News archive
May 2009
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Indoor Meeting - Pirates, Pelicans and Potoos by Chris Ward
An interesting title and a fascinating talk on the birds and wildlife of Western Mexico by the Leader of the North Bucks RSPB Group. We have all heard of pelicans and the pirates in this part of the world are the frigatebirds who steal fish from the likes of elegant terns. And the potoos? Well, more of them later. Chris began by telling us that Mexico is the 14th largest country in the world with many different habitats (desert, lagoon, forest, mountain etc), around 950 species of bird of which over 120 are endemic (the Field Guide is correspondingly fat and heavy), over 500 species of mammal (the second highest for a country after Indonesia), more than 20 species of tree squirrel and about 1800 species of butterfly. The talk was based on a journey from Barra de Navidad to the Durango Highway and ending at San Blas. I recall some lovely pictures: a little blue heron; an orange-breasted bunting; a mass of yellow-headed blackbirds in some reed beds; an eyecatching vermilion flycatcher perched on barbed wire; and a fruit-eating red-headed tanager. Many of the birds had highly descriptive names: the rusty-crowned ground-sparrow; the orange-billed nightingale-thrush; and the black-throated magpie-jay, for example. Some belied their innocent appearance: the ferruginous pygmy-owl is about the size of our little owl but will kill birds up to the size of an American robin (which is about as big as our blackbird). Some birds had unusual habits: the photograph of a tree with its trunk stuffed full of acorns was apparently the work of an acorn woodpecker. We saw a shot of the ruby-throated hummingbird which actually breeds in the eastern half of North America and gasped at a picture of a greedy green-backed heron trying and eventually succeeding in swallowing a fish about half its size. But if you go birding in Mexico and are able to visit only one place then go to San Blas for it is here, in this place surrounded by mangrove swamps, that you can see the beautiful roseate spoonbill. Here too you can find the smallest wader in the world - the delicate least sandpiper. But for me, of all the wonderful exotic birds mentioned during this presentation, if I was going to Mexico I would seek out Chris Ward's favourite bird of the entire trip. It is nocturnal and related to the nightjars and frogmouths; its excellent camouflage renders it almost invisible during the daytime when it perches upright on a tree stump; and it has an enormous eye, a large gape, and feeds on moths and other insects. The stunning photograph of a common potoo which ended the presentation said it all.
Brian Shreeve
Monday, 18 May 2009
I found a baby bird - what should I do?
It is that time of year again when baby birds can be seen and thought to be abandoned by their parents. Parent birds are wiser and are more cautious around humans and will be hiding away leaving the baby bird to look very vulnerable. If you find a baby bird on its own, leave it alone as its parent will be close by waiting to feed it and help it grow to adulthood. More information can be found at this link. The RSPB is not a rescue organisation for birds.
Saturday, 9 May 2009
Spring Fayre
We were lucky with the weather, having had a cold windy week, Saturday 9th May dawned bright and sunny - however the question was would it be enough to bring the punters out for our sixth annual Spring Fayre at Shepperton Village Hall? Once again, despite the recession, it proved to be a fantastic day as the local Shepperton people gave us tremendous support raising a total of £883.00. The money raised goes to two projects that the RSPB supports. 50% will be used in the protection and maintenance of heathland in South East England, the other half going to protect the marine life of our coastline.
The Annual Schools Painting Competition again proved successful with children from St Nicholas, Saxon School, Littleton C of E School and Manor Mead school entering. The topic had been changed slightly this year from just birds to Wildlife in your Garden for the 5 - 7 year olds and British Wildlife for the 8 - 11 age group. This decision was taken to reflect the wider issues that the RSPB gets involved with. The winners were picked by Deputy Mayor, Councillor Mrs Caroline Spencer from Spelthorne Borough Council. Not an easy task with almost 700 children taking part and a total of 24 pictures in the final judging.
Winners of the Painting competition were - Age Group 8 - 11
First: Hollie Roberts, St Nicholas School, picture of a Kingfisher
Second: Charlotte Wilkinson, St Nicholas School, picture of all types of wildlife found surrounding a robin
Winners of the Age Group 5 - 7
First: Luke Wabro, from St Nicholas School, who gave us a very busy picture of wildlife in a garden
Second: Rosie Finnegan, from Littleton Church of England School, picture of assorted wildlife to be found in a garden.
Many thanks to Thorpe Park who once again kindly sponsored this event with the First winners of each section receiving 2 tickets to Thorpe Park. Also thanks to the members of North West Surrey Local RSPB Group this year who sponsored the RSPB memberships given to all four winners.
We would also like to welcome the 4 children and the other 5 new members who joined the RSPB on the day and we hope they get real enjoyment from their membership.
Prizes for the Raffle were sponsored by RSPB local group member Ron Jackson who made a fantastic Bird Table from recycled wood. Nauticalia, Garsons Farm, Notcutts Garden Centre Staines, wine and fruit were sponsored by other local group members
Many thanks to the people of Shepperton and the surrounding area who supported The RSPB on the day. Fantastic!
Thanks also goes to all the members of the North West Surrey Local RSPB Group whose hard work made the day possible.
