Ringing Demonstration at Venus Pool
An opportunity to see birds up close and to learn more about them. Please see here for more details on this event.
Introduction to Birdwatching is a friendly and informal course to encourage learners to go birdwatching and increase both their knowledge and enjoyment of Shropshire ’s bird life. There will be an optional field trip to Venus Pool after the course to put the theory into practice.
The course starts at the Gateway Education & Arts Centre (SY1 1NB) on Tuesday 21 September 2010 and runs from 7.00pm to 9.00pm for five weeks. The course fee is £42.
By the end of the course you can expect to be able to do the following:
The course is taken by Martin George, a lifelong birdwatcher and professional wildlife adviser. He is an experienced trainer, a licensed bird ringer and a keen ‘local patch’ birdwatcher who enjoys helping people to get more out of their birdwatching.
For more information or to enroll call 01743 355159/361120.
Venus Pool has recently attracted some unwanted visitors in the evenings and there have been a number of intimidating incidents. As a result the Committee have decided that the Reserve will officially close at 6pm.
After this time the gate will be locked using a combination lock. Members of the SOS may still access the reserve in the evening but are asked to immediately lock the gate behind them after entering and also when leaving.
The first member to arrive in a morning should unlock the gate and leave it open with the closed lock attached. The police have been informed of the problems.
Tests by Defra have revealed that the two Peregrines found dead on Clee Hill on 6 May, were poisoned using Diazinon. The chemical is principally used in sheep dips. A number of people have been spoken to as part of an extensive investigation. One man was interviewed voluntarily, but no further action is to be taken against him. The investigation has now come to an end, although if further evidence comes to light it will be acted upon.
A reward of £1000 is offered for information which leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible. The money comes from The Shropshire Peregrine Group and donations from people outraged by the attack, many of whom live in Clee Hill village and nearby Ludlow.
John Turner from The Shropshire Peregrine Group can be contacted on 01743 821678.
It is important to report all wildlife offences and suspicious incidents to the police. The Crimestoppers number can be used, anonymously if you wish, 0800 555 111. In West Mercia you can also call 0300 333 3000 to discuss any wildlife crime. If an offence or incident is actually taking place 999 should be used. Note any car registrations nearby to help identify offenders.
The National Trust and the Long Mynd commoners have an Environmental Stewardship Higher Level Scheme agreement with Natural England to manage the hill sympathetically for wildlife. Several bird species have to be monitored as part of the agreement and the Ground-nesting Bird Recovery Project is monitoring Curlew, Snipe and Teal. If you see or hear any of these species on the Long Mynd, please telephone Leo Smith on 01588 638 577.
Leo Smith continues to monitor the growing population of Red Kites in Shropshire and has requested sightings be reported to him. See the Red Kites page for details.
The BTO has just launched some new pages on it's website which give details of the recoveries of ringed birds reported in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The summaries provide information on the numbers of birds ringed and reports (recoveries) of ringed birds received for the whole Ringing Scheme, covering Britain and Ireland, as well as broken down by country and county. Information is included on birds found during the selected year and for older recoveries (mostly from foreign schemes) that were received during the selected year. This is an invaluable resource so click on the link and select a year and Shropshire from the drop down menus to see the recoveries for our county.
The pages can be found at http://www.bto. org/ringing/ ringinfo/ recovery_ summaries. htm
The old plum hedge by the path to the hides is being replanted and has been the subject of some comment. The management team explain below what they are doing and why:
Hedges are a very valuable wildlife habitat which require regular management; the Society has an ongoing programme of hedgerow management at Venus Pool, which is partly funded through our Environmental Stewardship agreement with Natural England. Maintaining hedgerows is part of good farming practice, and their management is essential if these important landscape features are to retain their high wildlife value.
We are currently restoring two lengths of hedgerow on the Reserve, by cutting some plants off at ground level and some as three to four foot stumps, to encourage re growth. We will also be rabbit fencing the hedgerows and planting sapling hedgerow plants (such as hawthorn, blackthorn, dog rose, hazel, crab apple and wild plum) in the gaps. The resulting hedges should be thick and bushy, and, in time, they will be laid to provide both an impenetrable barrier to sheep and cattle, and a haven for wildlife.
Without appropriate management, hedges grow upwards and outwards and become tall and gappy with nothing in the bottom, and they eventually either fall over or become a line of trees. As part of our ongoing programme of hedgerow management, some of the hedges at Venus Pool, such as the one between the arable field and the little meadow at Cound Stank, are recently planted, whereas others have been partly restored; when you walk along the hedgerow in the arable field, towards the big oak tree, you will see lots of re growth and new saplings starting to fill the gaps. Other hedges, such as the plum hedge on the way down to the hides, are over-mature and in danger of collapsing; if this happens, we will lose the whole hedge. The current restoration work on the plum hedge should ensure that re growth takes place and that there is a flourishing plum hedge at Venus Pool in the future.
Details of new courses for birdwatchers in Shropshire are now available.
Introduction to Bird Watching and Conservation 2010
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This course is aimed at
beginners and people who want to increase their knowledge of birds and their
ability to find and recognise them in the field. It is organised by The National
Trust, together with the Church Stretton branch of Shropshire Ornithological
Society (SOS), supported by the Biodiversity Training Project.
More
Bird Watching and Conservation
2010
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This course is aimed at people who have already done some
birdwatching and want to improve their knowledge and their ability to find and
recognise birds in the field. It has been designed partly for people who want to
progress from the Introduction to
Birdwatching and Conservation course run in 2009, but anyone else who can
already identify most of the common British Birds can join too. It
is organised by The National Trust, together with the Church Stretton branch of
Shropshire Ornithological Society (SOS), and supported by the Biodiversity
Training Project. In addition to the birds, emphasis will be placed on
opportunities to join other local organisations (or local branches of national
Organisations), to do more birdwatching, and (for those who are interested) to
get involved in some practical conservation work.
read
more
There have been several postings recently on Shropshire Birds (the Yahoo Group) regarding the future of Chelmarsh and the Society “taking it on”. This is premature, and the only involvement so far has been limited.
The Shropshire Wildlife
Trust decided not to renew their agreement with South Staffs Water when it
expired but suggested to
the Company that the SOS may be interested in having a greater involvement
because we had originally been co-signatories to the agreement. As result,
South Staffs Water's agents wrote to Peter Deans asking whether we would have
any interest in the site. In our reply, we have confirmed that we are
interested in working with the Company, particularly in terms of maintaining the
ringing on the site, maintaining the scrape and provided some sort of access.
This is many miles from
‘taking on’ Chelmarsh and we are not even sure that this is something that
South Staffs Water want. They have their own biodiversity duty etc and it
may be that they would wish to retain control themselves, but work with the
Society. From the Society’s perspective, we are obviously keen to
maintain some involvement in Chelmarsh and look to secure improvements.
This may involve entering into an agreement with South Staffs Water, providing
that the terms were not too onerous, but this seems some way off at the moment.
We will certainly endeavour
to keep people informed if there are any developments.
Graham Walker (Chairman, SOS Conservation Sub-committee)
The Wetland bird Survey (WeBS) commenced in 1947 to: (i) determine the status of wildfowl in the UK and (ii) ascertain any long term population trends. WeBS is presently administered by the BTO in partnership with the WWT-RSPB-JNCC. WeBS has been extended to monitor all waterbird species: divers, grebes, cormorants, herons, swans, ducks, rails, waders, gulls, terns and kingfisher at inland and coastal habitats throughout the year but primarily during September-March. More volunteer observers are required for this important work - for fuller detail click here
Geoff Holmes, County Recorder, has advised the following changes to the list of species for which a written description is required - this list has been amended on this website.
WHOOPER SWAN - Description NOT required for birds recorded in the area of the Severn/Vyrnwy confluence.
HEN HARRIER - Descriptions may not be required for records during the winter months.
EURASIAN DOTTEREL - A description is now required for this species.
YELLOW-LEGGED GULL - Description NOT required for this species.
WHITE WAGTAIL - A description will be required for most birds other than full adult males.
COMMON REDPOLL - A description is now required for this species.
We are occasionally asked why we do not allow dogs at Venus Pool - evidence is now available that shows that the presence of dogs can reduce the number of birds present by 41% compared to the effect of walkers which reduced numbers by less tha 20% (that is without the use of hides). Birds see dogs as potential predators and leave the area - not a habit we want to encourage at Venus Pool. The news item can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6978272.stm
Members will be pleased to learn that the BIRDGUIDES Photo of the Year 2008 award included two pictures from Jim Almond amongst the 'Runners up'. Well over 26,000 images were submitted and Jim had two in the final 10 shortlist, including one of a Cormorant catching fry taken locally at Venus Pool. The other image featured a Hobby taken at Holkham, Norfolk on arrival for the October SOS field trip. Any one who has seen the fine selection of pictures that he has submitted to this website and displayed on his blog will know that the awards were well deserved. Another 'Runner up' who has supplied pictures for the SOS website was John Robinson with a Green Woodpecker in Wyre Forest. The pictures below have been reduced so to see the winning picture and all the 'Runners up' in top quality together with the judges comments click here
Cormorant at Venus Pool 24 August 2008, juvenile Hobby at Holkham, Norfolk 16 October 2008 (photos Jim Almond) and Green Woodpecker in Wyre Forest 2008 (photo John Robinson)
