Please note the FINAL CUT OFF DATE for the next issue is THE LAST WEEKEND of October 2016.

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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RSPB North West Surrey Local Group

letter         2016 - 3Group Web Site -* rspb.org.uk/groups/nwsurrey

The views expressed by contributors to this newsletter are not necessarily those of the Committee, the Editor, or the RSPB.

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COMMITTEE CHATWelcome to our autumn newsletter, an edition which accurately reflects the varied bird and nature relatedactivities of our group.

We have reached out into the community, spreading the word at Wisley, Cobham, Shepperton andelsewhere.

Indoor talks and outdoor walks have attracted many members and visitors.

The newsletter probably features a greater variety of contributors than ever, reflecting your enthusiasmboth to participate in and support our activities. The good news is that there is plenty more to enjoy in thecoming months.

The topics at our indoor meetings are varied and our new venue is a great improvement so do comealong. The midweek and weekend outdoor walks will take you to good birding locations in excellentcompany. And we are being welcomed back to local events which were so successful last year.

Congratulations to Alan Sharps our new group leader. Our committee structure remains in place withcommittee members responsible for different aspects, and under Alan's dynamic leadership we willcontinue to thrive. So do take advantage of the activities listed below. You will thoroughly enjoy them.

The Committee.

AGM Info :: Members’ Submissions :: Ins & Outs :: Nature Ramblings :: Book Review  :: Future Events

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTWe are delighted to inform members that we have agreed to hire a new hall for our indoor meetings fromSeptember.You will recall that St James church moved us to their smaller hall when they agreed a weekly booking onWednesday evenings for the dancing group. We always felt that the new hall was too cramped for ourmeetings and have been endeavouring to find a better facility. We have now succeeded.From our September meeting we will be in the hall of the Catholic Church, Christ the Prince of Peace,Portmore Lane Weybridge, KT13 8JD.As you will see from the photo, the hall is spacious with a wellpositioned visible screen and comfortable chairs, and all othernecessary facilities. Greater capacity will enable us to attempt togrow our audiences in the coming season and will provide a betterexperience for us all.The hall is situated a stone's throw from St James church and there isample parking on site. A map, should you need it, has been placedfor reference in Geoff’s ‘Spiel Chucker’ piece. We have a greatindoor program for next year, so keep those Wednesdays free.

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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Our next three Indoor MeetingsWednesday 28th September Birds in a Cage by Derek Neimann.

Four men who were to become renowned ornithologists were captured while behind enemy lines and became prisoners of warin Nazi Germany. Their love of birds and nature helped them through this desperate time. Derek’s talk tells their stories whileimprisoned and follows their various destinies after the war.

Wednesday 26th October Lammergeiers of the Spanish Pyrenees by * Ashley Grove.A welcome return for genial Ashley whose brilliant images and humorous delivery have entertained us twice in the past. Herehe explains the life history of a charismatic bird, and the beautiful mountainous landscapes it shares with other birds.

Wednesday 23rd November The Birds of Ancient Egypt, by John Wyatt.John is both an Egyptologist and ornithologist and has combined his specialisms to discover 245 species recorded from theage of the pharaohs. Hear how birds were selected for hieroglyphs, as food, in art, and for mummification.

Come along to our new venue,* Christ The Prince Of Peace Church Hall, Portmore Way, WEYBRIDGE, Surrey, KT13 8JD.

The doors open at 7.15 pm for 7.45 to 10 pm meeting. Parking is available just outside.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALOur new membership year starts on 1st September and, if you receive this Newsletter in printed form,there will be a Renewal Form with it.

If you receive the Newsletter electronically, a Renewal Form will be e-mailed to you.

Please would you return the completed form to the Membership Secretary in order to keep our records upto date.

If you do not currently pay your subscription by standing order a mandate will accompany your Newsletter,it would be appreciated if you would consider using this method.

Cryptic Clue Bird QuizSee if you can identify the birds from these clues…

1 Gathering blackberries2 Rampant GI

3 Down on the bed4 Ryan Giggs perhaps

5 Bottom’s job6 Pantin’

7 Not a zebra8 Sign of a death sentence

9 ENOTS10 The “Watchman” followed eventually

11 Carpet pile12 Champion angler

13 Royal chocolate biscuit14 Found on a chess board

15 London Marathon competitor16 Get Ann wobbly if she overeats

17 One does not make a summer18 Ed Sheeran, Chris Evans or Rula Lenska

19 Result of a high collar in summer20 Half a match maker

The answers to the above questions are to be found later in this newsletter on page 11.

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© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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Members’ SubmissionsDictionary of the Thames, 1893 - Ornithology

This is the second in a series of segments, as submitted by Peter Bailey.They were photocopied from an old book, as per the title date, although a reprinted version.It is thought you might like to make a comparison with the way things are today, and it should make for fascinating reading.

Wherever a thick bed of osiers, often fringed with the foliage of the purple loosestrife, affords concealment and a convenientnesting-place, we are sure to find a few Moorhens, their white flank feathers contrasting prettily with their dark bodies andgreen legs, as, scuttling in from mid-stream at our approach, they seek shelter amongst the dense undergrowth. Dabchicks,or Little Grebes, are occasionally to be met with, but they are so uncommonly wary, and dive so quickly at the approach of anintruder, that we seldom get more than a momentary glimpse of them.Nor do we often get very near to a Heron, whose long neck and long legs enable him to see over the tall rank herbage in whichhe stands; and at the first sign of danger he is off. Early morning, or twilight, is the time at which to find herons by the riverside- that is, on the Upper Thames. Lower down, about Barking or Rainham, these birds may be met with at all times of the day inthe marshes adjoining the river, as well as in the creeks and on the mud-flats around Canvey Island. There are severalheronries in proximity to the Thames, from which these birds come to fish. In Oxfordshire there is a small colony in Far Wood,Southleigh, the seat of Colonel Harcourt. A pair or two used to breed about Henley, but nowhere in sufficient numbers to beworthy the name of a heronry. In Berkshire there used to be two colonies in Windsor Great Park, but we are not sure whetherthey are still preserved. At Coley Park, near Reading, the seat of Mr. J. B. Monck, a pair of herons, about the year 1834, builttheir nest on the top of a fine lime in the park, growing on a small island close to the Holybrook, and not far from the Kennet.This pair having brought off their young in safety, departed with them the following autumn; but in January of the succeedingyear they all returned, and during the next month they actively commenced founding the colony, which has gone on graduallyincreasing to the present time. Mr. Monck was so well pleased with these new visitors locating themselves in view of thehouse, that he not only ordered his servants to leave them unmolested, but also inserted a clause to the same effect in thelease of a neighbouring tenant. So numerous are the nests on these trees from successive repairs and additions during eachsucceeding year, that many of them touch one another; and such is the quantity of sticks heaped together, that many of themare actually a yard in height. These nests remain throughout the winter, and at a distance look like a gigantic rookery.Notwithstanding the contiguity of the two branch railways to Newbury and Basingstoke from Reading, which run within a shortdistance of the heronry, the birds do not seem to be in the least disturbed by the change which has taken place in the formerquietude and seclusion of this once retired spot. About the year 1845 a few emigrants from the original stock establishedthemselves in some large beech-trees in a wood about three miles distant, and within half a mile of the Thames.

In Buckinghamshire Sir W. Clayton can boast of a heronry at Harleyford, and a few years ago a pair of herons nested in anoak at Fawley Court, not far from Henley; but the young were taken, and they deserted the spot.

In the metropolitan county there were formerly two heronries - one at Uxbridge, and another at Osterly Park, the seat of LordJersey. The last-named, however, has ceased to exist, and, we believe, also the former.

In Surrey there are, at least, two heronries at no great distance from the Thames. In Ashley Park, Walton-on-Thames, the seatof Sir Henry Fletcher, the nests are built in some of the finest fir-trees in the kingdom. Mr. Jesse relates that a young bird fromthis heronry, having fallen out of the nest, was taken away in the evening by a gentleman, who carried it to his house at somemiles' distance, and turned it into a walled garden that night. The next morning one of the old birds was seen to feed it, andcontinued to do so until the young one made its escape. The parent bird must have gone over a considerable extent of groundin search of it There is a second heronry in this county at Cobham Park, the residence of Mr. Harvey Coombe; and there wasformerly another at Oatlands, near Weybridge.

A large assemblage of herons takes place at certain times of the year in Richmond Park, where as many as 50 or 60 havebeen counted at one time. Sometimes they may be seen on the tops of trees, and at others on the ground at a distance fromthe ponds, appearing perfectly motionless till they are disturbed.

This assemblage is very curious. There seems to be no reason why they should congregate and remain for so long a time inthe listless manner observed. It is seldom that one sees more than two or three herons together in one place, except at aheronry, and then only when they are matching for their prey.

In Kent, at Cobham Hall, near Gravesend, the Earl of Darnley has an old established heronry, which we visited not long since.Here about thirty nests are built, chiefly on ash-trees, and the birds always depart in the autumn, to return again the followingspring. In the same county there are heronries at Penshurst Park, and Chilham Park, near Canterbury, the residence of Mr.Charles Hardy. At the last-named place as many as eighty nests have been counted in close proximity. On the opposite sideof the river, in Essex, there is a colony of these birds at Wanstead Park, the seat of Lord Cowley. Five-and-twenty years agothe herons here tenanted some trees at a different spot in the park. They now occupy some tall elms and wych-elms upon anisland in the largest sheet of water.

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When we last visited this spot we estimated that there were about thirty pairs nesting here. Farther inland, near Chelmsford,is a heronry belonging to Sir John Tyrell. Although 13 or 14 miles from the river in a direct line, it is probable that most of theherons which are seen about Canvey Island, at the mouth of the Thames, come from this heronry, as well as from Wansteadand from Cobham Hall.

These birds travel great distances to and from their feeding-grounds. We have met with them at times more than 20 milesaway from home. Several instances have come to our knowledge of herons having been caught with trimmers set for pike, andthe head-keeper at Hampton Court Park once found one which was caught by the beak; a vermin-trap.

Another fisher on the Thames, although a much smaller one, is the Kingfisher, one of the handsomest of British birds, quitetropical, indeed, in his bright blue and orange plumage. These birds frequent the backwaters of the Thames, where the wateris shallow and still, and where they can easily see their tiny prey. Occasionally, however, as we push our boat noiselesslyround a bend of the river, we may see one sitting on an overhanging bough or a drooping osier. But he does not stay long. Aflash of bright blue, and away he speeds in a line so straight, and at a pace so swift, that the eye can scarcely follow him.

To be continued…The book, ‘Dickens's Dictionary of the Thames 1887, from Its Source to the Nore: An Unconventional Handbook ’

was written by Charles Culliford Boz Dickens (1837-1896), son of THE Charles Dickens.This article / section is from a reprinted copy from 1893.

The Ins and the Outs* RHS Wisley23rd April 2016

Following the last couple of years of successful events at the RHS Wisley gardens, we were invited back in April to lead RHSmembers on some gentle bird watching walks. We had some 26 people this year, double previous walks, and therefore wesplit into two groups, one led by Frank and me, one by Peter and Geoff.

Across the two groups, all the common garden and parkland birds were in good numbers and indeed in good voice. Robinsseemed to be everywhere with dunnocks and wrens in good numbers throughout. A good thrush day with blackbirds singingwell and smaller numbers of mistle thrush joining in. Both groups enjoyed what I suspect was the same song thrush, singingits heart out at the very top of a tall tree.

Other birds common to both groups included great spotted woodpeckers, some enjoying prolonged and close views oftreecreeper, blue, great and long tailed tits and on the Glasshouse Pool, a pair of tufted ducks and up to three little grebes.Near the bird hide were a nesting mute swan, canada goose and a moorhen carrying nesting material. An unexpected but verywelcome sighting in many ways was a displaying lapwing over the adjacent gold course and indeed over the fruit trees in thegarden itself.

It’s summer of course so some warblers were in evidence with blackcap, chiffchaff and a single willow warbler plus swallow,house and briefly, sand martins. Our guests for the day all seemed to enjoy the experience, not to mention the full Englishbreakfast at the end of it and in the shop, Mick led the team with pin badge sales and talking to anyone that came in reach.The morning should add £220 to our fundraising but the goodwill earned, is priceless.

Neil Bew

RSPB NW SURREY SPRING FAYRE7 May 2016

Fortunately the weather was fine as car loads of books, plants, cakes, conserves and bric-a-brac turned up at SheppertonVillage Hall. In no time the regulars in the Group had the tables up, urn set to boil and goods arrayed. The motley assortmentthat is bric-a-brac was sorted into new, children’s, candles etc by Andrea, Sue and Penny and sold well, raising £179.65.

Sylvia, Richard and Peter ran the plant stall, with much of their stock being sold outside to attract visitors, a ruse that clearlyworked as £111.40 was raised. They sold out completely (and could have sold more sticks of rhubarb than Geoffrey Boycott’sgrandma could have hit a cricket ball with!). The produce stall, with delicious homemade cakes and jams for sale was run byHeather, with help from Hazel, who also did refreshments, and Marion when she wasn’t tin rattling outside with GrahamMcMullen and Simon Lumsden. It raised £112.85, a total just beaten by the street collection which amassed £113.95.

The children’s tombola and adult tombola each raised over £40, with Graham Horsbrugh and Ruth delighted to quadruple lastyear’s takings. Jean had a couple of late arrivals who won several prizes each on the tombola – so if you want to win wait untilthere are fewer tickets to draw! Less successful was the book stall where Neil and Nigel took £29.75, proving that Kindlesrule. However, Nigel sold £30 worth of bird food and donated feeders which helped. Graham Carey’s lovely cards and framedpictures made £21 and Ron’s superbly made birdboxes raised £37.50.

It was one of Ron’s beautiful bird tables that topped the list of raffle prizes. Other prizes were kindly donated by Thorpe Park,

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Great Cockcrow Railway, Garson’s Farm and Aziatics and Daines & Gray (who trade in Shepperton High Street) and MichaelCooper. The raffle made £143 which, with refreshment money, pin badge sales of £20, donations and all brought the total to£918.44 (£822.44 net). A good morning’s work by all involved, and thanks to everyone – you know who you are!

The highlight of the morning was presentation of awards to the children who had entered the painting competition. Five localschools entered a total of 40 paintings by pupils in two age groups:

Group 1. Children from Year 3 to Year 6: BRITISH WILDLIFEGroup 2. Children from Reception to Year 2: GARDEN WILDLIFE

We were delighted to welcome Caroline Spencer back to judge the entries, which were of a high standard. Several of thechildren came with their families to hear the results.

In Group 1: Winner - Daphne Morris, St. James C of E Primary School, WeybridgeRunner up – Theo Kay, Saxon Primary School, SheppertonHighly Commended – Sophie Wills, Manor Mead School

In Group 2: Winner – Saffron Bannister, St. Nicholas C of E Primary School, SheppertonRunner up – Libby Medes, Manor Mead SchoolHighly Commended – Olivia Hare, Littleton C of E Primary School

Each entrant received acertificate and winners andrunners up received prizes whichincluded one year’s membershipof the RSPB Wildlife Explorer’sClub and tickets for Thorpe Park,Hobbledown, Birdworld orBocketts Farm, plus gifts ofRSPB goodies.

A busy but successful morningwhich generated a lot of interestin joining the Group and someuseful funds for the RSPB.

FOR YOUR DIARY: the 2017 Fayre will be in Shepperton on 6th May.Permission has been granted to use images of the children here.

Shirley Scott

Mid-week Walk at * Papercourt onTuesday, 10th May 2016

Weather: Wet. Drizzle changing to moderate rain before gradually clearing. 16C.

Steve, Nigel and I where the only takers on this walk. Given the doom-laden weather forecast the night before that was,perhaps, hardly surprising. Semi-gridlock around West Byfleet saw my normally easy 15 minute run take double that time -sorry for my late arrival guys. Highlights as follows.

A quick check around the car park and along the road produced a roe deer, whitethroat, reed warbler, cormorant, heron and agroup of Canadas with a least one tiny ginger gosling. Next it was the walk across the grazing marsh to Papercourt Lockduring which we added sedge warbler, reed bunting and stock dove to the list. With the rain becoming more determined weheaded under the shelter of the woodland strip towards the industrial estate. Thissection added a treecreeper, greater spotted woodpecker and a blackcap plusoverhead swifts, house martins and the occasional swallow.

Heading now towards the southern edge of the Papercourt Marshes reserve, past asinging skylark, the rain eased and eventually stopped and we found goldfinches anda long-tailed tit along the green lane and at least four male tufted ducks were on thefirst lake of the reserve. Further on a song thrush was singing well, but out of sightand the main reed bed area only added a pair of jays, while a grey wagtail presenteditself as we reached the road.

A distant scope view of the pond behind the sailing club gave us a little grebe and themain lake held several great crested grebes, pochard and nest-building coots. Afterside-stepping a group of anglers who had just landed a 28lb carp, we heard a singinggarden warbler in the lakeside scrub which eventually showed itself and confirmed

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Daphne Morris,                        Theo Kay,                        Caitlin Laiv ier                    and  Caroline Spencer

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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that the house sparrow colony still survives by the first house. Heading back to the cars we added a pair of Egyptian geese toround off the morning with a species total of just over 50 – not bad for a rainy day.

A more detailed account of this walk can be found on the web site.Peter Hambrook

Photo of a swift in flight, taken by Peter Hambrook

Twenty Places To See Before You Die, by Keith Betton.Wednesday, 25th May 2016.

If you want a guide to some of the best places in the world to see birds you can’t do much better than invite Keith Betton tospeak to you. Keith has spent a lifetime in travel, becoming Director of ABTA, combining this with a lifelong interest inbirding. Keith reminded us that he had founded the Richmond & Twickenham RSPB Group in his late teens before going onto be an RSPB Council Member and a Vice-President of the BTO. He is also a former Chairman of the African Bird Club sowas able to take us around the world in birds.With all that knowledge and experience it wasn’t a surprise that the evening was a wonderfully illustrated, amusing guide tosome of the finest birding areas in the world, starting in the UK but ranging far and wide in search of some of the world’sfinest birding spectacles. Starting in Europe Keith took us first to Shetland where the star bird was the Arctic Tern, a bird thatsees two summers every year and has the longest migration of any bird (correct at time of writing!). Reminding us that youdon’t have to go far to see excellent birds Keith then took us to the Netherlands with the Honey Buzzard our target bird beforeending Europe in the Donana National Park in Spain where the rare Spanish Imperial Eagle is the target.

We then flew to the Far East starting in Thailand where Keith told a wonderful story of finding Gurney’s Pitta, a bird that wasthe subject of a Birdfair some years back but is less endangered since a large population was discovered in Myanmar. It wasthen off to Bhutan where the visa is very expensive but actually covers your accommodation and food costs as well as viewsof alpine accentor, breeding higher than any other known bird. Over the Himalayas we went, following bar-headed geese, toChina and the Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (not what the Chinese call it!).

From the Far East we made a quick trip to Africa which left us wondering how Keith limited himself to just three countries.We visited Uganda and saw the remarkable behaviour of the Honey Guide which finds bees’ or wasps’ and then bringsmammals to predate the nest, benefitting from the disturbance to feed itself. On to the Seychelles for the Sooty Tern before atrip to Madagascar, one of the world’s wildlife hotspots, where Keith chose the Blue Vanga as the target bird, a wonderfullycolourful endemic. Sadly Keith urged us to visit quickly as the island has already lost 80% of its forests and what is left ischopped up into small clumps.

From Africa we leapt to the Americas, starting in Alaska with the Boreal Owl before moving south To California and theMountain Bluebird then east to Colorado and the Greater Prairie Chicken then south again to Texas and the WhoopingCrane, a great conservation success story having recovered from low levels to a sustainable population. We headed down toSouth America, to Peru where the Cock of the Rock is a remarkable sight before heading to the Galapagos and the HoodMockingbird which has so little fear of humans that it will stand in your shadow to get out of the sun on Espanola, its onlyhome.

Keith kept us enthused right to the end, hopping across to Australasia, starting in Papua New Guinea with many people’sfavourite bird of the night, the King of Saxony Bird of Paradise. Australia and the Satin Bowerbird were next, followed by NewZealand and the Kea before Keith finished in Antarctica with the Snow Petrel.

Although at least one person in the audience had been to every area, we were all left with an extra list of places to visit,inspired by some excellent photographs and some excellent tour and bird information from Keith. This was an eveningthoroughly enjoyed by all who attended, not Keith’s first visit as he had spoken to our Group in the 1980s and it was hopedby many present that we wouldn’t leave it so long again to hear from such an excellent, knowledgeable speaker.

Nigel Scott

Mid-week Walk at * Thursley Common2nd June 2016

Weather: Cold and windy, becoming warmer max 13C.The weather felt more like December than June as seven of us gathered at the Moat Pondcar park. A wren was calling unseen in the bushes and a curlew could be heard out onthe reserve, while a goldcrest was heard by those with keener hearing than mine,showing itself briefly.

Out on the main boardwalk we heard a whitethroat but that too remained hidden. The firstpond held three tufted ducks and the curlew, while house martins were seen distantly,hunting in the lee of trees. Moving on we started finding some of the specialists of thishabitat with a linnet, a female redstart and a briefly seen flying cuckoo. Parish Field held

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

a stonechat, two woodlarks, a few jays and further redstarts as wemoved up the eastern side and a buzzard was taking advantage ofthe wind to just hang nearly motionless in the air. Another cuckoowas seen and then heard, before flying down to feed not far from usas we walked back through the middle of the field, allowing us someten minutes to admire it. Also seen here were two mistle thrushes, asong thrush and lots of rabbits, while a green woodpecker was heardclose by.

Walking back to the cars we came across a chiffchaff, a willowwarbler, two swifts, several more stonechats and linnets, plus ameadow pipit. For some unknown reason, the top section of one ofthe pylons (No.36) that used to cross the common has been set inconcrete at the junction with the boardwalk from Shrike Hill back tothe car park – seems an odd thing to do on a nature reserve.

Thanks to all for your company and bird-spotting abilities. Please see the web site for the full version of this report.Peter Hambrook

First photo of the seen cuckoo was taken by Steve Williams The second photo was provided by Graham Carey

Nightjar Walk on * Horsell CommonFriday 17th June 2016

Eighteen members joined me for our annual search for nightjar on Horsell Common, led by Simon Lumsden. As usual, westarted by heading through the pine and birch woodland towards the land behind McLaren Racing. Those woods yieldedchiffchaff, blackcap and a single willow warbler, all singing but none seen! Also still brightening up the soundscape weresinging song thrushes, indeed they barely seemed to stop throughout the evening.

The McLaren land is a large, rolling meadow although this year, it seemed more grasses than flowers. That didn’t put off themeadow pipits that evidently breed there and the single swift overhead.

At about 9.30pm, we moved onto the common proper, short of gorse perhaps but with a goodcovering of heather, certainly enough for the resident stonechat. I am unsure if any of the groupmanaged to see a Dartford warbler but they are there. It was then a case of waiting and listeningout for the ‘churring’ song of the males and it is fair to say they kept us waiting for a while. Onthe other hand, whilst we were awaiting the main act, the support turned up in the shape of aroding woodcock, a bird we had missed the last couple of years.

Then the wait was over and we heard the churring, one quite distant and then a second startedup a little closer. It is when the churring stops that you start looking because then they might bein flight with an equally distinct flight call. This one duly obliged and gave the group good if fairlybrief flight views. This bird then perched on an outstretched branch in classic pose, long enough for some of the group to getviews through Ron’s scope.

We heard a few more nightjar and saw one more in the gathering dusk before heading back. An ultimately successful eveningin perhaps less than ideal conditions, underlined when the heavens opened not too long after we finished!

Neil BewArtwork from RSPB Images

Mid-week Walk at * Bookham CommonsThursday 7 July 2016

Weather: Dry and partly overcast but cool. 18C.Due to the wet weather this spring and summer, many of the minor tracks were known to beextremely muddy, so we decided to stick to the solid paths.

Surprisingly there was still a fair bit of birdsong, albeit somewhat subdued, and we eventuallysaw most things including bullfinch, chiffchaff, blackcap, whitethroat, goldfinch, treecreeper,nuthatch, marsh tit and coal tit plus family parties of greenfinch and wren among the otherpasserines. Others included two kestrels, three little grebes, an immature heron, a very briefglimpse of a kingfisher, a pair of mute swans and a stock dove plus the usual crows and waterbirds.

The cool conditions were not ideal for butterflies but we saw lots of ringlets and meadowbrowns, a large white, a large skipper, several white admirals and silver-washed fritillarys. AlsoEmperor and brown hawker dragonflies and what was probably a mixture of azure andcommon blue damselflies. Peter Hambrook

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* Knaphill Village ShowSaturday 16th July 2016

We had a very enjoyable day manning our RSPB Local Group stand at Knaphill. The sun shone and hats and suncream werethe order of the day, quite a rarity so far this summer. The day started well when we met Sue, the organiser, and werepleased to be allowed to have our tombola out. Mick had all the tombola equipment in his 'just in case’ pocket and at the endof the day the tombola was fully sold out!!

We welcomed three new volunteers, Penny, John and Steve who all enjoyed theday, and they joined Mick, Sue, Marion and myself. It was not a huge event butthere were certainly plenty of people and there was a lovely 'village’ feel about itwith lots of young families and others enjoying the warm weather, music, MorrisDancing, dog show, Mizzens Railway and all the other stalls that the event hadto offer. This is an event the Group would be very pleased to be involved in nextyear.

We raised a total of £62.25 on the stand and several people took away detailsand hoped to come along to our next indoor meeting.

A huge thank you to those who gave their time today to make this a verysuccessful event.

Alan SharpsPhoto by Mick Cooper

Finnish Facts

Earlier this year in late May, Marion and I enjoyed a great organisedbird watching holiday in Finland and Norway. We were part of a groupof six with a guide/driver. I won’t bore you with all of the amazing birdsthat we saw (around 170 species) but thought you may be interestedin some of the facts and figures of these two countries.

Starting first with Finland. It has a population of 5.5 million peoplecompared with the UK’s 65 million. It has a land area of 390,920square kilometres compared with UK’s 243,610 square kilometres.Finland has 188,000 lakes and forests (mainly pine and spruce) cover68% of the country. The capital Helsinki, in the south of the country,can experience temperatures as low as -14C in January and as highas 26C in July.

Soon after our arrival one of the group asked our guide at what timedoes it get dark to which he answered August!! At the time of our visitit didn’t really get dark and as we crossed the Arctic Circle and wentfurther north the sun did not set. This was most fortunate as you doreally need to be up and out at 3 am to see hazel grouse!!

Our visit to Norway was to the Varanger Peninsula and Fjord which isin the very north east of the country and it is claimed that it is theworld’s easiest accessible arctic birding destination. It was certainlynoticeably colder here and the sun shone all night long, cloudpermitting. The

habitat was a mix of northern taiga, tundra and arctic coastline andthere were still plenty of snow pockets left on the hills. During thewinter up to 15,000 King Eider and hundreds of Steller’s Eider can beseen. Unfortunately for us they have been departing earlier and earlierin recent years and although the reason is not fully understood it isthought that climate change may be a contributory factor. There wereno Steller’s Eider reported while we there and we only managed to seea small group of 5 King Eider on our very last day in the area.

I will rewind back to the beginning where we started in Oulu. One of theprime drivers for this trip were the northern owls. We managed greatgrey owl, a female on an old goshawk nest, not a good view and wewere unable to find the male. On to another wooded area andapproaching a known nesting site very quietly and cautiously we heardwhat sounded like a barking dog. It was a ural owl gliding silently

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© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

through the trees. We had really good views of this bird whilst making sure that we all kept together as it does have areputation for being very aggressive around the nest site. Over the three days we were in this area we also saw pygmy owl,about the same size as a starling, low down on a branch and completely unfazed by our presence. We also found atengmalm’s owl peeping out it’s nest hole and a pair of hawk owls with male passing food to the female near the nest site.

This was a really enjoyable twelve day trip and we would unhesitatingly recommend the area to anyone interested in wild,lowly populated area’s with stunning scenery and some really great birds.

We did have some other interesting encounters and I will try to scribble a few more paragraphs for the next Newsletter.Alan Sharps

Photos of a hawk owl and Tengmalms owl (above) by Colin Kirkland

A Yorkshire Weekend

I believe it is common knowledgethat black grouse are no longer acommon bird on Staines Moor,with this in mind I was asked toorganise a trip up to Yorkshire. Ithought “this is jolly trusting ofthem”.

At 4 pm on Friday 13th May, Geoff,Frank and myself set off for mysister’s in Leeds. Six hours later at10 pm we pulled up outside theirhouse; not a good journey. Nextmorning at 5.30 the five of us setoff (Sally and Terry are both birdwatchers) for a two hour drive toNorth Yorkshire and a black grousesite that Terry (in his words) hasnever failed to see them at. We gotto the area and Terry says “go pastthe pub round the bend and theywill be in the field on the right. So we go past the pub, round the bend and on the field on the right what we have got? Eleven -yes eleven male black grouse feeding with good views and they were quite close.

We moved along to the side road just to see if we could get a closer view, but it was about the same. We then moved on tothe wonderfully named “Cow Green Reservoir”. This was for Sally as it is well known for spring gentian. Almost as soon as wearrived we started to pick up gentian. Sadly no ring ouzel which nests here were around, but we did get red grouse.

As we had seen red grouse we moved on to our last stop for the day which was Bolton Abbey. We parked at the “Strid” carpark; Sally and Terry had checked out the site the week before and found all the birds we wanted. Before moving off we had asandwich kindly supplied by Sally and while enjoying these Frank picked up a spotted flycatcher. We set off for the river andas soon as we got there Geoff found another spotted flycatcher, and then in the same spot Terry found us pied flycatcher. Infact we ended up with four pied and two spotted, or at least I did - the others got a few more! A little way up the river we gotonto a redstart. We carried on walking to the bridge where we were to cross the river and saw dipper on the rocks. Frank then

noticed that it was in fact feeding a youngster that was hiddenunder the bank. One bird left to go. We had only gone a littleway down the path when we heard the wood warbler calling,but could we find it? We left it still calling and moved off to thesecond site, again it was calling but then it showed itself andgave us good views for about fifteen minutes. That was it forSaturday apart from a family of wild boar.

Sunday was the exact opposite as we missed out on thethrush nightingale at Spurn, but got onto red-backed shrike. Itwas then over to * RSPB Blacktoft Sands for the montagu’sharrier. Sadly we missed this, but found a garganey. It wasthen off to Little Paxton Pits which was sort of on the wayhome for the great reed warbler which after about an hour gaveus good views. Thanks to Sally and Terry for putting us up andfeeding us.

Michael Cooper

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© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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Book ReviewFingers In The Sparkle Jar by Chris Packham

For those who are expecting the traditional type of autobiography then this book will come as a surprise as it is more of amemoir, also the style and the lack of photographs is definitely “non-traditional”. Chris Packham traces his childhood in thelatter part of the 1960s and most of the 1970s with a narrative that switches between the first and third person as well asmoving backwards and forwards in time.

Some chapters relate to a specific day and with any other author, a certain amount of “literary licence” might be assumed butprobably not with Chris Packham. The book provides an insight into his love of dinosaurs as well as including details abouthis relationship and interaction with more “current” wildlife and a little about his love of “punk” rock.

Arguably more importantly, it gives an insight into how someone with Asperger’s sees the world.

The story referring to the use of a teaspoonful of tadpoles as an “amuse-bouche” has apparently given rise to some comment in the media; howeverthere may be some who, at the same age, thought about doing the same butnever had the courage!

Packham’s affection for foxes is evident from his comments on Springwatchand Autumnwatch and this book provides some interesting background to this.Within the book, he tells of regularly climbing out of his bedroom window to goand observe foxes at a local den site. This was done “safe” in the knowledgethat his parents had no idea what was happening. Needless to say they werewell aware. Another encounter with a fox caught in a snare provides a lesspleasurable experience.

There are some more sombre narratives that serve as a reminder about howcruel children can be to those they perceive as being “different”. There are a fewsections that cover what appear to be recent meetings with a psychiatrist inrelation to Asperger’s.

The main topic of the memoirs and arguably Packham’s early life relate to hispet kestrel and, rather than do an injustice to his story, I’ll not attempt tosummarise it but leave it up to you to read it.

In summary, this is an interesting and thought provoking read but mostimportantly, it’s well worth it.

Published by Ebury Press; read in hardback; ISBN 1785033484; RRP £20.Reviewed by Alan Pugh.

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Neil’s Birdwatching Blog

‘I have been bird watching forsome 30 years but takingphotographs for just a short while.

The blog is intended to follow myregular birding (with the oddbutterfly and dragon) through thecoming years as, hopefully, myknowledge of all things nature andmy photography improves.

The group walks that I lead willfeature through the autumn, winterand spring months of course.’

*http://bewsbirding.blogspot.co.uk/

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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Did you miss these Snippets from the BBC ?Photos from the corresponding BBC article / page.

RSPB critical of Hawes bird trapper cautionThe RSPB has criticised North Yorkshire Police's decision to issue a caution to a man who admitted setting bird traps.

The 23-year-old man handed himself in to police after he was caught on camera setting illegal pole traps on theMossdale Estate, near Hawes, in May.

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-36430790

Shrinking bird pays the bill for Arctic warmingA migratory bird has shrunk in stature as temperatures warm at its Arctic breeding ground, according to research.

As a consequence of climate change, the red knot may have a lower survival chance on a different continent, say scientists.* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-36266692

Serial bird thief Dean Wells jailed for stealing pigeonsA serial bird thief has been jailed for 22 days after stealing 24 racing pigeons.

Dean Wells, 23, stole the birds from a loft after creeping into a pensioner's garden in the middle of the night.* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-36265692

Elephants have been caught eating weaver bird nestsElephants have been caught on camera eating weaver bird nests for the first time.

It was previously thought that they only ate vegetation.* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-36229348

Viewing point set up to see peregrine falcons at LincolnA free viewing point has been set up for people to see peregrine falcons flying around Lincoln Cathedral.

The RSPB said volunteers would be at the cathedral with telescopes each weekend throughout June and July.* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-36453049

Call for Ditchling angling ban after swans injuredA wildlife charity is calling for fishing to be banned at an East Sussex venue after abandoned angling equipment caused

injuries to 25 swans.East Sussex Wildlife Rescue said it had rescued 25 birds in the last 12 months at Ditchling Common Country Park.

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-36451560

Kielder ospreys produce record-breaking number of chicksA record-breaking number of osprey chicks have hatched in Northumberland.

Nine chicks have been born on three nests at Kielder Water and Forest Park - beating the previousrecord of eight chicks in 2014.

* http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-36451306

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Page 4 Quiz Answers

1. BRAMBLING; 2. PTARMIGAN;3. EIDER; 4. REDWING; 5. WEAVER

6. PUFFIN; 7. PELICAN; 8. BLACKCAP;9. TURNSTONE; 10. MOCKINGBIRD;

11. SHAG; 12. KINGFISHER;13. KING PENGUIN; 14. ROOK;

15. ROAD RUNNER; 16. GANNET; 17. SWALLOW; 18. REDHEAD;19. WHITETHROAT; 20. SWAN.

Welcome!We are happy to welcome three

new members this time.

We look forward to meeting you at our meetings orevents later in the year.

Sharon and Stephen Bristow

Janet Williams

Don’t forget the ‘Free Meeting’ voucher isstill available should you

know of someone who could use it.

SmilersHow do you identify abald eagle?

You know, these really ARE getting worse?I’ll bet you can do better - send your Smilerin to the Ed. Don’t worry if you can’t, I still

have LOADS more…

All his feathers are combed over to one side.

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

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Nature RamblingsEarthworms

Right from when I was a youngster, helping mydad in the garden in Sutton, it was always toldto me to be careful about earthworms as theyare so helpful in the garden.

I’ve trawled through the article on Wikipedia andplace here some of the info found. If you can,visit their website and learn much more!

An earthworm is tube shaped, made up of manysegments. They are usually found living in soil,and feed on both live and dead organic matter.

The digestive system of an earthworm runs thelength of its body. It breathes through its skin,and has a simple blood circulatory system. Ithas both circumferential and longitudinalmuscles on the periphery of each segmentwhich allow the worm to move. It has similar setof muscles that line its gut, which move thedigesting food matter towards the work’s anus.

Earthworms are hermaphrodites - each worm has both male and female sex organs.

Folk names for the earthworm include "dew-worm", "rainworm", "night crawler", and "angleworm" (due to its use as fishingbait).

They are abundant in undisturbed areas, and are usually active when water is present.

Adult earthworms, depending on species, can be anywhere from 10mm (0.39 in) long and 1mm (0.039 in) wide, up to animpressive 3m (9.8 ft) long over 25mm (0.98 in) wide, but the typical worm grows to about 360 mm (14 in) long.

Earthworms are generally born with the number of segments that they will have for the rest of their lives. The front, or firstsegment contains the earthworm’s mouth and has a fleshy lobe which seals the entrance when the worm is at rest. Thislobe is also used to feel and chemically sense the worm’s surroundings.

On the surface, worms ‘crawl’ by flexing their muscles, also known as striding, which they can vary. If you were to touch anearthworm, this would trigger a ‘pressure’ response, as well as a response related to the dehydrating effect of salt naturallyoccurring on human skin, which is toxic to earthworms. This gives the effect we see of a writhing worm when we pick oneup. This is a reflex action and would also occur even if the worm’s nerve cord was removed.

While you will see an earthworm on the surface occasionally, you will probably be more likely to see their excrement, alsoknown as casts.

Another thing my dad told me was that a worm if cut in half becomes two worms. This could have been an urban myth but isactually true to an extent. Scientists in the past have done this with good success rates. It doesn’t work on some species,but does in others. It also seems that the further toward the back end where the cut is made, the less likely the rear end isto survive. By the way, I do not condone cutting a worm in half, but accidents do happen when working in the garden.

When underground, worms have been heard ‘gurgling’ when disturbed. This is a result of their movement through theirlubricated tunnels. They move through the soil by expanding crevices with force. It has been measured, according to body

weight, that hatchlings can push around 500 times their body weight,whereas adults can only push around 10 times their weight. Earthwormswork as biological pistons, forcing air through the tunnels as they move,thus actively aerating and mixing soil. Organic matter such as leaves ormanure is also mixed in after going through their digestive system makingthe deposited cast a good fertiliser.

Hence, the good old earthworm really is the gardener’s friend.

Geoff Porter* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthworm

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© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

The ParishChurch ofSaint James

Hello again,

Well, this is short and sweet fromme this time.

I was asked to create a basic mapof our new meeting venue and amhappy to do so. As you can see, Iam no cartographer!!

Hopefully it is easy to see, and youcan immediately tell whereaboutsyou are in Weybridge.

You will notice that the venue isindeed not too far from the old hall,shown at the bottom of this map.

We hope that this new venue willallow more visitors to the excellentmeetings and talks that are beingput on each month for you.

Geoff Porter

* Christ The Prince Of PeaceChurch Hall, Portmore Way,

WEYBRIDGE, Surrey, KT13 8JD.

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RSPB North West Surrey Local Group - AGM ReportThis years AGM was held on 27th May 2015 and was attended by 34 members.

Our Group has been run by the Committee since the last AGM and I presented their report on the years activities whichincluded our successful participation at several local events. These, together with our continued partnership with RHS Wisley,where we carried out several guided bird walks around the Gardens, and also had a stand at their Woodfest event, allowed usto engage with some of the many thousands of people who attended these enjoyable events. This all brought very goodpublicity for the RSPB.

Our indoor meetings continued to be popular as did our midweek and weekend walks although participation in the latter hadbeen lower than hoped.

Our Treasurer Angela Pugh presented her report and accounts which showed a healthy financial position from which were ableto transfer £1800 to the RSPB for the Groups chosen projects during the last year.

With the support of the Committee and approval of the RSPB I volunteered to take over as Leader. I was delighted to beelected unanimously.

The Committee were also elected unanimously and comprise :-

Secretary - Shirley Scott

Indoor Leader - Ken Sutton

Outdoor Leader - Neil Bew

Membership Secretary - Mick Cooper

Committee Members - Frank Clark

Alan Pugh

Diane Vowles

The Committee and I are now looking forward to another busy and exciting year where among other things we will be enablingthe Group to represent the RSPB in the community by engaging and getting involved with the public and raising funds forconservation work. We will also be trying to encourage new Local Group members and continue to provide interesting activitiesso that all members enjoy being part of the Group.

Alan Sharps

From my Spiel Chucker, but not at Thorpe…

Morrisons

PizzaExpress

Waitrose

A317 H

igh Stre

et

Baker StBalfour Road

Devonshire Road

Portmore Pa

rk Road

Portmo

re Park Ro

ad

Portmore Way

Christ The PrinceOf Peace RCChurch

Post Office

Churchfield

Road

St Albans Av e Dorchester Road

Tham

es St

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

FINAL COPY DATE FOR THE 2016 - 4th news letterPlease let me have your items for the news letter as soon as possible, to avoid a lastminute rush. Topical items should arrive with myself well before, but not later than -

Saturday 29th October 2016.Items may be submitted in the usual ways which include, but are not limited to :-TEXT / ARTICLES

● Written or typed items on paper v ia the post;● Faxed copies of your work, but not photographs;● My preferred  text  formats  are  the  standard  office  programs  and  text  files

(MS Word, Wordpad, Notepad, Star Office and Open Office)  etc.  I  alsocan usually  open and use files created in these and other office  systems’own publication programs where you can  insert your photo as a guide tome  for  your  preferred  layout.  I  can  also  take  items  as  a  pdf  file  if  youprefer to create one.

● I would ALWAYS ask for the photo to be sent as a separate item and at ahigh resolution.

PHOTOGRAPHS● Actual photographs v ia the post;● Photos by email should be sent at a high  resolution  / size. My preferred

size is not less than 1 mb file so I can crop if necessary.  2 mb and largerare ideal, but not more than 10 Mb maximum please.

POST, FAX OR EMAIL ?● If you have no computer access,  it should be obv ious - post the items to

me.● Computer created works should ideally  be sent by email.● Via my DropBox link - please email me if you wish to use it.● ALL items can also be placed onto a CD or DVD and posted to me if you

prefer. Alternative reusable storage media such as DVDRW, CD-RW, SDcard or USB stick are also welcome by post.  (*)

● I can accept faxes of your work, but please avoid sending any photos byfax - they do not reproduce well and will not be used.

Please note that you do not have to specify  how you wish your article to be laid out.You can of course make suggestions for paragraphs and headings etc.If you have a preferred other way to send items, please let me know and I’ll adv ise ifI can utilise that method.(*)  If you require your posted items returned, especially   if sent on re-writeable media(DVD/CDRW,  SD  card,  USB  stick,  etc  etc),  please  enclose  a  stamped  SAE, orreturn  label and stamp (as appropriate), and  I will  return  these  item(s) once recordedon my computer, by the next available post.I  have  targeted  final  dates  for  receipt  of  your  submissions  to  the  expected  fourNewsletters, of  the  last  full weekends of January, April, July and October, at  thevery latest.

Should the newsletter become full before this date, I reserve the right todelay those late received items until the following newsletter.

I am limited to just six teen pages as per the current layoutt. Due to the costs of printingand post,  I  cannot go above  this.  If  you are able  to  take  the newsletter  in electronicformat then please enquire with Alan Sharps / The Committee.

All items sent in for the news letter will be utilised wherever possible.Finally , thank you all in advance for your valuable input.              Geoff Porter, Editor

GROUP MEMBERSHIPS & INFORMATION● All  indoor meetings are held, by kind permission of  the Church Governors, at

*Christ  The  Prince  Of  Peace  Church  Hall,  Portmore  Way,  WEYBRIDGE,Surrey, KT13 8JD.

● Monthly   meetings  are  held  on  the  fourth  Wednesday  of  each  month  fromSeptember  to  June,  excluding December.  Details  may  be  found  in  theprogramme at the back of this newsletter. Meetings commence at 7:45 pm andfinish at 10 pm. Doors are open at 7:15 pm. There should be ample parkingat  the church. Nearby roads can also be used  if necessary. Railway stationsat Weybridge and Addlestone are reasonably  close too.

● Non-group  members  and  Wildlife  Explorers  members  are  welcome  to  allevents.  Wildlife  Explorers  members  are  free.  All  other  v isitors  are  asked  todonate £3 towards the costs of the indoor meeting.

● There is an optional donation to the group for non-members at outdoor meetings.● Under 16’s must be accompanied by an adult.● NWS Group Membership for the year 2016 - 2017 is £12 for indiv iduals or £20

for  couples. Please  contact  the  *Membership Secretary   at  the  address  givenon the back page.

● The membership year starts with the September  indoor  meeting,  andmembership is valid from September 1st to August 31st. Membership is for thecurrent  year  only   although  for  new  members  it  is  not  necessarily   from  theirjoining date.

● Please  renew  promptly ,  either  by  post  (please  enclose  a  SSAE),  or  byStanding Order, or at the indoor meetings.

Please note: All articles contained in this news letter remain the copyright of the author and cannotbe used in full or part without their express agreement.

RSPB North West Surrey Local GroupThe  group was  established  in  1974  and  is  run  entirely   by  volunteers. We  holdregular  monthly   indoor  meetings  between  September  and  June,  excludingDecember,  at  *Christ  The  Prince  Of  Peace  Church  Hall,  Portmore  Way,WEYBRIDGE, Surrey, KT13 8JD.  There is ample car parking outside.

Outdoor  meetings  are  held  throughout  the  year,  both  locally   and  further  afield.Members of the public are welcome to attend all the indoor meetings, and at localand regional outdoor meetings.

If you would like more information, please contact our*membership secretary  at the address given or v isit our web site:

*rspb.org.uk/groups/nwsurrey.

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We operate a grace period; however, please note:-

1. Memberships that have not been renewed by the 31st

December immediately following expiry, will be regardedas having lapsed until the due subscription is paid.

2. Anyone with a lapsed membership will be required to paythe visitor’s fee of £3 at all meetings attended, until theirmembership is renewed.

3. Anyone renewing a lapsed membership between Apriland September will NOT be entitled to the extra periodgiven to new members.

Please respect this grace period.

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature ahome. Together with our partners, we protect threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast andcountryside will teem with life once again.We also play a leading role in a worldwide partnership of nature conservation organisations.

The RSPB is a member of BirdLife International, a partnership of conservation organisationsworking to give nature a home around the world.

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© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

August 2016OUT Tues 23rd *Staines Reservoir (10:00 - 12:00) 2 miles. (PH)

A short visit to look for migrants, waterfowl and waders. Meet in the small car park(please car share if possible) at the eastern end of the causeway. GR: TQ 056734No facilities. Car share if possib le, limited parking.

Info Monday 29th Summer Bank Holiday

September 2016OUT Sun 11th * Keyhaven and Penington Marsh (NB)

Early autumn waders at this fabulous coastal site on the edge of the New Forest.Meet at 10.00 at the car park at the end of Lower Pennington Lane approx.SZ319927. Parking is limited so car sharing is a good idea.

OUT Sun 18th (TBC) WeBSOUT Weds 21st *London WWT, Barnes (10:00 – 15:30) 1.5 miles. (PH)

We shall be looking for wildfowl and departing migrants. Meet in car park at 10:00 orin reception at 10:10. GR: TQ 228770.WWT members don’t forget to bring your membership card. Full facilities on site.Come for morning only if preferred.

IN Weds 28th NWS Regular Meeting - Birds in a Cage by Derek Neimann. (KS)Four men who were to become renowned ornithologists were captured while behindenemy lines and became prisoners of war in Nazi Germany.Their love of birds and nature helped them through this desperate time. Derek’s talktells their stories while imprisoned and follows their various destinies after the war.*Christ The Prince Of Peace Church Hall, Portmore Way, WEYBRIDGE, Surrey,KT13 8JD. The doors open at 7.15 pm for 7.45 to 10 pm meeting. Parking availablejust outside.

October 2016OUT Sun 16th (TBC) WeBS

The INs, the OUTs & The WeBS in 2016

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August 2016

M1

SummerBank

Holiday(Scot.)

8 15 2229Summer

BankHoliday(Eng. &Wales)

T 2 9 16 23 30W 3 10 17 24 31T 4 11 18 25F 5 12 19 26S 6 13 20 27S 7 14 21 28

September 2016M 5 12 19

Autumn Day(Edin.)

26Autumn Day

(Glas.)

T 6 13 20 27W 7 14 21 28T 1 8 15 22 29F 2 9 16 23 30S 3 10 17 24S 4 11 18 25

October 2016M 31 3 10 17 24T 4 11 18 25W 5 12 19 26T 6 13 20 27F 7 14 21 28S 1 8 15 22 29S 2 9 16 23 30

November 2016M 7 14 21 28T 1 8 15 22 29W 2 9 16 23 30T 3 10 17 24F 4 11 18 25S 5 12 19 26S 6 13 20 27

Future Events in 2016 - 2017,More details will follow in later newsletters.

(STC) Subject to Confirmation.    (TBA) To Be Agreed)

2016OUT  Weds 19 Oct  Papercourt (PH)IN      Weds 26 Oct Ashley Grove - Lammergeiers (KS)

Info Sun 30 Oct BST endsOUT   Sun 30 Oct   Pagham RSPB Reserve (NB)OUT   Sun 13 Nov WeBS (STC)

Info Sun Nov 13 Remembrance Sunday ObservanceIN       Weds 23 Nov John Wyatt -

Birds of Ancient Egypt (KS)OUT  Thu 24 Nov  Dorney Wetlands / Jubilee River (PH)OUT  Sun Nov 27  Oare Marshes (NB)OUT  Tue Dec 13   Farlington Marshes (PH)OUT  Sun 18 Dec   WeBS (STC)

Happy Christmas Everybody !2017

OUT   Sun Jan 1   Papercourt  (NB)OUT   Wed Jan 11   Thorpe Park (PH)Event   Sat 14 Jan NWS Quiz NightOut     Sun  15 Jan WeBS (STC) (PH)IN       Weds 25 Jan  Andrew Cleave -

Back from the Brink. (KS)OUT  Sun Jan 29 Harty Ferry Plus Elmley Reserve (NB)

OUT  Thu Feb 9   Moor Green Lakes (PH)OUT  Sun 12 Feb WeBS (STC) (PH)IN      Weds 22 Feb Chris Ward -

Sri Lanka, Jewel In the Indian Ocean (KS)OUT  Sun 12 Mar WeBS (STC) (PH)OUT  Wed Mar 15   Barnes WWT (PH)IN      Weds 22 Mar Barry Kauffman-Wright -

The role of the Police Wildlife Crime officer.  (KS)OUT   Sat Mar 25 Tices Meadow/Thursley Common (NB)

Info Sun 26 Mar BST startsOUT   Sun April 23  Dungeness (NB)OUT   Wed Apr 26   Pulborough Brooks (PH)IN       Weds April 26  NWS REGULAR MEET - TBAOUT   Sat May 6  RSPB NWS Spring FayreOUT   Sat May 20 Details to be confirmed (NB)OUT   Tue May 23  Thursley Common (PH)IN       Weds 24 May NWS REGULAR MEET - TBAOUT   June ? (TBC) Nightjar walk - details will follow (NB)IN       Weds 28 Jun NWS AGMEvent   Sat July 1 Group BBQ - Please book early!OUT   Thu Jun 8  Frensham Little PondOUT   Thu Jul 6  Bookham Common (PH)OUT   Tue Aug 29  Barnes WWT (PH)OUT   Thu Sep 14  Staines Moor

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BST Changes on the last Sunday in March and October.

January 2017M 30 2 9 16 23T 31 3 10 17 24W 4 11 18 25T 5 12 19 26F 6 13 20 27S 7 14 21 28S 1 8 15 22 29

December 2016M 5 12 19 26T 6 13 20 27W 7 14 21 28T 1 8 15 22 29F 2 9 16 23 30S 3 10 17 24 31S 4 11 18 25

© RSPB North West Surrey Local Group – 2016© The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity in England and Wales no. 207076, in Scotland no. SC037654

GROUP LEADER : Alan Sharps T. 01784 244665 E. nwsleader@yahoo.co.uk

TREASURER : Angela Pugh T: 01784 457714 E: nwstreasurer@yahoo.com

SECRETARY: Shirley Scott T: 01932 267645 E: shirley@manygate.net

MEMBERSHIPS: Mick Cooper T: 01784 251708 E: michael.cooper28@virginmedia.com

INDOOR MEETINGS: Ken Sutton (KS) T: 01784 436098 E: kd.sutton@ntlworld.com

MID WEEK OUTINGS &WeBS:

Peter Hambrook (PH) T: 01932 346565 E: hambrp@msn.com

WEEKEND OUTINGS: Neil Bew (NB) T: 07941 403094 E: neil.bew@ntlworld.com

COMMITTEE MEMBER: Alan Pugh T: 01784 457714 E: nwscommember@ yahoo.com

COMMITTEE MEMBER: Frank Clark T: 01784 421240 E: frank.clark1@tesco.net

COMMITTEE MEMBER: Diane Vowles T: 01784 430655 E: diane.vowles@outlook.com

NEWSLETTER EDITOR& WEBSITE

Geoff Porter T: 07946 419664 E: nwseditor@hotmail.co.uk

F: 07092 040983 Skype: geoff.flc

Post to - Mick Cooper, c/o 95 Station Crescent, Ashford, Middlesex, TW15 3HN.

Post to - Geoff Porter, c/o 12 Ashbee Close, Snodland, Kent, ME6 5HQ.

NEW TO BIRDWATCHING?All are welcome at any of our outdoor meetings, but if you arenew to bird watching please do let the leader know if you wouldappreciate a little assistance.

CLOTHINGPlease ensure that you wear appropriate clothing for theconditions expected. Good walking boots are usually sufficient,unless the weather has been excessively wet. Waterproofs arestrongly recommended if rain is forecast.

FOOD & DRINKSPlease bring packed lunches on the all-day trips as we eatwhere and when we can, so that we can continue to watch birds.If the weather is hot don’t forget to bring plenty to drink, as mostof the reserves and sites we visit do not have catering facilities.

RESERVESAccess to most reserves is free, however some do chargeadmission and/or car parking fees. When visiting RSPBreserves (or others if you are a member of that organisation),don’t forget to bring your membership card, otherwise you willhave to pay the non-members fee which sadly is usually non-refundable.

SAFETYWhile most sites visited have normal public access and are wellmaintained, please do take care and do not ignore any safetynotices or instructions. Participation in outdoor meetings is entirely at your own risk.

TRIP LEADERSThe weekend field trips will usually be led by Neil Bew, butoccasionally others may lead instead.Mid-week trips will usually be led by Peter Hambrook, assistedby our co-leader, Steve Williams.The leader will be there in all but extreme conditions.If in any doubt please ring the appropriate leader to check.

LEADER CONTACTSFor mid-week walks and for information on the WeBS,

contact Peter Hambrook, 01932 346565.For weekend walks contact Neil Bew, 07941403094.

TRANSPORTMost outdoor trips are by car but with very occasional coach orminibus outings. If you require a lift please contact the outdoorleader, who may be able to arrange this for you.

General Information

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THE ROYAL SOCIETY FOR THE PROTECTION OF BIRDS

NORTH WEST SURREY LOCAL GROUP

YOUR COMMITTEE MEMBERS and OTHER CONTACTS