House Sparrow

Doesn't everybody know what a House Sparrow looks and sounds like? Well, hold that image and that familiar chirping sound, because at current rates this ever present bird of our streets, parks, hedgerows and farms is another old favourite in trouble, and will potentially disappear in the next 25 years if nothing is done about it soon. Alarmist? exaggerated? well possibly, but we need to keep this bird at the foremost of our minds and take action now, if we are to not lose this popular and often taken for granted cockney favourite. The plight of House Sparrow has been well publicised in recent years with numbers thought to have plummeted nationally by up to 71% between 1977 and 2008 - now there's a statistic which should set off alarm bells.

It's not possible to point out the exact reason for their decline in urbanised areas like our gardens and parks, but extensive research in the last 10 years has given one or two indicators why this might be.

• Reduction in the availability of favoured food, either for adults or chicks or both.
• Increased levels of pollution.
• Loss of suitable nesting sites.
• Increased prevalence of disease.
• Increased levels of predation.

In three of the five bullet points above we could at least try to assist the House Sparrow, and with all of our concerted efforts we may not reverse the decline but could stabilise existing numbers in urbanised areas for future generations - below is my 3 point basic action plan in helping the House Sparrow.

• We should all continue to feed House Sparrows by ensuring our seed feeders are topped up not just in the winter months but right through the important spring and summer breeding months - I would recommend seeds over bread, which is far more nutritional for the adult birds and will make up some of the diet of the young birds along with the much needed aphids, insects and caterpillars.
• Think twice about using your car, reducing your number of car journeys - do you really need to jump into the car to collect the daily newspaper or to collect one or two grocery items which you may have run out of at home? It's far healthier for you and better for the environment to walk to shops when possible, or wait a little longer for your missing groceries on your next big shop. If we all reduced our car journeys by 10% to 15% this could make a significant impact on pollution levels in our towns and cities.
• Sparrows are communal nesting birds and love to nest in small groups on our houses under the eaves or guttering, between slipped tiles on the roofs in older Edwardian/Victorian houses but sadly these types of properties are few and far between and modern houses and the materials and methods of constructing new houses has reduced many nesting opportunities - therefore why not invest or make a Sparrow terraced nest box for your house? Even now it's not too late to put up a nest box and if it's unsuccessful this year, there is always next year. These can be purchased directly from the RSPB shop, available on this link.

 http://shopping.rspb.org.uk/rspb-sparrow-terrace-nestbox.html

Male House Sparrow - Seed feeding 

Female House Sparrow - Seed feeding

I am very fortunate to have House Sparrows nesting in my street but I'm lucky the street I live in is a row of Edwardian houses, perfect breeding grounds for Sparrows and there is a small population of around a dozen birds in my area, they will often come to the birds feeders in my back garden to eat the seeds. The thought of losing the sound of chirping Sparrows in the morning or the noise of three or four birds tussling and squabbling over a mate in the breeding season would be a travesty and a real loss if this sound were to ever fall silent.

A recommended read

I'm not a huge reader - more of a bedtime reader, however I've just finished reading a book which I couldn't put down and would thoroughly recommend.

Say Goodbye to the Cuckoo written by Michael McCarthy is one of those books which you must read, whether you are a nature enthusiast or not. The basic premise of the book is the story, survival and the plight of our Spring-Bringers, from Cuckoos to Nightingales, Turtle Doves to Spotted Flycatchers, Swifts to Wood Warblers, basically all those birds which we so look forward to seeing each and every spring and there lies the problem - for how much longer will we be seeing these birds arrive each year on our shores?

The author meets with a variety of people for whom these Spring-Bringers mean so much to in different ways, from the experts who study individual species to Julia the County lady with her Hunter wellies, array of gardening books and walking sticks in her umbrella holder, who had heard a Cuckoo at her home in the Ashdown Forest in Sussex on the day of her daughters' birth at the end of April, and every year since then on or around this date for 15 years, until 2007 when that expected sound never happened and the call of the Cuckoo fell silent, and the feeling of loss that Julia felt, being absolutely traumatised - like her life blood was being taken away.

Michael McCarthy also tries to understand and discover the reasons why these birds are in such steep decline from habitat loss, persecution, shifting weather patterns and global warming, with some startling statistics. By 2007, forty one per cent of Britain's Swifts had failed to return since 1994. Thirty-seven percent of the Cuckoos. Forty-seven per cent of the Yellow Wagtails. Fifty-four per cent of the Pied Flycatchers. Fifty-nine per cent of the Spotted Flycatchers. Sixty per cent of the Nightingales. Sixty-six per cent of the Turtle Doves. Sixty-seven per cent of the Wood Warblers. All gone already in thirteen years with the remainder on the slopes of decline!

When did you last see or hear a Cuckoo?

I purchased my copy of the book from Amazon for a very reasonable £5.99 including free delivery, this seems a very small price to pay for such an important and enlightening read.

North-East London RSPB Local Group

If you have no plans this evening, why not pop along to the North-East London RSPB local groups monthly indoor talk - Details below.

Indoor Talk by Chris Goodie on "Finding Jewel Thrushes".

Date:  Tuesday 7th May at 7.15pm
Location:  Snaresbrook Primary School, Meadow Walk, South Woodford, E18 2EN
RSPB Members £2.00, non-members £2.50, school children free

Chris Goodie's recent book describes (with great charm) his unique feat of successfully seeing within one year all 32 species of Pitta Thrushes. They usually live on wet forest ground in Asia, Africa and Australasia - not that in a dark forest they are particularly easy to see, despite the varied and brilliant colours of their feathers that makes them something of an obsession with birdwatchers.

You may like to put in your diary the next meeting, on Tuesday 12th June when Richard Pople introduces us to the "Birds of Morocco".

Perhaps we can remind you of the coach trip to the RSPB reserve at Pulborough Brooks, organised by the Havering RSPB Group on 26th May. It is a large and varied reserve with a particular civilised visitor centre and the water meadows should be just the place for waders and wildfowl, with the summer migrants now back in the woodland. The coach costs £15 and leaves Romford at 7.30am, returning at 7pm, but you have to book in advance if you want to get on, so telephone 017 0855 8399 or 075 2300 7282 or email thewriter27@hotmail.com to fix a place for yourself.

David Littlejohns
Publicity Officer, NELondon RSPB Local Group

Threatened birds lose nests in floods

After making a small plea in my previous post to continue feeding our garden birds during this very wet breeding season, the RSPB have since reported on another issue regarding flooding on many of their reserves, with catastrophic impact to some of Britain’s already-threatened wildlife. 
The information provided below is from the RSPB's latest news page.

Three day weekend ahead

The bank holiday weekend is upon us and after a busy week at work with little time for getting out into the field, I for one am champing at the bit to get out there and enjoy some of the sub-Saharan migratory birds, which have been flooding (pardon the pun) into the UK over the last week.

With more rain than you could wish for over the last week or two, the annual spring bird migration started slowly, with the typical early arrival of Wheatear, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Swallow and the odd Willow Warbler arriving safely back on our shores. These are now being backed up by large numbers of Swifts crossing the Channel, followed by House Martin and to a lesser extent Sand Martins - national reports of Sand Martin suggest numbers are considerably down at this stage compared to previous years and have become a huge worry in terms of their numbers nationally, lets hope this is just a blip! Common Whitethroat and Lesser Whitethoats have both been seen locally on Wanstead Flats, with up to 10 Wheatear, Yellow Wagtail and a couple of Whinchat also seen here in the last week. Reed and Sedge Warblers are calling from the reed beds at Rainham Marshes with Cuckoo and Turtle Dove reported here as well - both these birds continue to struggle with sadly fewer and fewer sightings each year, with the BTO advising their decline is still not improving. I'm yet to hear of any reports of Spotted Flycatcher - although expected anytime now, but history shows these are one of our last breeding summer visitors to arrive - and if I was them I would be in no hurry, especially with our current weather!

Once out in the field, I shall be using my listening skills to try and hear the song of a Grasshopper Warbler - one of the few species of migratory Warbler which has shown a slight increase in numbers in the last decade. Often difficult to see deep down in the scrubby Hawthorn they are usually first found by hearing their distinctive song, best listened for around dawn or dusk, it has been described as sounding like a fisherman's reel being wound in or like an alarm clock with outs its bell!

Let's hope the sun comes out over the weekend as all these birds, along with our regular garden birds rely heavily on natural food resources which are more prevalent when the sun shines - such as all types of flying insects, arthropods, minibugs and caterpillars, all needed for their survival and to feed their young at this time of year. With the persistent rain only adding to their troubles, reducing the number of hours in the day they are able to feed - I hope future records don't show that the spring/summer of 2012 was one the poorest years for our small breeding birds. It is advisable to continue to feed your garden birds through the Spring and Summer and not just in the Winter, especially if first broods have failed, as the adult birds will be grateful for an easy meal to help them quickly refuel and keep their strength up for feeding a brood of hungry mouths. It might also be worth considering mealworms at this time of year, which are ideal for recently hatched young (that's if the Woodpigeon's don't get there first!). There could still be a silver lining to this wet spring, birds are very resourceful and shouldn't be underestimated as most will try to raise a second brood if the first brood fails, so all is not lost, just yet...

What ever your plans this bank holiday weekend, don't go far without your waterproofs! And spare a minute to feed our feathered friends at this often forgotten, but busy time of year.

BTO - WeBS Count

A month or two ago I contacted the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) regarding taking part in their Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) to see if I could contribute, and whether there was a vacant site local to where I live, where I could count the Wetland bird species. I was initially informed the lakes, reservoir's and wetland areas in my immediate vicinity already had volunteers in place for counting the waterbirds, but further to my initial response I have now been contacted by Cath Patrick - Senior Conservation Officer regarding a potential new site which isn't currently covered on the survey, this is at Gunpowder Park in the Lee Valley and may require surveying in the future. We have put a date in the diary and are planning to check the site's WeBS viability in the next couple of weeks - you can expect further updates from me in the future should the initial survey be a success!

The principal aim of the WeBS count is to record and monitor non-breeding waterbirds(herons, ducks, geese, gulls, waders etc) in the UK, identifying population sizes, trends in numbers and mapping there distribution.

If you are interested in assisting the BTO in the surveying of a site local to where you live, I've pulled some information from the BTO website to try and give you an overview of the process and the requirements needed in volunteering for this survey.

What type of counts are carried out?

There are two main counts which make up WeBS, the Core Counts and Low Tide Counts.

Core Counts - is the principal scheme of the Wetland Bird Survey. Counts are made annually at around 2,000 wetland sites of all habiats; estuaries and large waters predominate.

Low Tide Counts - despite involving only a relatively small number of sites, estuaries collectively represent the most important habitat for wintering waterbirds in the UK.They are also inherently different from the thousands of inland sites counted for WeBS.The influence of the tide means that the birds have to be much more mobile, both within and between sites. WeBS Core Counts on estuaries have, in general, been based around high tide roosts. Although important in themselves, roost sites are usually secondary in importance to the manner in which waterbirds make use of a site for feeding. Therefore, information gathered about these sites at high tide will only provide part of the picture.

Core Count Priority Dates

2012
15th January	12th February	11th March
8th April	20th May	24th June
22nd July	19th August	16th September
14th October	18th November	16th December
2013
13th January	10th February	10th March
14th April	12th May	23rd June
21st July	25th August	22nd September
13th October	10th November	15th December

What is required?

The survey involves visiting a local wetland site once a month throughout the winter, counting the waterfowl there.  Counts from all months of the year are necessary but the main period for the volunteer counters is concentrated from September through to March.

What skills are required?

Anyone can take part, even beginners to birdwatching. Unlike many bird surveys, to carry out WeBS Counts, you don't have to know bird songs or calls, just the ability to identify common waterbirds.

WeBS runs a number of 1-day and weekend training courses, centered on teaching bird survey techniques. If you are interested in a course, check the BTO website at the foot of this page for training dates and further information.

How is the survey organised?

The survey is organised via a network of voluntary Local Organisers (LOs). The LO will give you more information, and will be able to allocate you a WeBS site to count if there is one available.

How do I get involved?

To register for WeBS, contact your Local Organiser or the WeBS Office - all the information you need is provided on the BTO link below.

Where are the survey sites?

A WeBS site can be any wetland area, be it an estuary, lake or reservoir to a river, stream or even your local village duck pond.  Many of the larger sites are regularly counted, but vacant sites do appear from time to time, even counts from small waterbodies are still important. 

How do I return my data?

WeBS Online is the easiest and most convenient way to send your data to the BTO.  Alternatively, you can send back completed count forms to your LO.

You can find out more about taking part, training courses, vacant sites, results, data and the history of the BTO and the WeBS surveys by clicking on this link - There is also a very good questions and answers page to assist you.

http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/webs

Patch-less Birding

In bird watching terms the definition of a "Local Patch" is: Local - meaning you can walk, cycle or drive a short distance to, and Patch - an area of bird friendly habitat with either woodland, scrub, fields, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, or even the sea, which you can visit on regular intervals throughout the year, noting and counting the birds which occupy any pre-determined boundaries. The list of birds which frequent these spaces could be limitless and it really depends on how much time and effort you can afford to give up in pursuit of patch birding, with the list of birds seen at your chosen site ultimately dependent on your current choice of residency, whether this be a flat in an urban city environment or a cottage near to a coastal marine habitat. It's been said many times before but watching and finding birds on a local patch is probably the most rewarding and at times the most frustrating type of bird watching which, in equal measures ensures patch birding is part of the essential make up of every birder!

Since picking up the bins again and getting off my backside, I've been looking, almost searching for a local patch I can visit regularly in hope of watching birds within a stones throw away from where I live. The problem I have come up against is where? From where I currently live nothing really stands out as a potential "local patch", some people may say this is quite negative as even a local park or even a school playing field could be deemed as an ideal place to start but as a teenager growing up on the coastal fringes on the east side of the river Thames. Without realising it at the time, I was spoilt with the type and variety of birds to be found, from waders on the foreshore to warblers in the reed bed, wildfowl in the winter and Raptors on passage. This has only added to my dilemma as if I was to watch a local playing field I fully expected to get bored fairly quickly due to the limited habitat for encouraging new birds into an area and the repetitiveness of seeing the same birds each time I visited the site - it is only so often you can count the number of Common Gulls amongst the Black-headed gulls or note the number of Robins you have seen on a given day!

So, purely for selfish reasons and my own sanity I've decided to give the school playing field a miss and have drawn up a small short list of possible "local patch" contenders:

Wanstead Park/Flats - By far and away the stand out contender, I can't walk here but I can cycle or drive, a good selection of habitat is on offer with ponds and lakes, broadleaved woodland, large open fields with pockets of scrub and gorse. However this is already well watched by a good band of birders, who do an excellent job of recording the birds at this site, and I wonder do they really need another pair of eyes pursuing that Wheatear?

Highams Park Lake - This has potential with a good size lake surrounded by a small broadleaved woodland and open parkland. But having visited here on several occasions, it has yet to inspire me with not much return in the way of birds despite frequent visits, and this has now turned into one of those nice places to visit with the family as it has a great children's playground!

Connaught Water -  Another good size lake surrounded by mature woodland in the centre of Epping forest but once I've circled the lake and counted the Mandarin ducks what next - buy an ice cream? Unfortunately this too has been discounted, based mainly on its own popularity with a large number of visitors all trying to utilise a ridiculously small car park!

Knighton Woods, Epping Forest - This is a small pocket of mature ancient woodland with a couple of small ponds, its always been an enjoyable walk round especially if you own a dog! All the woodland bird species you would expect to find are here, but it's limited in terms of keeping you interested and so would I get out of bed on a cold, wet February morning just to see another Great Spotted Woodpecker - I'm not sure I would!

Rainham Marshes - This really has it all in terms of habitat and diversity of birds on offer but it's not exactly local to where I live and I would also have to rely on the A406 not being full of traffic! This site is already massively watched from dawn to dusk, which is not surprising considering how much money the RSPB has ploughed into the reserve turning this area in to a huge success.

So these are my "Local Patch" contenders, I'm sure there are other areas locally I haven't yet discovered or I have overlooked but these are my current choices. If you have any recommendations not too far from where I reside in Woodford Green and which meet the terms of the definition above, please let me know?

What to do next? Up route the family, change the children's schools, find a new career and move to the coast in pursuit of the perfect patch to watch birds - not just yet... For now, I think I will in the short term continue to chase Wheatears around Wanstead Flats with the other birders, whilst enjoying the company of like minded people, and live in hope of seeing and contributing to finding something which possibly hasn't been seen already!

As a footnote to this blog entry - I was on Wanstead Flats with Jonathan Lethbridge on Saturday morning which, probably due to the persistent rain was surprisingly quiet, with very few dog walkers, no footballers and no sign of any oddballs! (apart from two birders, in full wet weather gear, pursuing an odd calling Lesser Whitethroat). I did however see my first Wanstead Ring Ouzel, along with returning Hobby, Swifts and Lesser Whitethroat! All of which only added to my conclusion that Wanstead Park/Flats is the current stand out "Local Patch" contender.