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Committee

Group Leader Martin Johnson

Treasurer Malcolm Ingram

Membership Secretary Penny Chatfield

Indoor Meetings Kathy Blackmore

Raffle Janet Southwood

Campaigns Colin Hawkins

Newsletter Editor Val Thompson

Publicity Helen Lumley

Member Jean Crystal

Editorial

Welcome to your latest newsletter.

I’m sure those of you who were at the meeting when

Russell Savory gave his talk on Stow Maries won’t

have forgotten the wonderful pictures of the wildlife

that calls the aerodrome home. Helen, Kathy, Peter

and I were so captivated by them we went to see it

for ourselves: read all about our day in Helen’s

account.

Martin gives us a taste of the Antarctic to whet our

appetites ready for his talk in May next year. I

visited somewhere slightly warmer...

Jill Shayler has been up to London to visit the

Queen, all in the line of duty.

Nearer to home, you can read about the new

Cambridge Conservation Initiative building named

after and opened by Britain’s wildlife national

treasure.

Please let me have any articles you would like to

share with the group or any suggestions for topics

you would like covered.

Val

Group Leader Welcome

By the time you read this our new season will be

well under way. I hope that you enjoyed the summer

and the very warm, sunny weather that eventually

arrived. Although we took our usual break during the

summer (from late June to late August) there were

plenty of field trips to enjoy during the spring and

some outstanding wildlife was seen.

Whilst we were ‘hibernating’ there was certainly

plenty happening, both nationally and

internationally, during the summer – not least the

‘Brexit’ vote and the Olympic Games in Rio.

Opinion was very much divided on whether we

should leave the European Union. Now that the

decision to leave has been made the RSPB is faced

with a new set of challenges. Will we continue to be

able to protect both our marine and countryside

environment in the future without the support of the

EU? Will we be able to maintain the protection

offered by the EU Nature Directives? Our wildlife will

continue to need the support of the RSPB (that

means us!) for the foreseeable future.

A record medal haul and second place in the

Olympics medals table tells us two things: that

Britain has a very talented, hard-working group of

athletes and that funding from the National Lottery

has been an enormous help to them. If the RSPB

could get its hands on some of that lottery money

imagine how we could use it to benefit wildlife!

Martin

RSPB HITCHIN AND

LETCHWORTH LOCAL GROUP

NEWSLETTER

Editor: Val Thompson October 2016: No 19

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Fundraising and Publicity

Fundraising continues to be a vital part of our

function. Last financial year (which roughly

coincides with our season) we raised roughly £2000

from all our activities, which we were able to donate

to the RSPB. We try to offset the costs of hall hire

and visiting speakers through our membership fees

(so the more members we get, the less likely we are

to have to raise the membership subscription), so

that all money obtained through fundraising can go

directly to the RSPB.

You can help us to raise money in a variety of ways

– by subscribing to our ‘100 Club’, by purchasing

books, cards, pin badges and/or sales items at

indoor meetings and by helping out at one of the

various fetes and fairs where we have a presence. If

you belong to another club or society that has

visiting speakers Martin will be happy to give a talk

there (£35 fee: all money goes to the RSPB). Even

better, if you have any ideas for how you and/or the

Local Group can raise money for the RSPB (coffee

morning, open garden, quiz etc.) please let us know!

Incidentally, entry forms for the 2017 ‘100 Club’ will

be available at our October and November indoor

meetings, with the closing date being Friday 2

December (December indoor meeting).

Willow tit, RSPB Coombes Valley, May (Martin Johnson)

Indoor Meetings

Kathy Blackmore has taken over as our indoor

meetings secretary and, with help from Val, is

already doing a superb job. Amongst the treats she

has lined up for you this season is a talk on the

birds of Hertfordshire by Mike Ilett (November) and

talks in the New Year by top wildlife photographers

Bill Coster (‘The Shetland Isles’, January) and David

Tipling (‘A Focus on Birds’, March).

Anybody with an interest in bird photography or in

seeing wonderful images of our birds will definitely

want to come along to these talks – and the rest of

the programme is pretty good as well!

Singing Nightingale, Paxton Pits, May (Martin Johnson)

Outdoor Meetings

We hope that you will join us on some (or preferably

all!) of our field trips this season. By the time you

read this we will already have visited RSPB Sandy

and Grafham Water (August) and Holme NWT

(September), but there are plenty more visits to

come, including a return coach trip to Slimbridge

WWT in February. The long journey (almost all on

motorways) is more than made up for by the

abundance of bird life, whilst the captive wildfowl

offer wonderful photographic opportunities. This trip

comes highly recommended!

We are also visiting a new (for us) venue in

November. Blashford Lakes is an extremely

attractive Hampshire Wildlife Trust reserve, situated

at the edge of The New Forest. The lakes attract

huge numbers of wildfowl, including rarities, and

goosander roost here in winter. There is also a

woodland hide, where feeders attract a huge variety

of woodland birds including wintering finches such

as brambling and lesser redpoll.

We will also be visiting some of our favourite RSPB

reserves, including Dungeness (October), Frampton

Marsh (March) and Minsmere (May).

The images on this page illustrate just a few of the

many highlights from our field trips during the spring

of 2016. We hope that you will enjoy future trips with

us and see lots of birds and other wildlife.

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My Birding Life

By Janet Southwood

I have been interested in birds and other wildlife for

as long as I can remember and joined the Young

Ornithologist Club when I was around 10 years old. I

have been taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch

from its early days and enjoyed reading Bird Life

magazine from cover to cover. As a teenager I was

an active member of the Hertfordshire YOC

Conservation group, meeting once a month to do

practical conservation tasks at local RSPB reserves,

on the odd occasion my brother and sister would

come along too.

Janet, a few years ago! (Janet Southwood)

After finishing my A levels I spent a year training

with the Hertfordshire Countryside Management

Service, maintaining public footpaths and

bridleways as well as doing woodland and pond

management work. I then moved onto a temporary

post at Rothamsted International, identifying insects

to various taxa as part of the Rothamsted Insect

Survey. When this job finished I went back to

college for a couple of years and gained an HND in

Conservation Management. I joined the college bird

club, eventually becoming its treasurer, and

discovered places like Pagham Harbour and

Frensham Common amongst many others. I also

went on my first ‘twitch’ with some of the guys from

college to see a Golden Winged Warbler in

Maidstone.

After college I took a temporary job at a local garden

centre and have worked in the horticulture industry

ever since, encouraging people to garden in a more

environmentally friendly way as much as possible.

Since the RHS published its Plants for Pollinators

list I have seen a notable increase in the number of

people taking an interest in wanting to garden with

wildlife in mind.

For a number of years I was involved with the St

Albans local RSPB group, helping with the teas and

selling bird food, and became an assistant leader for

the St Albans YOC group in the mid 1990’s which

was great fun.

Janet as we know her (Janet Southwood)

In 1997 I moved to North Hertfordshire and joined

the RSPB Hitchin and Letchworth Local Group and

was soon asked if I would like to join the committee.

Over the years I have enjoyed visiting some lovely

places and seeing some great birds whilst out with

the group. I have been involved with various bird

surveys, including the Breeding Bird Survey (BTO)

and the Volunteer and Farmer Alliance (RSPB) from

when they were first launched.

A couple of years ago I began volunteering at the

Buzzworks garden and bee education centre in

Hitchin, a lovely spot next to the river at the Old

Hale allotments. We regularly open the garden to

the public during the summer and have various local

groups visit the education centre. Being next to the

river I often see kingfishers and herons, as well as

buzzard, red kite amongst many others. It has been

great to be able to combine my interest in the

environment and gardening with this local project.

This spring I began a beekeeping course which has

been extremely interesting and enjoyable. There’s

nothing like tasting honey straight from the comb!

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The Owls of Stow Maries Aerodrome

By Helen Lumley

The alarm went off at 3.30am on a dark, chilly

morning. It was Friday 19 February and the day of

our visit to meet Russell Savory at Stow Maries

aerodrome near Maldon in Essex. Many of you will

have heard his talk to the group in October last year

about the wildlife, and particularly the owls, on the

aerodrome. He showed us some stunning

photographs and videos, and a lot of filming has

been done there for various BBC nature

programmes. Kathy and Peter Blackmore, Val

Thompson and I were scheduled to meet him there

at 6.30am, so the four of us were on the road by

about 4.30am.

As Peter pulled his car in to wait by the gate to the

aerodrome it was still dark but we could make out a

barn owl in front of us hunting over the fields. It

quartered back and forth several times, white and

ghostly in the car headlights.

Barn owl at dawn (Russell Savory)

Russell arrived and we followed him in. He would

take us out two at a time in his specially adapted car

camouflaged to be a mobile hide; the birds were

very used to it so took no notice of him. The back

windows were missing and there was no seat back,

but Val and I squeezed in and off we went.

The first stop was by some rough grass near the air

strip. The barn owl flew very close by us, not giving

the car a second look. It flew past several times,

going down into the grass after prey, and we got

great views. It finally came up with a vole in its

talons, passed this to its beak and flew off for

breakfast in one of the windows of a nearby derelict

building.

We then drove to the edge of the aerodrome to

watch the sunrise. It was a clear and frosty morning

and the red glow of the sun gradually lit up the

fields. Finally sunlight reached the roof of the

derelict buildings behind us where the little owls live,

so it was off for our next wildlife experience.

One of the little owl pair was already out on the roof

in the sun as we drove up. He quickly moved to a

hole in the corrugated roof and disappeared through

it – Russell said it was because there were people

in the back the car. Russell got out and put some

mealworms on top of a nearby post. Lots of little

birds, including great tit, robin and blackbird,

appeared immediately to take advantage of a tasty

snack.

Waiting for breakfast (Russell Savory)

After a few minutes the top of a head appeared up

through the hole in the roof and two big yellow eyes

glared sternly down on us. It was just as Russell

had shown the group in one of the videos he played

for us. The owl finally came back out onto the roof,

ran down to the edge and flew down to the post. He

was so close to us when eating the mealworms that

I could even see the pink inside of his mouth as he

ate them. The other birds hovered round but didn’t

risk trying for another mealworm until he had gone

back up to the roof.

We then drove past a view point looking down to the

River Crouch: later in the morning we had lovely

views from there of a dog fox sitting in the sun on

the edge of a wood. One hare could be seen in the

distance lolloping across a field. As Russell told us

in his talk, numbers of hares on the aerodrome have

crashed recently.

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We went on to a spot where kestrels often come for

mealworms but they were a no show this morning.

However, a bold pied wagtail came onto the car

bonnet for mealworms. Sometimes apparently they

even come inside the car in search of food.

Then it was time for Kathy and Peter to go out with

Russell. Whilst waiting they had been watching a

barn owl flying around near the buildings and had

got good views of it hunting. A pair of barn owls

lives in on the airfield and, as well as hunting over

the surrounding rough grassland, they make regular

trips over the pond where Russell does his water

vole filming, presumably looking for a snack. Kathy

and Peter first stop was to see the little owls up on

their roof soaking up the early morning sun.

Little owls enjoying the sun (Russell Savory)

Then they went to find the kestrels. Russell

surprised them by finding his catapult; without a

word he proceeded to ’fire’ mealworms onto the

ground to encourage the kestrels to come down to

feed near the car.

Kestrel pair (Russell Savory)

Meanwhile Val and I had a coffee in the Officers

Mess and warmed up while listening to old music

playing on some of the antique pianolas housed

within the Mess buildings.

The aerodrome is the largest surviving World War 1

aerodrome in Europe and currently there is a lot of

work going on to restore the original buildings back

to their 1918 appearance; grants have come from

various sources and the work is scheduled to last

for about five years. This will cause some

disturbance to the wildlife and Russell is making

plans to try and mitigate this. There are several owl

nesting boxes around the site and Russell has built

a wooden tower by a hedge away from the buildings

for the owls to have an undisturbed space.

Barn owl (Russell Savory)

After the car trips were finished, we all went for a

walk along a sunny hedge at the edge of the

aerodrome where Russell often sees long-eared

and short-eared owls roosting. Despite looking very

carefully we didn’t spot any owls, but did see

several other species, including skylark, snipe,

meadow pipit and bullfinch. There is a wide variety

of habitats at the aerodrome and the range of

wildlife is impressive. We had such a good morning.

Russell’s passion for nature is a driving force and he

continues in his quest to see every sunrise and

sunset there.

Sunrise at Stow Maries (Russell Savory)

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Ethiopia – land of flat plains and high plateau By Val Thompson You’re going where? Why are you going there? Is it safe? These were the typical reactions I received when people discovered that my next holiday was to Ethiopia. I wanted to try a different African country with wildlife I hadn’t seen before. Despite the warnings in the itinerary that it would not be like its neighbour Kenya in terms of the tourist infrastructure, I persuaded my friend and usual travelling companion Brigid that it would all be fine. After an uneventful flight we arrived in Addis Ababa, where we got out first taste of Ethiopian efficiency – welcome to Africa! Somehow we managed to get visas, change money and collect our bags then meet our guide Aby and the rest of the group. Our first stop was at an hotel for breakfast, most welcome after the tiny cup of weak tea and finger of cake that passed for breakfast on the plane. Suitably refreshed we jostled our way through the teeming streets of Addis towards Awash National Park, passing through miles of flat farmland, much more fertile-looking than I was expecting.

Working the fields (Brigid Duke)

After a lunch of huge proportions – something we were to learn was quite normal – we were back on the road, stopping at Lake Basaaka for various waterbirds, northern carmine and white-throated bee-eaters and Nile crocodiles. Eventually we reached the entrance to the park and began to see some mammals: goats, cattle and more camels than the Sahara. More worryingly, the herders were carrying rifles although they did smile and wave at us: we smiled and waved back – just in case...

Our lodge was in a beautiful position overlooking waterfalls and the river gorge. A pair of fish eagles was resident above the falls and grivet monkeys and olive baboons scampered among the rocks of the gorge. After dinner and a coffee ceremony (who says coffee keeps you awake?) we all turned in to try and get a decent night’s sleep before an early breakfast the next morning.

A room with a view (Val Thompson)

As we headed back to the entrance to visit the Ali Dega plains, white-throated and olive bee-eaters sailed down from their allotted stretch of telegraph wire to check us out. A serval crossed the road in front of us but despite a search we couldn’t find it again. A dark chanting goshawk monitored our progress from the top of a pylon. Once at the plains we were able to leave the vehicle and walk through the bush. Lesser kudu, gerenuk, Salts dikdik and Soemmerings gazelle were glimpsed amongst the trees while Beisa oryx paced sedately across the dry open areas and a golden jackal trotted purposefully away, pausing occasionally to look back over his shoulder at us. The following morning we left Awash and headed south into the Rift Valley. We stopped at Lakes Koka and Zwai, both of which held huge numbers of waterbirds. At Lake Zwai we visited a house that has tree hyrax living in the garden and we were fortunate to see a female with an endearing youngster. In the afternoon we spent some time at Abiata-Shala Lakes National Park where we found a black-backed jackal, Grant’s gazelles and a good number of vultures and raptors including tawny, Steppe and long-crested eagles. Leaving the park we continued on to Bishangari Lodge which is in a lovely spot on the shores of Lake Langano.

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A pre-breakfast walk to look for the endemic yellow-fronted parrot was successful, unlike the rufous-breasted sparrowhawk that was dashing through the tree-studded rocks attempting to catch one. After breakfast we walked through forest and across meadows that were alive with birds, the highlight for me being the stunning white-cheeked turaco.

Yellow-fronted parrot (Val Thompson)

We were then back on the surprisingly well-made road heading for the Bale Mountains but before reaching our unsurprisingly badly-maintained hotel – if the whole group had combined bathrooms we may have had a fully-functioning one – we stopped at Dinso National Park. After a scramble up a steep slope we entered the forest where a local park guide conjured up an Abyssinian long-eared owl and then an African wood owl to add to the Cape eagle-owl we had seen earlier while en-route. The next day was a complete contrast to the previous ones. We climbed up through forest to a moorland plateau with peaty pools and rocky outcrops and the temperature plummeted. We got our first sightings of the endemic Rouget’s rails and blue-winged geese and then the star of the show – the Ethiopian wolf. A lone wolf crossed the road ahead of us and joined two more, then all three trotted down the valley, up the other side and away.

Ethiopian wolf (Brigid Duke)

We had four more sightings of single animals as well as their favoured prey the giant mole-rat. Guereza colobus monkeys, klipspringer, Meneliks

bushbuck and grass and swamp rats were also seen but the Ethiopian and highland hares both eluded us. Thankful to be leaving the hotel behind us we began to head back to Addis. We visited the Senkele Sanctuary, an area of tall grassland which is home to the endangered Swayne’s hartebeest, oribi, mountain nyala, bush duiker and common reedbuck as well as numerous birds including European bee-eaters, always a welcome sight. Our hotel at Lake Awasa was a vast improvement and the grounds and the lake was alive with birds and some very tame colobus monkeys that took bread from our hands. It was also home to the only snake we encountered, a source of terror to one of our male group members which in turn was a source of amusement for the rest of us. A visit to the fish market provided very close views of various herons, storks and ibis and a huge flock of white-winged terns just on the shoreline. Then it was back on the road, birding en route, until we reached Addis Ababa on a Friday at 5.0 pm – what fun! An early start was needed the next morning for our trip to Debre Libanaos Gorge with its spectacular views down to the river and the handsome gelada baboons. We didn’t have to wait long before a troop came past, the males with their flowing manes to rival any 70’s rock star. It was a fantastic place to sit and watch vultures cruise past at eye level but eventually we had to leave.

Gelada baboons (Val Thompson)

After a final enormous supper we were back at the airport feeling as if it had been weeks since we arrived not just eight days. We had travelled a lot of miles and seen so much in a short space of time. Yes, it was safe and I saw a very different part of Africa and new species with a total of 241 birds and 34 mammals – mission accomplished.

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A Unique Day on The Mall By Jill Shayler It was a 'Wow' moment when I discovered I had been chosen as one of five volunteers to represent the RSPB at The Patron’s Lunch in The Mall on Sunday 12 June - quite overwhelming and such a privilege to be asked. I awoke on this amazing day to rain. Arriving early, we looked down on an almost empty Mall with rows of tables, brightened by all the flags against a background of green from the trees. Luckily we were given ponchos on arrival and then we collected our Marks & Spencer hampers and found our table. Despite the rain there was a great party atmosphere as people gathered and greeted one another. Other RSPB volunteers came from the Scilly Isles, Oxfordshire, Kent and the south east. As the morning parade was about to start a loud explosion of fireworks around the nearby stage made us all jump. Streams of party poppers landed over the waiting band, sticking to wet uniforms. There were so many young people taking part, the dancers managing to look elegant despite wearing ponchos. All 600 charities or organisations of which The Queen is patron were represented. “Kes”' the Kestrel headed the wildlife groups; on seeing the RSPB name as he went by we waved our flags, all of us proud to represent the organisation.

“Kes “the Kestrel (Google Images)

By the afternoon the rain stopped and we had eaten our lovely hamper lunch which included Pimms. The Royal Family walked along The Mall, talking and laughing with people, so relaxed and informal. We just missed talking to Prince Harry as he needed to be at the stage before the arrival of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, who were being driven along The Mall.

An amazing amount of organisation had been required, beginning two years ago from an idea of Peter Phillips. This was reflected in the speeches from the Chairman, Sir Stuart Etherington, Prince William and culminating with The Queen's speech. Speeches over, the royal party drove back along the Mall to watch the parade, fortunately in the dry this time.

Jill and fellow volunteers (David Tolliday)

Several times during the day, our blue uniforms showed well in the crowd on the television. Ten thousand representatives from the various charities and organisations attended the event. So many wonderful memories were created in a never to be repeated unique lifetime experience: a great day. PS You couldn’t attend this party without a bird list! Bird of the day was a ring-necked parakeet flying across The Mall to join the pigeons in St. James’s Park.

Volunteering We can’t promise you lunch with the Queen but if anyone is interested in volunteering for the RSPB at The Lodge reserve there are currently vacancies for People Engagement volunteers in the visitor information centre during the week and at weekends. For more information please email Mark Brandon at mark.brandon@rspb.org.uk or visit the web site http://www.rspb.org.uk/joinandhelp/volunteering/all.aspx

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Antarctic Petrel Wonderland!

By Martin Johnson

ANT-ARC-TIC PETREL! We had gratefully become

accustomed to Naturetrek tour leader Tim Melling’s

voice shouting out bird sightings from the bow of the

ship, but there was a note of urgency, almost

desperation in his shout this time – he certainly

wanted us to see this particular bird. As I looked

around a chocolate brown and white, medium-sized

petrel flew rapidly past on the starboard side.

Antarctic Petrel (Martin Johnson)

I was on what was undoubtedly the holiday of a

lifetime, on board the expedition ship the “MV

Ortelius”. The vessel had been chartered by the

holiday company “Naturetrek” to celebrate its 30th

anniversary and I, along with over 100 clients as

well as “Naturetrek” and expedition staff, had been

determined to make the most of the experience as

we visited the Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

Now we were heading for the tip of the Antarctic

Peninsula. Our journey had been slowed down by

the storm force winds and heavy seas which are a

part of life on the southern oceans. In order to make

up time the captain had changed course in order to

take us directly to the Antarctic Peninsula, passing

to the west of the South Orkney Islands, which we

had originally planned to visit.

Antarctic petrels breed on the Antarctic mainland.

They were known to rarely venture this far north in

the Antarctic summer – indeed, expedition staff had

earlier informed us that we would be lucky to record

one. They said that we were as likely to see an

Antarctic petrel as we would be to see an emperor

penguin, a bird which by this time was at the top of

most peoples’ wish lists.

Continuing southwards the captain slowed the ship

down in order for it to thread its way past numerous

large icebergs and then negotiate a passage

through a layer of pack ice. Fortunately, unlike

Shackleton and his crew exactly 100 years ago, the

ice did not entomb us and it also provided views of

hundreds of Arctic terns wintering on the ice, as well

as our first leopard seal of the holiday. Ahead lay

more huge icebergs, one of which appeared at

distance to be covered in thousands of tiny specks,

looking like decorations on the icing of an elaborate

cake. The captain altered course for us to take a

closer look and as the specks grew larger we

realised that most of them were, incredibly, Antarctic

petrels! We were now looking at not just one or two

but several thousand birds, together with a

supporting cast of hundreds of snow petrels and

Arctic terns. All the Antarctic petrels were adults – it

appeared that we had by chance discovered their

previously unknown moulting grounds.

The holiday was liberally scattered with amazing

sightings and wonderful wildlife memories. Fourteen

species of cetaceans including humpback, fin, sei,

killer and blue whales (all but the last being seen in

big numbers) were recorded by our party, along with

six species of albatross and seven species of

penguin. An as yet unidentified storm petrel was

seen on several occasions. However, for me no

sighting was more spectacular than this one.

We never did see an emperor penguin, though.

Antarctic Petrels on the Iceberg (Martin Johnson)

Martin will be talking about his amazing holiday to

The Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica at our

indoor meeting in May 2017.

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The Cambridge Conservation Initiative By David Gibbons Finding solutions to some of the many challenges facing the natural world came a step closer when the David Attenborough Building (DAB) in Cambridge opened its doors earlier this year. The new campus acts as a centre for the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) — the largest grouping of nature conservation organisations and university researchers in the world. And RSPB sits proudly among these organisations. The campus was officially opened in April by Sir David Attenborough, after whom the building housing the campus has been named. In preparation for the opening event, Sir David gained a unique 'plant's-eye-view' of this special building by abseiling down the 13-metre high living wall in the central atrium.

Sir David Attenborough (CCI)

In Sir David's words, "The future of our life on Earth is dependent on the natural world — for the air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we use — and for the feelings we have of awe and wonder at nature's extraordinary riches. In this remarkable age we are learning more and more about the intricacies of our dependence on nature. Yet our natural world is threatened as never before. The threats are both numerous and interrelated, and no one institution, however effective, can hope to address them all alone. It is for this reason that the work of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative is so exceptional. By bringing together leaders in research, practice, policy and teaching, we stand the greatest chance of developing the solutions required to save our planet. I am enormously proud that these collaborations are occurring in a building bearing my name."

Over 500 conservation experts have moved into the campus, including 150 academics from seven departments of the University of Cambridge, and over 350 conservation practitioners from CCI's conservation organisation partners. RSPB scientists, international staff and others started working from the new conservation campus in early 2016. Some of the conservation organisations have moved all of their Cambridge-based staff into the campus, the two largest being BirdLife and Fauna and Flora International. The RSPB has twenty or so desk spaces. There are a wide range of facilities available within the DAB; a variety of meeting rooms, a common room, a 120-seat seminar room and a 350-seat lecture theatre. In addition, much of the ground floor and basement of the DAB will house the extensively refurbished University Zoology Museum, alongside a café, both of which will be open to the public next year. Over the coming years RSPB will be working with other CCI partners, using the campus as a hub, to develop effective solutions to the challenges faced by the natural world, such as developing new guidance on conservation issues for policy makers, seeking novel methods of communicating the importance of our natural world, and producing innovative ways of protecting species and habitats around the world.

The David Attenborough Building (CCI)

If you wish to discover more about the Cambridge Conservation Initiative do visit their web site at http://www.conservation.cam.ac.uk/

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News from local RSPB reserves

Fowlmere

Doug Radford – Warden

Two new ponds have been dug in areas of

unproductive reedbed and the bed of another

reedbed on a former water-cress bed has been

lowered. Within hours of completion this grey

wagtail appeared.

Grey wagtail (Gary Thornton)

A wildlife highlight has been the discovery of two water voles living in our chalk stream in a place where they can be viewed easily. It is great to have them back on the reserve; their presence must be due to the absence of mink in recent years. In contrast, there has been only one sighting of otter. The scarcer breeding birds are doing particularly

well this year. There were at least four male turtle

doves holding territory and visitors came from as far

as Birmingham to see them. The marsh harriers

started bringing food to their nest in June.

Kingfishers have nested for the first time since

2009, although we think their first attempt might

have failed. We thought the barn owls in the usual

box had failed too, until we started to see three

youngsters appearing at the entrance. Amazingly,

there are four chicks in another box only 200m

away! A pair of spotted flycatchers was watched

preparing a nest in ivy-covered alders; this is only

the third time they have bred on/adjacent to the

reserve this century. Cetti’s warblers produced a

family next to Reedbed Hide, and a pair of lapwings

fledged three young on 30 June. One of the pairs of

tufted ducks lost their eggs very quickly to crows,

but the other clutch hatched successfully; visitors

were delighted to see the brood of ten fluffy brown

ducklings. Up to three cuckoos were present in late

May, although we don’t know if any were females.

The Lodge Reserve

Peter Bradley – Site Manager

The natterjack ponds were completed well in

advance of breeding activity. The first strings were

laid early on 5 April, and there were tadpoles in the

Bunkers Hill, Old Heath and Hide ponds.

A woodlark was again found but only present for a

couple of days mid April. Ravens didn’t nest on the

reserve this year but are being seen here. The

lesser spotted woodpecker was seen and heard

throughout March and April, almost always along

the Sandy Ridge trail.

A family of stoats were seen regularly around the

work compound and one made its way down to the

hide and took a dip in the pond.

Swimming stoat (Tim Felce)

Hobbies bred and there were great views of the nest

and the adults coming in with food. Once the young

had left the nest there was a lot of activity with the

parents teaching them to hunt.

Hobbies passing food (Ray Piercy)

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

12

Bird Brain Corner

Well done to those who identified the ringed plover

last time. This time we have two strange creatures

that you can probably identify but what are they

saying? The best caption wins a prize.

An even bigger well done if you got any of the

following answers:

1. Upon the brimming water among the stones / Are

nine-and-fifty [swans].

W B Yeats; The Wild Swans At Coole

2. 'Why look'st thou so?' - 'With my crossbow / I shot

the [albatross]'.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Rime Of The Ancient

Mariner

3. With a cargo of ivory / and apes and [peacocks].

John Masefield; Cargoes

4. While the [chaffinch] sings on the orchard bough /

in England – now!

Robert Browning; Home Thoughts, From Abroad

5. Only a [starling]'s modem mimicry / will remind you

of how you once supplied / the incidental music of

our lives.

Paul Farley; For the House Sparrow, in Decline

My favourite things

Chosen by Sue Walsby

Favourite moth Hummingbird hawkmoth

Special place Cley Marshes, for the

soundscape, the birds, the

space

Bird-related book Corvus: A Life With Birds by

Esther Woolfson

Favourite scare Tetchy elephant too close to

the vehicle in Masai Mara

Wildlife gardening triumph Hedgehog made a

nest and snoozed

with its head visible

6. She jabs her wedge head in a cup of sour cream, drops her [ostrich] tail, and will not scare. Robert Lowell; Skunk Hour

7. Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower / the moping [owl] does to the moon complain. Thomas Gray; Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard

8. And on high the [eagle], - sailing, sailing / Into far skies and unknown harbours. E.E. Cummings; The Eagle 9. Of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn [falcon], in his riding. Gerard Manley Hopkins; The Windhover 10. Who dares unite the roar of the sea / And the singing of the [nightingale]? Khalil Gibran; Song Of The Soul