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.

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Latest news

Herts Autumn Garden Vismig Watch – Week 7 (13th – 19th Oct)

“The Stats” (8pm on 19th Oct)

This Week: Totals vs last week vs same week 2020
Total No of Species 56  ↓ 17  ↓ 10
Total No. of Birds 4,576  ↓ 1,561  ↓ 855

 

To October 19th: 2020 vs 2021
Total No. of Species 94  ↑ 3
Total No. of Birds 42,515  ↑ 13,117

Cool westerly winds dominated the first half of the week with stronger, more southerly winds bringing milder and wetter weather towards the latter half of the week.  The west to northwest winds seem to favour winter migrants arriving from northerly and eastern directions, perhaps giving them lift as they head west.

The week started with

Rare birds in Herts 2019 - 2020

The Rare birds in Herts page has been updated with both 2019 and 2020 rarity decisions. Go to Herts Bird Club | Rare Bird Decisions

The page shows records of county rarities which have been assessed by the Herts Bird Club | Herts Rare Birds Panel  since 2008. To be assessed a description must be submitted.
There are 23 records of county rarities from 2020 (see list below) which have not been assessed because a description has not been received.

It is never too late to submit a description of a rarity, and descriptions from observers of the records below will be gratefully received and assessed. If accepted, a reference will be made in future Bird Reports.

To submit a description please complete the Herts Rarity description form and email it to birdrecorder@hnhs.org along with a photo of the bird if available.
If you need any help completing the description form, or have any other questions with respect to Herts Rare birds, please email birdrecorder@hnhs.org

Herts Autumn Garden Vismig Watch – Week 6 (6th – 12th Oct)

"The Stats" (8pm on 12th Oct) 

This Week: Totals vs last week vs same week 2020
Total No. of Species  73   ↑ 5   ↑ 18
Total No. of Birds  6,137   ↑ 1,972   ↑ 4,098

 

To Oct 12th 2021 vs 2020
Total No. of Species  94   ↑ 6
Total No. of Birds  37,756   ↑ 13,789

 

While westerly winds dominated for much of the week a spell of easterlies over the weekend combined with mild weather was a welcome boost to garden vismig.  This week compared to the same week last year saw 18 more species recorded taking the total for the Autumn Garden Vismig Watch to 94 begging the question of whether 100 species can be reached?

It was certainly a busy week as

The Herts 48-hr Autumn Garden Watch 2021 – Winners Announced

This last weekend saw the second Herts Autumn Garden Watch but this time run over the whole weekend.  While there were some very heavy periods of rain and a stubborn south-westerly wind a wide variety of birds were recorded with evidence of autumn departures and arrivals too.

With many people away seeking rarities further abroad, it was a select few who participated, in search of those elusive bonus points.  Just one garden managed to tick the ‘Big Three’ – Grey Heron, Cormorant & Canada Goose – while all gardens recorded at least 4 species of tits.

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

2021 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.