Hertfordshire News, Comment and Bulletin articles
This month
Great Northern Diver picked up
The Blue Tit Channel - concluding episode!
Tree Sparrow Initiative update
The Alan Harris millennium calendar
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Great Northern Diver picked up (September 1999)
[Adapted from a local Herts newspaper - thanks to Mike Baverstock]
A Great Northern Diver was picked up by Broxbourne Council's animal warden Chris Standen after a member of the public spotted it wandering the streets of Flamstead End. An examination by a vet revealed no injury although when the Chris tried to release it back into the wild, the bird refused to fly and complained "loudly and lengthily"!
It seems that the council contacted the RSPB who advised them to report the incident to Rob Young, our county recorder as "it was such a rare sighting". The diver was taken to Walton on the Naze in Essex and released following a week of convalescence in the council's kennels. A council spokeswoman said they realised the importance of releasing the bird as soon as possible to prevent it from becoming at all domesticated. "It was getting used to being fed Tesco sprats" she said!
The Blue Tit Channel - conclusion
Fifteen videos, or 45 hours of recording revealed endless insights into the nesting of a Blue Tit which had roosted in our nestbox since September 1998 (see Bulletin May/Jun).
Having sat and peered at the television for far too many hours than would be considered normal married behaviour, I mention below just a few obsrvations:
* Contrary to the literature, the female did not cover up her eggs (8 laid) at all prior to leaving the nestbox.
* The eggs appeared to be unmarked (BWP mentions four varieties).
* The female removed and flew off with three dead young.
* The female ate most of the egg shells after hatching.?
* She slept in the box on the eggs and on the young every night until the young flew (contrary to the literature).
* The male's participation in feeding the young was minimal.
* The male sang most mornings whereupon the female left the box and joined him.
* The female continually rummaged in the sides and bottom of her nest to the point of tossing the two young completely over.
I do have a book of notes, but to conclude, it was an incredibly personal experience - to watch the female building a nest, to watch the efforts of laying an egg, to watch a chick hatching and the first wing flapping, and then to crown it all, to MISS the two young departing from by hardly more than a day!
I left my long-suffering husband with threats of divorce if he failed to video the last few hours of our Blue Tits before they left the nest, while I flew to Finland on a birding trip! Can't have it all ways!
Anna Marett
Tree Sparrow Initiative update - Successful breeding in 1999 an encouraging sign
| The feeders at Bowman's Farm were visited and replenished on a weekly basis until about the end of June. At that time it was found that several feeders were still containing a little seed (they were all emptied within days before) which presumably indicated that natural food had become more readily available. We have continued to replenish the feeders every few weeks as there is still some signs of usage. |  |
The six nestboxes sited nearby have also met with success. They had not been used in the last two years but they raised 17 young from five broods this year. Last winter the holes were enlarged slightly, after discussion with people running the Beddington SF nestbox scheme, and it may have been this, or the provision of food nearby, or a combination of these factors, which finally brought success.
The nestlings were ringed and we were surprised at the poor hatching success early in the season: two clutches at the end of May hatched one young from five eggs and the other three young from six eggs. Later clutches in June fared a little better with three young from seven eggs and five young from five eggs. The last clutch in July raised five young from six eggs laid.
Whilst ringing one of these later broods we were amazed to retrap a youngster fledged from another nestbox in with the much younger brood. What was it doing there? Was it trying to get a free meal from the adults or was this a case of a first brood bird helping its parents to raise a second brood?
Redland Aggregates have kindly agreed to fund the provision of more nestboxes at this site which can hopefully be assembled and fixed in position before next year's breeding season.
There were several offers of help with this project last year which, due to the uncertainty of its success, were not taken up. We would like to thank those concerned and we will be contacting them to see if they can help in the future. If any other members living in the St Albans/London Colney area could help, this would be gratefully received, particularly the regular replenishing of the feeders.
We would like once again to thank Mr S Legerton of Bowmans Farms Limited for his continuing assistance, without which this project could not succeed.
We would also ask Bird Club members to continue to refrain from visiting the site, which is on private property, to avoid undue disturbance. However, Tree Sparrows can frequently be seen, with careful looking, in the fields and trees around Bowmans Farm itself and are viewable from public roads and footpaths in the area.
Gary Elton and Jack Fearnside
The Alan Harris millennium calendar
Everyone with an interest in birds knows Alan Harris. Some as friends, some as nodding acquaintances at local patches such as Rye Meads and Amwell, but most as the prolific and talented illustrator of numerous bird identification books.
Many of these illustrations are of birds without much background scenery but anyone who has seen the cover of our breeding bird atlas will know how well Alan can handle landscape and birds within it.
Now there is an opportunity to own an example of this talent. Alan has published a calendar for the year 2000 containing 12 paintings reproduced at 200 x 200mm. Each is accompanied by a descriptive text which gives an insight into Alan's birding experiences and places the images in context. Each calendar is signed by the artist.
At a price of only 6.50 (post free) it would make an excellent Christmas present - but make sure you get one for yourself too!
Copies are available from Alan Harris at 60 East Park, Harlow, Essex, CM17 0SE. Please make cheques payable to A Harris.