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
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BBAASSIINNGGSSTTOOKKEE LLOOCCAALL GGRROOUUPP FEBRUARY 2012 NEWSLETTER http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/basingstoke Contents: From The Group Leader Notices The Local Big Garden Birdwatch What’s Happening? Henri Pittier National Park: The Road To Ocumare February’s Outdoor Meeting March’s Outdoor Meeting January’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 February. As the winter continues, the weather certainly having been wintry lately, some of you have raised, once again, the issue of birds being, or not being, about your gardens. What have you noticed happening over these last few months? Are ‘your’ birds still with you, have they all disappeared to pastures, or at least bird feeders, new and have any being acting in a manner that you wouldn’t expect? Several reports behavioural peculiarities have been received including birds harassing windows, as well as each other. Has your bossy Blackcap returned for a winter of defending the easy pickings you so readily provide, or have Mistle Thrush taken over the local Mountain Ash again? Birds with aberrant plumage have also been headlining recently, have you seen the BTO website relating to this? If not, it’s worth a look, if only to see just how many ‘dodgy’ birds there are out there! We can but hope that the wintry climate soon changes and that warmer winds from the south bring both pleasanter conditions and many migrants – by the time of the Indoor Meeting it will be but a fortnight, if that, before the first Wheatear and Sand Martin appear again on our shores; definitely something to look forward to! The Groups’ Outdoor Meeting at West Wittering / East Head towards the end of March should provide the first migrants for the Group, though I’m sure that many of you will have these on your ‘year list’ prior to this; please do let us know when you receive your first summer visitors, especially if they seem particularly early for you area. Also, don’t forget to make a note of these and add them to BirdTrack. If you’ve not heard of this, try the website, http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/birdtrack, and go on from there. As well as keeping track of your returning favourites, why not take a closer look at some of those birds that will be lingering to breed locally in the coming months? How will your House Martin and Swift do this year? Will they continue in their decline, or, for whatever reason, will there be some recovery this year; again, do let us know how things look as the spring develops in to the summer. Remember, your input in everything both the Local Group and Society does is critical to the continued success of both, and therefore the wildlife and habitats that we at least so appreciate. Peter E. Hutchins Notices Newsletter Mailings Thank you to those that have now forwarded their mailing addresses for Newsletter distribution etc., and apologies for continuing to highlight this, but I’ll keep on pushing! Ever 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 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 bird boxes 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 The Local Big Garden Birdwatch The results, from five gardens, so far received are as follows: Garden Species Basing Chineham Harroway Kempshott Winklebury Total Rise Blackbird 1 2 2 3 2 10 Blackcap 0 0 1 0 0 1 Blue Tit 2 4 2 1 6 15 Chaffinch 1 2 4 3 7 17 Coal Tit 0 0 1 0 2 3 Collared 1 1 3 2 2 9 Dove Dunnock 0 1 0 0 1 2 ‘Feral’ 0 0 3 0 0 3 Pigeon Goldfinch 1 0 1 2 2 6 Great Tit 1 3 1 0 2 7 Greenfinch 0 0 2 0 9 11 House 3 0 12 17 0 32 Sparrow Jackdaw 0 0 2 0 0 2 Long-tailed 0 1 0 0 0 1 Tit Magpie 0 1 0 1 2 4 Nuthatch 0 1 0 0 0 1 Robin 1 1 1 1 1 5 Starling 0 0 5 0 0 5 Woodpigeon 1 4 3 5 1 14 Wren 0 0 1 0 1 2 Total 12 21 44 35 38 150 Red highlighted figures i.e. 5 are the peak counts noted in any of the five gardens. The top five: House Sparrow (32), Chaffinch (17), Blue Tit (15), Woodpigeon (14) and Greenfinch (11). It’s good to see the sparrow at the top, particularly as it’s eclipsed the more expected visitants. Factors affecting the counts included the late afternoon counting of one garden and the recent removal of the main feeders due to a Brown Rat ‘problem’ at another! From the above we can certainly see where we need to go to see House Sparrow, but look at the very low numbers otherwise recorded. Is this a trend that you’re seeing about your garden / locally? I know Dunnock are skulking, but where were they all, and what of the Wren, another skulker, but surely more frequently noted than this? Starling being noted in just one garden! Is this because of a lack of suitable feeding arrangements, or something more insidious? What do you think? Let us know! The results from further afield / nationally will be available in the near future and it will be interesting to see how the above gardens compare with these. These results will be published in a future Newsletter. Thank you to Doug., Jean, Margaret, Richard and Tim. for forwarding results. 5 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/ Water Voles A talk by Chris. Matcham: 13th March. Taking place in the United Reformed Church, London Street, Basingstoke and commencing at 20:00. For further information on the above and the Society please contact: Patricia & Colin Stubbs: 01256 – 323324, Diane Rampton: 01256 – 467533 or Nicola Williams: 01256 – 353194. Hampshire Organic Gardening Group http://hampshire-organic-gardening.org/ Clematis Monday, 19th March 2012 Commencing at 19:45 Testbourne Community Centre, Micheldever Road, Whitchurch Marcus from Marcus Dancer Plants will be talking about clematis, how to grow them successfully, including pruning Hampshire Wildlife Trust http://www.hwt.org.uk/ Early Spring Walk 6 A 3 mile walk, led by Mike Sharman, between Kingsclere and Tadley over wet and dry fields through old and new woods for signs of early spring. Meet on the minor lane at Wheat Hold (Map ref SU 557 608). For further details please contact Mike Sharman on 01189 816104. Suggested donation £2. Boots or wellies will be needed. Event details: Date 22 March 2012 Time 2–4.30pm Event type General Events, Walk Nature Reserve Wheat Hold (Map ref SU 557 608). Suggested Donation £2 Booking Essential? No Contact details: Name Mike Sharman Telephone 01189 816104 Walk the River Anton Way Join Wildlife Trust staff for a 3½ mile guided walk along the River Anton Way. Find out about the restoration works that have been carried out through the River Anton Enhancement Strategy and the wildlife that has benefitted. Meet at Rooksbury Mill Local Nature Reserve car park, off of Barlows Lane (Map ref. SU 7 357 443). For further details please contact Sarah Lynes on 01256 381103. Booking essential. Sorry no dogs. Suggested donation £2 per person.