Basingstoke Local Group

BBAASSIINNGGSSTTOOKKEE LLOOCCAALL GGRROOUUPP

APRIL 2012 NEWSLETTER

http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/basingstoke

Contents:

 From The Group Leader

 Annual General Meeting

 Notices

 What’s Happening?

 Marsh-Mellow Birding

 April’s Outdoor Meeting

 Evening Walks Programme

 May’s Outdoor Meeting

 March’s Outdoor Meeting

 Local Wildlife News

 Quiz Page

A million voices for nature Charity registered in England and Wales no. 207076 From The Group Leader

Welcome to the spring!

Where have you heard that before, I wonder?

Though we’re still in the grip of drought nobody appears to have told the clouds this! The fronts sweeping through on an all too regular basis don’t seem to have delayed our local summer visitants too much however – by mid-April many of the expected visits had arrived and the calls and emails about Cuckoos had commenced. The main difference between the latter and the earlier ‘sightings’ reported in the press however being that we could at least believe Local Group Members! Other notable ‘locals’ have included Nightingale, Black Tern and Osprey while Sand and House Martin, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat have been among the ‘normal’ species already accounted for. By the time we commence the Evening Walks Programme, in early May, just about everything else should have arrived, and generally in numbers. However, have you already noticed that birds are missing – did they turn up later than previously, in smaller numbers, or not at all? Do let us know, as well as inputting your records on to the BTO BirdTrack recording system http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack/about. As we’ve said many times in the past, the more we know, the better organised can be our approach to conservation in the future!

Let’s hope that the continuing inclement weather settles its’ dispute with terra firma in the very near future and that we, both as a Group and individuals, can make the most of the spring, be it the passage of birds through to further north, the up-and-coming blossoming of plants, the dramatic increase in aerial plankton, or just the opportunity to have the sun shining on us as we go about the more desultory of daily tasks.

The weather may not be too exciting, but the birding over the comings weeks is sure to be, so make the most of it and join us on one of the many Outdoor Meetings that have been organised for the Group, whether the series of relatively informal Evening Walks that showcase local sites and their wildlife, or the monthly Outdoor Meeting that may just take that little bit further afield. I look forward to seeing you out there and hearing all about the migrants that are bringing a little more hope to your birding.

Peter E. Hutchins

Annual General Meeting

THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS BASINGSTOKE LOCAL GROUP ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The thirty-third Annual General Meeting of the Basingstoke Local Group of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds will take place on Wednesday 16th May 2012 at The Barn, Church Cottage, Church Street, Basingstoke at 7.45pm.

AGENDA

1. Chairman’s Introduction 2. Apologies for Absence 3. Minutes of the thirty-second Annual General Meeting 4. Matters Arising 5. Chairman’s Report 6. Treasurer’s Report 7. Appropriation of Surplus 8. Elections 9. Any Other Business

Nominations for the Committee, together with the names of the proposer and seconder, should be given to the Secretary by Wednesday 25th April 2012.

Geoff Sharp Secretary

Notices

Garden Party August 4th 2012, from 5pm.

We are holding another Garden Party this year at 33 Archery Fields Odiham, phone 01256 702006.

This has proved to be a good fund raiser for the Group and a very enjoyable evening.

A Raffle will be held during the evening and hope that members will contribute a raffle prize.

We ask those who attend to bring a dish of some sort, and suggest that your choice of dishes discussed so we can have a variation. We ask all members to bring their own drinks although Tea and Coffee will be available throughout the evening.

We have an outside swimming pool for those wishing to swim but remember to bring your cosies.

The cost of the Evening will again be £6.00 per person.

Maureen Brailey

Help Required!

Please find below a request for volunteers to help during Love Nature Week. If you feel that this is something that you could help with, please let the Committee know, or contact Emily directly:

Dear Peter

I’m contacting you about the RSPB Love Nature Week from 26th May to the 3rd June. We have booked collections right across the South East and now we need the volunteers! These collections are all about saving nature on your doorstep so the money goes to towards conservation projects in the south east this includes saving special places for wildlife and people.

We need as many volunteers as possible to help us make Love Nature Week a success so we raise vital funds but also make people aware of the RSPB and what we do. This is why we are also asking volunteers to hand out leaflets about Make Your Nature Count whilst collecting as a talking point to engage with members of the public.

I know your local group already helps the RSPB but we are hoping that you could ask all your members if they might be interested in giving a couple of hours to collect at one of the sites. The nearest site for your group members would be Basingstoke Pets at Home on 2nd June.

If any of your group members want to find out more about the collection there is a website with more information: www.rspb.org.uk/bucketcollections. Or they can contact me on the details below.

Thanks again for your support.

Yours sincerely,

Emily Clark

Community Fundraising Voluntary Intern

Tel:01273 775 333

Committee Members

With the Annual General Meeting rapidly approaching it’s time once again to remind you that we / the Local Group need you!!! If you would be interested in becoming a Committee Member or even helping to ‘run’ the Local Group in a less formal capacity, do please see a Committee Member prior to this meeting for further information and the opportunity to sit in on the next Committee Meeting.

Newsletter Mailings

Thank you to those that have now continued to forward their mailing addresses – more trees saved and more time to do other things now!!! Keep them coming, as they say, “The more the merrier!” Wouldn’t it be good to make the Group paper- less / free? We’re getting there! 

Local Group Website

The following area of the Basingstoke Local Group website is currently very much under populated and it would be appreciated if you could help out with respect to this: Places to see birds.

If you could pen a few words about a local site that you enjoy visiting we could then gradually add these to the website so as to give other locals an idea of where to go to see birds about the Borough, or even that little bit further afield.

Nothing huge, dramatic or specific, just a quick summary of where, what you might see, when to go and what you particularly enjoy about visiting there would be more than appreciated.

Bird Food

We are happy to supply any bird food to you at any time, just call on 01256 – 770831, 07895 – 388378 or mail us on [email protected] and we will arrange delivery to you. If you have any requirements that are not listed, please do let us know and we will ensure that they are available when you, or your birds, need them.

Bird Food Pricelist:

The below are examples of just a few of the items that we can supply. Please do enquire after anything else and we will provide you with a cost, time of delivery etc. As both of us are currently working in / about Basingstoke delivery can be expected to be completed within a day of an order being received – can you get that service anywhere else?

Wild bird Mix 30p/lb or 66p/kg Niger £1/lb or £2.20/kg Peanuts 65p/lb or £1.43/kg Fat Squares £1 each Black Sunflowers £1/lb or £2.20/kg Fat Pecker Balls 25p each Sunflower Hearts £1.10/lb or £2.42/kg

Also available are a range of birdboxes and feeders.

A variety of items will be available at most Indoor Meetings but if there is something ‘missing’ that you want, please do let us know.

Peter & Alison

What’s Happening?

A few of the forthcoming local events that will hopefully help keep you entertained when the Local Group is not getting together:

Basingstoke Field Society http://basingstokefieldsociety.org.uk/

Outdoor Meeting

May 10th. Micheldever Bluebell Woods Meet at 7pm.

Summer Surveys

June 4th, July 2nd and August 20th. Friends of Loddon Vale Park

August 6th. The Lip at The War Memorial Park.

For information on meetings and surveys please contact;

Patricia & Colin Stubbs: 323324; Diane Rampton: 467533; Nicola Williams: 353194

Dummer Nature Group

Dawn Chorus Walk

Saturday May 12th, 4:45am Dummer Village Hall, Up Street, Dummer, RG25 2AJ

Local birdwatcher Malcolm Dixon will be leading a spring dawn chorus walk in the countryside immediately around the village. Meet outside Dummer Village Hall at 4:45am. Those who can rouse themselves in time will not only learn more about our feathered friends but will be rewarded with a breakfast of locally produced bacon in rolls, homemade snacks and tea / coffee / juice on our return to the Village Hall about 1½ hours later.

All welcome - the walk is organised by Dummer Nature Group and costs £3 for adults and £1.50 for children, with the usual membership discounts. Please book your space by contacting Diane Nicolle, tel: 397919, email: [email protected] so we can provide adequate catering without waste and can let you know in advance if bad weather necessitates cancellation.

Membership of DuNG costs just £5 per household for a year and means you will be supporting this new group and helping us to run talks and activities like this throughout the year, contact Diane for more details.

Hampshire Organic Gardening Group http://hampshire-organic-gardening.org/

Sparsholt Countryside Open Day

Saturday 19th May: 9:30 - 16:30

We desperately need volunteers to help man the stall on the 19th. You do not need to be a gardening expert or even knowledgeable about organics, but you do need to share your enthusiasm for organic growing and HOGG and persuade people to join HOGG, Soil Association or Garden Organic to learn more about how to be an organic grower and lead an organic life style. If you think you can spare an hour or two please get in touch with the stall co-ordinator. It is great fun if you enjoy chatting to people and it is amazing what you learn.

Plant Swap

21st May 7:45pm £2 entry for non- members

Location: Testbourne Community Centre, Micheldever Road, Whitchurch, RG28 7JF

Trip to Ryton

Thursday 12th July – BOOK NOW

Bookings (cost £12.00 refundable to be given to Alison) are now open.

This is a coach excursion to Garden Organic at Ryton where you can browse 12 acres of gardens, visit the “Vegetable Kingdom” museum, the shop and the organic cafe. It is also possible to have a guided tour. (http://www.rytongardens.co.uk/organic-gardens/)

Transport to Ryton is free for HOGG members, but there is a booking fee of £12.00 which will be refunded when you board the coach. There is also an Entrance fee payable at Ryton for those people who are not Garden Organic members and a fee if there is a guided tour.

If you have not already booked, please bring contact Alison ASAP:

Alison Thompson Cole Henley Farm Cole Henley Whitchurch Hants RG28 7QD

The coach will leave the Gill Nethercott Centre, Whitchurch at 8:30 am.

(Please park elsewhere thus leaving the Centre car park free for day users)

The coach will hold 50. Friends are welcome though they will need to pay the £12 for the coach non- refundable. At present we have 35 bookings including 2 people who will meet us at Ryton. After the AGM we will be opening the trip to other Gardening Clubs, so make sure you send in your £12.00 to make your booking now.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust http://www.hwt.org.uk/

Management Through Grazing

The Trust is now managing St Cross Meadows in partnership with St Cross Hospital. Come along to meet our new herd of British White cattle. Assistant Reserves and Grazing Project Officer Dave Tallentire will lead the walk, looking at how grazing with traditional cattle breeds is helping restore the biodiversity and historical landscape. This event is part of a series of walks in the Winchester area for The Wildlife Trust centenary celebrations. Meet at St Cross Hospital, SO23 9SD (Map ref. SU 475 277). Parking is available adjacent to the hospital. For further details or to book a place please contact Dave on 07747 585433 or email [email protected]. Suggested donation £2.

Event details:

Date 11 May 2012

Time 6-7.30pm

Event type General Events, Walk

Nature Reserve St Cross Hospital, Winchester, (Map ref. SU 475 277).

Suggested Donation £2

Booking Essential? Yes

Contact details:

Name Dave Tallentire

Telephone 07747 585433

Email [email protected]

Spring at St Caths

Take a look at the plants and insects at this chalk grassland reserve, and learn a little about the 3000 years of occupation at this historic site overlooking the city of Winchester. A leisurely walk of 1½ miles with some climbing. Part of a series of walks in the Winchester area for The Wildlife Trust centenary celebrations. Meet at the car park by Tun Bridge off Garnier Road (Map ref. SU 483 280). For further information, please contact Mike Allen on 07831 692963 or email [email protected]. Suggested donation £2.

Event details:

Date 15 May 2012

Time 2-4.30pm

Event type General Events, Walk

Nature Reserve Winchester, Garnier Road (Map ref. SU 483 280).

Suggested Donation £2

Booking Essential? No

Contact details:

Name Mike Allen

Telephone 07831 692963

Mills and Meadows Guided Walk

Take a walk along two branches of the River Itchen alongside historic water meadows and the Iron Age hill fort of St Catherine’s Hill Nature Reserve on this guided 3 mile circular walk led by project officer, Polly Whyte. This event is part of the Wildlife Trust’s centenary celebrations. Meet at St Catherine’s Hill car park on Garnier Road (Map ref. SU 483 280). For further details, please contact Polly on 01489 774413 or email [email protected]. Suggested donation £2.

Event details:

Date 16 May 2012

Time 6.30–8.30pm

Event type General Events, Walk

Nature Reserve Winchester, Garnier Road (Map ref. SU 483 280).

Suggested Donation £2.

Booking Essential? No

Contact details:

Name Polly Whyte

Telephone 01489 774413

Email [email protected]

Big Day Out at St Caths.

Join us in celebrating 100 years of The Wildlife Trusts at our Family Fun Day.

 Add your memories and photographs of St Catherine’s Hill to our time line  Take a short walk guided by Trust staff or a self-guided nature trail.  Hunt for bugs, beetles and other creepy crawlies in the flower-rich chalk grassland.  Meet the sheep and cows that graze the hill and try your hand at spinning wool.  Make a butterfly decoration to take home  BBQ – your chance to taste the mutton and beef produced on the hill.  Learn about your vision for a living landscape in the South Downs and Itchen Valley.

Parking – St Catherine’s Park ‘n’ Ride on Garnier Road, Winchester is a few minutes’ walk from the reserve. (Map ref. SU 483 280). Shuttle buses link the train station and City Centre with the P’n’R. Follow the signs to the reserve entrance at St Catherine’s lock, ½ mile south of Tun Bridge on Garnier Road.

Event details:

Date 19 May 2012

Time 10.30am-3pm

Event type General Events, Walk, Children's activities, Family Event

Nature Reserve St Catherine’s Hill (Map ref. SU 483 280)

Booking Essential? No

Contact details:

Name For further details visit the Trust website

Butterfly Walk

A walk on Magdalen Down with Jayne Chapman, Reserve Officer, to look at the butterfly species on this wonderful chalk downland. Why not bring a picnic lunch? Meet at bottom car park opposite the gates of Morn Hill Cemetery on the B3404 Alresford Road (Map ref. SU 512 292). For further details, please contact Jane Gentry on 01489 890961. Suggested donation £2.50 per head, children free.

Event details:

Date 23 May 2012

Time 10.30am

Event type General Events, Walk

Nature Reserve B3404 Alresford Road (Map ref. SU 512 292)

Suggested Donation £2.50 per head, children free

Booking Essential? No

Contact details:

Name Jane Gentry

Telephone 01489 890961

Flora and Flying Insects at Old Burghclere Lime Quarry

North West District folk will be your guides to the fascinations of this small Trust reserve (Map ref. SU 469 577) that we work hard to maintain. Orchids, various bees and small blue butterflies should be around although we can’t promise the stunning display of last year. Contact Mervyn Grist on 01264 358737. Suggested donation £1.50. Sorry, no dogs.

Event details:

Date 23 May 2012

Time 10.30am

Event type General Events, Walk

Nature Reserve Old Burghclere Lime Quarry (Map ref. SU 469 577)

Suggested Donation £1.50

Booking Essential? No

Contact details:

Name Mervyn Grist

Telephone 01264 358737

Please note that all the events noted above may be filmed and photographed for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust's fundraising and publicity purposes. If you have any concerns, please speak to a member of staff.

Overton Biodiversity Society http://www.overton-biodiversity.org/

Kingfishers in Overton “The life of a family of Kingfishers”

Thursday 17th May. Overton Community Centre

An illustrated presentation by local photographer and Kingfisher enthusiast Alan Willis.

The talk will begin at 7.30 and entry is £2.50, £2.00 for OBS Members, and will be followed by a Q & A session and refreshments.

For further information please contact Jane MacKenzie on 01256 – 771121.

Local Opportunities for Conservation Volunteering

Are you interested in your local environment? Do you have a passion for conservation and wildlife? If yes, try the following the site to check on what’s happening locally that you could become involved in. http://www.basingstoke.gov.uk/leisure/conservation/conservation.htm

There are opportunities for you as an individual, a family or a social group to join the groups of volunteers already working in the following areas:

Black Dam Ponds and Crabtree Plantation Mill Field Local Nature Reserve Chineham Oakley Cliddesden Old Down, Kempshott Glebe Gardens, Victory Park and King Overton George Vth Playing Fields (Brookvale) Popley Kempshott South View

MARSH-MELLOW BIRDING

Fortified, after a refreshing lunch under the shade of the gigantic Mango trees, at Hato Pinero in the cattle ranching pains of Venezuela, we headed out into the Llanos again. Along the dirt-track route were verdant marshes, muddy water holes, meandering, muddy-banked, slow streams, wet wallows, where the cattle and water buffalo had churned damp patches in dry pasture and scattered patches of woodland, hedge-like track-side shrubs and mature trees of many varieties. Scarlet Macaws screeched raucously as they flew or clambered for fruit.

We made frequent and always rewarding stops; when birds were sighted or to explore interesting habitat.

By one water-hole, we peered through gaps in the foliage to watch three huge and extraordinary Jabiru Storks. The male strode imperiously about, with his neck inflated so much that it looked as if he’d swallowed a football. Barbed wire supplied a convenient perch for the imposingly named White-headed Marsh Tyrant. This was actually a kind of flycatcher but it lived up to its billing: it had a white head and it tyrannised another of its species which was also trying to hawk for flies in the marsh-side herbs. A striking little bird but more than matched by the Vermillion Flycatcher sallying from the same wires.

Jabiru White-headed Marsh-tyrant Southern Wattled Jacana

Vermillion Flycatcher

A good start but we had more to see. The next stop was by a grassy, bush-fringed pool. Much of the water was obscured by emergent and floating grasses and on them, spreading the load with remarkably long toes, was a Wattled Jacana, closely followed by a well-grown chick, both turning over grass-blades and other vegetation in search of morsels. The adult was the father. The female leaves the brooding and domestic duties to him, while she attends to territorial matters and finding another mate to raise her next brood.

Our birds worked methodically and soon foraged past a diminutive Striated Heron, standing tall, in Bittern-like stance. Recently split from the Old World Little Green Heron and a complete contrast to the gangly Great Egret perched precariously in nearby bushes. This egret has, I think, been re-classified too and is now “lumped” and regarded as conspecific with Great White Egret. A few metres from it, though was a truly New World heron; a beautiful, blue-faced Black-capped Heron, its wispy crest wafting in the slight breeze. Below them, the head of a rufescent Tiger Heron telescoped up from the grasses on a neck that seemed to just keep on growing. A real bittern, this time. A little further from the water, in the damp pasture, a Limpkin sloped nervously off into cover, looking rather like a shorter- billed ibis. It had probably been looking for the large, rounded Apple Snails, its primary food and for which it uses its’ specialised curved bill to snip from their shells. All these birds in and around a grassy, wet area in which very little open water was showing and the whole area smaller than the paddling pool in Eastrop Park.

Rufescent Tiger Heron Striated Heron Limpkin

Great Egret Black-capped Heron

Two kinds of ibis probed the margins; four of the commonly seen Bare-faced Ibis and a single Sharp-tailed Ibis; the only one of the tour, a little larger than its’ relative and with a characteristic tapering tail. Both kinds though had the typical ibis plumage, gleaming with green and purple iridescences as they moved. As we watched their activities, a grey hawk with a broadly barred black and white tail glided in to settle on a bare patch of earth and began to peer under bushes and into tussocks. A couple of times, we saw it reach into crevices with a taloned foot. This Crane Hawk was searching for lizards, frogs, large invertebrates, small mammals, bird nests; anything edible and grabbable. Crane Hawks are the South American equivalent of the African Gymnodene or Harrier Hawk. Both seem to have

undergone convergent evolution to arrive at a similar long-legged, “double- jointed” solution to the problem of reaching into holes for prey and will often cling acrobatically to trees or banks to do so. A deadly predator but only smaller birds seemed alarmed by it. Amongst the agitated passerines, yellow Cattle Tyrants, looking a little like Yellow Wagtails but related to flycatchers, as was the pair of Social Flycatchers, miniature versions of the Great Kiskadee. From the depths of the scrub emerged the bulky (for a wren) Bi-coloured Wren and a Buff-breasted Wren, both scolding in typical wren fashion. Another bird attracted to the commotion was a chunky Orinocan Saltator, a relative of the Cardinals. This one didn’t seem overly concerned and began to sing loudly and exuberantly from a high twig. A pair of Saffron Finches, very reminiscent of Canaries flew in and quickly flew off again as we prepared to leave this excellent and productive site. A river-boat “cruise”; a punt down a muddy water-course awaited us and more discoveries, in a very different habitat.

Orinocan Saltator Crane Hawk Saffron Finch

Social Flycatcher Sharp-tailed Ibis

Doug. Kelson

April’s Outdoor Meeting

Pulborough Brooks RSPB: 22nd.

 For this outing please meet in the reserve car park for a 10:00 start (TQ 060 165 – O.S Landranger Map 197). This is on the western side of the A283 as you head south from Pulborough towards Storrington and is well signed on being approached from both the north and south.

 For further details of the starting point, to offer or request a lift etc. please contact a Committee Member prior to the weekend of the outing.

The RAC Route Planner gives a distance of 46.38 miles between Basingstoke and the car park, the AA site 46.0; a travelling time of 69 and 85 minutes being quoted by these sites. As always, it’s best to leave ample time to reach the site for the start time, so please do bear this in mind when deciding on when to leave.

 A site of many habitats, managed primarily for birds, at the peak of incoming migration in the early spring – need I say more!

 Some of the paths that will be used do have a quite a slope on them, this sometimes exasperated by wetter conditions. However, there are always ways to get around this, so please don’t let it put you off what is sure to be a very worthwhile outing.

 The Outdoor Meeting will commence as soon as we get out of the cars, the feeders adjacent to the Visitor Centre and flanking woodland sure to start the meeting off with a good number of familiar and showy species; Nuthatch, Marsh Tit, Goldfinch and Song Thrush perhaps to be among them.

Time spent in the Visitor Centre will then allow the Group to plan their shopping, ‘lunch time’ catering arrangements, check on what’s about and to, dare I say it, even look for further birds, this from the panoramic window that faces westwards

out on the reserve. Past visits and viewing from here have seen Barn Owl hunting over the pasture, skeins of geese moving to and from the marsh and water meadows and herds of Fallow Deer grazing out in the open, at times the latter in very good numbers. Venturing out on to the reserve proper this view will again be seen, the vista opening out over the Arun Valley to the west and south and Pulborough to the north.

Water meadows, marsh, the Arun and its’ flanking scrub and woodland all being on show from this high vantage point. Wildfowl, waders and gull are sure to be on the wing as we enter the spring sunshine (!) and further territorial vocalising will also help fill the air.

Dropping downhill the hedgerows and small fields to the left will hold ‘little brown jobs’, these hopefully to include Nightingale as we near the denser vegetation by the wetter area in the woodland.

Nightingale These to be on territory by the time the Group visit

Other chorusing migrants could include Blackcap and Garden Warbler, Chiffchaff and Willow Warbler, Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethroat, so a real chance to get to grips with these songsters once again. The scrub may also hold both Sedge and Reed Warbler as they continue their northbound travels before settling in to more expected habitats. The more open aspect of the area being walked may also allow for incoming hirundines to be noted, all three of the commoner species quite possible and a further indication of how far forward the season now is.

The scrubby woodland and hedgerows to be found on heading north on the reserve provide homes, shelter and food for many species, Bullfinch often being very obvious, though elusive, here. The rough pasture attracts waders and the Lapwing etc. feeding here need to be carefully looked through, just in case a migrant Ruff or Whimbrel has dropped in amongst them for a refuel.

Moving down on the lower reaches of the reserve, the hides and blinds, three of the latter allowing viewing over the more open parts of the reserve, will be used to allow viewing out over the flooded meadows where greater numbers of wildfowl, gull and, hopefully, waders will be evident. Seated scanning here should add further birds for the day and, for some at least, new birds for 2012. Shelduck, Redshank, Snipe, Mute Swan and Mallard are to be expected but there may still be wintering wildfowl lingering and, not at all impossible, a spring visitor such as Garganey could be loitering among its’ commoner cousins. Even smaller, many of the waders may take a while to find, but will be worthwhile on doing so; a nicely ruffed Ruff would make for some discussion.

Pulborough Brooks Looking back north-west towards Pulborough

Moving off towards the western end of the reserve the hides, a total of four being available, here will again allow viewing out over a substantial area, the wetter bits here often attracting yet more waders with these including the birds favouring the quieter areas to feed and roost; Black-winged Stilt and Crane are two of the more notable species recorded here in recent springs. The open aspect will need regular scanning for these, as well as the raptors both resident and migratory to the area, Hobby being perhaps one of the most eagerly anticipated of these.

Hobby Another migrant to be looking out for

The warmer, hopefully, days of spring will have already made available odonata for these, as well as giving the local reptiles the opportunity to warm up; Adder occasionally to be found basking in the more open areas of vegetation and paths about this part of the reserve.

Adder Something to watch out for on a sunnier day!

Heading back, eventually, towards the Visitor Centre we shall again look out over the Arun Valley, just in case we’ve missed anything that has appeared in from the south. We will be back to the Centre in plenty of time for those who wish to make the most of the Tearoom, this serving hot lunches to 14:30 but remaining open to 16:30, for those taking a post-lunch wander about the reserve.

More updated information on the site, the wildlife present and places to visit on the journey home, such as the Coldwaltham, Fittleworth and Helsworth Commons, Petworth and Cowdray Parks, Selborne and Noar Hill will be available closer to the day of the trip, and during the outing itself. If you have any queries, no matter what, please ensure that these are addressed as soon as is possible.

Evening Walks Programme

Please find below the basic information relating to the Programme of local and local-led Evening Walks to cover both May and June.

For further information about any of the walks i.e. the sites, access arrangements, availability of lifts, wildlife likely to be seen etc. please do ensure that you contact the designated Leader in advance of the meeting. If you would like further updates

on any of the below, please make the Group Leader aware of this and further relevant mailings will be forwarded as appropriate.

We look forward to seeing you out on these.

CONTACT OS DAY DATE SITE LEADER DETAILS START POINT REFERENCE 1st Gailey Brook, Tue. May Kingsclere Lydia Knight 01256 - 334316 The public car park off Swan Street, Kingsclere SU 525 587 9th Wed. May The Millfield LNR James Andrews 07775 - 564257 The Basing House car park SU 661 530 15th Tue. May The Vyne Simon Yates 01256 - 781964 On Morgaston Road, in the north of Morgaston Wood SU 625 571 23rd Wed. May The Test Peter E. Hutchins 01256 - 770831 The car park at Lower Ashe Church SU 534 499 30th Silchester Wed. May farmland Gerry Gardner 01189 - 700859 The Roman town car park in Wall Lane SU 636 629 6th Wed. June Longparish Geoff Sharp 01256 - 470286 By the minor road, north of Larkwhistle Farm SU 445 448 13th Greenham The minor road north of the A339, north of Aldern Wed. June Common Doug. Kelson 01256 - 320795 Bridge SU 490 639 20th The Kennet & Wed. June Avon Canal Gerry Gardner 01189 - 700859 Aldermaston Wharf Visitor Centre SU 603 672 27th Bowdon Woods / Wed. June Lower Farm GP Peter E. Hutchins 01256 - 770831 The reserve car park, off the track off Bury's Bank Road SU 501 655

May’s Outdoor Meeting

Home Farm Wood: 20th.

 For this outing please meet at The Woodland Trust car park for a 10:00 start (SU 655 416 – O.S Landranger Map 185). This is c.½ mile south of Burkham Lodge, on Bentworth Road, this being on the western side of the A339, at Lasham Hill.

 For further details of the starting point, to offer or request a lift etc. please contact a Committee Member prior to the weekend of the outing.

The RAC Route Planner gives a distance of 7.93 miles between Basingstoke and Burkham Lodge, the AA site 8.3; a travelling time of 14 and 21 minutes being quoted by these sites. As always, it’s best to leave ample time to reach the site for the start time, so please do bear this in mind when deciding on when to leave.

 Though a site that we’ve visited previously as part of the Evening Walks Programme, this Outdoor Meeting will allow us a greater opportunity to explore this Woodland Trust property.

In the words of Woodland Trust:

“Home Farm is set in a rolling landscape mosaic of farmland, woodland and hedgerows. Visitors can witness a wood at different stages of development. Begin by wandering through areas of ancient and maturing woodland before emerging into more open spaces where young trees are beginning to establish. There is also an area of grassland creation.

The number and range of bird species visiting and nesting has increased in recent years. A number of owl and kestrel boxes were installed in 2000, and barn owls are regularly seen today.

A network of surrounding small woods and hedgerows virtually link Home Farm to oak woodland at Preston Oak Hills and Herriard Common, a planted conifer wood. These connect with other woods of substantial size in the area which provide important corridors for wildlife.

An extensive ride network, open spaces, a car park and information boards all add to the public enjoyment of this site.”

Late May will see all of the summer visitors in and many of these, as well as the resident species, already well in to their breeding endeavours. Territorial disputes will still be evident in the songs to be heard, whilst those that have successfully overcome the challenge of others will by now have both nests and young to show for their earlier undertakings. Among the possibly more vocal species to be listened, and of course looked, for will be Blackcap, Chaffinch, Robin and, very much the former, Wren. Nightingale have been noted here in the past but these, as so many other of our summer visitants, cannot nowadays be guaranteed; this also very much the case for Spotted Flycatcher.

Spotted Flycatcher Now too often one of the ‘regular’ summer visitors that needs a real effort to be taken to locate, particularly locally

Swallow, Swift and House Martin take advantage of the aerial plankton emerging from the woodland, grassland / meadows and the surrounding crops, though, again, it will only be on the day that we see if they are about as might be expected.

Red-legged Partridge and Pheasant make the most of the cover provided by the flanking crops but are sure to give themselves away by their characteristic vocalisations, perhaps not quite the best defence strategy, but helpful to us nonetheless. The shorter areas of farming may allow Skylark to linger and these may help boost the noise level on, particularly, brighter days. Woodpigeon and Stock Dove forage here while Collared Dove are more likely to be seen about the more residential areas, as they are seemingly everywhere now. Overhead Red Kite, Buzzard and Kestrel are almost guaranteed whereas Sparrowhawk and Hobby can be expected with a little luck, the differing food sources / prey of these raptors allowing for so many to be present about the site and nearby.

Also overhead, gulls, crow, finches and buntings will be on the move, some to and from local nesting areas, and others to more

productive feeding areas away from the more enclosed habitat of the woodland.

The woodland harbours many warblers, finches, tits, woodpeckers and crests, Firecrest even a possibility here! Though many of the birds may not be as easy to see as earlier in the year, leaves and the like, we shall also be looking for wildlife that is not quite so ‘shy’, orchids perhaps the highlight of the flowering world while we may also come across Bluebell and campions, stitchworts, mouse-ears and chickweeds that adorn the woodland edges. These in turn attract many insects, butterflies possibly the most obvious, and approved of, while searching should unearth a good variety of beetles, bugs, slugs and snails and the like – if you so wish!

The late Spring produces a rush of butterflies and their (our?) food plants

Of the woodland edge butterflies Speckled Wood, as above, will be familiar to all, though the less well-known hairstreaks could provide a splash of colour if we can find them as they patrol the canopies or linger on Hawthorn scrub. The more open meadow-type grassland will add the browns and blues, whites and the less ‘tidy’ areas the vanessids, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Red Admiral and, if there’s yet another influx from the south, Painted Lady.

 Some of the areas we will be walking may well be wet after less clement (spring!) weather and, as can be seen from the images above, much of the area to be covered is on ground / paths that are unmade. Also, there are no specific facilities on site, so do come prepared!

 The walk will last in to the early afternoon and it may well be advisable to bring a ‘picnic’ along to the meeting. If we are lucky enough to have seasonal, whatever that now may be, weather there are areas to lunch al fresco.

More updated information on the site, including the Management Plan* for the future, the wildlife present and places to visit on the journey home, such as the Hackwood Park, The Black Dam, The War Memorial and Eastrop Park and The Millfield LNR will be available closer to the day of the trip, and during the outing itself. If you have any queries, no matter what, please ensure that these are addressed as soon as is possible. *

home-farm-management-plan.pdf

March’s Outdoor Meeting

West Wittering: 25th.

The sun, sand and sea brought a good turn-out to West Wittering. I didn't count but there were close to around a couple of dozen members shuffling through the sand in search of birds. I suspect Geoff may submit further details but, in brief, here's my account.

Under yet another bright and flawless-blue sky we were soon joined by large numbers of non-birding members of the public intent on enjoying the conditions (a few had actually removed items of clothing and at least 3 people had donned swimming gear for a paddle in the shallows). I exposed my knees to public viewing for the first time, this year. I'm sure the public was grateful.

Oh, yes; the birds. It was evident that many had already begun to move towards northern breeding grounds (only about 4 Dunlin noted, for example, and only single Knot and Golden Plover). A distant row of Sanderlings twinkled up and down a far-side sand-bar while small flotillas of Great Crested Grebes and Red- breasted Mergansers hunted fish and crabs in the shallows not far from them.

Red-breasted Merganser No, it’s not the Loch Ness Monster!

One drake Common Eider was found on a distant shore, modest groups of Wigeon were seen and one each of Sandwich and Common Terns heralded the summer. Shelducks were plentiful, feeding (probably) on the countless, tiny Hydrobia snails which speckled the muddy sand and Brent Geese in a tight pack muttered amongst themselves after flighting in from the rest of their companions grazing the nearby fields.

Dark-bellied Brent

Redshanks, Curlews, a few Black-bellied Plovers and chase-about Ringed Plovers were picked out and a single Swallow flying shoreward low over the water was reported by one observer. The peevish peeping of Oyster Catchers was frequently heard as the birds displayed with beak-down runs. A couple of Little Egrets were found far off over the sand-banks but no Grey Herons at this site.

Apart from a single bird in flight, the only Turnstones noted were around 24 crewing a small yacht moored in a tidal creek.

Turnstone

At the seaward edge of the dunes we paused for a while to scan and I took the opportunity to count at least 19 dogs in view at the same time. There were many more in the fields and on the beach near the car parking areas. Paws for thought. We didn't see any Spiny Digger Wasps but were thankful that the sign warned us to look out for them; they look vicious!

!!!

We walked back through the dunes but couldn't add many more species. We did, however, have good views (and songs) of Skylarks, Meadow Pipits and Linnets.

Meadow Pipit & Linnet

A Kestrel hovered over the Marram Grass. Perhaps it was hunting the maker of the rodent footprints I found in an area of fine sand.

Two Sparrowhawks were seen soaring and a Common Buzzard wheeled over Oak woods. Back near the parking area, we heard a Chiffchaff singing in the Tamarisk bushes and Greenfinches performed song flights. Blackbird, Dunnock, Robin, Pied Wagtail and other common birds were seen around the scrub and goose-grazed pastures and a pack of gleaming Starlings hung around, waiting for the chance to share sandwiches or chips with the growing crowds of people lured to the coast by the weather.

After lunch, some of us decided to visit nearby Selsey Bill while others walked around the coast. I heard they found Wheatears so more detailed reports will be coming to light, I'm sure.

Lunch on Selsey Bill was briefly delayed when a party of 7 Sandwich Terns winged their way eastwards but there was little to disturb us as we ate; lunch over,

a steady dribble of birds paraded by us. Several more Sandwich Terns brought their total to 12, 4 Great Northern Divers several Red-breasted Mergansers and a trio of Great Crested Grebes bucked the eastward-wending trend and seemed to be hanging around for the feeding, a small flock of 7 Velvet Scoters flashed their white wing-patches, occasional Gannets moved along the horizon and pot-bellied Cormorants fished, flew or hung-out on the marker poles. As at West Wittering, no unusual gulls manifested for us but a Woodpigeon allowed very close approach.

Woodpigeon

Another division of forces saw a couple of us taking a look around Church Norton while others visited Ivy Lake, Chichester. The latter group managed to see a Little Gull as well as the flotillas of Coots and Tufted Ducks displaced by the speed-

boats. At Church Norton we added distant sightings of Black-tailed Godwits, Teal, Mallard, Mute Swan, Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Goldfinch and another singing Chiffchaff, amongst others. Waders were distant, on sandbanks and islands, waiting for the tide to fall but we managed to pick out some Dunlin, Black-bellied Plovers, Turnstones, Redshanks and a couple of Little Egrets.

Wildfowl & waders

At Sidlesham, the Ferry Pool offered refuge and re-fuelling for Shelducks (soon to be using burrows excavated by the abundant bunnies for their nests), Shovelers, Teal, Wigeon, Tufted Ducks and Lapwings. The latter became agitated when a pair of Buzzards passed low over the field and road, towards Pagham Harbour. On a bare patch of mud a single Avocet huddled its head over a shoulder, burying that distinctive "awl" under a wing. Only when I put my camera away, did it show its' head and beak but put it away again after only a few seconds. It may have been unwell; it is not usual to see a lone Avocet asleep in the middle of the afternoon in such a place, not far from the roadside. Avocets have nested there, but this one did not seem to be on a nest.

Broadmarsh / Budd's Farm brought about a re-joining of forces; sort of. Some scanned from the car park on one side of the stream out-flow, while 2 of us looked towards the sun from the vicinity of the slipway. The Car Park gang claimed sightings of Iceland Gull and Yellow-legged Gull but the Slipway Two didn't find either of these (though a Mediterranean Gull was seen, by them, from the car, while they were driving away). The shore, here was busy with Brent geese, Redshanks, a Couple of Black-tailed Godwits showing breeding plumage, Turnstones and a motley collection of juvenile gulls. Many adults are, I assume, at or on their way to breeding grounds at this time.

Dark-bellied Brent

How many species can you see above?

The pools of the sewage treatment site were busy with the likes of Tufted Duck, Teal, Shoveler, Moorhen, Coot and Dabchicks. Another Chiffchaff sang in the bushes here.

Shoveler

Addendum: several large bumblebees were watched as they appeared to be coming in from over the sea. There were also frequent 7 Spot Ladybirds flying in, especially at West Wittering, but we are more used to the idea of migrating ladybirds. Also seen: Orange Tip, Small Tortoiseshell, Peacock, Brimstone butterflies.

Doug. Kelson

Local Wildlife News

As always the following ‘highlights’ reports received over the last month. If you’ve anything further to add, please feel free to let us know at any time. Also, as they say, this is “Just the tip of the iceberg” – there’s a great deal more out there to be found, especially as we head in to the spring!

Barn Owl – birds continued to be seen, usually very early in the day, about the ‘wilder’ parts of the Borough. Blackcap – migrants appeared, as expected, from mid-March, singing males becoming ever more obvious. Chiffchaff – as for Blackcap, these moved through locally from mid-March but were even more obvious – perhaps just due to the ease with which they are identified. Grasshopper Warbler – at least one was noted locally, this being, as might be expected, at The Millfield LNR. Green-winged Orchid – the first of the local orchids to bloom, these were to be found in good numbers at Headley Gravel Pit with smaller numbers on Greenham Common.

Hairy-footed Flower Bee – these were being seen in several gardens, the already flowering Lungwort being noted as favoured by these. Kingfisher – the birds about The Test continued to show well, and to once again get down to what can be hoped is a further successful nesting.

“Guinevere with elver” Alan Willis

Little Egret – reports continued to drop, both in frequency and quantity, though an occasional bird did still grace the less flooded of local stream and brooks.

Pintail – a duck appeared on the watermeadows at The Vyne, taking over from the Eastrop Park bird as the ‘rare’ in the Borough, the latter last reported on 17th March. Red Kite – as always, many were reported, both over the town and about the more rural areas of the Borough. Ring Ouzel – several were seen at the Hampshire Hot Spot for these, Beacon Hill.

Ring Ouzel Barry Stalker http://www.surfbirds.com/community-blogs/Basingstokebirding/

Solomon’s Seal – one of the many woodland plants gradually coming to fruition, Wood Anemone, Wood Sorrel, Bluebell, Primrose, Yellow Archangel and Greater Stitchwort to name but a few others. Swallow – the first, unless you can say differently, was seen moving through Overton on 10th. Tawny Mining Bee – small ‘volcanoes’ appearing in flower beds / borders were evidence of nest-making by this striking bee.

Tawny Mining Bee

Wheatear – these continued to be seen in small numbers as they moved north over local farmland and downs.

As always, thank you to all those that have contributed to this report; if I have missed anything, please do let me know and be sure to keep me updated as we head towards the end of the autumn. If you find anything you consider particularly notable, or you would like an update on what is happening locally, please do feel free to contact me at any time. I can assure you that you will always get a favourable response! 07895 – 388378 is the hot line, well my mobile number anyway! 

Quiz ‘Page’

For this month, just a trio of nice and easy birds for you to identify, all taken very recently and very locally!

And now for something a little harder!

From March: the poet, poem... and bird!

1. She jabs her wedge head in a cup / of sour cream, drops her [ ] tail, / and will not scare. Robert Lowell, Skunk-Hour (the missing word is 'ostrich') 2. His beak is focussed; he is preoccupied // looking for something, something, something. Elizabeth Bishop, The Sandpiper 3. Did she put on his knowledge with his power / Before the indifferent beak could let her drop? W B Yeats, Leda and the Swan 4. Turning and turning in the widening gyre / The [ ] cannot hear the [ ]er. W B Yeats, The Second Coming (the missing word is 'falcon') 5. Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tower / the moping [ ] does to the moon complain. Thomas Gray, Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard (the missing word is 'owl') 6. And for that minute a [ ] sang / Close by, and round him, mistier, / Farther and farther, all the birds / Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Edward Thomas, Adlestrop (the missing word is 'blackbird') 7. ‘Why look’st thou so?’ - ‘With my cross-bow / I shot the [ ]’. Edward Lear, The Owl and the Pussycat 8. With a cargo of ivory / and apes and [ ]. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (the missing word is 'albatross') 9. Of daylight’s dauphin, dapple-down-drawn [ ], in his riding. John Masefield, Cargoes (the missing word is 'peacocks')

10. While the [ ] sings on the orchard bough / in England – now! Gerard Manley Hopkins, The Windhover (the missing word is 'falcon') 11. ...let us be married! too long we have tarried: But what shall we do for a ring? Robert Browning, Home-Thoughts from Abroad (the missing word is 'chaffinch') 12. Where the ring-[ ] broods, / and the badgers roll at ease. Rudyard Kipling, The Way through the Woods (the missing word is 'dove') 13. From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep / of [ ] in a silver-feathered sleep. Walter de la Mare, Silver (the missing word is 'doves') 14. Then the bird said ‘Nevermore’. Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven 15. My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains. John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale 16. He liked to hear / the first [ ] of the spring / then write to the Times. / I’d usually heard it / days before him / but I never let on. Carol Ann Duffy, Mrs Teresias (the missing word is 'cuckoo') 17. Phlebas the Phoenician, a fortnight dead, / Forgot the cry of [ ], and the deep sea swell / And the profit and loss. T S Eliot, The Waste Land (the missing word is 'gulls') 18. I saw how the night came, / Came striding like the color of the heavy hemlocks / I felt afraid. / And I remembered the cry of the [ ]. Wallace Stevens, Domination of Black (the missing word is 'peacocks') 19. He is just another poor forked thing / A skin bag plumped with inky putty. Seamus Heaney, Turkeys Observed 20. I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed. Ted Hughes, Hawk Roosting 21. O [ ]! shall I call thee Bird, / Or but a wandering Voice? William Wordsworth, To The Cuckoo 22. It was my thirtieth year to heaven / Woke to my hearing from harbour and neighbour wood / And the mussel pooled and the [ ] / Priested shore. Dylan Thomas, Poem in October (the missing word is 'heron') 23. Higher still and higher / From the earth though springest, / like a cloud of fire. Percy Bysshe Shelley, To a Skylark 24. The nineteenth autumn has come upon me / Since I first made my count;. W B Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole 25. [ ] and shoal life / vexing their blarnies upon our huddled / camouflage past the vast crumble of scummed / cliffs. Daljit Nagra, Look We Have Coming to Dover! (the missing word is 'seagulls') 26. Gilled like a fish. A common-sense / thumbs down on the [ ]’s mode. Sylvia Plath, You're (the missing word is 'dodo') 27. A man and a woman / Are one. / A man and a woman and a [ ] / Are one. Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird 28. And nightly under the simple stars / As I rode to sleep the [ ] were bearing the farm away. Dylan Thomas, Fern Hill (the missing word is 'owls') 29. He clasps the crag with crooked hands. Alfred Lord Tennyson, The Eagle 30. I saw the veiled face of Maria Concepcion / marrying the ocean, then drifting away / in the widening lace of her bridal train / with white [ ] her bridesmaids. Derek Walcott, The Schooner Flight (the missing word is 'gulls')

And from one of our more regulat contributors:

For some reason, this made me smile. I wonder if anyone's informed the Nightingales.

RSPB Pulborough Brooks Nightingale Festival - Saturday cancelled

Date 28 Apr 2012

Map Reference

Contact Info Anna Allum Contact Email: [email protected]

Sighting Description Due to the rather unpleasant weather forecast (including gusty winds) we have sadly had to take the decision to cancel tonight's nightingale event. We've also had no water all day (a burst water main somewhere in the vicinity) so we have no facilities at the centre. Hoping that the weather will perk up and we will be going ahead with the festival as planned tomorrow night (Sunday). Sorry. And thank you to Andrew for his lovely comments - I'm glad you enjoyed your evening here.