News archive
January 2010
Friday, 29 January 2010
January round-up
We now have the final profit figure for the draw, £1,014.85. Many thanks to everyone who supported us. We have donated £1,000 towards important inter-tidal projects such as the ongoing works at RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk.
E-NEWSLETTER
For up to date news of the group and of the RSPB, subscribe to our free E-Newsletter, please send your details to us, using the 'Contact us' link above, subject title 'E-Newsletter' and we'll put you on the list.
GROUP MEETING 26th JANUARY
Over 60 supporters braved the very cold evening and were rewarded with another excellent presentation from Ian Rowlands showing us the beautiful area of Spitzbergen. His photographs were of a very high quality, with great shots of Little Auks, Polar Bears, Walrus, Whales and much more. Did you know that a Walrus can eat 70kgs of clams a day, and spend half the day digesting them? Ian told us that you should not get down wind of them - that's like eating the equivalent of around 150 tins of baked beans!!
A reminder, have you bought your raffle tickets for the lovely photograph of a Great Blue Heron, kindly donated to us by Elsie Sinclair, to raise funds? Tickets are 50p each and the winner will be drawn at our AGM in April. Don't miss out - make sure you get your ticket soon!
MONTHLY 100 CLUB DRAW
Congratulations to our monthly 100 Club winners for January:-1st Coral Drucker, 2nd R Salmon. Don't forget to contact Geoff Brown if you would like to join our fundraising club, using the 'Contact us' link above. (If you would like to join from our February draw, the cost is £4 - (that is £2 plus a one-off £2 admin charge) Last season a total of £535 was raised by 100 Club members for various RSPB projects. Club members have raised over £2,700 since the club was formed.
LOCAL BIRDS
At Rye Meads, -there have been lots of the usual wildlife around at the reserve including gadwall, teal, mallard, tufted duck, shoveler and pochard. Bullfinches have been seen around the visitor centre grounds. From the Draper hide a woodcock (9 Jan), four meadow pipits and a yellow hammer (15 Jan) were seen. The bittern has been at the Moorhen hide for a week, along with snipe, water rail and green sandpiper. Along the trails a mealy redpoll (22 Jan) and a stoat (24 Jan) have been seen.
At Fishers Green, up to 4 bitterns were seen this month from the watchpoint, especially during the cold, icy weather. One was spotted roosting up in a tree near the Wren Hide (24th)! One was seen from the Pochard Hide (28/1) A woodcock was seen in the fields at Holyfield Hall Farm (25th), a red-headed smew was on Holyfield Lake (27th) a male smew plus females and juv birds were seen (26th) on Friday Lake. 12 Goosanders were seen on Ashley pit (28th) A female pintail was on 70 Acres lake (24th) and water rails have been seen regularly from the Bittern watchpoint hide. 52 Cormorants were seen on the tern rafts from the viewpoint on 26th - a record?
At Amwell, a Jack snipe was reported on 25th, up to 4 bitterns were seen from the viewpoint (24th) male and female goldeneye (27th) and a male smew were seen plus at least 15 snipe(27th)
At Kings Meads, a redshank was seen (23rd), also little egrets and Egyptian geese.
You can keep updated with news of local sites by visiting our 'Links' page. Have a look at the Herts Bird Club or East London Birders Forum websites for details of birds in our area.
COMING EVENTS IN FEBRUARY:
We start the month with our General Knowledge Quiz on February 6th.
On Sun 7th, Phil Blatcher leads a morning walk around Glen Faba Lakes, meet 10am at Dobbs Weir car park.
On Wed 17th, I will be leading our morning fundraising walk to learn more about our local birds, please use the 'contact us' link above to request details. A £3 donation is requested for each walk.
On Sat 20th, we have a coach trip to NWT Cley, Norfolk, led by Mike Oakland. Book early with Barrie!!
At our group meeting on 23rd, we welcome back Tim Hill, with Ali Hauser, from the HMWT, with their talk on 'Action for Wildlife in Hertfordshire & Middlesex'.
We end the month with our annual Beached Bird Survey at Tollesbury, Essex on Sun 28th. Contact Ted for more details.
Have a look at our events pages for full details. Look forward to meeting you at one of our coming events soon,
Terry Smith, Group Leader
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
Rescued Bittern Returns to 70 Acres Lake, Fishers Green
Prior to release the bird was ringed (white plastic ring on left leg marked SH - or HS(!) and a metal ring on the right leg) so that its progress could be tracked. The picture shows the bittern just before his release. Once released the bittern 'stomped' slowly off into the nearby reedbeeds - exhibiting his normal threat posture.
This week, he was spotted in the reedbed outside the Bittern Watchpoint, the first sighting since his release on January 23rd 2009. So, keep an eye out for Kevin, and let LVRPA know if you spot him or use the 'Contact Us' link above to let us know.