Next trips: Follow autumn migration in Hampshire

Inspire

RSPB Oxford Local Group Newsletter Volume 8, Issue 3

September 2014

A very big welcome back to the start of

another full programme of great talks

and walks. There should be something

for everyone as we travel all around the

world with our talks programme.

I went to the Birdwatching Fair recently at Rutland

Water and it got me thinking; just how much our love

of birds, and wildlife in general, leads us into so many

different activities. There are hundreds of different

stalls at Birdfair, and a similar number of talks to get

us enthused, and we can be taken off anywhere we

like. For some it’s about visiting other parts of the UK

or all around the world to see birds. For others, we put

food out for a wide variety of birds in our gardens –

often spending a lot of money just doing that.

The range of optics on display was amazing – gone

are the days of just seeing scopes on your travels;

now it is who has the most powerful camera lens. You

can learn how to photograph birds and other wildlife,

both flora and fauna. You can become a dragonfly or

butterfly expert or get just as excited over wildflowers.

So our love of birds leads us into much more and if

we, as a group, can help you with that with our

programme of events then we will have achieved our

aim. Do your bit and enjoy it as well. Talking of aims, I

achieved a long-time one on our group trip to Bulgaria

by spotting my first hawfinch (you can read a report of

the trip on our website www.rspb.org.uk/groups/oxford/

news/373932/). So, despite seeing so many species

for the first time, that was my bird of the summer.

Happy birding

Roy

Unlike the spring migration when the dash is on to find a

nesting site and a mate, the autumn migration is often a

more leisurely affair as birds take time to feed up before

undertaking their often arduous flights south. With that in

mind, our first birdwatching trips of

the autumn are heading to

Hampshire; to favoured refuelling

spots for migrants and destinations

for winter visitors.

On Sunday 28 September we are

visiting the Hampshire and Isle of

Wight Wildlife Trust’s (HIWWT),

Keyhaven and Pennington

Marshes Reserve. The intertidal

mudflats and salt marshes, which lie outside the seawall,

offer a variety of wildlife habitats that are important for

waders and wildfowl in autumn. Just inside the seawall lie

a series of shallow, brackish lagoons connected to the

sea through a system of sluices and tidal flaps. In autumn

these bring in migrant wading birds including whimbrels,

curlew sandpipers and little stints.

Farlington Marsh, which we visit on Sunday 12

October, is one of HIWWT’s oldest reserves. Formed

from reclaimed land on the northern

shore of Langstone Harbour between

Portsmouth and Havant, this site is a

coastal grazing marsh and lagoon

which has several pools, both

freshwater and brackish, and a broad

stream which provide feeding and

roosting sites for waders and

wildfowl. The majority of the circular

walk around the reserve is on the sea

wall, about 4km long in total (approximately 2.5 miles).

Recent repairs to damage caused by 2013’s extreme

winter weather include resurfacing the top of the seawall;

however, it is still soft in some areas. Wellingtons or

sturdy boots may be needed if conditions are wet.

The RSPB is a registered charity in England & Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654

Harvest mouse Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)

Turnstone Tom Marshall (rspb-images.com)

Radcliffe Camera © Lyn Ebbs New College, Oxford © Lyn Ebbs

Are you under 30? If so, you might not

remember a time when there were no red

kites flying in Oxfordshire and the only

chance to see one in the UK was to make

a trip to Wales. If, however, you are nearer my age,

you will remember the thrill 25 years ago of hearing

that the Chilterns would be the

setting for the reintroduction of

red kites into the English

countryside. Trips to London

on the Chiltern Line became a

lot more interesting when you

could get a glimpse of one

flying alongside the train. It’s

probably better not to admit to

kite spotting while driving on

the M40 through the cutting by

Aston Rowant nature reserve.

Now 25 years on from one of the UK’s most

successful conservation projects, there’s rarely a day

when I don’t see a red kite locally; I even see them

over Oxford city centre. There are now at least 1,000

breeding pairs in Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire,

Hertfordshire and Berkshire.

Kites have remained fairly faithful to their Chilterns

home but other release sites in England have also

been very successful and the last BTO atlas* showed

an astonishing 1600 breeding pairs in Britain up from a

couple of handfuls in the 1970s. Expansion in

Scotland has not been as good, with disheartening

evidence that red kites are

among the birds targeted by

the criminals who also poison

other birds of prey.

While it’s a spectacle to watch

red kites gather at feeding

stations in Wales, the RSPB

doesn’t encourage other

people to put food out for kites.

Feeding discourages the birds

from dispersing away from

their breeding ground. If the density of kites becomes

too high, there is a risk of bird strikes which could

endanger flights at RAF and commercial airfields in

our area.

*Bird Atlas 2007-11: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain

and Ireland, D Balmer et al. British Trust for Ornithology 2013.

Focus

on Red

Kites

Helping birds in distress

As members of the RSPB, we are sometimes asked

for help in caring for injured wild birds and there is

some very useful information on the RSPB website1.

But in some situations the bird is not wild, or even

injured, such as when a racing pigeon dropped in

on Rex Tester this summer. The Royal Racing

Pigeon Association (RPRA) has this advice to offer.

You can tell if the bird is a stray racing pigeon

rather than a feral pigeon by checking for a leg ring.

If the pigeon does not have a ring on its leg, it is

unlikely to be racing pigeon. The RPRA says that it

is not unusual for racing pigeons to come down for

a rest, especially during training or racing. Giving

the bird water with some sugar dissolved in it will

help if the bird is simply exhausted. Wild bird seed

or uncooked rice or lentils are all suitable foods, if

you wish to feed it but, unlike feral street pigeons,

they ask that you don’t feed bread to a racing

pigeon.

After refuelling, the racing pigeon may probably

decide to continue its journey home. And you can

encourage it to complete the final leg of its journey

if you remove the food and water after a maximum

of 48 hours. Should you find a stray racing pigeon

and open its wing,

you may find

stamped on one

or more feathers,

the name and

address and/or

telephone number

of the owner.

Alternatively the

name and

address of the

owner may be

found on another

ring on the

pigeon’s leg.

The RPRA also

has a stray pigeon

reporting system

on its website2.

1. http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/health/

injuredbirds.aspx

2. http://www.rpra.org/stray-reporting/

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ite B

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Pig

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Book review by Richard Ebbs: A Message from Martha

In ‘A Message from Martha’ Mark Avery estimates

that there were between five and ten billion passenger

pigeons in North America in the mid 19th century but

on 1 September 1914 the last, captive-bred bird,

named Martha, died in Cincinnati Zoo.

Within a century they had become

extinct. Can you imagine a flock of

pigeons, a mile wide and flying at up to

60 mph, passing continuously overhead,

obscuring the sun, for up to six hours or

more? A flock containing perhaps three

billion birds? When they roosted in their

preferred oak, beech and chestnut

forests their weight was so great that

large branches or even whole trees could

break down.

Treating this disappearance like a

detective story, Mark investigates the

sparse and unreliable data from the

period to find out detail such as whether

the birds laid one or two eggs or may have been

double-brooded. The birds were known to be good to

eat, so were hunted remorselessly. Then, with the

advent of the railroads, telegraph and the right to bear

arms, they were shipped by the barrel-load to cities as

food. However, the major reason for their demise was

probably the clearance of the vast

hardwood forests for agriculture: the birds

fed mainly on acorns, mast and chestnuts

and the forests were their breeding sites.

Mark puts all these findings in the context

of a burgeoning population and economy

and the effects of these on the natural

environment. A hundred years on he

makes the comparison with the plight of

the turtle dove, looking at the hazards

that they face, asking whether we are

doing enough to protect them and

whether we have learned the lessons of

the past.

This is a fascinating and very readable

book, a bit quirky in places, but one that I very much

enjoyed and thoroughly recommend.

A Message from Martha Mark Avery (Bloomsbury Nature Writing)

As well as Mark Avery’s book, reviewed

above, there are other good books on

wildlife and the environment out in

paperback or hard covers. The following

all come recommended. (It’s not too early

to add them to your Christmas list and avoid the

scented candle/socks/after shave scenario.)

What Has Nature Ever Done For Us?:

How Money Really Does Grow On

Trees by Tony Juniper (Profile Books)

is full of engaging and startling stories,

such as how the Chinese use feather

dusters to pollinate plants in the

absence of bees. There are many

warning messages but also positive

notes.

Feral by George Monbiot (Penguin

Books) speculates on what sort of

environment we could have if we

returned more of our countryside to

the wild side. As many people feel

uncomfortable with urban foxes, they

would almost certainly not welcome

his suggestion to reintroduce the wolf

and lynx. The book contains some

very provocative ‘what ifs’.

If you have something a little more

expensive in mind how about A

Sparrowhawk’s Lament: How British

Breeding Birds of Prey Are Faring by

David Cobham illustrated by Bruce

Pearson (Priceton University

Press)? Wildlife film-maker David

Cobham poses and answers the

question of the status of birds of

prey. There are success stories: five birds of prey that

were extinct have become re-established with viable

populations. However, persecution is still rife: so much

so that one bird of prey, the hen harrier, failed to breed

in 2013 and only had four breeding pairs this year.

The final suggestion is Ten Thousand Birds:

Ornithology Since Darwin by Tim

Birkhead, Jo Wimpenny and Bob

Montgomerie (Princeton University

Press). The book follows the

transition of ornithology from a

museum-based study of dead

specimens to the field-based

biological science of today. In

doing so it also tells the stories of

the inspiring people who advanced the science (and

the occasional unpleasant eccentric as well).

Snippets

all about

books

RSPB Oxford

Local Group

Committee

President

John Wyatt

Group Leader

Roy Grant

Treasurer

Roy Jackson

Secretary

Anne Clark

Other committee

members and

volunteers

Reg Cox

Lyn Ebbs

Charles Merry

Cecelia Merry

Linda Neal

Keith Neale

David Rolfe

Alan Sherman

Please visit our

Group Website

www.rspb.org.uk/

groups/oxford/

If you have comments

about Inspire or would

like to contribute,

please contact the

Editor, Lyn Ebbs

Email:

lynebbs@btinternet.com

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home.

www.rspb.org.uk

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