Bird Report Editor
Clifford Smout
Email:
Bird Recorder and Webmaster
Alan Gardiner
199 Watford Road, St Albans, Herts AL2 3HH
01727 863 945
Email:
Herts Bird Club Events Organiser
Tim Hill
Herts Bird Club Rare Birds Panel Secretary
Mike Ilett
Hertfordshire BTO Regional Representative
Martin Ketcher
Email:
Hertfordshire BTO Assistant Regional Representative
Murray Orchard
Bird Records Team member
Graham Knight
Lee Valley Regional Park representative
Cath Patrick
Email:
Bird Ringing
Jenny Sherwen
Data Management
Tom Speller
Latest news
The Great Herts Breeding Bird Challenge
With the peak of breeding season approaching fast, and lockdown continuing, the Herts Bird Club would like to encourage more breeding records from gardens and daily exercise walks.
A number of species are under-recorded in terms of breeding – the table below shows the number of confirmed breeding locations from the 2018 Bird Report for a variety of common species. Can we do better in 2020?
Records of all breeding (possible, probable or confirmed) species are welcome, but we would particularly like all breeding records submitted for four species: Starling, House Sparrow, Swift and House Martin.
These species are red or amber-listed but nest in close proximity to us, and so now is an excellent time to start recording them, particularly on local exercise walks.
Please submit via the website using the breeding codes from the Breeding Status drop-down menu. Use the Comment field to add additional notes including street names which would be useful. Updates and prompts as to the best time to record certain species will be provided on the website and via Twitter.
Swift records can also be submitted using the RSPB’s new Swift Mapper app
It won’t be possible to display all breeding records on the website, but a selection will be published at the discretion of the moderators
***Please at all times comply with government guidelines on restriction of movement in relation to COVID-19***
Confirmed breeding locations – 2018 Herts Bird Report / 2020 as 7am 31st May
We have received 537 separate confirmed breeding records in 2020 so far with 76 species proved breeding.
Thank you to all those who have submitted records to the website. Please keep it up!
| 2018 | 2020 | 2018 | 2020 | ||
| Lapwing | 3 | 1 | Chiffchaff | 4 | 6 |
| Stock Dove | 3 | 4 | Lesser Whitethroat | 2 | 1 |
| Collared Dove | 5 | 3 | Whitethroat | 6 | 4 |
| Swift | 4 | 2 | Goldcrest | 5 | 1 |
| Great Spotted Woodpecker | 19 | 11 | Wren | 7 | 5 |
| Green Woodpecker | 8 | 4 | Nuthatch | 5 | 11 |
| Jay | 2 | - | Treecreeper | 2 | 4 |
| Magpie | 7 | 5 | Starling | 11 | 56 |
| Jackdaw | 5 | 18 | Robin | 12 | 27 |
| Carrion Crow | 13 | 9 | House Sparrow | 7 | 33 |
| Coal Tit | 4 | 9 | Dunnock | 2 | 11 |
| Swallow | 3 | 3 | Yellow Wagtail | 5 | 1 |
| House Martin | 12 | 4 | Pied Wagtail | 7 | 5 |
| Willow Warbler | 0 | 1 |
Selected other species, confirmed breeding locations in 2020
| Mute Swan | 7 | Ring-Necked Parakeet | 1 |
| Great Crested Grebe | 6 | Kestrel | 1 |
| Canada Goose | 6 | Skylark | 2 |
| Greylag Goose | 5 | Blackcap | 5 |
| Moorhen | 8 | Grey Wagtail | 4 |
| Coot | 9 | Chaffinch | 5 |
| Red Kite | 5 | Goldfinch | 7 |
| Sparrowhawk | 1 | Greenfinch | 4 |
| Little Owl | 1 | Yellowhammer | 1 |
| Tawny Owl | 6 | Reed Bunting | 3 |
Selected list of species not yet proved breeding
| Gadwall | Cuckoo |
| Tufted Duck | Barn Owl |
| Red-legged Partridge | Reed Warbler |
| Grey Partridge | Spotted Flycatcher |
| Pheasant | Marsh Tit |
| Hobby | Jay |
| Little Ringed Plover | Linnet |
| Common Tern | Corn Bunting |
BTO Survey Update 13 May 2020
Please read this important update from BTO: BTO and COVID-19. In particular please note:
"ENGLAND
You may carry out survey work for the following surveys within England, so long as you follow government advice and any additional survey-specific guidance provided by BTO: Breeding Bird Survey, Waterways Breeding Bird Survey, Wetland Bird Survey, Heronries Census, Woodcock Survey, Garden BirdWatch, and Nesting Neighbours. BirdTrack remains open."
For the Breeding Bird Survey please take note the following:
"England, Bailiwicks of Guernsey & Jersey and Isle of Man: You may undertake your BBS visits but please ensure visits take place within three or four days either side of your usual visit date as normal. This is absolutely critical this year as we will largely be working with Late visit only data and need to remain as consistent as possible with this limited dataset. If you can not survey within this timeframe when looking at previous dates for the site, we advise the survey is not carried out for that visit"
Breeding Bird Challenge - Unusual Nest Sites
Update 24 May 2020:
Thank you to everyone who has submitted records so far for the The Great Herts Breeding Bird Challenge which have included a number of unconventional locations!
Blue Tits and Great Tits seem particularly opportunistic. Blue Tits have been observed nesting in: a lamppost, playground equipment, behind a drainpipe, an old gate post, and holes in buildings including: a doctor's surgery, a bike shed, a cafe (same nest 3rd year running) and an old farmhouse. One pair have been recorded using an old woodpecker hole. Surprising Great Tits nests sites include: a lamppost, a traffic cone and a security camera!
Other species include: starlings nesting in a swift box, robins is a shed, moorhens on a upturned car bumper, several records of Jackdaws nesting in chimneys and a church tower, and a pair of Kestrels nesting in a church tower too.
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As part of the The Great Herts Breeding Bird Challenge we'd love to hear about bird nesting in unusual places, 
or using nest boxes designed for other species.
Like this tweet from Herts birder George Moreton who has House Sparrows squeezing in through a small hole in an external wall and nesting behind his bath panel!
Please send details to birdweb@hnhs.org