RSPB HITCHIN AND LETCHWORTH LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER Hitchin and Letchworth LG Newsletter Final.pdf · 2 as joint indoor meetings secretary. Laura McLellan has now taken on Kevin’s

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Committee

Group Leader Martin Johnson

Treasurer Malcolm Ingram

Membership Secretary Penny Chatfield

Indoor Meetings Laura McLellan

Publicity/Raffle Janet Southwood

Campaigns Colin Hawkins

Newsletter Editor Val Thompson

Member Jean Crystal

Member Helen Lumley

Group Leader Welcome

Welcome to our 15th

issue of the newsletter, and a

particular welcome to those of you who have

recently joined our Local Group and are reading the

newsletter for the first time. I hope that you “enjoy

the show”: perhaps you may like to contribute an

article of your own to a future newsletter?

After a herculean effort we succeeded (for the first

time) in producing this season’s programme in time

for distribution at the AGM in May 2014: we hope to

make this a regular occurrence in future years as it

allows us to make a significant saving in postage

costs. If you do not yet have a programme see

Penny at one of our indoor meetings. Alternatively

you can download a PDF version from our web site:

www.rspb.org.uk/groups/hitchinandletchworth.

Martin

Five Stone Curlews at Weeting Heath, June 2014 (Martin Johnson)

Editorial

Welcome to the latest newsletter. In this edition we

look back to spring and summer as Betty Cooke

discovers the variety of orchids growing in our area.

We have the second part of Jean Crystal’s ringing

diary and our regular roundups from Fowlmere, The

Lodge and ‘our’ farm.

Mark Eaton from RSPB HQ gives us an insight into

the work of the RSPB Centre for Conservation

Science, both in the UK and overseas.

Winter is a good time to visit restored gravel pits and

Debra Royal from the Nature After Minerals team

outlines the group’s work and tells us of a new local

reserve.

A big thank you to all our contributors. If you have

something you would like to include or suggestions

for articles please let me know.

Last edition’s mystery bird was an osprey - didn’t

anyone get it? Better luck this time.

Val

News

You may have noticed that a red squirrel called Bob

has been popping up recently. With a General

Election arriving in a few months’ time “Vote for

Bob” is a major new campaign, aimed at getting

nature back on the political agenda. At the heart of

the campaign is a petition that will be sent to all our

politicians. If you haven’t already done so we urge

you to add your name to the petition: see Bob’s

website (voteforbob.co.uk) or visit the main RSPB

website for more information.

Kevin Taylor has stood down from the committee.

Kevin has moved out of the area and was finding it

difficult to get back on a regular basis. We hope still

to see him at some of our indoor meetings and

would like to thank him for all the work he has done

RSPB HITCHIN AND LETCHWORTH

LOCAL GROUP NEWSLETTER

Editor: Val Thompson November 2014: No 15

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as joint indoor meetings secretary. Laura McLellan

has now taken on Kevin’s responsibilities: good

luck, Laura!

Dartford Warbler, New Forest, May 2014 (Martin Johnson)

Fundraising

100 Club

Application forms for the 2015 “100 Club” are now

available at our indoor meetings, with the last

application date being 5 December. Each number

costs £12. In the past many of the numbers have

been bought by committee members, so it is hardly

surprising that they win many of the prizes. Go on,

buy a number: it’s all for a good cause!

Sales Goods

Colin has obtained a range of RSPB sales items,

including a good variety of Christmas cards. These

will be for sale at our November and December

indoor meetings (unless we run out!). Please take a

look at these useful gifts: every item sold benefits us

and the RSPB.

Raffle and Second-hand Books

We are always on the lookout for good quality items

for the raffle and second-hand book stall. Janet

would be delighted to sell you raffle tickets during

the interval if you don’t already contribute.

Pin Badges

Colin has recently acquired some RSPB pin badges

with the new logo as well as (surprise, surprise)

some “Bob the squirrel” badges. He also has a wide

range of other badges available for a £1.00

donation.

Talks

Martin has recently visited Costa Rica and will be

happy to present a talk about this holiday, or one of

a variety of other wildlife-related talks from home

and abroad, to local groups and societies. All the

money generated from these talks becomes Local

Group income.

Car Boot Sale

Despite wet weather, Penny and Malcolm raised

£42 for the Local Group from a car boot sale in

August. They are talking about doing another “car

boot” in the future, so if you can donate any items

(tool kits seem to be particularly popular) or would

like to help, please get in touch.

Advertising

This newsletter features an advertisement for a

caravan to rent (see below), in return for a donation.

If you would like to place an advert in a future

newsletter, in return for a small donation, we would

be delighted to hear from you!

As always, it would be great to hear from you if you

have any ideas for ways in which we, as a Local

Group, can raise money for the RSPB.

Mating Swallowtails, RSPB Strumpshaw Fen, June 2014

(Martin Johnson)

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Indoor Meetings

This season we have already had two excellent

talks by Conor Jameson (Goshawks) and Ann and

Phil Farrer (Mongolia) and there is plenty more to

come, besides! We were naturally disappointed that

Ruth Miller and Alan Davies had to pull out of their

“Biggest Twitch” talk in November, but we are

confident that Luke Massey will be an excellent

replacement. Laura hopes to be able to incorporate

Ruth and Alan into next season’s programme.

Outdoor Meetings

This season sees us visit two reserves that are new

to us…….on the same day! Our coach trip on 19

April 2015 takes us Fakenham, where we will visit

the compact and attractive Hawk and Owl trust

reserve at Sculthorpe Moor (which recently hosted a

purple heron) in the morning, before we move on to

Pensthorpe, with its lakes, wader scrape and

collection of captive birds (excellent for

photographers!). We have many more exciting

coach trips lined up: see the programme for full

details.

Since the last newsletter was issued there have

been far too many field trip highlights to mention

here. We’ve attached a few images of wildlife seen

on our trips on the first few pages of this newsletter

and we are confident of many highlights to come!

Please remember that some of our trips are shared

with the Stevenage Local Group, when it is possible

that we may fill the coach. Book early for these!

Nightingale, Paxton Pits, May 2014 (Martin Johnson)

Caravan for rent Camber Sands, East

Sussex

Privately owned five berth static caravan

with veranda and two bathrooms on park

resort site.

Small dogs allowed. Four miles from

Rye, five minute walk to sandy beach

and near RSPB reserve.

Very reasonable rates.

Tel 01525 237481 or 07780 765081

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Pyromania and other hobbies

(By Penny Chatfield)

I was born in Bexley, Kent and lived in the

Bexleyheath area until moving to Hertfordshire in

1982. I am the third of four children, having an older

sister and an older and younger brother.

I attended Belmont Junior School in Bexleyheath,

where I represented the school at rounders and

netball. I won first prize in the under-nine’s painting

completion and was also the first pupil to make an

embroidered round tray cloth square!

(Penny Chatfield)

I then went to Erith Secondary School, representing

it at tennis, athletics and hockey as well as netball.

Despite setting fire to the chemistry lab during an

experiment I did manage to get a Grade 1 CSE in

chemistry, also biology, maths and, amazingly,

needlework.

After leaving school I obtained an English ‘O’ level

at Woolwich Adult Education Centre and then

attended Hitchin College to learn book keeping and

word processing, which I passed with distinction to

add to my London Chamber of Commerce Grade 1

typewriting qualification.

When not studying I was a Brownie, Guide and then

Ranger; I was also a Sunday school primary

teacher. I collected postal slogans, read Dr Doolittle

books and enjoyed doing jig-saw puzzles. My Nan

taught me to knit, crochet and sew.

My first job was as a temp with IPC magazines in

London as a copy typist, leading to a variety of

temporary jobs before obtaining my first full-time job

as a copy typist for Tower Bridge Magistrates’ Court.

I remained there until I left to have my first son.

After having another son and a daughter I returned

to temporary work for a local computer firm before

joining an agency. I spent several years working in

administration for the local Baptist Church prior to

my current position with the Courts & Tribunals

service.

I now have three grandsons aged one, two and

three, with whom I like to spend time. I still enjoy

knitting and crochet, crosswords and puzzles, bird

watching and collecting Beatrix Potter figures.

Having met Malcolm I joined Hatfield Lawn Bowls

Club (ironic after being a bowls orphan as a child)

and joined the local RSPB group were I was co-

opted on to the committee but don’t get to do much

bird watching.

Penny the punk (Penny Chatfield)

I like jazz and blues music and my claim to fame is

being touched on the shoulder by Acker Bilk during

a concert interval at The Stables, Milton Keynes.

Among my favourite things are watching the sea

and looking at clouds that resemble objects. My

dream is to retire to a little cottage overlooking

water.

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Diary of a Ringer: Highlights of July to

December 2013 at Temple End

(By Jean Crystal)

Following on from my article about the first six

months of the year, published in the last newsletter,

here are some of my most interesting birds (to me at

any rate!) for the rest of 2013.

In July I managed to ring for eleven days at the

beginning of the month (we spent the rest of the

month in Loch Garten, helping to look after the

Ospreys). As regards ‘new’ birds, i.e. those I

actually put a ring on (the rest being ‘retraps’, ringed

by me on a previous occasion), my only birds of

interest were a few warblers (whitethroat, blackcap

and chiffchaff) plus eight linnets and two

yellowhammers.

August was rather better as I was able to ring for 26

days and I ringed 274 new birds. This included

three swallow pulli, whose parents were nesting in

our barn.

Swallow (Jean Crystal)

I also caught two sparrowhawks, both young males,

which are always fun to extract from the net! There

were quite a few linnets that month too, twenty six to

be precise. I also caught a young female redstart

on the 7th and on the 20

th a young marsh tit and a

whinchat within an hour of each other. August 20th

was a particularly good day as I also got a young

swallow which made a mistake and flew into my net,

as well as four whitethroats, willow warbler,

blackcap, linnet and goldfinch among others. I

caught another marsh tit that month, the first time I

have had more than one in a year, as well as a

garden warbler, which I hardly ever get these days.

I also had a magpie (unusual), two reed warblers

and a reed bunting. In addition to these, over the

month I ringed forty two whitethroats, two lesser

whitethroats, thirteen blackcaps, twelve willow

warblers and nine yellowhammers amongst others.

In September I still managed to get twenty one days

ringing in before going off on holiday. I caught

about 70 warblers (mainly chiffchaffs and

whitethroats) as well as a couple more swallows,

probably about to leave for their wintering grounds.

An interesting bird for me that month was a starling,

a young male, because although the youngsters in

particular come to eat our berries and fruit in

autumn I hardly ever get one to go in my nets.

Since we got back from France towards the end of

October I only had three ringing days that month.

On the first of those I was very excited to find that

on my first net round I had three redwings, a bird I

very rarely catch. I also caught two song thrushes,

which was very pleasing as they are a bird I see

less and less of as time goes on. The day ended

with a couple of yellowhammers, one of which was

a gorgeous adult male.

November started with two reed buntings, a male

and a female, together in the net. I was able to ring

for 11 days that month. On 23rd

November I had a

really busy day with 75 birds, even though I had to

shut the nets at 4pm because of rain. Amongst

these were seven goldfinches, a bullfinch (of which I

get very few), two song thrushes, two

yellowhammers and 15 long-tailed tits. There were

also quite a few blue tits which can be quite a

nuisance when there are lots of birds to extract,

because they have a tendency to get tangled up,

not to mention having a pretty painful bite for a little

bird! A fieldfare, a redwing and 17 yellowhammers

were among my November totals.

All things considered (mainly the weather – if my

nets freeze overnight, then no ringing the following

day) December 2013 was not too bad. I was able to

spend 16 days ringing and although I only caught 98

new birds (retraps higher because resident birds

come to my feeders more often in winter) they

numbered among them six fieldfares, a redwing and

14 yellowhammers.

During the latter half of the year the vast majority of

‘my’ birds were those that had recently fledged –

usually around 90%.

Altogether in 2013 I had 1648 birds go through my

hands.

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Orchids in Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

(By Betty Cooke)

I first got bitten by the orchid bug about 35 years

ago in Hopton Quarry, Derbyshire, where I was

delighted to be introduced to six different kinds:

twayblade, common spotted, fragrant, bee, fly and

frog. From then on, every holiday had to be where

there was a chance to find more wild orchids. With

field guides in hand, we trekked around obscure

parts of the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia,

Bulgaria, and Greece.

For a while we lived in Kent, a UK orchid heaven,

with lady, man, monkey, lizard and butterfly orchids

as well as the more common ones in abundance.

When we moved to Bedfordshire we weren’t

expecting as much variety.

Happily we soon found that this area too has its own

specialities: autumn lady’s tresses, burnt tip and

musk. These orchids are monitored and protected

against rabbits in the few places where they are just

hanging on in Bedfordshire; some have disappeared

completely from the rest of the Chilterns.

Pyramidal orchid with six-spot burnet (Betty Cooke)

One day in June I was taken to see 11 different

kinds. First we visited Dunstable Downs for common

spotted, twayblade, pyramidal, fragrant, frog, bee

and, surprisingly, marsh fragrant and southern

marsh orchid; a good start with eight species in a

relatively small area. Then on to Totternhoe for

man and the very tiny musk, as well

as good numbers of the more common ones; we

were on double figures already. At Sharpenhoe we

added no extra species, but appreciated a

wonderful show of 10,000+ pyramidals in a sheep

field, with luckily no sheep at that time. There were

bees on the by-pass verges and common spots in a

churchyard before we completed the day with

number 11: a lizard orchid! Not exactly wild,

though. It was in a pot, flowering well, and being

cared for by an orchid expert after it had been found

abandoned on an allotment near Stotfold. No one

knows how it got there, so there may still be lizards

in the wild. Keep your eyes open. There are old

records of them being found near Dunstable and

Sundon.

Another day in June, after finding some interesting

variations of bee orchids, including a striking white

one in the Marston Thrift area, the highlight for me

was a bird’s nest orchid in Aspley Wood. This is a

rather dead looking species even when healthy, but

an exciting first sighting for me.

During these past two years I have met a number of

local orchid experts, who have been recording in

Bedfordshire for many years. I have enjoyed being

shown some excellent sites, but even more

satisfying was finding a site unknown to the experts.

Last August my grandson and I found, among the

broad-leaved helleborines in Whitehall Plantation,

the more uncommon green-flowered helleborine.

When alerted, some experts found another!

In Hertfordshire, fly orchids and white helleborines

thrive at Hoo Bit above Pegsdon. There are

southern marsh orchids at Weston Hills, but be

aware that these also hybridise with common spots!

I know of one garden in Letchworth with bee

orchids, while others have been seen along the

Greenway paths. Therfield Heath has bee, common

spotted and pyramidal orchids together with white

helleborine.

Nearly all the orchids that I have seen have been

viewed from footpaths; some actually surviving in

the middle of the path! Orchids can be annoyingly

unpredictable, but a two year project by

Bedfordshire Natural History Society has luckily

coincided with two good orchid years. If you would

like to know more, look out for their book, which is

due to come out next year.

7

Quarries in the area are giving nature a home

(Debra Royal, NAM Events & Communications

Officer at The Lodge in Sandy)

As many readers will know, worked-out quarries can

represent superb places from which to observe

wildlife. Often located on the margins of built-up

areas, they can provide an important habitat link

between urban areas and the wider countryside.

Frequently undisturbed, quiet places, quarries can

offer a refuge and vital habitat stepping-stone for

many species - be they the elusive bittern, water

vole, migrating summer visitors or invertebrates,

such as the embattled white-clawed crayfish.

Indeed, the more recent increase in the number of

breeding bitterns in the UK (now 100+ pairs) has

been aided by the creation of priority reedbed

habitat on former quarries, appropriately and

sustainably restored for biodiversity.

Water vole (rspb-images.com)

The RSPB has long had a good working relationship

with the minerals industry, leading to the long-term

management of sites for biodiversity in certain areas

and the creation of full-blown RSPB reserves in

some cases. Take, for example, the unveiling of the

Society’s Middleton Lakes reserve in Staffordshire

in 2011, following liaison with Hanson UK to restore

the site for nature and people. Reedbed creation at

the site to give a home to marsh harriers, alongside

cetti’s warbler, lapwing and a wealth of other all-

nature species, is part of a bigger plan to provide

habitat connectivity in the wider region and establish

a vital wildlife corridor along the Trent and Tame

river valleys, in line with the RSPB’s Futurescapes

aspirations for the area.

Closer to home, the RSPB works with Lafarge

Tarmac across the road from its Lodge HQ base, at

the Sandy Heath quarry site. The Society is

involved in a long-term management plan with the

operator at the site, offering advice on heathland

habitat creation and linkage; management of land to

provide food and nesting for birds, bees and insects

and the permitting of public access, to boot. A good

public pathway already exists around the periphery

of the site, affording good views across the restored

and working areas of the quarry.

A little further afield, the RSPB continues to work in

close co-operation with Hanson UK at Ouse Fen in

Cambridgeshire. As this extensive site is gradually

worked-out, it is being restored to open water,

grassland and mainly wetland habitat, the scale and

vision for which will eventually result in the largest

man-made reedbed in the UK, over the course of 30

years. RSPB members and the public are able to

visit the site, details of which are listed on the RSPB

website:

http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/see

nature/reserves/guide/o/ousefen/about.aspx

Ouse Fen, Cambridgeshire (Debra Royal)

In addition to the on-going work for land

management and reserve creation, the Society

works in partnership with Natural England on the

Nature After Minerals (NAM) programme. This

programme works with all stakeholders in and

around the minerals industry (operators’ Restoration

and Estate Managers, Landscape Architects and

planners; mineral planning authorities; ecological

and planning consultants; other conservation

organisations; statutory bodies and academia), to

offer advice and facilitate liaison between all

interested parties, for the appropriate and

sustainable restoration of mineral sites, for

biodiversity and local communities. NAM’s work in

8

this area represents a large proportion of the

RSPB’s involvement – as lead partner – in a

northwest European project called RESTORE.

RESTORE is made up of seven partner

organisations across northwest Europe – UK,

Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany – all

working together for the appropriate restoration of

mineral sites across the region, to benefit wildlife,

people and local economies. It is co-financed by

the EU's European Regional Development Fund

through the INTERREG IVB NWE Programme.

Further details on NAM and RESTORE are

available on their websites: www.afterminerals.com

and www.restorequarries.eu

The NAM-RESTORE team has recently visited

Panshanger quarry on the outskirts of Hertford.

Working closely with the local wildlife trust, this site

has gradually been restored to accommodate open

water and mixed wetland features, grassland,

woodland and some reedbed habitats. With the

River Mimram running through the site (itself a rare

chalk-stream habitat), otter have been spotted and

osprey have been known to take a break

overlooking the open water on return migratory

flights to their African wintering grounds. Natterers

and Brown long-eared bats have also taken a liking

to a ‘bat cave’ established in the former ice house of

the grand country house which once graced the site.

Osprey (rspb-images.com)

Panshanger is gradually being opened up for

access to the general public and, more recently, a

friends association has been set up to showcase the

wonders of the site and to organise visits. Further

details are available on the Friends of Panshanger

Park website: http://friendsofpanshangerpark.co.uk/

It is to be hoped that such a support group would

mirror the success of the Friends of Paxton Pits

group, which works to support the amazing wildlife

that has taken up residence at the Aggregates

Industries site, just off the A1, near St Neots in

Cambridgeshire:

https://sites.google.com/site/paxtonpitsnaturereserv

e/the-friends

Otter (rspb-images.com)

So, all in all, quarries – both during and at the end of

their working lives – have much to offer both man

and beast. The minerals industry is increasingly

aware of the vital and unique role it can play in

being able to make a major contribution towards

reversing biodiversity decline in the UK and

elsewhere on the ever-shrinking global stage – and

it is taking this responsibility seriously.

We should remember, however, that whilst quarries

can be an oasis for wildlife and an island of calm for

us humans in this ever-pressurised world, they are

often also potentially dangerous working

environments. No attempt should be made to enter

any area of a working quarry, which can be a

hazardous place from a health and safety

perspective. Proscribed public access areas should

be avoided at all times.

9

The RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

(By Mark Eaton)

The RSPB conducts science to find practical

solutions to the most pressing conservation

problems, whether it is working out how to save a

species on the verge of extinction or restoring a

destroyed rainforest. But we also do it to keep us

credible with governments and other decision-

makers, and ensure our work is successful -

because conservation informed by evidence is more

likely to succeed than that based on guesswork.

The RSPB Centre for Conservation Science

comprises of more than 60 scientists, together with

administrative and technical support staff, working

across the UK and overseas with a wide range of

funders and partners. We do this by identifying the

most important conservation problems, discovering

their causes, testing potential solutions and

ensuring they work when implemented.

Corn bunting (rspb-images.com)

Our scientific work starts by identifying and

prioritising the most important conservation

problems for us to work on. We do this by

conducting and supporting monitoring schemes and

surveys, often in collaboration with partners. This

allows us to prioritise species that are most

threatened, the sites that are most important to

protect and the environmental challenges that are

most pressing. However, although strongly

influenced by these biological priorities they do not

solely dictate our scientific programme. We also try

to predict the likely impacts on nature of new

technologies, changing land uses, climate change,

industrial developments and evolving government

policies. This allows the RSPB to develop and

advocate policies with confidence.

Once we've identified the most important

conservation problems we need to diagnose their

causes. This part of our scientific model, which can

involve a great deal of painstaking detective work, is

often focused on single species in the UK or

overseas. Typically, this involves field-based

studies of wildlife populations, to understand their

ecological requirements and the external pressures

they face. For birds this might involve locating

nests, measuring breeding success and survival

and marking individual birds to follow their lives in

detail. While this work benefits enormously from

new technology it remains resource-hungry, but is

vital to the conservation of many species.

Our diagnostic work leads us to potential solutions

that we can test – wherever possible with field

experiments. Testing solutions on a small scale is

often critical to gain the confidence of environmental

managers prior to wider implementation. Not least

because such tests commonly investigate the

practical and economic feasibility. We're also

increasingly measuring the impact of conservation

interventions on a range of other ecosystem

services. Our scientists are fortunate in having

access to a magnificent estate – 220 nature

reserves and several working farms in the UK,

rainforest sites in Africa and Indonesia, and other

conservation projects overseas. This estate is

central to our diagnostic and solution-testing work,

providing unparalleled opportunities for scientific

observation and experiment.

White-backed vultures (rspb-images.com)

10

The ultimate success for the RSPB's science is

when our solutions are successfully translated into

conservation action. It is not usually the role of our

scientists to implement or advocate conservation

solutions. Typically this is the work of others, for

example land managers, advisors, policy makers or

advocates. But it is our role as scientists to advise

these people, to monitor the effectiveness of their

conservation interventions and improve them where

necessary.

Dotterel (rspb-images.com)

The ultimate test of the quality of our scientific work

– its impact on conservation – is difficult to measure.

However, our scientific output can be measured

readily and has risen dramatically since 1995.

Between 2003 and 2012, RSPB staff members

wrote 671 papers in peer-reviewed scientific

literature and a further 292 scientific reports, theses,

books and publications in other journals and

conference proceedings. Publishing in the scientific

literature is very important to the RSPB. We see it

as an important conservation tool – conservation

actions are more likely to work when supported by

the quality control of peer-review.

There’s a lot more information on the RSPB Centre

for Conservation Science, including details of our

research projects, publications, and the Centre’s

staff, online at:

www.rspb.org.uk/forprofessionals/science/

News from local RSPB reserves

Fowlmere: 2014

(By Doug Radford – Warden)

Spring is always hectic as we try to get as much

habitat management done as possible before birds

start nesting. Good progress was made on the

hawthorn coppicing; willows were pollarded and

new reed growth was suppressed in several ponds.

A pipe was laid under the wettest part of the nature

trail and several truckloads of stone were laid on the

muddiest sections. The fences around our grazed

areas were checked and various fence posts

replaced. We laid tarmac on the two worst sections

of the track from the public highway to the car park.

It was very satisfying to achieve a long-term solution

to this perennial problem.

On the subject of perennial problems we are now

making a determined effort to reduce the effects of

deer on the woodland and scrub habitats. An

advisor came to show us how to do a proper deer

assessment and we made exclosures around three

patches of the hawthorn seedlings that are

abundant this year.

Cuckoo (rspb-images.com)

Resident birds got on with breeding rather earlier

than usual this year, but summer migrants were

slow to arrive. We were getting worried about the

turtle doves until they made their latest ever

appearance on 7 May, but there have been at least

three singing. We have also had a cuckoo in

residence, something that we don’t see every year

now. Other migrants have provided few surprises,

although a whimbrel on 19 April was the first on the

ground here, and a flock of 36 flying over on 25 April

was exceptional.

11

Only one pair of lapwings has nested on the reserve

this year. They lost their first clutch to a crow and

we had no idea they had re-laid among the growing

reeds, which must have totally concealed the nest.

Pairs of shoveler, gadwall and teal all hung on into

late April/early May, raising our hopes of breeding,

but nothing seems to have come of them. Oddities

in May included two peregrines, two shelducks, a

common tern twice and a green sandpiper.

Lapwing chick (rspb-images.com)

We were able to follow a reed warbler’s nest in good

view of Reedbed Hide. They normally nest well out

of sight, but we have been able to peer right into the

nest cup this time and watch the chicks being fed

and then fledge. This all happened just in time for

our Discovery Day on 22 June, although the barn

owls proved to be the stars of the show.

Reed warbler (rspb-images.com)

When we visited the nest box to do some

maintenance in February we found that the adults

had scraped a nest cup out of the accumulated

pellets. As we followed their progress it eventually

became apparent that there were five chicks and we

were able to show these to the 400 visitors who

came to the Discovery Day. People also enjoyed

pond dipping, and back at reception we had owl

pellet dissection, a wide selection of moths from the

previous night, five captive harvest mice on loan

from the Cambridge Mammal Group and various

other activities.

Five barn owl chicks (David Ross)

Our marsh harrier carried on roosting up to the end

of June and was occasionally joined by a female.

Will they return next spring? A common tern was

seen again for almost a week in early June. Finally

two green sandpipers, a redshank and a common

snipe in late June were evidence of post-breeding

dispersal: autumn is on its way!

12

The Lodge Reserve

(By Peter Bradley – Site Manager)

Out on the reserve good progress has been made

on installing new natterjack ponds. Tesco’s came

up trumps with help to clear and dig holes for ponds;

another three holes were dug by our own contractor

below Galley Hill. Andy Schofield, the warden, and

volunteers have worked hard to install the five pond

liners. As if in preparation for colonising the new

ponds good numbers of natterjack tadpoles were

seen in the old pond at the top of the heath; in

excess of 7000 were counted. No doubt many were

lost on the way, but it bodes well for the future.

Natterjack toad (Google images)

The farmland plantings were finished and are

shooting up – weedy, oaty, cereal-based crops with

triticale and phaecelia which should provide food

and cover for wintering passerines.

Two woodlarks sang on the new heath in early April

but did not stay to breed. Another looked in and

sang briefly at the end of June. There were no

nightjars either. Ravens fared better, with four

fledged in mid-May. Spotted flycatchers nested in

at least two locations on the reserve and hobbies

appeared to be using their usual location. It has

been a good year for marbled whites here at The

Lodge and there have been lots of sightings of

silver-washed fritillary.

Our Dawn Chorus morning kicked off May at The

Lodge. As usual we enjoyed a few good birds, the

lovely sound of birdsong on a pleasant morning and

of course a large fry-up to finish. Around 40 people

got up literally at the crack of dawn to join us for this

popular event.

Silver-washed fritillary (rspb-images.com)

We had a bat night for potential bat surveyors on 23

May, which was fascinating, with good explanations

of the different sounds of bat species.

Our new Visitor Centre covered area was fully

utilised, with drop-in children’s events, and local

artist Steve Kershaw setting up to paint some of the

wildlife seen at The Lodge.

We started June with our annual Spring Fair. A new

addition this year was the Beds. Artists group. For

the youngsters our popular owl pellet man Ian

Harvey came along and dissected pellets in his own

inimitable and humorous style - including pretending

to swallow the pellet - you should have seen the

childrens’ faces.

Almost 50 people came along to the Big Wild

Sleepout, with around half of the group being

children. Moth trapping was very popular; so too

were the birds and bat walks, star gazing, and the

camp fire.

We ran the Time Explorers event to highlight the

history, heritage and archaeology of The Lodge

nature reserve and gardens. New additions this

year included thatch making demonstrations, den

building and birch fence weaving.

This year we emphasised the connections between

RSPB nature reserve management for wildlife and

the supply of natural materials to continue the

tradition of ancient crafts. For the thatching we

used reed cut from RSPB Fowlmere. Birch was cut

by volunteers for the camp and for fence building

and all of the charcoal for smelting came from

coppicing at RSPB Garston woods.

13

Southern Green Farm – through the seasons

(By Martin and John Dingemans)

Another year passes and we are now putting next

year’s crop in the ground. Harvesting went well

thanks to the dry summer: we managed to put over

1000 tonnes in the grain store in just over 14 hours!

This is a record harvesting rate and we don’t think

we caught a breath during that short burst.

The period between harvesting and planting

normally goes with a blur as there is much to do in

such a short space of time. This year, though, it has

seemed like an age between finishing combining

and starting drilling next year’s crop. This is due to

several factors, one being that the harvest finished

early due to the good weather.

We normally cultivate fields immediately after

combining to allow the weather to break down the

soil naturally and prevent costly further cultivations

that burn more diesel. This year we have held off

cultivating and allowed the stubbles to ‘green up’,

which basically means waiting for all of the fallen

grains and weed seeds to germinate and then

spraying them off. We have tried to accelerate this

process by rolling the stubbles to press the seeds

against the soil to make them sprout. By doing this

we can use a non-selective herbicide to kill all of the

unwanted weeds (before they potentially get buried

by cultivating, only to germinate later when the crop

is in the ground). This avoids us having to use more

complex chemical mixes to remove grass weeds

from a cereal crop, which is also a grass.

We do very little hedge cutting, as our policy is to try

and leave as much of this work as possible to the

New Year, when the birds have had a chance to

harvest the berries as a much needed winter food

source.

When we had the farm walk we looked at the

lapwing plots and did not see much activity on them.

We did have success in the field as a whole as the

birds were nesting in other areas and we later

counted over 60 birds in the field. This was the view

from the tractor as we cultivated the same plot area

in June!

Lapwing plots (Martin Dingemans)

This year plots return to the area that gave us great

nesting numbers three years ago. Hopefully the

RSPB lapwing project will fence the area this year,

as we lost a lot of chicks to badger predation then.

We have invested in a new crop sprayer this year,

which is controlled by GPS and will manage the

applications and automatically turn off if we travel

over areas already sprayed. We are also moving

exclusively to liquid (as opposed to bagged)

fertiliser, which will improve accuracy of application

as it is sprayed out through the width of the boom

rather than thrown 24 metres behind the tractor.

Due to the efficacy of uptake by the plant we can

also reduce the amount of nitrogen applied and

reduce any potential leaching into the groundwater.

We dug the new ditch that caused so much flooding

last winter, so we are better prepared for the wet

weather.

Ditch digging (Martin Dingemans)

14

Breeding success for our owls and kestrels has

been very high this year. We ringed four barn owls,

five tawny owl chicks and five kestrel chicks.

Barn owl chicks (John Dingemans)

There was also a red kite nesting in the wood

adjacent to our farm, but we found the nest too late

to ring the chick or chicks. Red kites are now an

almost daily sighting on our farm, along with daily

sightings of buzzards. This has impacted on the

little owl population but there were at least three

trees with little owls holding territory. However, their

nest sites were deep in tree holes and out of reach

for ringing. Good numbers of yellowhammers are

forming flocks again. Let’s hope we will see our

flock of 50 corn buntings this winter too.

Tawny owl chicks (John Dingemans)

Our Highland cattle produced two calves this

summer (one female and one male), with another

one expected later this autumn.

Millie (John Dingemans)

Brora (John Dingemans)

The RSPB is a registered charity in England & Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654

15

Bird Brain Corner

Can you identify the bird in the picture below? No

prizes, but you could get your name in the next

edition of the newsletter.

Fun Facts

1. Why are flamingoes pink?

2. Which bird is the logo of the RSPB?

3. Which species of British bird lives the

longest?

4. Which climbing bird can move downwards

head-first as well as up?

5. What is the collective noun for ravens?

6. What is the record number of wrens found

nesting together?

7. Which is the world's fastest bird?

8. Which is the only bird known to hibernate?

9. What was the name of the pigeon that was

awarded a bravery medal in WWII?

10. How many birds are in The Twelve Days of

Christmas carol?

The answers to the previous edition’s quiz are

as follows;

1. water rail 11. grey partridge

2. roseate tern 12. parakeet

3. goosander 13. cassowary

4. great bustard 14. motmot

5. eagle owl 15. stonechat

6. fieldfare 16. golden plover

7. demoiselle crane 17. spanish sparrow

8. capercaillie 18. whinchat

9. marsh tit 19. bluethroat

10. pheasant 20. magpie

My favourite things

(Chosen by Sybil Cant)

Favourite garden visitor: robin - often joins me

and the dog when I'm gardening.

Bird song: blackbird on a spring morning.

Special place: The Angus Glens, especially Glen

Clova.

Music: Elgar's Chanson de Matin.

Poem: William Blake's The Echoing Green

Robin (rspb-images.com)