Willow planting at Fobney

Work to create a nature reserve on the land between the River Kennet and the Kennet & Avon Canal (Fobney Island, SU703711), an ROC and CROW working party planted about 2000 willow whips last week. The aim is to provide a willow hedge screen along the river bank to reduce disturbance to birds in the middle of the island.

Our thanks to the eight volunteers who got the job done so quickly. For those unable to come, there will be lots more opportunities in the future!

Sadly, this winter has been so dry that there has been no flooding, so few ducks and waders. However, I have been surprised by the number of stonechats to be seen on the island and surrounding fields.

Renton Righelato –

Bird Surveyors Needed

Over the past few years the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust has been carrying out extensive surveying on its reserves, in order to try and establish exactly what wildlife we have out there and how strong the populations are. A dedicated team of volunteers mainly carries out the survey work, and BBOWT is looking for more keen birders to help with this important project.

Most sites need two visits during the breeding season, with the survey visits taking place in the surveyors? own time. A set transect route through the site is walked and numbers of birds both seen and heard are recorded. A few sites need specific species surveys, such as for nightjars.

The information received is then recorded on BBOWT?s database and results are fed back into site management to ensure that our reserves support healthy bird populations.

If you would be interested in helping or would like some more information please contact Debbie Lewis at BBOWT on 01865 775476, or write to 1 Armstrong Road, Littlemore, Oxford, OX4 4AT.

Alternatively, if you feel you cannot commit the time to help with a full survey, you can still help by collecting ad hoc records whilst out and about on BBOWT?s reserves. Please send in any records made on BBOWT?s reserves, all records are useful.

The Red Kite returns

A film made by Reading Film and Video Makers in co-operation with the Chilterns Conservation Board and the RSPB is now on sale.

It details the story of how they have been reintroduced into England and covers the rearing of imported chicks and fledging and subsequent release. It contains detailed scenes of the chicks and parents feeding them.

The excellent film has been shown in Reading to local groups but is now being more widely released. The Chilterns Conservation Board has sold a first batch of 400 copies and a further 400 is now being produced. It?s available for £11 on video or DVD and profits go to the Red Kites project.

For further details or to order please contact:

Cathy Rose

Red Kites Officer

8, Summersley Road

Princes Risborough

Bucks

HP27 9DT

Tel 01844 271306

(These details were provided by Alan E. Lott an ROC member)
25 February 2005

Colin Wilson –

Weekend trip to Skomer 6,7 and 8 May 2005

John Roberts is offering to organise a trip to Skomer, land of the Puffin and the Manx Shearwater where you will
share experiences with 150,000 plus of these special birds. Many other birds live here or pass through and it?s one
of birdwatchings great experiences.

For a summary of the island and what it has to offer see www.rosemoor.com/ipfiles/nationalpark/skomer.html.

If you are interested please contact John as soon as you can and he will provide details. He is available on 0118
948 2137.

Colin Wilson –

Fobney Island Working Party

The ROC is working with Reading Borough Council to develop Fobney Island
as a wetland nature reserve. A first step is to create a screen of willow along the bank of the River Kennet. The
willow whips have arrived and we will be planting them in the morning of Wednesday 2nd March from 10 am. Come
along if you can, if possible with a pair of secateurs.

We will be based at Fobney Lock: from the A33 going north into Reading, after the Green Park exit, follow the sign
to the “Civic Amenity Site” (if you are coming out from Reading, you will need to go to the Green Park roundabout
on the A33 and double back). At the entrance to the rubbish tip, take the lane on the right, which leads you to
Fobney Lock. There is a rough parking area at the end of the lane.

For information, call Renton Righelato on 0118 9264513 or 0787 981 2564 or email renton.righelato@theroc.org.uk.

Renton Righelato –

Kennet Valley Park ? latest information

I attended a meeting of the Friends of Linear Park (Calcot) on 14th February at which the Prudential team made a presentation of the proposal and invited questions. Some updated information was available.

The Planning Application is now expected to be submitted in October and, with appeals etc, is likely to take up to two years to reach a final decision. Before the application is submitted, a traffic study will be completed on the impact on junctions 11 and 12 of the M4 etc and this should be completed by August. There will also be two large consultation workshops inviting groups with an interest to discuss mitigation measures etc before the PA is submitted.

The traffic issue engendered some contradictory comments. While on the one hand, the development is designed be all about using new public transport (buses and trains) and walking and cycling, in discussions about the pressure on Junctions 11 and 12 of a new road link, the presenters told us how hard they had worked on trying to get direct access onto and off the motorway through a new junction or via the service area. Traffic, encouraged in this way, could seem inconsistent with this eco-friendly development approach.

Of more immediate importance is a plan to develop housing on Phase 3 of Green Park. The aim is to seek planning permission for this in the next 6 months, a mixture of offices and housing (600 houses) was mentioned and this would appear to be something of a ?test? case, on the flood plain, would this possibly weaken objections to Kennet Valley Park if it is passed?

The Prudential team claim that the area chosen for development is outside the ?functional flood plain? and acts as water or flood storage as there is no flow of water between the lakes. This point will no doubt be considered by the Environment Agency. The point was made that the water seems to come up through the ground in winter and in gravel areas presumably, barriers are not effective anyway.

The presentation used words such as ?wildlife would be enhanced? and on this point, a current theoretical solution is to use the western edge of the landfill site at Smallmead, the eastern side of the railway which has yet to be reinstated, as a replacement area and they say this ?relocation? work would have between 2007 and 2010, when the first houses are built, to develop as suitable habitat. The methods of relocation were not explained. Specific questions about the Nightingales and Grey Herons were not answered. The Smooth Snakes are also a concern for the developers, as are the water voles in the area.

Much time was spent on the nature of the Trust for the meadows. This concept was not well understood by the audience and the Prudential presenters are also a little vague on how exactly it works. The concept seems clear, that the land, or long leases on the land will be put in the trust (by the landowners) plus a pot of money (from the consortium) to ?kick start? the trust. The trust would then raise money via grants and fund raising and employ staff and resources as necessary to maintain the land for the many, varied aims of the population. The suggestion was made from the presenters that Prudential would ?take it back? if it failed, or inject more money, but after the development has completed this seems unlikely in practice if not in law! The Trust would possibly have trustees from the local councils and key groups of interest with possibly a scientific advisory committee able to guide on the conservation and management issues. Some comments about charging for car parking, a tea room and entry fees for visiting nature reserve areas caused some distraction from the main points but were raised in the context of the Trust developing its own sources of revenue. A good question was about the status of the organisation which needs to be appropriate to the types which have access to grant aid ? a point taken on board by the Prudential team.

There will be severe conflicts of interest for the meadows. With an extra 15,000 or more people in the area, any access limitations will be hard to enforce, the risk of dogs getting into wildlife or stock grazing areas must be high even if ditches are used to separate areas, which is one concept under discussion. Replicating the lost (Searles Farm) habitat almost certainly cannot be done here but Prudential do see some scope for wader scrapes etc in the wet meadows if access issues and management issues can be overcome. Little was said about population pressures and the impact of many more children playing, walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and possibly vandal behaviour on the area.

From the perspective of the ROC, I believe we must remain opposed to this development. We have no evidence yet of how wildlife will be ?enhanced?, we have no idea how wildlife will be ?relocated? and we have no idea what the impact of so many additional people will have on the areas wildlife. We continue our discussions with other groups and have already started raising awareness amongst groups with a common interest in protecting our wildlife and environment. We ask members to remain vigilant and report any issues of relevance to me or Renton Righelato to assist in keeping up to date with events.

Colin Wilson –

ROC Photographic Competition 2005

We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded sponsorship towards the 2005 photographic competition by LCE Reading. This means that the prizes will be vouchers from LCE for spending in their shops on a vast range of articles suitable for photographers and birdwatchers.

The competition details have been posted on the ROC website and entries are invited for the digital bird photograph section, from members only this year, by 9 February ? follow the link for details. Members may bring their slides for the 3 further competition categories on the night of the competition, but please arrive as early as possible to aid the administration.

There will be a prize for the winner and runner up of each of the 4 categories, chosen by Gordon Langsbury and the meeting will then vote for the overall winner who will receive the Gordon Langsbury Cup. The winner last year was Richard Chaplin for his wonderful shot of Maribou Storks.

We look forward to seeing as many members and entries as possible this year. Non members are very welcome to attend at our usual venue for a nominal charge of £2 for the evening, payable at the door and refundable against membership.

Colin Wilson –

Moor Green Lakes Group news

Members of this group will have received details of the AGM on 4 March 2005. This takes place at Finchampstead Memorial Hall at 7.30 for 7.45 pm. Apart from the ordinary business of the meeting there will be refreshments provided and a talk about Otters by Chris Matcham of Surrey Wildlife Trust following the excitement of finding one in the Blackwater Valley last year. This should make for an interesting evening.

Non members should consider joining this Group. The reserve is already one of the best birdwatching spots in Berkshire and the two hides offer comfort not available in many other places. The cost of just £3 (£5 for a family) seems nothing compared to the benefits of member?s free access to the hides, two Newsletters and an excellent annual report for members with loads of details about all sorts of wildlife at the reserve, not just the birds. The restoration of adjacent gravel workings is underway and this will create one of the biggest reedbeds in the south of England when finished. Ask Colin Wilson for more details if you are interested.

Any Group of this type needs volunteers. There are currently two vacancies on the Committee. These are for a Membership secretary and a Mammal recorder. Neither job is onerous as help is available from a team of people and we invite any ROC members who would like to be involved a little more deeply in conservation to ask for more details. The roles were outlined in a little more detail in the Moor Green Lakes Group Newsletter in January.

We look forward to seeing MGLG?s ROC members and other interested people at the AGM on 4 March.

Colin Wilson –

World Wetlands Day walk

Colin Wilson is leading a walk at Moor Green Lakes on 2 February in celebration of World Wetlands Day. The walk has been planned and organised by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership.

The walk looks at the birds at Moor Green Lakes Nature Reserve an important wetland site within the Blackwater Valley. Expect to see winter visitors including wigeon, teal, gadwall, goldeneye and goosander. There have also been lesser redpoll and siskin seen recently with a lesser spotted woodpecker also appearing a week or so ago. Winter also turns up rarities such as slavonian grebe and water rail is also possible.

Colin is the Newsletter Editor for Moor Green Lakes Groups so will be able to help answer questions about the reserve and its coming expansion as restoration of adjacent gravel workings make progress.

The meeting starts at 09.30 at the reserve car park on Lower Sandhurst Road at map ref. SU805628 and will take a couple of hours. Stout footwear is recommended. If you need any more help please call Christine Reeves at the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership on 01252 331353.

Colin Wilson –

Waxwings in Bracknell

Many members have been made aware of the influx of these beautiful birds throughout the country in recent months and they finally arrived in Berkshire in good numbers in December. The flock at Bracknell was counted at well over 200, 243 was mentioned in one note. They still seem to be around but as berries disappear no doubt they will move on.

The location is World?s End Hill Bracknell (SU885673) and if you park at the shops and check the area, especially behind them you should get a good view although they have moved around a great deal in recent days.

Gordon Langsbury visited the birds and has provided a couple of pictures to delight you all so if you can?t get there, sit back and enjoy these.

Colin Wilson –