If you read this page and have any interesting bird sightings or indeed any wildlife please let me know by email john.fisher@btclick.com or 01582 792843
Bird Notes - September 2009
In mid July I was so pleased that once again our barn owl boxes had been used and we were able to ring no less than 6 youngsters. In the Redbournbury box two almost fully grown birds were within a few days of fledging so there is little doubt that these would have flown from the nest as they were healthy and both had full stomachs. The Shafford box was being used by a much later breeding pair but they had four, one of which was only a few days old and another was in a poor condition so the chances are that another two will have flown from this box by now.
I did visit both boxes in August and saw fully grown barn owls on both occasions. There was also a large youngster waiting to be fed on the roof of the second box. We have now ringed 15 young barn owls from the Ver Valley Society boxes since 2006 and I think this is a fantastic return on our investment. I am sure that these charismatic birds would not have returned to our valley without this assistance as natural nest sites just do not exist any more.
Although kingfishers breed on the lower reaches of the Ver south of St Albans they usually only venture up stream after the breeding season. I have seen kingfishers at Redbournbury and on the River Red in Redbourn this month. Another interesting sighting I had was of a black pheasant on the Redbournbury Water Meadows. This is not a separate species, just a rather rare variant on our standard pheasant.
I am told an osprey has been seen near the Ver at Park St. In previous years they have been seen along the Lea near Wheathamstead and the Gade at Water End so it is quite possible that they will be seen along the Ver either on their migration from or to Africa Best look at those buzzards and kites carefully especially in April and September.
In April this year I was lucky enough to be able to photograph a water rail at the Burydell Lane bridge at Park Street. VVS members Alan and Barbara Vernon who live nearby see a pair of water rails regularly so if you want to see this usually elusive species get along to Park Street. The Ver upstream from here is also a very good stretch for kingfishers.
If you have any interesting bird sightings I would be pleased to hear from you on 01582 792843 or email john.fisher@btclick.com.
John Fisher
Bird Notes - June 2009
Back in March I was hopeful that little ringed plovers would breed and it was a great thrill to see them return to the flooded fields along the Ver in late March. This is the first time I had seen them in Redbourn since the great floods of 2001 when four pairs bred. This year two pairs were present for a long time and both pairs raised three young right up to the stage where they were ready to fly. In the same area at least 5 pairs of lapwing bred as young chicks were seen before the vegetation grew up giving them the essential cover.
Redshanks were also present in early April but did not breed along the Ver Valley. Maybe next year! A new bird for the Ver Valley in April was a ruddy shelduck which is a beautiful duck from Eastern Europe. It is more than likely that this bird was an escape from a wildfowl collection but it certainly was a colourful addition to the flood plain for a while as it commuted between the Upper Ver Valley and the fishing lakes at Tyttenhanger.
Yellow wagtails are another welcome visitor this spring with pairs probably nesting near Verlam End, Scout Farm and in the fields around Hogg End and Punch Bowl Lane. Like the little ringed plovers they are not regular breeders.
At the end of May, when we did at last have some warm evenings, I was able to see a pair of barn owls near Redbournbury. It was nearly dark before I saw one adult fly into the nest box and then just as it was almost impossible to see a second adult flew in and perched on the platform in front of the nest box hole. It stayed there for about 5 minutes staring at me and there I was thinking I was hidden behind a bush! Eventually it flew off and I trudged off home with the happy knowledge that we may have young barn owls later this summer for the fourth successive year. There could well be a second pair breeding in another of our boxes as I saw an adult barn owl with prey close to this box in late June when I was watching a tawny owl at 10. pm.
On the downside I have not heard or seen a cuckoo along the Upper Ver this year and I always reckon to see one before the end of May. They are now on the “Red List” so this is a national concern. House martins seem to be very much reduced in numbers this spring but I have just learnt that the long established Shafford Stables colony have just relocated to the Shafford cottages. Spotted flycatchers are another species which seems to be in decline but just as I was writing these notes in late June I was lucky to see 5 adult birds one sunny morning within a mile of the Ver. Not so long ago this was a regular but not abundant breeder at several locations along the valley and until I saw these five I thought we had lost them as a breeding species.
One May morning as I was walking my dog I amazed to see about 20 painted lady butterflies in just a few minutes. I later found out that there had been one of the largest invasions ever recorded as thousands made it from their wintering area south of the Atlas Mountains. It always amazes me that a fragile creature like a butterfly is able to fly thousands of miles across Africa and Europe and arrive on our shores. The warm spell in late June resulted in a lot of banded demoiselles, marbled whites, speckled woods and meadow browns on the wing.
There is no doubt that badgers are around in good numbers along the valley, but as they are seldom seen it was a great thrill to spend a warm summer evening just before dusk watching an adult and three youngsters emerge from their sett and forage around in a field for about half an hour before it got too dark to see. We waited for an evening with an easterly wind as we knew that if you are not down wind you have little chance of seeing any action since badgers have an amazing sense of smell but very poor eyesight. While waiting for the badgers we saw a fox with the most amazing rusty red coat.
Bird Notes - March 2009
As I write these notes in late March we are at the time of the year when our winter visitors such as snipe, golden plover, fieldfares and redwings are leaving for their breeding territories in the north and our summer visitors are just beginning to arrive. So far I have seen wheatears, chiffchaffs and a little ringed plover (not strictly in the Ver Valley but close by) which along with sand martins and ring ouzels are traditionally the earliest arrivals. The annual influx is spread over quite a long period and it will probably be almost two months before late arrivals like spotted flycatchers turn up.
The little ringed plover is one of my favourite birds not just because they are one of the first indicators of spring but also because they have a strong local connection. The first pair to breed in the UK was at Tring Reservoirs in 1938 but it was not until after the war that they became an established breeding species in the UK. On mainland Europe they had bred mainly on the shingle banks of rivers. In the UK they were helped considerably by the gravel workings necessary for the post war building boom which provided just the right ground conditions for them to form their nest scrapes. It still seems strange that they used these basically industrial sites. The slightly larger ringed plover can be seen throughout the year whereas the little ringed plover is very much a migrant but can hardly be called a summer visitor as it turns up in mid March. The little ringed plover can be distinguished by its yellow eye ring. Also it has flesh coloured legs and a dark beak, not the orange legs and beaks of ringed plovers. They are very vocal, especially around their nest sites and they are usually heard before they are seen
In 2001 four pairs of little ringed plovers and eight pairs of lapwings successfully raised broods on the flood plain on the western side of the Ver near Luton Lane. That winter the Ver was at its maximum flow in over 30 years and this winter we have conditions approaching this with some huge flood ponds all along the Ver Valley, so it could be that little ringed plovers will breed again. 2001 was easily the best year in my memory for bird watching locally and hopefully 2009 will be as good. That spring ringed plovers, dunlin, common sandpiper, redshank, greenshank and even a marsh harrier were all seen.
This winter has been especially good for snipe with at least 30 resident for most of the winter and at least one green sandpiper feeding on the shrimps in the Ver. Apparently they need several thousand of these every day to survive. Although snipe used to breed in the Ver Valley up to the seventies they will all be gone by the time you read these notes.
My best recent sighting was a water rail from the Burydell Lane Bridge at Park Street. No doubt there are several water rails along the Ver as they betray themselves by their pig like squeals. However they are seldom seen but this one was feeding right out in the middle of the river and it obligingly stayed there while I got my camera out and took a record shot. Not the best photo in this newsletter but one I did not expect.
Bird Notes - December 2008
Often people ask me somewhat accusingly if I am a “twitcher”. The easiest way to explain this is that for every “twitcher” there are probably a 1000 birdwatchers and I certainly fall into the latter category. “Twitchers” have mobile pagers and dash all over the UK to add rare species to their life list, which are often vagrants who have crossed the Atlantic or the entire European mainland in misguided migrations caused by strong winds.
The Female Merlin on a Fence Post Downstream of Redbournbury 23 October 2008 - A Painting by Ernie Leahy
Having said all this I must admit it was a real joy to find a rare bird in the Ver Valley in November when a merlin turned up near Redbournbury. A merlin is not a real U.K rarity but it is restricted to our northern heather moors in the summer, spending the winter mainly in coastal areas so in Hertfordshire it is very rare. For Ernie Leahy, my companion that day, and me it was our first for the County. A merlin is the smallest of the European falcons and is very much like a small peregrine. In flight they are often confused with sparrow hawks but this bird was perched on a fence post so we had a really good view and we were sure it was a female merlin. As with most birds of prey the female is larger but with a dull brown plumage compared to the slate grey of the smaller male. On the moors they capture their usual prey of meadow pipits in a fast low level flight without the spectacular stoops of the peregrine. I think this was one was probably preying on the starlings.
In mid December I was lucky enough to see a 2000 strong flock of golden plovers in the fields off of Punch Bowl Lane, which runs to west of the A5183 midway between Redbourn and St Albans. In previous years these same fields have played host to golden plovers and it is a bit of mystery why they favour these fields. It could be lack of disturbance, good sight lines to see predators or an abundance of grubs for feeding. They usually only stay a day or two before moving further south probably to the south coast estuaries or mainland Europe. As usual there were a smaller number of lapwings with them, probably 250, but it is when both species take off and fly in formation that they become a true spectacle. The same day we saw 4 buzzards and a sparrow hawk either on or over the same fields
The little egrets have turned up even earlier than normal in the Ver Valley this year with up to four being present from mid October and it cannot be long before they breed locally. Kites and buzzards must have had a good breeding season as more and more are being seen, with family groups of four now not uncommon.
On the downside small birds seem to have had a poor year and many people have remarked to me that they are not seeing tits and finches in anything like their normal numbers. We have been checking the 40 nest boxes along the Ver Valley just recently and results have been particularly disappointing with many nests built but not used or containing dead fledglings. It was a very wet and cold spring and maybe our boxes were put up a bit late but I think the conditions meant that many youngsters just did not get fed. We have just put up a further 20 and as these are all in position before winter they will hopefully be used for winter roosting and then for successful breeding in 2009. A warm and dry spring is needed in 2009 to allow the numbers to recover.
Up to three barn owls have been using the kestrel box and a big hollow oak for day roosting along the Ver Valley Walk near Redbourn so we are going to put up another barn owl box nearby in the hope that another pair will be encouraged to breed.
Bird Notes - October 2008
In early June the barn owl box at Redbournbury Farm had one live youngster, just a few days old, a still warm dead one and an unhatched egg. When we returned on Saturday 19 July Peter Wilkinson, our barn owl man, was able to ring two healthy youngsters. There was no sign of the dead chick and if you watched Bill Oddie on Springwatch you will know of the gruesome contribution this bird made to the success of its siblings. This makes a total of 11 reared in this box in the last three years. It is estimated that these two were 57 and 45 days old respectively but as they were in a healthy condition and had obviously been well fed they would have flown after 60 days. In some ways 2 is disappointing after 3 and 5 in the previous two years; however as this has not been a good year nationally for barn owl breeding this is a real success in a wet and cold summer. The Hudgell family who run a beef herd from the farm have been very keen on the project from day one and take a great interest in its success. I think this pair has been particularly successful because they have a readily available supply of mice and rats from the farmyard. On behalf of the VVS and the barn owls I would like to thank the Hudgells for their enthusiastic support.
In the Shafford box two adults were roosting in June and we were hopeful that they would be late season breeders. However when we looked in July the box was empty although there were feathers and pellets to indicate that the box was still being used as a roost. I did see a barn owl flying at dusk in the area one mid summer evening just as is was getting dark so although this pair did not breed this year I remain hopeful they will breed in 2009. I suspect that they were just not feeding well enough to get into breeding condition.
Red kites are being reported every day now and there are probably at least two pairs breeding in the valley. Nationally they are doing extremely well and I expect they that will increase their population rapidly in the area. On a recent afternoon I saw three red kites, six buzzards, two sparrow hawks and a kestrel along a two mile stretch of the Ver.
It has not been a good breeding year for small birds and in particular the house martin colony at Shafford Stables has been badly affected by the poor summer weather. We did put up 40 nest boxes this spring for tits, robins, nuthatches and finches. These were all sited between Redbourn and St Albans but this autumn I have a further 20 to put up so if you know of any suitable areas along the valley, particularly in the lower reaches of the river please, let me know.
BIrd Notes - July 2008
There is more good news this year regarding barn owls, as a pair has bred again for the third successive year near Redbournbury and it looks as if a second pair will breed late near Shafford. It will be interesting see which strategy pays off. You have to be licensed to even check a barn owl box so in early June I watched while our barn owl man, Peter Wilkinson, looked into all 6 of the boxes we now have along the Ver Valley. One box had one live youngster, just a few days old, a still warm dead one and an unhatched egg. Barn owls are very dependent on voles and mice which may be in short supply this year and of course the very wet May would have made it a difficult hunting time for the adults. Hopefully there will be two healthy young barn owls when we return to ring them in early July. In the other box two adults were roosting and as there is still time for them to produce a brood before the autumn we are hopeful. This pair had bred late in 2007 as there was one dead fledgling still in the box from last year’s brood. It is likely that two or three youngsters flew from this box in September or even October. Our barn owls are very elusive and to see them you need to be around at dusk as they seldom hunt in daylight. Two breeding pairs of barn owls in the Ver Valley must a first for decades.
I saw my first cuckoo this year on the very last day of May, having heard my first on 26 April. As with most years I found that the best local area for cuckoos are the water meadows just north of Shafford where a lot of reed warblers nest which are probably the hosts for our cuckoos. I heard cuckoos calling several times in early May, including the strange bubbling call of the female, but could never manage to get a sight of one until on this late May evening I saw the very distinctive profile of a cuckoo on the top of a fence post. Cuckoos have very long wings which when they are perched extend beyond the tail and it is this feature which I think makes them unmistakeable.
Buzzards and red kites are both now firmly established around the valley and although red kites live mainly on carrion I saw one take live prey while on an early morning walk through Gorhambury. Several pairs of lapwing are breeding this year along the Ver and it’s great to see the swooping flight and hear the plaintive calls of these wonderful birds. It was these calls which first drew my attention to a pair mobbing a red kite. This is normal behaviour especially when they have young to defend from predators but in this case the defence did not work as the kite dropped down to the ground and grabbed a lapwing chick and then was pursued into the distance by the furious lapwing pair. Hopefully they had another two or three chicks hidden in the grass which will survive. I am afraid this is nature at this time of the year when the success of one species depends on preying on others. Even your garden blue tits depend on caterpillars which are really just like the young lapwing.
Bird Notes - April 2008
Last year the Society agreed to buy 40 nest boxes and I arranged for some friends of mine who are Watford RSPB members to make and supply them this winter. Watford RSPB have been making nest boxes for several years and the great thing about their boxes is not only are they really well made but the marine ply they use is donated and cut by a supporter and they are put together by volunteers. This means that practically all the money they raise from selling the boxes goes directly to the RSPB and their conservation programmes.
All 40 boxes have been put up now ready for the spring breeding season. They have been sited on trees along the Ver Valley Walk between Redbourn and Redbournbury. They have a range of hole sizes to suit blue tits, great tits, sparrows and one for a nuthatch. We also have a few open fronted boxes which we hope will attract spotted flycatchers as they are now only occasional breeders in the valley. The committee have just agreed to buy a further 20 boxes for later this year and with more time available I may be able to put these up a bit further from Redbourn! Any suggested sites – please let me know. I would like to thank Ernie Leahy and my son Martin for their help with putting up the boxes and Mandy James for the loan of the Redbournbury Mill ladder.
Some of you will know about the barn fire which destroyed one of the barns on the north east side of Redbournbury farm. Our barn owl box which has been successfully used in the last 2 years was not affected but I am concerned that the construction work to replace the barn may disturb this year’s breeding. We do have another 4 boxes in the valley so hopefully if there is a lot of disturbance they will relocate to one of these boxes.
This winter has been notable for even more regular sightings of little egrets with up to 4 present at times. Snipe are not being seen so often this year which is particularly disappointing but I did see one right up near the junction 9 of the M1 where the river is flowing for the first time in about 5 years. Flocks of lapwings have been seen along the valley throughout the winter and also the occasional flock of golden plover.
My good friend Ernie Leahy saw a female peregrine in late March in a field to the east of the river near Shafford. I have heard of occasional peregrine sightings along the valley before but I have yet to see one so close to home.
Bird Notes - January 2008
We luckily chose a fine dry sunny autumn day for a walk from Park Street back to Redbourn and it started off really well when we saw three kingfishers along the river where it flows through the water meadows behind Park Street village. In fact we spent so long watching these kingfishers that it took us over an hour to cover the first mile but it was a good day for hanging around and not route marching on.
One kingfisher was particularly unconcerned by our close presence and as it perched on several overhanging branches and fished it moved ever closer and closer to us. We just stood still amazed that this kingfisher, a species which is notoriously skittish, seemed completely comfortable with us so close. The bright electric blue and the rusty orange of the breast are I think are one the best “colour schemes” of the English countryside. Have you ever noticed the blue T on the back of the kingfisher which stretches right down its back or how the bright blue changes to green in different light? We watched so long that my attention drifted further upstream where the river was shallower as it raced over a pebbly bed strewn with water crowfoot and I was really surprised to see a water rail wading through the fast moving water. I am sure water rails are regular along the river but I seldom see them as they are even shyer than kingfishers. The water rail is similar in habits to the moorhen but tends to feed in reed beds rather than in open water. It has a red dagger of a bill and subtle brown and grey barring. They have an amazing call which is like a pig squealing and you are more likely to hear this than see one.
Eventually we walked on seeing a soaring sparrow hawk and a few kestrels along with the usual winter flocks of noisy chattering fieldfares and the quieter redwings.
Another surprise was when we reached Verulam Lake where we found an unusual goose amongst the motley crew of greylags and Canada’s. It was an Egyptian Goose which is a species now well established as a breeding population in the UK after numerous escapes from wildfowl collections. They are an African species but seem to cope well in our climate and are now seen all over the south east. But this was the first one for me in the Ver Valley.
Little Egrets have moved into the UK of their own accord and as many as four have been seen this winter along the Ver. Still waiting for a Great White or a Cattle Egret to show up on the Ver.
Perhaps the best news this winter is that it seems likely that water voles have returned to the Ver after an absence of probably 20 years. Now mink are being caught and disposed of throughout Hertfordshire there is a good chance that they will restablish themselves. They are a great sight and I am really looking forward to seeing my first Ver water vole since about 1980. That distinctive plop as they enter the water and the struggling swimming style is so characteristic of “Ratty” of Wind in the Willows.
Bird Notes - October 2007
I have been travelling a lot this summer so I have not been seeing as many birds along the river as in most years. However just this week I did find a splendid male stonechat close to the river in Redbourn and it will be interesting to see if stays around or if it is just passing through on migration. Stonechats are both a resident and a migratory species. I think it has been proved from ringing records that birds from the same brood often are split between stayers and movers. Stonechats do not normally breed in Hertfordshire so most of the stonechats seen locally are passage migrants with a few staying through the winter.
I have also noticed that numbers of skylarks have been building up on the winter stubble fields but I have yet to see any fieldfares and redwings.
Following the success with barn owl boxes we have decided to put up 40 nesting boxes for small birds like tits and robins this winter at various site along the valley. As with the barn owl boxes these will be made by our friends at the Watford RSPB Group and once again our payment will provide funds towards all the good work that the RSPB carry out. This is because Watford RSPB get the wood free from a local supplier and uses their own volunteers to make the boxes. So our funds are simply recycled into more conservation work. I have in mind a few suitable areas for the boxes but I welcome suggestions from any of our members
Bird Notes - April 2007
This winter has not been a particularly good one. I think the milder winters on mainland Europe have meant that we are getting less winter visitors. Siskins and redpolls have been few and far between and waxwings, which we have come to expect in recent years, have only been seen near the East Coast.
My favourite visitors this winter have been a delightful pair of stonechats which have been along the Ver just south of Redbournbury all through January. Stonechats are always very conspicuous as they tend to perch on fence rails or on the top of bushes waiting to drop down to feed on the ground. There is a photograph on the web site of the male stonechat taken by Ernie Leahy. We often get stonechats passing along the valley but they seldom stay very long. The wet meadows are an ideal habitat for wintering snipe and very few have been seen this winter. I have seen two green sandpipers, one in the flooded meadows to the south of Prae Mill and one near Redbournbury Farm.
Buzzards are now really common and provided the conditions are right I expect to see at least four on Ver walk these days. Buzzards prefer sunny dry days so they get good thermals on which to soar from mid morning onwards. If it is wet you are unlikely to see a buzzard.
The kestrels which have nested in the big oak on the green lane on the way to Porridge Pot Meadow for the last two years, raising 5 young, lost their nest to the winter gales. However recently I have seen a pair building a nest right at the top of the tree so hopefully they will have another successful breeding season.
Following the successful barn owl breeding last year when 5 young were fledged the Society has taken delivery of 3 more boxes. These have been made by members of the Watford RSPB Group and they have received a donation of £250 which will be channelled straight back into conservation. One of the boxes has been sponsored by a long term VVS member, Ron Such, as a memorial to his son Phil who died of Motor Neurone Disease five years ago. Phil who was only 38 was a sports journalist specialising in his major interest Rugby Union.
Two of the boxes will be sited near Shafford Mill and the third in a tree close to Kettlewell’s Farm. Kettlewell’s Farm are also making nesting platform for barn owls in one of their barns. This will mean we will have 6 nesting sites along the valley. Not all of these will be used for nesting but barn owls like alternative roosting spots. We hope to have another successful brood this year in at least one box.
Bird Notes - April 2007
It is not often we get a rare bird in Redbourn so it was a real surprise when a ring ouzel turned up in the Redbournbury Water Meadow one Monday morning in late April. Ring ouzels are the mountain version of the blackbird with a distinctive white collar and pale wing panels. They pass through the southern counties each spring on their way to their breeding areas in the uplands of Northern England and Scotland. Most springs I get to see them for a few days either at Stepps Hill near Ivinghoe Beacon or Blows Down in Dunstable. These are traditional stopping off points where they recharge before continuing their migration northwards.
April was very dry this year which meant that the usual sites were probably poor feeding areas so I think this bird found better conditions at this lower and damper site. This bird was first seen at about 7.30 am and remained in the area all day as it was seen again later that morning and in the early evening. I heard a report that it was seen on the Tuesday but after that it was not seen again. This was just a brief stop over by a very special visitor to Redbourn.
Male Ring Ouzel at Redbournbury Water Meadows
This splendid but solitary male ring ouzel was first seen at about 7.30 am on 23 April 2007feeding on the damp water meadows along with a pair of mistle thrushes. It was very wary and flew off into the nearby hedges at the slightest disturbance. This picture was taken by Ernie Leahy at about 7.00 pm in dismal light. These birds normally are found on high spots like the Ivinghoe Beacon and Dunstable Downs as they stop off on migration to their northerly upland breeding areas. The dry conditions this April have probably forced them down to lower and damper areas. For most people this will be their first ring ouzel in the Ver Valley - it was for me!
A pair of kestrels has nested again along the green lane which is a section of the Ver Valley Walk that runs from Harpenden Lane to Porridge Pot. For the last two years they have raised a total of 5 young in an old crow’s nest in a fork in the huge oak tree but during the winter gales the nest was blown out. Early this spring a pair of crows started building a nest at the top of this same tree and the kestrels, which will not build a nest from scratch, were battling to take over the nest. Eventually the crows won and were seen feeding their young in early June. The kestrels eventually moved to another crow’s nest in a smaller oak tree which had been used by probably the same crows last year. The kestrels also seem to be successfully raising a brood again in their new premises.
One of the VVS barn owl boxes has been used again this year and four fledglings were ringed in late June and another of the boxes was used by a pair of stock doves. After been seen along the valley this spring I was delighted to learn that a pair of tufted ducks had bred at Redbourn Fishery. No doubt the deeper water here suited this species of diving ducks. A few pairs of spotted flycatchers have been recorded and it is highly probable that they have bred. Lapwings which usually only breed in the Ver Valley in Gorhambury have been seen with young close to Redbournbury. This is the first time they have bred in this are for many years.
Many thanks to my artist friend Ernie Leahy for the sketch of two baby barn owls. There are pictures of the young barn owls and the young kestrels on the "gallery" page
If you read this and have any interesting bird sightings I would be pleased to hear from you on 01582 792843 or email john.fisher@btclick.com.
