse effects; however, some threats remain. Other Ramsar sites nearby are, Rosthern; Martinmere; Ribble and Alt Estuaries.

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Back to purely UK protected sites we have National Nature Reserves (NNR’s). These are set up and administered by Natural England. There are 224 reserves covering 94,000 Ha in total throughout the country. 143 are managed by Natural England and the rest by conservation bodies including the RSPB. The sites offer protection to important habitats, species and geology and to facilitate research. Only 2 are in Cheshire – Rosthern Mere and Wybunbury Moss. The mere is important for wintering wildfowl.

Other NNRs close to us are:

Fenn’s Whixall and Bettisfield Mosses

The Stiperstones

Ainsdale Sand Dunes

Cabin Hill (Formby)

Ribble Estuary

Wem Moss

A final official designation for protected areas is “Sites of Special Scientific Interest” (SSSI). They are important sites for wildlife and geology and they are identified and monitored by Natural England. They are mainly in private ownership and are often rather small. They are rarely designated for birdlife but clearly do provide protected habitat. In Cheshire there are 63 sites including 7 geological sites. Most protect meres and mosses and fragments of mature woodland. Just a few are large – Dee estuary and Mersey estuary – but these are otherwise protected. One SSSI that is important for birds and which appears to have no other protection is the Sandbach flashes.

Protection of small and isolated SSSI’s can be difficult and is largely in the hands of the landowner. There have been cases of serious damage to sites through neglect or deliberate actions. Full details of SSSI’s are on official sites but these are confusing and the best way to find information is through Wikipedia and Magic Map applications.

Charities provide protection for significant areas of land. The National Trust owns substantial areas in the UK but only relatively small reserves in Cheshire. These include: Bickerton Hill, Bulkeley Hill, Helsby Hill and Burton Wood. All are good areas for woodland birds. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust protects and manages 3,148 Ha including Martinsmere. The RSPB has 210 reserves totalling approx 150,000 Ha. We have, close to Chester, Burton Mere Wetlands and other areas round the Dee estuary. The Cheshire Wildlife Trust protects several areas nearby, in particular Gowy Meadows, Red Rocks Marsh, Bickley Hall Farm, Marbury Reedbeds and Hockenhull Platts. The Gowy Meadows is proving to be an excellent place for rare migrants and Red Rocks has a long history of providing sightings of rarities.

John Chapman

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Cheshire and District Ornithological Society – CADOS 2016

Outdoor trips Sat 17 Sep North Wirral Leader Nick French 01829 271 945 Sat 15 Oct Migrant Mystery Tour Leader: Don Pawlett 01244 677 477

Indoor meetings Thu 13 Oct Wild Mersey by Bill Morton Thu 03 Nov Isles of Scilly by Don Pawlett Thu 01 Dec The CADOS Year by David King

Field Trip Reports

North Wales Coast – 12 March 2016

Leader: retired amanuensis Respected Leader

A field trip that endeavoured to sight a hawfinch which is described on the RSPB’s website as conservation status: Red The UK's largest finch, it has a massive, powerful bill. Always shy and difficult to see, the hawfinch has become even more enigmatic in recent years with a decline in many of its traditional breeding areas. Numbers are hard to determine, however, as hawfinches are easily overlooked, especially in summer.

First stop was Llanbedr-y-Cennin and the churchyard of St Peter’s. On parking a green woodpecker was heard but never seen. A number of bushes and trees were scanned for the elusive hawfinch but only garden birds; blackbird, thrush, various tits and a dunnock were seen.

Not much was on view but then, a voice was heard, the Respected Leader said, “Over there in the tree in front of the house’s chimney”. We aimed our

optical equipment in the direction, somebody shouted ‘hawfinch’ then it flew off to the right into a pine tree and was never seen again. Unfortunately, not all our group witnessed the elusive blighter but don’t worry, other birders were in the vicinity and not all their members saw the UK’s largest finch.

Before exiting the churchyard, we looked up to see a sparrowhawk and then a single red kite caught our full attention.

Caerhun is a scattered rural community but it is known to birders for the churchyard of the fabulous 14th century St Mary’s Church which is on the banks of the Roman fort Canovium and overlooks the River Conwy (Welsh: Afon Conwy).

Red Kite ©Helen Wilson

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As is typical of birding a brambling was seen to fly away from the churchyard by only a handful of the group as the others were distracted by a red kite and buzzard swirling overhead. Below the churchyard and near to the river various gulls were observed, the odd Canada goose and a dirty looking swan. Hawfinches are said to be here but none were observed.

Then it was trip via the Sychnant Pass (Welsh: Bwlch Sychnant, "Dry-stream Pass") to the The Spinnies also known as Aberogwen which is a mosaic of wetland and woodland adjacent to the Ogwen Estuary on the coastal plain of North Gwynedd.

After the morning’s punishing schedule, the Respected Leader let us have five minutes for lunch! After lunch one of our group disturbed a single wading bird and notified the others. Observations were made, photographs taken, bird books were leafed through but what was it? Common sandpiper was mooted then rejected, ‘little stint’ was heard, later a ‘knot’ and on a Facebook group page for UK Wildlife Photography we had knot and curlew sandpiper. Further

emails within the group suggested an immature dunlin in winter plumage. The following day, Roger confirmed it was a dunlin.

Off to the nearby woods to find a number of greylag geese in a farm field. Inside the woods and close to the lake a hide has been erected with a number of adjacent bird feeders. A number of good looking birds were observed; nuthatch, various tits and chaffinches. It was said that one of group had once seen three kingfishers at this little nature reserve but guess what, none were observed from this hide.

To the main hide of the nature reserve we went to find adjacent to the footpath a birder with a scope and camera observing a goldcrest. Being a keen photographer he wasn’t happy with his photograph of the bird but at least he observed the goldcrest unlike our group of enthusiastic birders.

At the main hide a great spotted woodpecker was observed but no kingfishers. Out on the estuary a number of birds had been observed; goldeneyes were bobbing up to the surface when they pleased, then one of those sawbills put in an appearance but what which one. The bird book was thumbed through but a scope was required to observe the bird as it was too far away for proper identification by binoculars. After various discussions were had about feather colour delineation between the head and neck plus the spikiness of the head

Dunlin ©Nick Carey

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feathers it was decided, by brains far superior to mine, that we had observed a goosander and a red-breasted merganser. The kingfisher may not have been observed but an oystercatcher did a good impression by climbing onto a dead branch in the estuary – it fooled no one.

When walking back to the cars, along the shoreline, a white buzzard came towards us and landed in the trees across the water. Upon reviewing the photograph, it became clear the bird book was required. Because of its long barred tail and that it went into woods it had to be a goshawk. Unfortunately, not. Conor Jameson (RSPB Trusts and Foundations Manager - Biodiversity) and author of Looking for the Goshawk identified the raptor as a buzzard because the barring was too close together and too light to be a goshawk.

Then another frantic rush down the A55 to view the birds on the promenade at Llanfairfechan

The Llanfairfechan promenade and coastal path has a number of interesting habitats and birds. It has the cut grass and pools of a town park adjacent to a little river - Afon Llanfairfechan, a wooded area, farm fields and Lavan Sands.

By the park’s pool a number of mallards with one or two varieties with white breasts, jackdaws and black headed gulls were observed. Hang on; ‘female goosander’ was heard which was found to be sat amongst the other birds.

The walk back to the cars was in the sun and at a good angle to clearly show off the birds that included; a single lapwing, a single little egret, a large number of wigeon, numerous ringed plovers, redshank and turnstones.

Total species observed: 55

Nick Carey

Lake Vyrnwy – 10 April 2016

“Lake Vyrnwy Nature Reserve and Estate is an area of land in Powys, Wales, surrounding the Victorian reservoir of Lake Vyrnwy. Its stone-built dam, built in the 1880s, is the first of its kind in the world.

The Nature Reserve and the area around it are protected by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, and Severn Trent Water.

It was built for the purpose of supplying Liverpool and Merseyside with fresh water.

Thirsty Mallards ©Nick Carey

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It flooded the head of the Vyrnwy Valley and submerged the small village of Llanwddyn.

The Reserve is designated as a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area, and a Special Area of Conservation.”

Quality not quantity was the byword for this trip though the quality was somewhat debated.

Having experienced several of the designated walks it was agreed that a good trail which would suit the group was via the red walk from the canoe boat house. This takes you up a long drag to a viewing area with a bench. A bench for four and we were 16 but it worked out well. You then head for the orange walk and turn down the yellow walk back to ground level.

We spent about 15 minutes looking across the valley. A small bird sat atop a bush and a couple of people called willow warbler. However, before anyone could document it, it threw its head back and called chiffchaff.

Just as we were about to move onwards at least three raptors flew in. Probably buzzard but with bits of white on them gave a possibility of ringtail. Very distant and difficult to pin point.

Cheered up by the sight of raptors, well I was, a couple were moaning that there were not enough birds, we moved on to the next viewing point. This is where the real excitement came because in the distance a smallish bird flew fast. It had a long tail, was grey

and it’s white under tail coverts were showing strongly.

Some thought sparrowhawk and others goshawk. Trouble is it was high and fast.

However, given it was male and they are the same size as a female sparrowhawk and that unlike a sparrowhawk it did not lose height whilst gliding and in my opinion was too big to be a male sparrowhawk I’m happy that it was one. Unusually my husband agrees with me. Others in the group do not.

There was a photo taken but it was an extremely distant shot so hard to discern distinguishing marks or make out its size.

Altogether we walked for about two hours, the weather was great and the views marvellous. We made our way down to the picnic area by the waterfall and people either ate their own lunch or bought food from a couple of nearby

Nuthatch ©Nick Carey

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café’s. The nearby hide gave great views of siskin, chaffinch, nuthatch, coal tit and pheasant.

After lunch we squashed into four cars and drove up onto the moors in hope of seeing raptors. There is also a possibility of grouse. Once again the views were splendid. Some people managed to get on to a ringtail.

John organised us to walk a bit on the moor and there were meadow pipits and a wheatear and other small birds calling. A magical place.

Peter then took command and we drove to a car park at the top end of the lake and walked up towards a waterfall. There were lots of singing birds, coal tits, willow warbler, wren and nut hatches to name but a few.

On return we walked to the hide which overlooks the area that the peregrines nest. Unfortunately, whilst we have been told they are nesting we did not see them. There were a few mallards and the occasional Canada goose. There was a willow warbler singing of which some had a distant view.

At about 4 p.m. we called it a day and made our way home. Most people on the trip, whilst they would have liked to see more birds, enjoyed the lovely walk, beautiful views, fine weather and the debate over what we were seeing. Lake Vyrnwy is only an hour and 20 minutes drive from Chester. If you go via Lake Bala on the single track road it is a quite breath taking journey.

For me, a trip that shows goshawk, ringtails and siskin amongst others in beautiful surroundings is a quality trip

Jeanie Atkins

Conwy Valley – 07 May 2016

For the trip down the Conwy valley, the fourteen member group (not forgetting Liz's Shelley) assembled in the layby two miles south of Llanrwst on A470 (OS 116 SH804 578) at about 9.45am.

This first site visited was the ancient woodland of Coed Hafod just by this layby. Peter, the trip leader, played the bird sounds for the three target species from his iPad and even allowing for the road noise all there were primed for the walk. Over the course of the very enjoyable morning walk each of these targets was found in order! Wood warbler, pied flycatcher and redstart.

The light in the forest was not conducive to much photography as we all stretched our necks to try and view the various species from the bird sounds and this was more appreciative as we moved away from the significant road noise. This group forest walk was a good example of the benefits of such a trip for a novice such as me. The importance of encyclopaedic knowledge of bird sound was clear and as a result much more was gained from the morning rather than simple observation of many silhouetted bird forms. Other members saved their stretched necks from time to time by looking more closely at the

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bluebell carpet and the wide range of flowers growing there so much so that a learned discussion began over the appearance of one flower and whether it was a greater or lesser stitchwort. This, I think, was eventually resolved once the RSPB library was consulted later in the day. Good views of a treecreeper and nuthatch were seen as well as a blackcap and redpoll were recorded and many others were only heard e.g. goldcrest and a woodpecker. Looking across a field even the appearance of a song thrush and mistle thrush attracted attention as they moved across together showing the size difference between the two, not often seen in the same view.

The three hours we were there passed so quickly that some had to have a brief drink / eat before we passed back through Llanrwst (where swifts, swallows, herring gulls and house martins were seen from the cars) until we reached Cadair Ifan Goch up a narrow steep road from Maenan to a small car park.

Legend has it that a giant (Ifan Goch) sat at the lunchtime spot selected and cooled his feet. It was certainly a splendid viewpoint but the wispy mist precluded us seeing for long distances but the village of Dolgarrog across the River Conwy with its wave generator (Surf Snowdonia) was clearly seen! Rain started to fall as we ended lunch and we descended back to the car park and on to RSPB Conwy.

From the Cuddfannan hide little Egret, tufted duck, gadwall, great crested grebe and shelducks with 20 oystercatchers among others were seen with the weather, and light intensity especially, improving.

On the walk to the screen between the first two hides a grasshopper warbler was heard and sedge and reed warblers were seen on the path to the Carneddau hide as well as a dunnock and a whitethroat.

I had been lucky to be at South Stack, Anglesey counting Puffins earlier in the week and popped in here on the way back to see a pair of garganey from the coffee shop! This time only the male remained but had not been seen when I

had to leave at 4.15pm and from a later report was only seen by a few of the group prior to the car park closing at 5pm.

Total species recorded 51.

A very good day. Thank you Peter

Ian Cameron

Whitethroat ©Nick Carey

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SAVE OUR SPARROWS

Now a Red Listed, endangered species. Please help by placing one of our bespoke Sparrow fibreglass nest boxes on your house or garden tree. They cost £38 each and carry a lifetime guarantee. They simply do not rot. Delivery is free to group members.

For more information:[email protected] www.impeckable.co.uk Tel: Len on 07554385878

Evening Visit to Countess of Chester Wildlife Park – 18 May 2016

Around 15 turned up for an impressive evening walk round this little known country park in the heart of Chester. We welcomed some new members and visitors.

Although the weather forecast was poor, we enjoyed a cool and dry, but glorious evening around the park. All footpaths are paved and accessible for wheelchairs, and it is obviously popular with joggers and dog walkers.

We encountered a pair of buzzards flying really low, displaying. A hobby being mobbed by other birds, immediately followed by a kestrel, that some thought

was the same hobby. On walking beside the canal, we had an-oh-too brief view of a kingfisher under the bridge. We saw or heard the usual suspects of sedge warbler, whitethroat, blackcap, reed bunting. Overall, I recorded 38 species, which is not bad for a 90 minute walk.

My spot for the evening was hearing a whitethroat at Finchetts Gutter. It wasn’t quite a whitethroat though. Since the event, I’ve played over and over my

Reed Bunting ©Nick Carey

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bird calls CD, and now I’m personally convinced it was a lesser whitethroat with the repetition of the three notes at the end.

If you visit this park, you need to look through the hole in the dedication plaque to appreciate the three sculptures that look like random carvings.

Some of us enjoyed a drink at The Little Owl pub after.

Many thanks to Sue Loughran who is a volunteer warden at the park. She took me on my first recce and helped out on the evening walk. Her knowledge and enthusiasm for the reserve is wonderful. Long may it last. We need people with the enthusiasm and dedication like Sue to protect our special places.

Norman Sadler

Coach Trip to RSPB Old Moore and YWT Potteric Carr – 12 June 2016

34 members and friends went on this trip on a rather doubtful day from the weather aspect. The organisation was superb, thanks especially to Viv, leaving on time, returning on time and nobody getting lost on any more than a temporary basis.

After spotting a harrier over the Weaver beside the new wind powered generators there was a lack of raptors for the rest of the day.

The scenic drive across the Pennines was enhanced by roadside poppies, ox eye daisies, buttercup, cotton grass, cuckoo pint, pink campion and several reservoirs, not to say two curlews overhead and several marsh orchids – not to say the music of the members birdsong apps as they practised en route.

It was perhaps disappointing to find that the award winning cafe at Old Moore and its roast dinners managed to lure just a few away from the more serious business of the day – hunt the bittern, little bittern and black necked grebe!

Despite that, a very respectable bird count as seen below was clocked up, provided it was allowable to do this on a 34 aggregate system!

The Northern marsh orchid, the Southern marsh orchid, several hybrids to confuse the beginners, maybe even the common spotted orchid, ragged robin, yellow rattle, massive white and deep pink rosa spinosissima, pink and white briar roses really added to our bird watching and were much easier to photograph than the bittern, which was gone almost as soon as it appeared!

We failed to persuade the coach to stop on the roundabout leaving Potteric Carr to identify the bee orchids there so a return trip for this and the black necked grebe was felt to be essential.

It was important to sample the coffee and tea shops, especially in the afternoon at Potteric Carr when the heavens opened upon us.

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Our route particularly at Potteric Carr was more than usually circuitous as our self appointed guides felt exercise for the team was insufficient. A splinter group did find a more direct route to the hides but the black necked grebe managed to escape detection before we ran out of time.

Liz McClure

Social Media Update

facebook.com/RSPBChester/ Our Facebook page is going from strength to strength. At the time the April newsletter went to print we had 76 ‘Likes’ against the page. We now have 108 ‘Likes’.

@RSPBChester On 18 April we launched our Twitter page. This works differently to Facebook and tends to attract a different, younger audience and is less formal than Facebook. A number of the sites we visit for our field trips have twitter feeds and RSPB Conwy and Potteric Carr recently commented positively on our field trips to their sites.

Social media can work quickly in spreading news. We ran items on the Eurasian eagle-owl that took residence in a back garden at Hale Village, the spoonbills at RSPB Burton Mere and more recently the sandwich terns and gannets at Hilbre Island. It is a great way for you to get in touch with us, share your photos or ask us questions

Have you joined us on social media?

Nick Carey – Twitter Administrator

Editor’s Note

Thanks to all the writers who provided articles for this newsletter. Would readers consider writing something for the newsletter? Anything about birds or wildlife would be welcome. Please contact me, Nick Carey via Tel: 01928 574 502 [email protected] www.rspb.org.uk/groups/chester/

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with life once again. We also play a leading role in a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.

The RSPB is a registered charity: England and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no.SC037654

Any advertisements enclosed with this newsletter are not specifically endorsed by the RSPB or the RSPB Chester Group.

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