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

Mapping our website records

In 2021 the Herts Bird Club received over 20,000 records, and of these, just over 13,000 have a grid reference attached.  Adding grid references to your records allows us to map species more easily as well as informing other birders where rare and scarce birds can be found.

All 13,000 of these records have been used to create an interactive map showing the 1km squares where the most species have been recorded.  The map can be found here: Herts Bird Club website records 2021 – Google My Maps

Why not use the map to see how many species were recorded in your area, or to get some inspiration for your 2022 birding? If you have outstanding records from 2021, it is not too late to submit them to help fill the gaps.  An updated version of the map will be published later this year, when the records from eBird and Birdtrack are added to the Bird Club database.

This is a new project for the Herts Bird Club, so if you have any comments or suggestions in relation to the map, or would like grid references added to records that you have already submitted in 2021, please contact Graham Knight

The map was created using Google My Maps and with the assistance of the Bedfordshire Natural History Society Map Your Records tool which can be found here

Thank you to everyone that has submitted records, and please keep them coming!

Tyttenhanger GPs Bird Report 2020

The Tyttenhanger Gravel Pits Bird Report for 2020 is now available.

Edited and produced by Ricky Flesher and Peter Christian the excellent 63 page report includes: a review of the year; accounts for all 132 species recorded at Tyttenhanger in 2020; many photos; insightful data and graphics; a breeding birds summary; arrival and departure dates for migrants; species year lists back to 2004, and much more!

Download a copy HERE, it's well worth a read.

Go to Tyttenhanger Site Guide to download reports back to 2011.

Herts Christmas Bird Count 2021

Subject to late records and decisions on rare species the final tally for the 2021 Herts Christmas Bird Count is 112 species; one more than 2020 and a very good total especially given the less than ideal weather!

Two new species were added to the 'Herts Christmas Count list': Dunlin (at Wilstone - Ian Williams) and Little Gull (at Amwell - Steven Brown), bringing the total to 123. Full lists for all years since we started this festive event in 2018 below.

Thank you to everyone that took part and submitted records and best wishes for the new year - with the drake Green-winged Teal at Wilstone (Ben Miller) representing the first website record for 2022 the year has certainly started well! Let's hope there's more to come!

Record Submission Site Updates

Earlier this year we asked for suggestions on updating the list of Sites available when submitting records to the website.

The first batch of changes are now updated on the website and available to use.

Please download Site Updates - Dec-21 to view the 46 new Sites added as well as name changes to existing Sites.

We hope to make further changes next year.

A full list of Sites can be viewed at Bird Club Gazetteer

Thank you to everyone who contributed and please email birdweb@hnhs.org with further suggestions.

Latest Hertfordshire Bird Report

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2020

The Hertfordshire Bird Report 2020 was published and circulated to HNHS/Bird Club members in November 2021 (Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society, Vol. 5 (2), pp. 85-172.)

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.