WVBS Bird Counts

There are several reasons for joining in the Bird Counts-1.      To help get a complete set of records for the Society

2.      An excuse (if one needs one) to spend a few hours with like minded friends enjoying birdwatching in the WVBS recording area

3.      Getting more species on our yearly list if we keep one

4.      Seeing how our skills compare with other members in finding the birds in our area

5.      Possibly seeing completely new species

Thank you to everyone who sent in records. At the time of going to print 17 members contributed 484 records of 91 different species this month.

Each individual sighting received may not show on this summary, however, all records do contribute towards the annual report and our understanding of the birds of our study area.

Bird Count Sunday 7^th January.

Despite the gloomy weather 22 members making up 9 teams took part in our annual Winter Bird Count. In total 83 species were recorded, they were:-

Little Grebe Lapwing Mistle Thrush

Great Crested Grebe Snipe Goldcrest

Cormorant Black-headed Gull Long-tailed Tit

Little Egret Common Gull Marsh Tit

Grey Heron Lesser Black-backed Gull Willow Tit

Mute Swan Herring Gull Coal Tit

Greylag Goose Greater Black-backed Gull Blue Tit

Canada Goose Stock Dove Great Tit

Egyptian Goose Wood Pigeon Great Tit

The first meeting in the New Year will be our annual Bird Count on Sunday January 7^th. The idea of the count is to find as many different species as possible in our recording area between 8am and 4.30pm.

Don’t worry you don’t have to be bird watching all that time, you can start at any time and anywhere in the valley after 8am but you must finish by 4.30pm. The finishing point is the bar of the Bridge Inn, Lenwade. It is a team event – teams can consist of 2 to 4 members who have a cross section of bird watching experience. In other words we don’t want teams of very experienced birders!

The first meeting in the New Year will be our annual Bird Count on Sunday January 7^th. The idea of the count is to find as many different species as possible in our recording area between 8am and 4.30pm.

Don’t worry you don’t have to be bird watching all that time, you can start at any time and anywhere in the valley after 8am but you must finish by 4.30pm. The finishing point is the bar of the Bridge Inn, Lenwade. It is a team event – teams can consist of 2 to 4 members who have a cross section of bird watching experience. In other words we don’t want teams of very experienced birders!

September 2006

Thank you to everyone who sent in records

I have to get this document to Margaret by the 2^nd Thursday of the month for it to be incorporated into the Newsletter. For me to be able to include your records I really need them by the preceding Monday. Whenever I receive your records they get put onto the database but are sometimes too late to go with the Newsletter.

Most of the summer visitors are now departing for warmer climes so try and capture those “last seen” records. So much more difficult than the “first seen” isn’t it!!

A BIG THANKYOU to all who took part in the WVBS Winter Bird Race on Sunday, what a magnificent turn out: c.30 people in 10 teams

From the atmosphere in The Bridge Inn afterwards I am confident that everyone enjoyed themselves.

In total 84 species were seen in the study area with a further one heard (Nuthatch). Attached is a spreadsheet with the accumulated totals. I’ll bring the recording sheets to the next meeting so I can return them to those of you who took part.

Thank you to everyone who sent in records

September saw a welcome increase in the number of records received and the number of people submitting them. Many of you continued to send in “last Swift” reports although I’ve only included the last 2 sightings. Each individual sighting received may not show on this summary, however, all records do contribute towards the annual report and our understanding of the birds of our study area.

Please keep all records coming in by whatever means suits you –see below.