Chairman
Rupert Evershed
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Bird Recorder and Data Team
Chris Ruis
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Rare Birds Panel Secretary
Mike Ilett
Bird Report Editor
Clifford Smout
Event Organiser
Tim Hill
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Hertfordshire BTO Assistant Regional Representative
Murray Orchard
Lee Valley Regional Park representative
Cath Patrick
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Web Content, Data Team and Bird Records
Graham Knight
Web Content, Data Team and Bird Records
Tom Speller
Data Team and Mapping
Dean Cornish
Latest news
LOCAL PATCH BIG WEEKEND 2026
SAT 25TH & SUN 26TH APRIL 2026
Back by popular demand, the Local Patch Big Weekend 2026 offers a weekend of local patch birding – the perfect excuse to get out in your local area and find as many different birds as you can! Not only that, but the weekend of 25th & 26th April is typically one of the best weekends in the year to encounter the greatest variety of birds with Saturday sometimes being dubbed ‘Super Saturday’ for its history of turning up good birds.
New UK-wide survey - Birds in Greenspaces
This new BTO citizen science survey, will run from April to June 2026, is open to all, and aims to find out just how important public-access greenspaces are for UK birds.
Go to Bird in Greenspaces to learn more including how to take part
2026 Rookery Survey
Rooks are busy nest building at this time of year and the Herts Bird Club is once again asking submission of Rookery nest counts in Hertfordshire in 2026.
In 2025, 228 Rookeries with 4338 nests were found, a big increase on the 2024 totals as a result of better observer coverage. Rooks have been surveyed for a long period in Hertfordshire going back to a complete survey in 1960/61 where 521 Rookeries with 15739 nests were found (Sage & Nau, 1963). Numbers declined until the 1990's, but appear to be stable since, with a loss of Rookeries in the south of the county and trend towards more but smaller Rookeries (Knight, Herts Bird Report 2021).