Last call for membership renewal. Subscriptions are now overdue. You can find a form on the back page . Two pictures by Alan Baldry—both taken in Christchurch Park. A male goosander and our much loved local tawny owl ‘Mabel,’ together with a grey squirrel that wanted to get in on the shot! The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England and Wales—No. 207076, Scotland No. SC037654 WILD IPSWICH -SWIFTS & HOUSE SPARROW PROJECT 2016 from Chris Courtney t’s all just so exciting; the time has that the numbers of sparrows they have I finally arrived, the spring has sprung, seen in their garden, park or allotments the sparrows are chirping and soon the have dramatically reduced from what they swifts will be here too! Screaming away remember five, 10 or 15 years ago. Then as only swifts can! they may recall having noticed just two or three birds, when suddenly one day they And RSPB Ipswich Local Group’s brand realise they haven’t seen as single new Wild Ipswich Swift’s ‘n’ Sparrows sparrow for months! conservation project is now LIVE ! Absence of nest sites due to better So don’t hesitate, grab your House maintained roofs, plastic soffits and Sparrow Questionnaire (copy included bargeboards, loss or degradation of with this magazine), get out there and tell habitats due to over tidy gardens, the loss us what you see and hear! of hedges, shrubs and front gardens paved over for car parking, have all Everyone of our members should at the played their role. very least be able to record the presence or absence of house sparrows where Despite being a predominantly they live, and it is worth stressing that granivorous bird, house sparrow chicks negative records are just as important as in particular, require nutritious positive ones! Full instructions are invertebrates, insects and juicy included on the form and further paper caterpillars, packed with protein and copies are available from any committee moisture to enable them to grow and member, or can be downloaded and/or develop into strong and healthy adults. completed on-line. See our website for full details. Consequently the removal of that large hedge or ivy-clad tree can be absolutely Ten years ago, back in 2006, Ipswich critical to a colony’s survival when living Local Group surveyed house sparrows in a fragmented urban landscape, this across the town. This revealed we had especially for a species that frequently already lost sparrows from several parts forages no further than 70metres from the of Ipswich. Being a particularly sedentary nest. species, this tends to mean that once a population has become locally extinct, it’s Figures published in December 2015 gone from that locality forever. estimate house sparrows have declined by a staggering 66 per cent since the As a highly sociable and colonial species, 1970s while meanwhile swifts, for whom studies have shown that once colonies such long-term data sets are not fall below an optimal minimum size, available, are thought to be declining in sustaining a viable population from the UK by around three per cent a year. threats such as disease, predation and On the face of it, perhaps three percent natural mortality become increasingly doesn’t sound that high, but if sustained unlikely. Anecdotally, residents have at that level it equates to swifts reported from various parts of the town (Continued on page 3) 2 ORWELL OBSERVER April 2016 (Continued from page 2) House sparrow. Picture—Liz Cutting becoming extinct as a UK breeding species by 2050! Further research on swifts is still ongoing, but once again lack of suitable nest sites, as with house sparrows, is thought to be a principal cause of their diminishing populations. Against a wider backdrop of frequently sombre news with regards to the state of UK wildlife as described in a recent comprehensive survey of trends in British biodiversity in the online journal, Nature Communications, by the University of Reading & Centre for Ecology and Hydrology,1 which established that British wildlife was in the most perilous state House sparrow. Picture—Liz Cutting recorded over past 40 years, it is heartening to be able to get out there to do something practical that will make a real material difference for some of the wildlife, literally on our very own doorsteps. In addition to the citizen science questionnaire enclosed with this magazine (and on our website for those who receive the magazine electronically) we would also like to encourage those prepared to commit some additional time, to undertaking a more detailed, though still straightforward, census of house sparrow populations across pre- selected, 350m2 survey plots that are being allocated to individuals across the length and breadth of Ipswich. Finally, it will also help raise public awareness as to the plight of our familiar Both surveys are really valuable. The sparrows as well as, through follow up citizen science questionnaire has some nest box initiatives and subsequent special advantages, as it will enable us to habitat work with our partners Ipswich gather information from otherwise Wildlife Group and Greenways, to help inaccessible private areas, such as engender a sense of ownership and gardens and allotments and will also responsibility for our urban wildlife and allow us to obtain some useful anecdotal the habitat features they depend on. information about past sparrow numbers. The more detailed survey is based on a (Continued on page 4) 3 ORWELL OBSERVER April 2016 (Continued from page 3) methodology developed by the Working Group on Urban Sparrows; a group of ornithologists with a special interest in and knowledge of house sparrows. This survey will provide results with effort evenly spread across Ipswich giving us average figures for house sparrow populations and distribution across each 1km square of the town. Volunteers on this survey will need to make two or three visits between the start Swift. Picture—Tony Fox of April through to the end of May for each designated 350m2 survey square. Each visit will take around two hours to Ipswich in future years, so that we can complete. Please see the website for hopefully reverse their decline in our further details or contact me if you would town. like to know more! Meanwhile, if you would like to put up a Finally, from May through to late July, we house sparrow or swift nest box on would like to ask all those who have your house, please get in touch either by participated in the sparrow surveys to the Contact Us page on our website, or also record their sightings of swift by email or phone with any member of ‘screaming parties’ and/or confirmed the committee for more details. observations of swift nest sites. This can be done directly onto the Suffolk Finally, looking forward to the summer Biological Records Centre (SBRC) – ahead, a reminder (as we go to press) Suffolk Swifts Web pages: that places are still available for our joint http://www.suffolkbrc.org.uk/swift field meeting with SOG to RSPB Havergate, led by professional tour Once again please don’t hesitate to get in leader and past indoor meeting speaker touch if you would like help with this in David Walsh. Departs Orford Quay, any way. SundayWould 7 August you at like 10.00 to a.m.see costyour £17.50 name here? These swift surveys are simple and straightforward to complete and form part Have a Togreat find swift out how and to sparrow sponsor filledour of the county wide Save Our Suffolk summer! Newsletter or an indoor meeting please contact: Swifts project, which is also supported by 1Oliver, T. H. et al. Declining resilience of Suffolk Ornithologist’s Group and the Chris Courtney. Suffolk Wildlife Trust. For our part we will ecosystem functions under biodiversity be extracting the data for Ipswich, to help loss. Nat. Commun. 6:10122 doi: 10.1038/ focus our work in targeting the supply of ncomms10122 (2015). nest boxes, swift bricks and swift call playback systems, with the aim of encouraging more swifts to breed in 4 ORWELL OBSERVER April 2016 A SEABIRD CRUISE AROUND BRITAIN’S SMALLER ISLANDS (Pt. 1) from Richard Stewart n May 2015 my wife Anne-Marie and I Alderney was next, with three swifts I went on a sea cruise which started from seen as we waited for our second coach Portsmouth, aboard the 'Ocean Nova' party to join us. Some took the longer with sixty plus passengers and seven path to Les Etacs gannet colony but as staff to lead excursions off the boat, using Marie had hurt her toe we followed the inflatable Zodiacs. These leaders also shorter route. Here little egret, meadow gave evening lectures and advance pipit and great tit were added plus a information about future destinations. very obliging Dartford warbler, perched on flowering gorse. Several gannets flew Our first port of call was Guernsey in the past, including a line of 14, and Tim Earl, Channel Islands. A cormorant was in the one of our leaders, commented on their harbour and it was busy on shore, with long lives. One he had ringed was found the 70th year celebrations of liberation 34 years later on a Dutch beach. Our from German occupation. Our coach tour sleep that night was constantly took us initially to a highly decorated interrupted by boisterous conditions and small chapel. While others explored by morning we were so far behind inside I recorded mallard and young, schedule that the trip to Tresco in the moorhen, carrion crow, blackbird, Isles of Scilly was cancelled. We had woodpigeon, collared dove and the been on holiday there previously but it songs of chiffchaff and song thrush.