inspireinspire rspb oxford local group newsletter volume 11, issue 3 september 2017 w elcome back to...
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Next trips: Something old, something new
Inspire
RSPB Oxford Local Group Newsletter Volume 11, Issue 3
September 2017
W elcome back to another season
– a very special one for the
group as it takes in our 40th
anniversary. I am sure that
some readers will have been coming along for much of
that time and I feel that we still offer a great programme
of talks and trips. We must be getting something right as
you keep coming back!
It would be good to hear from you – whether it’s your
early recollections of the group or other birding
experiences – between us we have so many memories
to share.
Our calendar, a first for us, is part of our celebrations.
See page four for the results of our photographic
competition – it shows that we have some excellent
photographers in the group. It is a great set of pictures
and I hope that you will all like it.
Please also see the tribute to Keith Neale on page two
who will be sadly missed. Thanks to those of you who
were able to attend Keith’s funeral in May, your
attendance was much appreciated.
In the last edition I mentioned my nest box. If anyone
would like to know what happened next, please read on.
Our box with eight blue tit chicks sadly failed at about a
week to 10 days old; they all died the first time the female
left them alone overnight. We were devastated, as we
had been watching them all develop. It shows that
everything you see on camera is not pleasant to witness
– you get far too attached. The good news though was
that very quickly two great tits moved in and reared four
babies from their eight eggs. We ended up with four
young great tits, and we were able to watch them fledge!
Best wishes
Roy (RSPB Oxford Local Group Leader)
RSPB Middleton Lakes (17 September, 8.00) is
nestled in the Tame valley, just south of Tamworth.
Lakes, reedbeds, meadows and woodlands make it
one of the best birdwatching sites in the area. It’s a
first group visit to this 10-year-old reserve so it will be
interesting to see how it is developing.
In autumn, resident species include
herons and kingfishers. Winter
wildfowl return to the lakes and
migrant waders drop in to rest and
feed, before continuing to wintering
grounds. Young woodpeckers
frequent the woodland and small
birds begin to form large flocks
moving through the alders by the canal. (Toilets,
drinks and snacks are available at Middleton Hall
Courtyard about 250 m from reserve car park.)
Sandpipers were already stopping over at RSPB
Pulborough Brooks (15 October, 7.00) in August but
hopefully there will still be enough passage migrants
around to add to the winter wildfowl on the water.
Redwings and fieldfares should be heading in for the
winter, too. (The visitor centre here has a café and
toilets.)
Our last coach trip of 2017 takes us to Rutland Water
Nature Reserve (19 November,
7.45). As the weather becomes
less reliable, it’s good to head off to
this old favourite location. At this
time of year the nature reserve is a
haven for thousands of wintering
ducks. As well as the surface
feeders that we see in good
numbers locally, diving ducks such as goldeneye,
smew and goosander frequent the deeper waters.
With several hides and a visitor centre, it’s easy to
dodge anything unpleasant that November has in
store weather-wise.
The RSPB is a registered charity in England & Wales 207076, in Scotland SC037654
Green sandpiper - Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com)
A tribute to Keith Neale by Roy Jackson
Keith joined the RSPB Oxford Local Group long before
I did; certainly before 2003 when there are records of
Keith and Angela venturing out on at least one of the
monthly “Sunday Birding Excursions.” I first met Keith
somewhere around 2006 when I joined
the group.
During the early autumn to late spring
period each year we would hold birding
trips to a wide variety of sites, often on
the coast or some marshy area, usually
two or three hours drive away and
generally by coach.
This always gave a good opportunity to
chat on the outward journey, sharing
stories of life and birding in the past. It
soon became obvious that Keith’s bird
knowledge was extensive and very
different from mine. Return journeys
were often much quieter in the coach
(we were usually shattered) but did give
chance to compare notes on what we
had seen. It soon became very obvious
that, going round in a small group, we could all learn
from each other and we “shorties” could benefit from
Keith’s extra altitude.
I remember with great affection the many trips I shared
with Keith both in this country and abroad; he was
always quietly confident in his identifications and was
exceptionally good at identifying birds from their songs
and calls.
He joined the local group committee in
2011 as Membership Secretary and
when I joined as Treasurer about three
years later we always got on so well
together, Keith receiving membership
subscriptions and me the visitor
payments at the door as folk came in.
He was a volunteer warden at the RSPB
reserve at Otmoor for a number of years
although he found it more and more
difficult to get there latterly owing to his
worsening health.
I have missed him greatly, as have many
of our group. He was always such a
gentle man, kind and a pleasure to be
with. My wife, Anne, and I saw him last at
his home in Brackley just before Easter and even then
he, with Angela were good company.
The local birding world will miss him greatly, as do I.
Keith
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Compared with other parts of the world, there aren’t
that many vividly coloured birds on the British bird list.
Its striking plumage may be one of the reasons that
people are always so pleased to see a kingfisher.
Another factor may be that it’s such an intense blue
and blue is one of people’s favourite colours. It may
surprise you, then, to find out that there is no blue
pigment in a kingfisher’s feathers (in fact most
vertebrates can’t produce blue pigment).
The breast feathers really are orange
– they contain tiny pigment granules
in their barbs which we perceive as
orange. But the wing and back
feathers don’t contain pigment;
they contain minute spongy
structures which reflect light.
These intricate, microscopic
structures in the barbs of the cyan
and blue feathers vary in thickness
and reflect the light differently,
producing the subtle variation in blue
colour which we find so attractive.
The layers of material are not quite perfectly aligned,
hence the relatively small span of colours, known as
semi-iridescence. (Perfect alignment gives rise to true
iridescence: a much wider range of colours with a
shimmering effect such as those you see in a pigeon’s
throat feathers.)
Male and female kingfishers have similar
plumage. One obvious difference
between them is the beak – the female
has a red lower mandible whereas in
the male, both mandibles are black
(as in this picture).
Due to the lack of food during
harsh winters, kingfishers can
suffer severe mortality and
population crashes. However,
they can recover quickly as they
have up to three broods per
season and up to six chicks per
brood.
Focus on Kingfishers
Swifts in the city As in many old cities, swifts have been a presence in
Oxford for centuries. To swifts, its ancient stonework, with
its many crevices and ledges, must have looked much
like the crags or hollow trees that they favour in wilder
habitats.
Swifts feed almost exclusively on the aerial plankton of
flying insects and airborne spiders. They are opportunistic
feeders, and exploit swarms and hatchlings wherever
possible. Use of pesticides and loss of insect habitat has
had an adverse effect on availability of swifts’ prey over
time. Fluctuations in weather also have a big impact on
insect numbers and therefore the success of the swifts’
breeding season, year-to-year.
One Oxford building has provided a home to hundreds of
swifts for many decades. Swifts have been nesting in
ventilation flues in the tower of the Oxford University
Museum of Natural History (OUMNH) for many years and
the colony has been studied since May 1948.
As the chart shows, after several years when the tower
swifts fledged around 100 young annually, in 2012 their
numbers plummeted to a disastrous 14 young. Since
then, the numbers have climbed again, and this year
around 60 young have been raised, at about two young
per nest. There were still three birds in a nest, close to
fledging, at the end of August and three more not
expected to fledge until September.
We are also hoping to find more about how swifts fared
throughout the city. This summer, the RSPB and a
team of dedicated volunteers have been undertaking a
survey of swifts across the whole city, with the aim of
identifying nest sites so that they can be protected and
improved. The results should be available soon – we
will share them with you on our website when we know
them ourselves.
Over the years we have had insights into
what got local group members interested
in watching wildlife or stand-out moments.
Here are a few short extracts:
Charles Merry – remembering his childhood in Stanton
St John in the 1930s and 40s: Among summer visitors
turtle doves were common and cuckoos called
continuously from the trees
around Stanton House – twice
I found cuckoos’ eggs in
hedge sparrows’ nests.
Grasshopper warblers could
be heard, but rarely seen, in
the tussocks of rough grass.
Occasionally we would hear
corn crakes, mainly at the
south end of the village.
Nightingales were plentiful
and, if you walked the length
of Holly Wood on an early
summer’s evening, you could expect to hear three or
four in full song.
Chris Bignal – reminiscing about birding in Reading: I
grew up in Reading and cycled daily to school past
Whiteknights Lake, where in early 1950 a black-
throated diver stayed for two months. Robert Gillmor
used this bird for his cover design for the Reading
Ornithological Club (ROC) 1950 report. Robert is a
highly talented artist and printmaker; he has illustrated
more than a hundred books, and designed covers for
the RSPB magazine, “Birds”. I joined the ROC as a
Junior Member in 1951, and I still have all the reports
for the next 20 years.
Jean Trotman – sharing
recollections of the early days
of the local group: Not long
after our move from London
to Aston Rowant in 1970, I
read in an “Oxford Times”
article by naturalist, Bruce
Campbell, that the RSPB was
starting a group for members
in Oxford, which I thought
sounded interesting. Meetings
were good and trips out were
better; best of all were
occasional weekend excursions. I particularly
remember one to the Isles of Scilly because I had two
“lifers” a firecrest and a scarlet rose finch!
As we approach our 40th year we would love to have
more members’ memories of what started their interest
in wildlife or significant encounters with nature.
Memory
Lane re-
visited
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Swifts fledged from OUMNH
Turtle dove © Lyn Ebbs
RSPB Oxford
Local Group
Committee
Group Leader
Roy Grant
Treasurer
Roy Jackson
Secretary
Anne Clark
Other committee
members and
volunteers
Petula Banyard
Reg Cox
Lyn Ebbs
Paddy Gallagher
Charles Merry
Cecelia Merry
Linda Neal
David Rolfe
Alan Sherman
Please visit our
Group Website
www.rspb.org.uk/
groups/oxford/
You can also find
us on Facebook
www.facebook.com/
oxfordrspb
If you have comments
about Inspire or would
like to contribute,
please contact the
Editor, Lyn Ebbs Email:
Front page pictures:
Blenheim birches © Lyn Ebbs
Seedhead © Linda Neal
OUMNH © Lyn Ebbs
Kingfisher (p2) © Lyn Ebbs
The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home.
www.rspb.org.uk
Fox on ice, Otmoor - Richard Ebbs Kestrel, Covehithe - Lyn Ebbs Robin, Oxford - Reg Cox
Frost flowers, Stanton St John - Lyn Ebbs Ladybirds, Wytham Woods - Lyn Ebbs Shag, Farne Islands - Paddy Gallagher
Dragonfly, Spain - Paddy Gallagher Grasshopper warbler, Otmoor - Richard Ebbs Red kite, Pyrton - Di Stone
House martins, Stanton St John - Lyn Ebbs Grey seal, Farne Islands - Paddy Gallagher Waxwing, Oxford - Reg Cox
Puffin, Farne Islands - Paddy Gallagher
Calendar competition - results
Many thanks to everyone
who took part in the
competition to choose
photographs for a
calendar to mark 40
years of Oxford Local
Group.
We received a great
selection of pictures and,
wisely, decided to
delegate the task of
choosing the winning
12 entries to two
independent judges:
Colin Wilkinson of
Midlands RSPB and
Peter Barker, Otmoor
Volunteer. Both are
you look through the
winning photos above,
you will find one trip,
three holidays and five
local sites represented.
The judges finally chose
13 images, giving us a
separate front cover, and
saving themselves the
problem of which picture
to drop if they chose the
puffin! Nature as a whole
was well-represented:
two each of insects,
mammals, birds of prey
and seabirds, four
songbirds and one plant.
talented photographers
and artists so we knew
we could rely on their
choice.
As well as good pictures,
we wanted the calendar
to showcase our group’s
activities so the rules
stipulated that entries
had to have been taken
in Oxfordshire or on one
of our trips or holidays. If