Rspb Adverts Hit Our Small Screens Chelmsford
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id48922328 pdfMachine by Broadgun Software - a great PDF writer! - a great PDF creator! - http://www.pdfmachine.com http://www.broadgun.com CHELMSFORD & CENTRAL ESSEX GROUP NEWS Summer 2013 The RSPB is a registered charity in England & Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654 RSPB ADVERTS HIT OUR SMALL SCREENS ’t use the breaks as an Those of you who watch the commercial television channels and don ’s advertisements during opportunity to go and make a cup of tea might have seen the RSPB July. The ads were beamed into homes throughout the UK and were expected to reach 85% of the UK population. – The message of the campaign is very simple nature is in trouble, but we can all help by “giving nature ”. As individuals we can start at a basic level by planting bug a home -friendly plants in our gardens and window boxes, and thinking about how we can help wildlife in our immediate environment. We have all already made a contribution by joining the RSPB, and I know many of us support other wildlife and environmental organisations which work in partnership with the RSPB. This partnership working is very important as no single element of nature can exist successfully independently of the others. So although birds will always be at the heart of the RSPB, it recognises that for birds to survive and thrive, it is necessary for them to have food and suitable habitat, and the best way to ensure this is to work with others to achieve common aims. FOODCHAIN WRITTLE COLLEGE, HERE WE COME In the last issue of the newsletter Sue McClellan, our Meetings/Talks Secretary, wrote about her search for a new venue for the local group talks, as using the Cramphorn Theatre had become unaffordable. We can now confirm that as from January 2014 the talks will be held in the Northumberland Theatre at Writtle College. This is a lovely lecture theatre with facilities as good as, if not better than, the Cramphorn. An added bonus is free parking. And the icing on the cake is that because the venue is more reasonably priced, we can bring down the entry fee to the £2.50. We will no longer be offering a discount for members who pay to receive a talks to printed copy of the newsletter. 1 Postal members subscription The subscription of £5 for postal members is due in September. As from January 2014 postal members will no longer receive a discount on the entry price for our talks, as there will be a new, lower, entry fee for everyone. See the article above for more information. Please send your cheque (having first checked that you do not pay by standing order!) to: Margot Grice Dragons, Boyton Cross Roxwell, Chelmsford Essex CM1 4LS FUND RAISING ACTIVITIES We have to tell you that sadly there will be no more fayres held after December this year as we do not have a volunteer to run them. If you would like to get involved in fundraising and ’s have any new ideas we would be very pleased to hear from you. The committee contact details are on page 7. Do please get in touch if you can help. GROUP LEADER We are still seeking a Leader for the Group, so if you think this is a role you would be interested in taking on, do please get in touch. Meanwhile we are grateful to Viv Connett, who has been appointed as our “point of contact”. This has enabled us to keep going as a local RSPB group. You can contact Viv if you would like to talk about becoming Group Leader. Contact details for the committee members are towards the end of the newsletter, before the events diary. OUR LOCAL GROUP WALKS The only walk since the last newsletter was the April Mystery Walk. We decided to go to Fingringhoe Wick on a search for common migrants, especially the nightingale, for which this is one of the best spots in the county. However the weather was chilly and overcast, so although one or two were singing quietly, none were visible. We spent some time in the hide watching a nice assortment of waders, then on our way back to the Visitor Centre we heard a willow warbler; stopping to look for this we saw a common whitethroat and then heard a nightingale singing very close by. Fortunately it was – sitting out in the open so we all obtained good scope views too far away for a photo though! 32 birds were seen and one heard. Viv Connett FROM THE KRUGER TO THE KAROO For anyone wishing to experience for themselves the South African birds and wildlife shown by John Buckingham at his inspiring talk on 13 December 2012, we would wholeheartedly ’s recommendation of a local tour guide – ’s Cape Tours and Travel – endorse John Crane see www.naturalhistorytours.co.za. Geoff Crane will arrange group tours, self drive and in our case, a fully accompanied tour just for us. We greatly enjoyed our 7 day/6 night tour, designed specifically for us, along the ’s wealth of knowledge and careful Garden Route from Cape Town to East London. Geoff driving meant a relaxed and informative holiday, and included places off the well-beaten tourist trail, such as the spectacular Swartberg Pass and the Spitskop Peak. His superb 2 knowledge of where to look and what to see meant we saw and identified 148 birds and many mammals. David & Winifred Simmonds TURTLE DOVES WIN HEARTS IN ESSEX Having requested the RSPB Chelmsford & Central Essex Group members to text vote for the Essex ‘Heart of Essex 2013’ Birdwatching Society in the awards via the last newsletter, I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Group for their support and inform you of the outcome. All our splendid efforts achieved the desired result and the EBwS was voted one of the top two in the Environmental category to go forward to the final stage. Subsequently we are extremely pleased to advise that the EBwS went on to win this category and received a £1,500 award, which was presented by Simon Burns MP at a ceremony held at Hylands House in Chelmsford on 4th July. The Society would like to thank you all for your support to help with the on-going conservation of turtle doves in Essex, which dovetails with ‘Operation Turtle Dove – ’. saving a bird on the brink I am very excited at what we have started and can now achieve. Thank you. Gerry Johnson, EBwS Chairman GOOD MORNING MR CADDOW ! OK then, good morning Mr Jackdaw. Caddow is the old East Anglian name for this characterful bird. It was this winter that we saw our first jackdaw in our garden after living here for 26 years or so, and we were immediately transfixed by him and eventually by his mate, who joined him later. ’s attention. They mean It was their cold, ice-blue eyes that immediately held one business, ’nor, I’m in charge and I know exactly as does the whole demeanour of this bird. I am the guv ’m up to. But they do have a warm and mischievous side to them. They can play what I games with berries, steal food from more hesitant rooks and pinch any glistening jewellery that you may leave about the house, if they have a chance, to decorate their nests with. 3 When they fly, they tumble about the sky out of sheer joy of living, most usually when flying in the company of a large flock of rooks and other jackdaws. Some of these flocks can be quite large. 1,000 were seen in a flock in the Lee Valley on 12 January 2010, a further 1,000 at The Hythe on 22 March 2010, and we have seen flocks of 600 or so over Chantry Wood here at Wickham Bishops. – I do not know where our two were nesting. It could be in a hollow tree, an old building or a – speciality in a chimney. A nest is started in the chosen chimney by dropping twigs down it until one or two get wedged, when they can then start to add more until they are satisfied. There are tales of vast nests being created. One in the Bell Tower of Eton College was 10ft high and built in 17 days. Another in Oxenton Church, Gloucestershire was 8ft tall and about as wide. They have been seen carrying sticks 7ft long as building material. When the nest is formed, they line it with assorted feathers and fur, even plucking the hair directly from the backs of deer, sheep or cows. ’s share (80%) They form long, faithful partnerships, with the male taking the lion of the work in looking after the young for the first 10 days or so. They only have one brood of four to six young, with the hen bird brooding from the day the first egg is laid so the young vary in age. “active sharing” where they sh Fledglings engage in are food amongst their peers to create social bonding. ’s in a name? Well, sure enough the “jackdaw” replicates its two main calls. The “jack” What is its main contact call and is very commonly heard and beautifully described in a book I once ….“ – read thus and when the birds are flying in unison the calls spirited, rather light in timbre, – ”. The “daw” is a loud, crisp and clear-cut ricochet beautifully from one bird to another resonant alarm note like a more grating caw of a rook.