No 487 Winter 2017 Photograph - Reed Warbler - Peter Lichfield This front page is sponsored by The Birder’s Store, Worcester WMBC News Is published in March, June, September and December each year to link members with each other, what’s been happening, current issues and forthcoming events on the birding scene in our area and further afield together with a selection of your articles and a comprehensive summary of the recorded bird sightings in our area Along with this issue of your Newsletter you will find the slip to renew your membership for 2018. Michael gives full details regarding renewal on the page opposite. My aim in raising it here is to alert so that the slip doesn’t get discarded with the envelope. Back in 1992, our Stafford Branch, under the leadership of their then Chairman Frank Gribble, carried out the first Cannock Chase Bird Survey. The aim of that first survey was to identify those bird species present and quantify their populations in each sector surveyed. The intention was then to repeat this survey every five years and compare the findings with previous surveys to identify any changes and trends. This laudable ambition has been maintained and 2017 saw the 6th survey in the series carried out under the leadership of Stafford Branch Member and WMBC Deputy Chairman, Roger Broadbent. After months of planning the field work began in February and finished in late July. Since then Roger has worked, seemingly endlessly, to analyse the current findings, compare them with past surveys and produce the 2017 report, a mammoth task! Roger would want me to make clear that this would have been impossible without all those who volunteered to help and take part in whatever capacity but it is his tireless efforts that have ensured that everyone involved can take a real pride in the final outcome. A copy of the 2017 Cannock Chase Bird Survey is enclosed in this mailing and I am sure everyone will agree that it is a wonderful piece of work. I wonder if the original survey team really believed that the current Branch Committee and their volunteers would still be carrying out this vital research 25 years later. You’ve all ‘done Frank proud’. Sue In this issue Page 3 Membership Matters - Michael Bevan Page 4-5 Pioneering work at Ladywalk - Richard J King Page 6 Little v Large - work at our Harborne Reserve Page 6 Gailey Hide update Page 7 Blithfield Reserve - Grant for removal of Rhododendrons - Jerry Ray Page 7 British Longevity Record for Blithfield Goldcrest Page 8-9 Thermal Imaging and Birding - The Story so far - Colin McShane Page 10 Our Quiz - Spot the Bird - Peter Lewis (continued on pages 15,18 and 20) Page 11 Trichomonas gallinae - David Dodd Pages 12-13 HS2 - What can we do? - A Member’s View Pages 14-15 West Country Wanderings - Dave Lummis Pages 16-17 Tag - n - Track - Gary the Gull Page 18 Barn owl Breeding Success - Roger Clay Page 19-21 Club and Branch Indoor Meetings and Field Trips Page 21 New Feature - My favourite Piece of Birding Kit ever - Sue Judge Pages 22-25 Bird Notes August to October - Humphrey Miller Page 25 New Feature - Champagne Moments - Hummphrey Miller Page 25 Our Belvide Reserve - Paths Update - Sue Judge Page 26 Judith Gerrard - Thank you - Ray Davies Pages 26-28 WMBC Field Trip Reports - Ray Davies Page 29 Editor’s Quiz - Spot the Difference - Sue Judge Page 30 Officers of WMBC and their contact details 2 Membership Matters We are pleased to welcome the following new members of the club who have joined since the last Newsletter. Please note the names shown are as on the membership form but that all family members at each address are included in this welcome. Ms A Almond of COVENTRY, Mr K Aston of STOKE ON TRENT, Mr P Barron of WARWICK, Ms L Boon of STAFFORD, Mr R Bourne of STONE, Mr C Clements of BIRMINGHAM, Mr T Collins of BIRMINGHAM, Mr P Cox of BURTON ON TRENT, Mr R Elliott of CANNOCK, Ms S Fox of WALSALL, Mrs S Gerard of COVENTRY, Mr A Jepson of UTTOXETER, Mr P Jones of NEWCASTLE UNDER LYME, Ms T O’Hara of STAFFORD, Ms L Onions of WOLVERHAMPTON, Mr W Peplow of CANNOCK, Mr D Richards of WOLVERHAMPTON, Mr P Rowley of RUGELEY, Mr B Swallow of KENILWORTH, Mr M Temple of BIRMINGHAM, Mr K Wardlaw of WOLVERHAMPTON, Mr A Williams of TELFORD and Mr A Woodhouse of RUGELEY and Mr P Warwick of LOUGHBOROUGH. 2018 Membership Subscription Renewals Enclosed with this newsletter is your membership renewal form for 2018. If currently you pay by standing order and HAVE NOT CHANGED any contact details you do not need to return the form. However, if this is the case and you are NOT returning the form could you please e-mail me (e-mail address below) and if you haven’t already done so, your date of birth. Please include your membership number, surname and postcode. If you pay by cheque or wish to change from cheque to standing order please complete and return the form ASAP to the address below. You will note that there are two new items to complete. Membership Number and Date of Birth. All members who have recently changed any of their details please complete and return the form. PLEASE MARK CLEARLY WHAT HAS CHANGED, otherwise the changes may be missed. Renewals, including standing orders, are due on January 1st, the February 28th expiry date is to allow time for me to process the renewals and for all renewing members to receive their new membership cards, before the reserve entry code is changed on March 1st. All being well 2018 cards will be distributed to those whose cheque has been received or whose bank has processed their standing order payment (as shown on WMBC bank statement) from mid- January onwards. However, problems do sometimes occur so please wait until mid-February before contacting me if you haven’t received your new card. Note we can only deal with new standing orders. You must contact your bank to change or cancel a standing order. If you do not wish to renew your membership and currently pay by this method then you will need to cancel the standing order. Michael Bevan WMBC Membership Secretary 64 Brookfields Road, Ipstones, Stoke on Trent, ST10 2LY [email protected] 3 PIONEERING WORK AT LADYWALK Richard J King There is an old notice in one of the hides at Ladywalk which states “Stop the Alien Invasion. Please help eradicate the Himalayan Balsam which has invaded parts of the reserve”. But rather like the line “Don’t Look Ethel, It’s Too Late” from the Ray Stevens song, The Streak, it is too late at Ladywalk to halt the Himalayan Balsam. The reserve is in danger of becoming the West Midlands capital of Himalayan Balsam as there are large areas of the plant, in effect a monoculture, with plants that can grow to over three metres crowding out all other plants. They are shallow rooted and when they die in winter they expose large areas of barren land that are easily eroded. Attempts by various working parties to pull and the kill the plants over recent years have only been partly successful. We have worked hard at pulling the plants by hand and have been able to control large flat areas inhabited by the plants with the flail mower but there are other areas too inaccessible and damp for us to become involved. But in 2017 Ladywalk and another nearby site have become sites of pioneering work initiated by Tame Valley Wetlands Landscape Partnership (TVWLP), led by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, working closely with the Centre for Agricultural and Bioscience International (CABI). As you may have seen on Gardeners’ World in September this entails the release of rust spores, which act as a biological control agent, on to the Himalayan Balsam plants. First results of these releases are promising! There has been close contact with scientists from CABI who have instructed us where and how to apply the rust spores which should be done in the evening on three occasions during the growing season. Where to treat plants is a key issue. There needs to be a high density of plants, so Ladywalk wins there, near water and where humidity can be high. But the spores must be released in an area which will not be submerged by floodwater for long periods. The rust spores, which are very expensive with storage arrangements having to be managed very carefully, are mixed with water and a surfactant. The plants’ lower leaves are then sprayed with a hand sprayer. The inoculated plants are observed for four weeks for the development of rust on the lower leaves. As the plants die at the end of the year the rust enters the leaf litter in winter and reappears in the new plants the following spring, manifested as infections in the new stems. This leads to plants 4 having a stunted growth with less height. The rust can also be spread through the air so it is hoped that it will spread further afield and infect plants over greater distances. CABI remain very involved in monitoring progress and supplying the rust spores. They have overseen this experimental work in 33 selected sites across the UK and prior to the site work had to acquire a license from Natural England and European Botanical Agencies. The necessary permissions for our pioneering work were also successfully secured from Eon, owners of the Ladywalk land, and the WMBC executive.