newsletterRSPB Wokingham and Bracknell Local Group Spring
February 2018
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales No: 207076, Scotland No: SC037654
Chairman’s Message – WHAT PRICE NATURE?
The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home.
2017 photographic winnerOur UK Wildlife competition winner was select this year from eight entrants, and again as previous years the standard of images were of an exceptionally high quality.The first three places were very close indeed, but the eventual winner was Steve Day with his excellent, sharp image of a great crested grebe.We would like to thank all those who participated and we look forward to holding again next year's photographic competition at our Christmas Social.Image taken at Dinton Pastures in September using Nikon D7100 and 300mm lens.Alan Moore
Raptor persecution Every year, the RSPB publishes Birdcrime – the only centralised source of incident data for wild bird crime in the UK. Despite full legal protection, birds of prey are still being relentlessly persecuted throughout our country.Birdcrime 2016 was published on 1st November 2017, revealing an insight into the reality of problems in the UK. The latest figures show 81 confirmed incidents of birds of prey persecution in 2016, including trapping, poisoning and shooting. The highest incidents rates taking place in our uplands, over land managed for driven grouse shooting. We know from population studies, and from data collected by satellite-tagging birds, that raptors are ‘disappearing’ and failing to breed on grouse moors – and that illegal persecution is largely behind this.Birdcrime 2016 also highlights North Yorkshire with the highest number of these kinds of crimes. In the last five years, North Yorkshire has seen double the number of confirmed incidents than the second-highest county.More details can be viewed here on www.rspb.org.uk/birdcrime
It’s getting warmer? On the 4th November WeBS count I found this little grebe incubating 4 eggs, both parents still in full plumage. The pair were still sitting on the 10th December for the low-tide count. Unfortunately later windy weather in the month caused waves to wash-over the nest.
Changes to our speaker programme8th March 2018: Kerrie Porteous on ‘Birding in Madagascar‘ – Kerrie takes us on a photographic foray into the rainforests, deserts and coasts of Madagascar seeking out its unique birds and exciting wildlife. 12th April 2018: Lt Col (ret’d) Roger Dickey from the Army Ornithological Society describing the work with Ascension Island’s Sooty Tern colony and the research undertaken in the South Atlantic.
The winter edition of BTO News, which is a quarterly news update from the British Trust for Ornithology, had an article written by Tony Juniper which caught my eye, writes Patrick Crowley. He wrote that ‘the loss of natural habitats and species are generally regarded as regrettable’, and is the ‘price of progress’ or a ‘necessary cost of achieving economic growth’. But this presupposes that we cannot (or should not?) put a price on our environment. However, there are an increasing number of specialist studies that reveal the huge economic value being destroyed by policies geared to promoting economic activity.For example, the cost of losing India’s vultures has been estimated at $34 billion (£24.42 billion), due to the public health costs and controlling rabies infections. The annual pest-control value provided insectivorous
birds in a coffee estimated plantation at $310 per hectare, (£223). Great tits predating caterpillars in a Dutch orchard were found to improve the apple harvest by 50%. The value provided by animals such as bees, doing the pollination work that underpins a trillion dollars’ worth of agricultural sales has been valued at $190 billion per year, (£137.46 billion). The GDP value derived from fish stocks and associated industries are about $274 billion per year, (£196.79 billion). The wider value of the marine and coastal systems from storms, taking carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replenishing its oxygen levels has been put at $21 trillion, (£15.08 trillion)! Those watching Blue Planet 2 recently on BBC1, will have been horrified by the amount of plastic that is going into our oceans, and by the destruction of coral reefs due to warming of our seas.All of this suggests that conservationists (all of us?) may have to grasp the nettle of trying to put a monetary value on our wildlife, as part of the struggle to change government policy decisions the world over. Interestingly some companies such as Unilever and Nestle are beginning to realise that healthy ecosystems will underpin future profit and are changing strategies as a result. Indeed, some countries, such as Costa Rica and Guyana have worked out that their natural systems are the basis of their wealth and are acting to protect them.
Birdwatching Courses starting in April 2018
See website for further detailsor contact Patrick Crowley
New membership secretary requiredAs you know from the winter newsletter, Lynn Mann will be taking over the treasurers role from Tony in the summer. She will be going on a days training at RSPB Headquarters, Sandy, to learn more about the role.As a result we need a replacement membership secretary – whose main role will be to process new members joining the group, renewals, keeping the membership spreadsheet and the email contact list up to date. Most indoor meetings we also need someone to look after the membership desk, which doesn’t necessarily have to be the same person. If you would like to know more please see Lynn at the indoor meetings, without any obligation!
Mrs R’s A to Z of birding in Britain
‘D’ is for dipperI had a real tussle with my heartstrings trying to decide whether ‘D’ would be for dipper or for Dartford warbler. Both qualify for the accolade of Mrs R’s favourite bird, both in equal measure, so how to decide? Toss a coin –‘D’ is for dipper.
Don’t let that stop you finding out more about the Dartford warbler though. If you haven’t seen one at all and you’re able to get out and about, have a look on any of our nearby heaths. Wildmoor Heath at Crowthorne is probably the closest, but Yateley Common is also a great place to see them too.Unfortunately you have to go a lot further afield to see Dipper. They favour fast-flowing rocky bottomed rivers, mainly in upland areas but also some parts of SW England. I used to see them regularly when I lived in my caravan in Scotland. The River Ericht tumbles downstream to join the River Tay but as it runs through Blairgowrie there are several places where you can watch dippers bobbing up and down on the rocks. You could even see them from Tesco’s car park, which always answered the domestic question, Tesco’s or Co-op? No contest – this is urban birding at its best!At a bob rate of up to 60 dips per minute it isn’t hard to see how the bird got the name, but what makes the dipper so very special? Also known affectionately as water ouzel, a dipper is a truly amazing bird.Crowned National Bird of Norway in 2000, it is a marvel of biological design and engineering. Able to walk on the river bed to forage for small fish and invertebrates, a dipper can stay underwater for around 30 seconds at a time. It doesn’t have webbed feet but it does have some remarkable physiological adaptations to help it master its environment.The dipper counteracts the force of the river currents by stretching out its wings to push itself forward and remain submerged. Specialised flaps close the nostrils and they also have an extra eye membrane to protect their eyes yet still enable them to see while underwater. They are able to store oxygen in their muscles so that it’s available to them when they dive and have to stop breathing, and also when they need greater muscular control to counteract the force of the current.Receptors in their blood vessels detect increased levels of carbon dioxide as the bird stops breathing. This triggers a response from the brain to slow the heart rate and cause different blood vessels to constrict or dilate as necessary:• Peripheral blood vessels will constrict to reduce heat loss, and the digestive
system also temporarily shuts down to conserve energy.• Blood vessels around the heart and the brain dilate so that they can take the
extra oxygen that has been set aside to co-ordinate feeding, walking and functioning underwater.
Simply amazing. Which is why ‘D’ has to be for dipper.
Rebecca Reynolds
Quote from Michael Gove...“Ultimately we must ensure that we think about the long term health of our environment, because unless we take steps now to arrest environmental damage we will all be the losers. We only have one earth and it is our responsibility to hand it on to the next generation in a better state”.
Lesson to learn from HarveyTropical storm Harvey devastated Houston Texas in August, flooding large areas of the city and causing millions of dollars damage. The increasing frequency of these storms could indicate the rise in the earth’s temperature climate. But the real culprit for this destruction has been the increase in human urbanisation, through an excessive building programme. Houston’s population is growing by a record-breaking 1 million every ten years. Land that would traditionally soak up floodwater is being used for housing and urban development.Lessons must be learnt that we need to balance our requirements in harmony with natures, because they are interrelated.
Berkshire wildlife to benefit from Reading’s John Lewis customersWildlife on Shepperlands Farm, a nature reserve in countryside between Reading and Bracknell, will benefit from a £1,000 donation from the John Lewis Reading Community Matters scheme.During December 2016, John Lewis customers visiting the restaurant in Reading’s Broad Street store placed tokens in the Community Matters box to support the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust.
Birdwatchers – portrayed in fact and fictionAt the time of writing we are looking forward to the first talk of the New Year by Peter Holden, who is to speak about how birds have inspired art and literature through the ages. I wonder if he will touch on contemporary sources, such as works of fiction? Or TV drama? Writes Eve Chilton.The popularity of factual program-mes such as Countryfile and Spring Watch, have helped to raise awareness with viewers about our native birds. This is reflected positively in the ever growing numbers of households who take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch each year and who now have bird tables, feeders and nesting boxes. Whilst the presenters of these program-mes enjoy a wholesome, worthy, eco-guardian status, birdwatchers, on the other hand, and particularly in fiction, still seem to have the ‘slightly barmy-army’ image. For instance, recently a non-birdwatching friend asked me about birders; are they like they’re portrayed on the telly, and not to put too fine a point on it – a bit odd? What had she been watching, I enquired. Midsomer Murders. I asked her along to one of our trips or meetings to find out for herself. She declined. It was from a murderous work of fiction by Ann Cleeves entitled Blue Lightning and set amongst the birding fraternity at a fictitious field study centre on Fair Isle that I learned the term ‘stringer’. It refers to someone who has exaggerated or fabricated a bird
listing, particularly a rarity. Since then I’ve read the full explanation of the term and much more besides in Bill Oddie’s Little Black Bird Book. I thought both books in their own way, were a rattling good read.I came across a whole subspecies of puffin in a work of romantic fiction I read recently. They are to be seen, I under-stand, nesting on the cliff ledges at a North Cornish sanctuary run by the National Trust. Found pufflings can become quite tame. They’re happy to puddle in the sink, and can be fed on tinned tuna and bread. They have orange claws, will sit on your shoulder like a parrot, and reappear like homing pigeons no matter how many times you return them to the sanctuary. At the risk of being thought ‘a stringer’ -– honest, I read it in a book.It’s easy to find yourself inadvertently perpetuating the stereotype. Do you find, when you’re out and about, woolly hat at a suitably unflattering angle, you are often approached by non birders. They are eager to find out what you are looking at, only to be bemused and disappointed when it turns out to be a coot, or a woodpigeon. Last summer we got a chance to redeem ourselves on a visit to the Amwell reserve on the Lee valley. We were approached by a family of foreign tourists on hired bikes,
who asked in broken English, what we were looking at. So we handed over our binoculars. They were captivated by the many dramas taking place within a heronry. Sticks being presented to and being chucked away by squawking mates. Adjoining nesting material being pinched and fought over. Extremely ugly offspring being fed. thanks, hugs, and warm fuzzy feelings all round. To conclude then. Birdwatchers – a bit odd? I think the programmes and their presenters, mentioned above, are doing a great job in correcting this misapprehen-sion certainly with the viewing public. There is a wider appreciation of the value of years of meticulous observation, recording, and environmental monitoring that bird watchers do. Murderous? Nah, but don’t push it, like eating crisps in a hide when a rarity is flitting just outside, for instance, or going for that spontaneous group photo…. from the front.
Little egrets breeding success at Thorney DeepsOnce a rare bird that would get the pulse racing for many a twitcher and bird watchers alike, little egrets are now slowly colonising the south of England, successfully nesting at Thorney Deeps, Sussex for the first time this year.They were seen displaying on 25th May and started incubating on 30th May, unfortunately they failed due to a severe storm on 5th June. A second attempt was started with incubating commencing on 18th July, – a very late date for this species to breed.In August the first youngsters were seen in their nests. The final total of young hatched from 4 pairs was 11 and 9 fledged successfully.
General licence system used as cover for criminal destruction of birds of preyRSPB Scotland has expressed concern at Scottish Natural Heritage’s response to their recent consultation on the ‘general licences’ that permit the killing of some species of protected birds under certain circumstances. General licences are issued annually to allow land managers (and certain others) to kill a range of protected species such as some species of gulls, magpies and crows in situations where they are causing serious damage to crops or livestock; are a threat to public health or safety; or to the conservation of wild birds. These licences effectively allow unrestricted and unmonitored killing of listed species.This decision has made the illegal killing of birds of prey even easier.
Mystery of seabirds’ movements at sea solvedNew research has revealed where British seabirds go when they’re not on land. The five years project GPS-tracked over 1,300 breeding seabirds and used computer models to predict where they go to find food.Results reveal the majority of ‘hotspots’, where seabirds gather to feed, are concentrated in the coastal waters of Scotland. During the project, lightweight GPS tags were fitted to over 1,300 adult birds from 29 different colonies. The tracking data was then used to create a computer model for each species, so that all of the important areas at sea could be predicted.Overall, the selected four species use at least 1.5 million square km of sea around Britain and Ireland – an area three times the size of Spain.
Price on wellbeingWe take for granted the role that the natural world contributes to the everyday wellbeing of people's lives, undervaluing the importance that nature has on all of us.Here in the UK there is a conservation finance shortfall of over £275 million a year. We must change our approach in pursuit of economic development balancing our environmental heritage in order to deliver sustainable prosperity over the long-term. Without greening our economy we can’t hope to conserve the natural world in worthwhile lasting state.
All are within the area of Wishmoor and Swinley Forest which is an area comprising a substantial part of the Thames basin Heaths in the county, with compartments of richly-mixed deciduous and coniferous woodland interspersed with open heath and birch-encroached gorse-land, with mires and bogs. The group has regularly visited the SW Surrey area of Wishmoor Bottom in June to enjoy good sightings of nightjar, woodcock and glow-worm and will also visit on March 11th this year. This is my home patch, Peter and I have been ranging over the area for many decades, access points near to our home in Bagshot, take us directly into the area of Poors Allotments, Old Dean and Barossa Common, where we see a good range of species, including Dartford
warblers, woodlark, and whitethroat, though to date the great grey shrike has eluded us. There is an immensely heartening Good News story to this area. Well we remember it in the
early nineties, when it was littered with fly-tipping and burnt out cars. The area was so badly eroded mainly by the activity of motorbike scramblers, that it resembled a moonscape. In 1995 two friends who were local residents decided to do something about it. They invested time and money into forming an action group, which is now incorporated into the Heathland Conservation Society. Volunteers over the intervening years have put in countless hours of practical heathland management, litter removal, and day to day monitoring of the site for antisocial or illegal activity, working closely in partnership with Surrey Wildlife Trust.These photographs above from the Heathland Conservation Website speak for themselves. An incredible trans-formation, we are indebted to the efforts and dedication of these volunteers.
Fire riskThis summer’s weather could be regarded as a damp squib, but conservationists are concerned about the impact a major forest fire in Berkshire will have of on the wildlife and plants.Swinley Forest for instance, near Ascot, is part of a Special Protection Area (SPA) for three of our rarest birds: Dartford warblers, woodlarks and nightjars. In 2011 uncontrollable fires devastated the Swinley ForestThe 2600-acre (1052-hectare) forest contains conifer pine trees that are managed as timber crop.Areas of open ground contain heather, grasses and bracken. In hot dry conditions these elements combine to make a tinderbox for any forest fire.Adult birds are able to escape the fires, but the flames will destroy any eggs and chicks if they are in the fires pathHabitats take a long time to recover because the fires travel underground through peat, dry leaf litter and bracken.More on heaths in the summer newsletter
A response to the outcome of the Ribble gull cull appealIt is rare for the RSPB to mount legal challenges and even rarer to go to the Court of Appeal. A panel of Judges concluded that the former Environment Secretary, Owen Paterson, was wrong to decide that culling a quarter of the bird populations listed within a protected site in north-west England wouldn’t affect the site’s conservation value of the Ribble and Alt Estuaries Special Protection. BAE Systems had sought permission to cull part of the breeding gull population in the Ribble and Alt Special Protection Area to reduce that risk to a safe level. In May 2013, the Secretary of State agreed to the request and consented Natural England a licence to cull 552 pairs of breeding lesser black-backed gulls. This was in addition to existing cull of 500 pairs of herring gulls and 200 pairs of lesser black-backed gulls at the same site.
Welcome to new memberGeoff Wilde.
Nightjars return to Snelsmore CommonThe nightjar has returned to Snelsmore Common in West Berkshire, after an absence of two years, reports the Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust.Nightjars are prone to being disturbed by people walking too close, and by dogs running through the common because they nest on the ground.This spring and summer the Wildlife Trust had a small group of wardens working with visitors to Snelsmore Common to meet and greet walkers explaining the importance of the area for wildlife, and how they can help rare birds such as the nightjars.BBOWT, the Wildlife Trust that looks after Snelsmore Common, the 96-hectare site north of Newbury on behalf of the owner West Berkshire Council since 2013, has been working hard to ensure the best conditions for the nightjar.
You may not be familiar with the Surrey areas of Barossa, Old Dean Common & Poors Allotments, to the East of Wishmoor Bottom, writes Eve Chilton.
The following stats for the 2017 breeding Season are by the Surrey Wildlife Trust Site Manager Ben Habgood:Nightjar, 28 territories, Dartford warbler territories increase from 15 to 27, woodlark territories up from 8 in 2016 to 24 in 2017.Very Good News Indeed
