Herts Bird Club – making the most of local birdwatching

Welcome to the Herts Bird Club website. We promote the study and recording of birds in Hertfordshire and encourage a wider interest in natural history including the conservation of wildlife habitats.

Covid-19: Stay safe and observe Government rules 

Please read HNHS Statement on Covid-19

Latest news

Herts Winter Garden Count

Following on from the Herts Autumn Garden Vismig Watch the Herts Bird Club are continuing the garden count theme for those that wish to keep and share a record of their winter garden birds.

The count runs from 1 December 2020 to 28 February 2021 and as before all birds seen or heard whilst you are within the boundary of your property can be counted.

Please use the new Winter Count Googlesheet to enter your counts. 

If you need any help please email

The Great Herts Breeding Bird Challenge - the results

Following on from the great success of the Great Herts Garden Bird Count in April 2020, the Herts Bird Club decided to continue with a new challenge whilst the country was still in partial lockdown, and so with the aim of keeping interest up and adding value to bird records, the Great Herts Breeding Bird Challenge was created.

Observers were asked to submit all breeding records, especially those proving breeding, to the website. They were asked to use the standard BTO breeding codes from the drop down menus on the website, as well as grid references where possible.  This allowed accurate recording of location and breeding status.

This challenge ran all summer and

The Great Herts Autumn Vismig Watch Concludes

After two months of watching migration from our gardens the Great Herts Autumn Vismig Watch came to an end on 31st October with an impressive 98 species recorded and just under 37,000 records.  There were many highlights including records of a Gannet, 3 Great White Egrets, 31 Pink-footed Geese, Merlin, Caspian Gull, Short-eared Owl, Rock Pipit, Crossbill, Firecrest and a county rarity in the form of a Yellow-browed Warbler. Full counts can be viewed on this Google Sheet.

The final week saw a ‘Best Bird’ challenge as the hunt for that elusive garden rarity intensified.  Some good birds were recorded including both species of partridge, Little Egret, Peregrine, Snipe and a selection of wildfowl.  In the end it was a narrow call between

Cheshunt GPs website record submission - Updated Site Names

The Site names available in the dropdown on the Record Submission page for the Cheshunt Gravel Pits in the lower Lee Valley have been updated.

The updated names are more consistently organised and align with the different water and pit names as shown on the Cheshunt Pits Site Guide. Running north to south they are:

  • Cheshunt GPs - Slipe Lane Pits
  • Cheshunt GPs - Long Pit
  • Cheshunt GPs - Ashley Pit
  • Cheshunt GPs - Turnford Pit South
  • Cheshunt GPs - North Met Pit
  • Cheshunt GPs - Cheshunt Lake
  • Cheshunt GPs - Bowyers Water

Latest Hertfordshire Bird Report

Hertfordshire Bird Report 2019

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2019 was published and circulated to HNHS/Bird Club members in November 2020 (Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, Vol. 52 (2), pp. 89-176.)

The report reviews each of the 198 species recorded in Hertfordshire in 2019 (up five from 2018) including Little Bittern, White-tailed Eagle, Melodious Warbler and Richard's Pipit. There is also news of a belatedly accepted 'first' for the county: a Falcated Duck seen at Wilstone Reservoir in 1999. 

Read more

Latest HNHS publication

2020 subscriptions due now

Please renew your membership of HNHS and Herts Bird Club, details here.

Birds of Hertfordshire

 

Our new avifauna - Birds of Hertfordshire by Ken Smith, Chris Dee, Jack Fearnside and Mike Ilett was published on 24 February 2015.
Read the review in British Birds, here. Buy now direct from Herts Bird Club for only £34 (or £39 by post).

Herts Invertebrate Project

Read here about how to join this new recording initiative.

Herts Atlas of Mammals, Amphibians and Reptiles

Please submit sightings and field signs of mammals, amphibians and reptiles to our countywide survey, full details at the Herts MARA website.

Hertfordshire Bird Atlas

All the results from the most recent Atlas (2007-12) and both previous atlas surveys available here.

Bird records

Please send us your Herts bird sightings through the records submission page. Use the Breeding status dropdown where applicable and Comment field to add notes of interest.

Latest sightings of interest are published on the right hand side of this page, once they have been checked by a moderator. Search for older published records by month/site/species in Sightings Archive. 

 

See details of some great places to visit in Hertfordshire at this time of year.

Take part in our  projects and surveys.

Buy a book, most HNHS books are now for sale at half price or less.

The success of the site depends on you, the users, entering your records and sending in interesting information, not only sightings which can be entered online but also reports on trips and additional site guides. We also welcome feedback on what you would like to see on the site: email birdweb@hnhs.org

Injured or orphan birds ? advice here.

The Herts Bird Club is part of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society and our websites are integrated. We hope this will encourage those of you who have not investigated other aspects of wildlife in Hertfordshire to have a look around the HNHS website, discover what is available. Please submit your records of other wildlife, including mammals, amphibians, reptiles and dragonflies through the HNHS website.

Who's who in the Herts Bird Club.