CHELMSFORD & CENTRAL ESSEX GROUP NEWS

Winter 2014/15 The RSPB is a registered charity in England & Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654

A Message From Viv Connett JANUARY 2015 BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH Viv, who is acting as our group point-of- We have just had the weekend of the contact with RSPB while we don’t have an RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, and I hope official Chair of the Group, has been very you remembered to submit your results (if busy birding (when she isn’t at work) so she you haven’t yet done so, the deadline is 13 hasn’t written a long message for us this February, so there’s still time). This survey time. She wishes you all a happy and bird- creates a UK-wide snapshot of our garden filled new year, reminds us of the great walks wildlife, and the information it provides is and talks lined up for the year, and reiterates essential in enabling the RSPB to monitor her regular plea for someone to step up and trends and understand how birds and other assume the role of Group Leader. wildlife are faring. The RSPB prides itself on basing its work on hard evidence rather than speculation so you can see how important it LOCAL GROUP AGM is that as many people as possible participate. As I write, over five million birds Our Local Group AGM will take place at have already been counted! 7.30pm on Thursday 23 April 2015, immediately prior to the talk which will be at We did quite well in our garden this year; we 8.00pm as normal. have been seeing a good variety of birds, including one of my favourites, long-tailed tits. Do please come and support us at the AGM We seem to have an increasing population of – without it there would be no committee to house sparrows; these have been declining run the local group, and therefore no walks nationally in the past (63% fewer sparrows in and no talks. These events don’t just happen our gardens over the 36 years Big Garden on their own! Even better, if you would like to Birdwatch has been running) so it is great to join the committee, we would welcome you hear a chorus of them in our buddleia bush with open arms (especially if you think you cheeping at the tops of their voices. There can take on the role of Group Leader – see are 84% fewer starlings in that same time Viv’s plea above). The work is not onerous and we certainly don’t see nearly as many in and the more people we can share it around, our garden as we used to in the past. the less there is for each individual to do. We have committee meetings three or four times Louise Fuller a year and they are informal and sociable, although of course we make sure we get through the necessary business efficiently. Contact details for the current committee members are at the end of this newsletter, before the diary dates, so do feel free to contact one of us if you would like to talk about joining the committee. Even if you don’t think you are a committee- type person, come to the AGM anyway – we won’t force you to join the committee but it is important that local group members hear the LONG-TAILED TIT Annual Reports, and get the opportunity to ask questions and express their views.

1 OUR LOCAL GROUP WALKS In December, on the last weekend before Christmas, we escaped the hurly-burly and In November last year we ventured to headed off to the Stour Valley. This is right at Bedfords Park at Havering-atte-Bower; this is the opposite end of Essex from our just outside the administrative county of November trip to Bedfords Park! It was a Essex although its postal address is still grey and windy day but seven of us set off to Essex. walk round this riverside reserve. The woods It was a damp and misty morning as we set were very quiet but we got down to the off to explore this Essex Wildlife Trust viewpoint overlooking the river and were reserve which was a new site for the group. treated to lots of pintails and red-breasted We started off by admiring the managed herd mergansers. Good numbers of goldeneyes of red deer which are resident here and were were also present and it was good to see treated to a few bellows from the alpha stag! these winter ducks, which are very attractive. A ring-necked parakeet called from the trees After finding our way back to the car park, but didn’t show itself. the woods still being very quiet, we drove the We started off doing the shorter walk, partly short distance to Wall Lane where we looked to avoid the dog walkers and partly due to the for the long-staying first winter surf scoter. muddy conditions. It was very quiet although However it was not to be seen – recently it we managed to find a tit flock which also had been spending more time on the Suffolk contained a treecreeper. Most of us side – so we contented ourselves with managed to get a glimpse of it even though it dunlins and ringed plovers. We saw 22 was elusive. We continued to the pond which species. apparently is good for mandarin ducks in the winter but none were there, probably due to the mild conditions. We continued on and decided to visit the lake at the bottom end of the reserve. Only coots and tufted ducks were visible until one of the group spotted something brown disappearing into one of the bushes – we waited patiently and were treated to a great sparrowhawk flypast!

Although we didn’t see many birds (17 seen, PINTAIL (DRAKE) two heard), probably due to the mild winter and murky conditions, we had a good walk Having visited Wallasea Island in January and will try this reserve again at a different 2014, we made another visit in January 2015 time of year. to see what a difference a year makes. It was damp and cloudy in the morning but the weather had improved as seven of us set off to see what had changed since last year. As there had been a good number of raptors present over the last few days there were several other birders present, and one of these alerted us to a short-eared owl flying over the reptile area. We all had excellent views as it quartered the area and there was also another bird sitting on a post. It was very encouraging to see large numbers of corn buntings in the field immediately in front of us. We started off along the sea wall and immediately found plenty of waders on the estuary and then large numbers of wildfowl on the new lagoons. These have been created using the spoil from the London Crossrail project, which is being transported to the reserve via barge. When we returned to the car park we found SPARROWHAWK that a further two short-eared owls had been

2 seen, and the rough-legged buzzard which THE RSPB AND THE BARN OWL had been hanging round the reserve for a few A friend of mine has loaned me a wonderful weeks had been spotted in the distance. As “Log Book” of 504 pages which had been we were bemoaning the fact that we had used by a relative of hers as a Bird Watching missed it the shout went up that it had Notebook. The first dated entry is for the returned. We all had good views through winter of 1871! There will be a description of telescopes as it sat on a distant post then this interesting notebook in another article for, flew around being mobbed by crows. hidden in its depths, I came across a fascinating leaflet which is also very interesting. This is entitled:- BIRD NOTES & NEWS Issued Quarterly by the Royal Society For the Protection of Birds Vol.XV Autumn 1933 No.7 THE BARN OWL IN ENGLAND Results of the census ROUGH-LEGGED BUZZARD By G. B. Blaker This reserve is proving to be a very good There are two reasons why this interests me. area for raptors in the winter and is highly The first is because, despite being involved in recommended for anyone wanting to see a the RSPB for 50 years, I know very little of its decent selection. We saw 36 species of activities prior to, say, 1960. Secondly, birds. because we are in the middle of the Essex Viv Connett Barn Owl Conservation Project of the Essex Wildlife Trust, barn owls are of particular interest. 2014 FUN QUIZ We all know that the Society for the Last year's quiz worked reasonably well, Protection of Birds was created in 1889 by a although the topic, "Name the Rhymes", group of ladies in Birmingham who were didn't seem as attractive as the bird theme of fighting a battle against the tremendous use 2013. The local group made a profit of of feathers by women in fashion, which was £136.75; somewhat lower than last year's decimating birds from all over the world. It £200+ but still very worth while. was so successful that it was granted the The prize of £25 went to Catherine Goodwin Royal Charter in 1904. It grew slowly to of Chelmsford, who was very happy to hear change from a female-led charity to include that she'd won. Interestingly, of the 16 more and more men. By 1933 it had completed quiz sheets received, 14 scored succeeded to the extent that it decided to within 4½ points of each other so it was a carry out the census described in the leaflet. close call to the winning line. The following is a very brief précis of its contents. Many thanks to:- “Prior to 1932 there was a suspicion that the Robin Heafford for creating the quiz, barn owl was becoming scarcer and might in distributing it around several RSPB reserves, fact become rare. There was however no cajoling various friends and acquaintances documentary proof of this, so the Society into buying a copy, and collecting the decided that it should take the lead and carry proceeds. out a census to find out exactly what was the All who bought a quiz sheet and spent situation. All newspapers and natural history many exasperating hours trying to work out societies were circularised and met with an the last few clues. (We're sure you loved it enthusiastic audience. About 4,000 reports really, and you're looking forward to the next were received and many others chose areas one!) to investigate in more detail. The result found Sue McClellan for her administrative that there were about 12,000 breeding pairs assistance and technical support. of birds in England and Wales, which was Robin will be producing another quiz later much lower than at first thought, so fears this year, this time with a wildlife theme, so were justified that there was a decline in we expect to sell many more copies. numbers, although the decline in Essex and Suffolk was less marked.” This statistic has been quoted in subsequent bird literature 3 where the figure of 12,000 is followed by the citation (Blaker 1934). Attached to the census was a map of Great Britain divided into 100 sq. mile rectangles. From these I have established that it seems that Essex had a population in 1933 of between 350 and 450 pairs. So, how has the barn owl fared in Essex between 1933 and the present day? Let us see what additional details we can find. The “Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the BARN OWL IN FLIGHT OVER GRAZING MARSHES Middle East and North America” considers that the numbers in the UK have decreased since the 19 th century, perhaps because of ESSEX WILDLIFE TRUST BARN habitat loss, persecution, disturbance and OWL CONSERVATION PROJECT pesticides, to 4,500-9,000 pairs (Sharrock Mike refers to the EWT barn owl project, and 1976). I have mentioned before that I participate in “The Birds of Essex” by Simon Wood gives a this project as a volunteer barn owl nest box host of information. He agrees with my adviser. A colleague and I were recently thoughts on the 1932 figures at 500 pairs. asked to visit a livery yard where the owner However, by 1987 this figure had reduced to had seen a barn owl and was very keen to 120 pairs (Shawyer 1988). There are encourage breeding. thoughts about the barn owls’ prey. 98.7% We were met by a welcome committee of are 14 small mammals, 78.6% of which are enthusiasts, all very keen to join us as we field vole, wood mouse and common shrew walked round the farm and looked to see if it (Love 1997). The field vole has a reputation was suitable for barn owls. The owner for great variations in population year by showed us some pellets he had found in the year, which could cause appropriate hay barn, although these might have been variations in owl numbers. kestrel pellets as a kestrel was also known to The excellent Essex Birdwatching Society roost in the barn. prepares an annual Bird Report. 10 years’ The site was ideal for barn owls in many reports of numbers of breeding pairs are:- respects – reasonably undisturbed, no major 2002 – 20 pairs; 2003 – 38 pairs roads in the immediate vicinity, a suitable tree 2004 – 48 pairs 2005 – 53 pairs to install a nest box, and most important of 2006 – 60 pairs 2007 – 66 pairs all, lots of rough tussocky grassland and 2008 – 41 pairs 2009 – 37 pairs hedge margins in the area which would 2010 – 32 pairs 2011 – 36 pairs provide plenty of small mammals for the owls Reports for 2012 and 2013 have not yet been to eat. So we were very pleased to be able concluded. to advise the owner on how to proceed to The Society has problems receiving regular encourage breeding barn owls. detailed information about owls in the Dengie On the evening of our visit, the owner Hundred or the Foulness group of islands, so phoned my colleague in great excitement to figures can vary, but the numbers are say that he had seen an owl flying out of the dropping here. In 1957 however the report hay bales in the barn, and he had found that then stated “there seems little doubt that it had come out of a hole right in amongst the numbers of breeding pairs in the county have hay. He was really pleased to have concrete reached a seriously low level, only 2 nests evidence that at least one owl was living on being reported”. the farm and we have high hopes that when So it seems that the poor old barn owl is in nest boxes are installed, there will be owl decline. But there is hope yet, for 2014 has chicks in the summer. been reported as a record year for nests and All nest boxes which are part of the project for the number of young birds reared, so it are monitored for breeding success and could be that the tide has turned. Let us failures. I am hoping that this year I will be hope that the information to be found in the able to attend the training to become a nest Essex Wildlife Trust Conservation Project will box monitor so I will see the results of give us a better picture. everyone’s endeavours. Mike Logan Wood January 2015 Louise Fuller

4 BOWERS MARSH RSPB As the year moves into spring the muddy RESERVE edges of the scrapes and lagoons provide vital food sources for migrating waders. It’s Bowers Marsh is developing well since always worth looking out for scarcities too; habitat creation works were completed and the reserve can attract species such as wood the reserve opened to the public in October sandpiper and little stint. It’s at this time of 2013. The 260ha reserve is a partnership year the breeding birds start to arrive too. between the RSPB and Veolia, who own the The shingle island on the freshwater lagoon site and run the nearby Pitsea landfill site, is arguably the most important area of the and the reserve forms part of the RSPB’s South Essex reserves for breeding waders. South Essex network of reserves. Last year, the island provided a safe nesting Large habitat creation projects such as haven for over 40 pairs of avocets, with over Bowers Marsh can often take several years 30 fledged birds produced. As well as the to settle down, as vegetation and water avocets, the island also gave a home to little control regimes are implemented, and wildlife ringed plovers, oystercatchers, redshanks moves on to the site. Now, after much hard and lapwings. It’s not just waders, either; the work by RSPB staff and volunteers, the grasslands and reeds provide valuable reserve is providing a home to many different nesting habitat, and the air is filled with the species of wildlife. sounds of singing skylarks, the ‘jangling keys’ In winter, the wet grassland areas of the of corn buntings and the melodic songs of reserve attract large numbers of wintering reed and sedge warblers. waders and wildfowl, particularly wigeon, teal and lapwing, whose numbers can often reach the thousands. Along with these, a wide range of other duck species can be seen in good numbers, including shoveler, pochard and tufted duck. The saline lagoon also performs particularly well in winter. For the best results, time a visit with high tide, and waders such as dunlins, redshanks, spotted redshanks, black-tailed godwits, greenshanks and curlews are often present in good numbers as they come in to roost and feed from the surrounding creeks and rivers.

MARBLED WHITE BUTTERFLIES EN MASSE Summer is the most colourful season on the reserves. The grasslands are filled with the pinks and yellows of wild flowers, attracting bees and butterflies to the reserve; marbled whites being a particular attraction. A look out on to the lagoons will also reveal fluffy wader chicks, feeding up on the invertebrates found in the soft mud. The many different habitats found at Bowers Marsh provide a great visit at any time of year, with trails providing easy access across the site. Church Road, which leads down to the site, has severe potholes past St. Margaret’s Church, so great care should be taken if driving to the site. We’re working with our partners to fix the issue as quickly as possible. Leila Balin, RSPB South Essex Campaigns and Communications Officer Our walk on 21 February is to the Bowers Marsh reserve; see diary for details.

WIGEON 5 Mike Logan Wood goes digital informs our work, the importance of our systems and ways of working, and the Our ex-group leader Mike Logan Wood has importance of our trustees and the fantastic decided to join the technophiles. After 13 support they give us. We know that certain years of providing interesting, educational interest groups and sections will continue to and fact-filled talks to over 17,000 people challenge and attempt to use the media to with the use of a slide projector, he hopes to undermine us. This will not stop us from use the modern technology of memory sticks, continuing to campaign for nature and laptops and digital projectors. This is a speaking out against wildlife crime. daunting prospect and I admire his courage. The quality of image presentation in the And, together, we will win - keep up the great digital age is far superior to the old work! techniques so his audiences will benefit. Mike Clarke, RSPB Chief Executive Since he started in 2003, Mike has raised an impressive £18,710 with his 442 talks whilst FEEDING THE BIRDS travelling more than 16,000 miles, and a further £3,422 in donations for pin badges. The days are getting longer but it is still winter and the The committee wishes to thank him for his birds need our help to excellent fundraising and also for the survive. enthusiasm he shows when explaining the intricacies of bird life. Long may he continue Some top tips for feeding to bring pleasure to many. the birds: Margot Grice • Put out a variety of food – seeds, fat balls,

mealworms, fruit, COMPLAINTS TO CHARITY peanuts. Avoid mixes COMMISSION ABOUT RSPB which include split REJECTED peas, beans, rice or lentils. Cooked rice is As you may know, towards the end of last OK. Porridge oats year, the RSPB came under concerted attack must always be raw, from some quarters in the national press and never cooked. from ‘You Forgot the Birds’ – a newly formed • Some human foods can be put out, organisation linked to shooting interests and including dried fruits, unsalted nuts and fronted by Sir Ian Botham. grated mild cheese. ‘You Forgot the Birds’ and the Countryside • Alliance made separate formal complaints to Ensure there is a supply of clean water the Charity Commission about our charitable and that it does not freeze over. work. Neither complaint has been upheld by • Keep the bird table and water the Charity Commission. Nor was the RSPB containers clean to reduce the risk of subject to any formal investigation. disease. The Charity Commission invested time in examining our processes and activities in the DAVID LINDO – THE URBAN light of the complaints they received. And they are clear that we have not breached BIRDER charitable regulations or guidelines, or our We have arranged a very special talk for you own charitable objectives, on any of the later in the year – issues raised. David Lindo, well As a charity, we operate in an open and known as the Urban accountable manner, and will continue to do Birder, is coming to so. us in November. The date is You can read an article on the homepage of Thursday 12, so the RSPB website about the allegations, how make sure you put we responded and what the Charity a note in your diary Commission has said and done. and keep the date These challenges highlight the importance of free. the sound science and evidence which

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RSPB LOCAL GROUP COMMITTEE MEMBERS 2014/15 Viv Connett Point of Contact & Field 07985 796657 [email protected] Trips Organiser Tim Connett Field Trips Organiser 07913 896020 [email protected] Margot Grice Treasurer/Joint 01245 248651 [email protected] Membership Secretary Janet Hawkes Secretary 01376 512628 [email protected] Louise Fuller Newsletter Editor/Joint 01245 421614 [email protected] Membership Secretary Gerry Johnson Pin Badge Sales Co- 01245 356633 [email protected] ordinator Sue McClellan Meetings (Talks) 01245 471576 [email protected] Secretary

EVENTS DIARY some of the species for which Essex is among the Non-members are welcome at all events. best places in the UK to see. Talks are held at the Northumberland Theatre,

Writtle College, Lordship Road, Writtle, Chelmsford, CM1 3RP, commencing at 8pm and Walk – Saturday 21 finishing about 9.50pm, with an interval for BOWERS MARSH (RSPB). 10.00am. Meet in the refreshments. The lecture theatre is across car park at end of Church Road, past Rookery Lordship Road from the main college building, to Farm, south of A13 (grid reference 755,867 on the right of the Wilkins tea room and shop, and Landranger OS Map 178, no post code). The site there is free parking on site. is very exposed but the walk is on gravel paths. Entry £3.50 adults. No discount for postal group We shall be looking for wildfowl and farmland members. birds. Walks are all “own car” outings, suitable for all PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ROAD TO THE RESERVE IS ages and birding abilities; help with bird ID will be VERY UNEVEN AND THERE ARE MANY POTHOLES. available. Wear suitable clothing and footwear YOU CAN PARK AT ST MARGARET’S CHURCH AND and bring your own refreshments. Walking boots WALK THE LAST PART TO THE RESERVE IF YOU DO are advised for our walks as the terrain could be NOT WANT TO DRIVE YOUR CAR DOWN THERE, IT wet and uneven. The sites are often exposed and IS ABOUT 1/3 OF A MILE. OR SEE IF YOU CAN CAR you may need warm and waterproof clothing, SHARE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS A 4X4! especially for our winter trips. There are no toilet facilities at most of the walk venues. For further details of all events please see our web site www.rspb.org.uk/groups/chelmsford

FEBRUARY Talk – Thursday 12

WILDLIFE OF SOUTH ESSEX with Neil Phillips. Neil CORN BUNTING is a keen naturalist, spending much of his time MARCH studying and photographing wildlife in the South Essex area, which, in the shadow of Suffolk and Talk – Thursday 12 Norfolk, is often ignored. In this talk Neil will LAND OF ICE AND FIRE; THE NATURE OF ICELAND show us some of the highlights of the area, and with Alan Thorpe. Alan Thorpe, emeritus professor of biological sciences at the University

7 of London, has travelled widely in Iceland and will Talk and Local Group AGM – Thursday 23 focus his talk on the wonderful birdlife to be Please note the date is later in the month than experienced there. He will also describe some of normal. the amazing landscape that has been formed as a The AGM will be held at 7.30pm; see item on result of the country sitting on top of one of the page 1. world's most volcanically active hotspots. It is hoped that the audience might be encouraged to MIGRATION MYSTERIES with Chris Ward. When visit or re-visit this beautiful, peaceful and and why do 'British' birds migrate, and where do modern country. they fly to? How do they navigate successfully? Which long-distance migrants travel furthest? Chris Ward will help us understand some of the extraordinary achievements of our long distance travellers, supported by impressive photographs taken during his own wildlife adventures.

There are no more talks until we start again in September. There are no walks in May or June.

JULY Walk – Sunday 22 Walk – Sunday 5 CUDMORE GROVE (Essex County Council), MARKS HALL GARDENS AND ARBORETUM, Bromans Lane, East Mersea CO5 8UE. 10.00am. Coggeshall CO6 1TG 11.00am. Meet in the car Meet in the car park (grid reference 062,142 on park. This is a butterfly walk in a beautiful Landranger OS map 168). NB There is a £2.50 location. We will be looking for a variety of parking charge here. Boots are recommended as species, weather permitting, and hope that the grass paths may be wet and the sandy paths conditions are kinder to us than last year, when also. We shall be looking for waders, wildfowl there was a dearth of sunshine in the weeks and passerines. leading up to the walk and we cancelled as there would have been no butterflies out at all. APRIL Walk – Sunday 12 HOCKLEY WOODS (Rochford District Council), Main Road, Hockley SS5 4RN. 10.00am. Meet in the car park (the Hockley Woods car park, NOT The Bull pub car park; grid reference 835,923 on Landranger OS map 178). NB There is a parking charge here; you can get up to four hours for £1.

Boots are recommended as paths may be muddy. SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY We shall be looking for firecrest, lesser spotted We will be monitoring the weather again this woodpecker, treecreeper, nuthatch etc. year to ensure we don’t have a wasted journey, so check the website or call Viv on 07985 796657 the night before to check if the walk is going ahead. There is no charge for the walk but there is a charge to enter Marks Hall. RHS members might be entitled to a discount so bring your membership card. There is a visitor centre on site.

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