The nomination of “Target Species” for each year has led to a measurable increase in records received for those species. The programme will continue into 2020 with the species listed below about whose status we would like to know more. Please send in any breeding season records to the County Recorder.

Willow Tit

All records for Willow Tit were requested in 2019 to supplement the national survey taking place in that year. This major survey, organised by the RSPB, BTO et. al, will continue into 2020. Therefore, it has been decided that Willow Tit will again be one of our target species. Please submit all records of Willow Tit to the County Recorder.

Firecrest

The 2007-2011 Berkshire bird census showed Firecrest to be confirmed as breeding in eleven tetrads concentrated mainly in the east of the county with just a few in mid Berkshire. This represented a considerable increase from the earlier census (1987 – 1989). Anecdotal evidence suggests that this increase in range has continued. It is therefore requested that all records of Firecrest noted during the breeding season are submitted to the County Recorder.

Lapwing

The status of Lapwing as a breeding bird in Berkshire is unclear. The 2007-2011 census showed there to be confirmed breeding in 124 tetrads, a 20% decrease since the census twenty years earlier. Anecdotal evidence would again indicate a change not only in range but of density within that range. It is requested that all records of Lapwing displaying evidence of breeding be submitted to the County Recorder.

Richard Burness

Berkshire County Recorder

records@berksoc.org.uk

The BOC’s next indoor meeting on Wednesday 27th November will be an evening with Kevin Cox, Chair of the RSPB’s Council, who will discuss some of the local, national and international issues facing bird conservation. He will talk about the birds of his home Dartmoor, especially those of the open moor and western oak woods and reveal some of the secret spots where they can be found. Following that he will talk about some key RSPB projects, highlighting the species recovery work for birds like Curlew, Turtle Dove and Cirl Bunting and some of the national and international issues that the conservation movement faces.

This meeting is open to all and there will be no charge for RSPB group members.

The meeting starts at 8 pm in Room 109, Palmer Building, University of Reading, Whiteknghts Park.

The Quekett Microscopical Club is pleased to invite members of the BOC to their Annual Sales Event (Microscopium). The event is an opportunity to acquire microscopes and related equipment and publications. The items on sale are, in the main, ex-educational or members’ effects and as such are very inexpensive. Interested parties can equip themselves with nearly all the necessary equipment to enable them to return home and begin their microscopy without delay.

In addition the many Quekett members attending are free with their advice and assistance.  Whether you are a beginner or experienced microscopist, the event is well worth attending.

The event is held on Saturday 19th October 2019 at St. Stephen’s Church Hall, St. Albans, AL1 2PT. Entry is entirely free. Doors open at 10.00 am and close at 3.00 pm. Coffee and tea is available throughout the day at minimal cost.

Click here for more information about the sale.

Finley Hutchinson, one of the BOC’s younger members, has asked the Club to help advertise the big day he is taking part in on Sunday 6th October.  See his message below!

“This coming Sunday – 6th October – my friend Magnus and I are taking part in a nation-wide sponsored big day to raise money for Life for Liv. Olivia is the wife of well known British birder Gary Woodburn. She is critically ill with Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome and they are trying to raise £100,000 to take her to Spain for life-saving treatment. Magnus and I will start the day at Dinton and then head over to Moor Green in the afternoon. If anyone wants to take part then email lifeforliv2020@gmail.com for information and a sponsorship pack, and if anyone would like to sponsor us then please let me know – finleynhut@gmail.com. Sponsorship is per species and I reckon we’ll see around 50-60 species. Life for Liv can be found on Twitter (@LifeforLiv1), Facebook (@lifeforolivia) and Instagram (lifeforliv2020), and if you’d rather donate direct then there is a JustGiving page www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/lifeforliv . They are currently on £76,405 with only 10 days to reach the 100 grand goal!

Thanks, Finley”

I have made some changes of detail to the three East Berks coach trips. They concern contact with the organiser; cost; and a date change for the Arne trip from Saturday 8th to Sunday 9th. Mea culpa! Apologies to all concerned. Ray Reedman

The BOC’s Swift programme has now provided 75 boxes for schools and homes around Berkshire. In Reading, Crescent Road, Tilehurst, became a Swift street with the help of SSE who provided a cherry picker to install the boxes.  Yesterday (25th June), 16 boxes, built by BOC member Bob Hulley, were put up on eight houses in Hamilton Road by the SSE team, organised by Ailsa Claybourn, our Swift Champion.

Danny and Dan from SSE and Ailsa Claybourn putting up Swift boxes in Hamilton Road, Reading

The company seeking to build a housing estate on the banks of Theale Main lake have withdrawn their appeal against West Berkshire Council’s refusal of planning permission. This surprise came during the hearing this week of further evidence on flood risks. What will happen next is by no means clear, but we hope that it will mean the nationally important Nightingale population in the Theale area will be safe for the foreseeeable future.

The BOC has fought against this development proposal and Neil Bucknell gave evidence to the appeal hearing. Read more in Neil’s BB eye article in British Birds, December 2018.

Over the last decade Peregrines have been recorded frequenting the Newbury BT Exchange building since 2008, by numerous observers; most sightings were in the winter.

However, on the 1st April this year Sarah White observed an pair of Peregrines on the building. Sarah and Ken White visited again on the 12th April and concluded from their behaviour that the pair was showing clear signs that breeding was well under way. The pair were observed mating, and the male was seen bringing prey items to her as well as chasing off intruders such as crows and buzzards. Ken also noticed from his photos that the male was bearing a coded colour-ring, but getting a photo that was sharp and clear enough to read took another 4 days. Poor visibility, ruffled breast feathers and the join on the ring all got in the way. Eventually all was revealed: ‘Black 69’. Using the www.cr-birding.org website, the coded colour-ringing scheme appeared to be run by Graham Roberts who rings Peregrines reared on Chichester Cathedral with black rings, though the actual numbers on the male bird at Newbury where higher. None the less, Ken sent the report in, and by return came back the reply that Black 69 was indeed one of Graham Robert’s chicks, which had been ringed on the 16th May 2016 as a nestling, and that this was the first report of this bird since it fledged nearly 3 years ago. One wonders where this bird has been since then !

Ken and Sarah White immediately contacted Alan Parfitt, a stalwart and experienced RSPB volunteer, and together they approached and informed BT staff who assurred them that the nesting Peregrines would not be disturbed.

On 14th May, Ken wrote:

“We visited the Newbury Peregrines yesterday afternoon. Mrs Newbury was desperate for the male Black 69 to return with a meal. She was clearly getting quite het up. She sat on the ledge next to the nest looking for him. Then she flew in ascending arcs around the building looking for him I’m sure.We’ve never seen her go further away than 60 metres from the building but eventually she went off like an Exocet in a NE direction and intercepted the male coming back with the meal. It was dramatic. She dived at him but he dodged and dived to avoid her, it was almost like a dog fight. He stubbornly flew back to the building with her in hot pursuit….she could have had him for dinner if she wanted, her powered flight clearly superior to his. They disappeared around the other side of the BT building out of site, but 10 minutes later he appeared on the ledge with the ready-prepared meal and she rather impatiently took it with her beak from his feet, so keen was she to have it. We had to leave because of the 2 hour parking limit, and were unable to see if she took it down to the nesting area as she did 2 days ago. !!!

The following links to Ken White’s web albums are best viewed on a computer.

Newbury Peregrines album

Newbury Peregrines 2

Newbury Peregrines 3

As part of a Red Kite monitoring project, BTO ringers are tagging Kites in Dorset, Wiltshire and Berkshire. The tags allocated locally are yellow with a two character code in black lettering. The code, which is made up of one letter and one number, will individually identify the bird. The birds are fitted with a tag on each wing, and each tag has the code visible from both the upper wing and the lower wing. In this way it is possible to read the code from birds in flight (from above and below), and from perched birds.

The first two birds were tagged in Berkshire (between Shinfield and Arborfield) on Sunday 17th February, and had the codes “J0” and “J1”.

Please help by reporting any sightings of tagged birds to: c.v.prescott@reading.ac.uk .

We regret to announce that, because of illness, RSPB Chair, Kevin Cox is unable to come to Reading tomorrow. The talk has been rescheduled for 27th November 2019.

Instead, tomorrow, Sally Wearing will give a presentation  – “The full Galapagos and a bit of Ecuador”. We are most grateful to Sally for stepping into the breach at short notice.