Cambridgeshire Bird Club
Welcome to the club
The Cambridgeshire Bird Club promotes the study, recording and conservation of birds in Cambridgeshire and encourages a wider interest in natural history and the protection of county wildlife habitats.
We record the County's birds in our Annual Report, so we need your records. We have a stunning Gallery, so we need your photos. We do research, we have indoor and outdoor meetings, and we keep you informed with our regular emailed and online bulletins. We have links to active bird ringing groups. And have a look at our Facebook page.
You can see What's About? and we urge you to report interesting, sensitive or confidential sightings to the County Recorder.
We hope you enjoy your visit and come back soon.
Announcements
24 May: Mark Hawkes has updated his compilation of county peak bird counts and earliest / latest dates - view it here
28 May A Pampisford Society event - "The Sociable Lapwing", a talk by Rob Sheldon
Pampisford Village Hall, Church Lane, Pampisford, CB22 3ET at 8.00pm
The Sociable Lapwing is a Critically Endangered species that migrates from its breeding grounds in central Asia to the wintering areas of the Middle East, north-east Africa, Pakistan and India. Research and conservation efforts have been ongoing since 2004 across many countries and involving many project partners.This talk will outline the approach that has been taken, some of the key findings so far and discusses the future for this wonderful bird and the implications for other species. Further details here
Club meetings
14 June: RSPB Hope Farm, Knapwell
A visit to this 181ha working farm purchased in 2000 by the RSPB to test and develop innovations that work both for wildlife and profitable farming.
Early booking essential
Club summer outdoor trips
- Details of our summer outdoor trips can be found on our Meetings page. Please note that due to popular demand some trips may need to be booked early to avoid disappointment.
12 July: Fowlmere Nature Reserve.
A habitat-rich site on former watercress beds with chalk-fed springs and stream, reedbeds, fen, open water, chalk grassland, woodland and scrub all set within a 41ha SSSI.
More on meetings here
BTO Cambridgeshire Spotted Flycatcher Geolocator Project
We are continuing the survey of Spotted Flycatchers into 2019. This is the perfect activity for bored birders during those long summer evenings until the start of the autumn passage in late July.
Do you know of a pair nesting near you this year? We want to hear from anyone who sees flycatchers after mid-May, or knows of a current or recent site.
For more information on the Project and what we've found out so far go to http://cambridgeshirebirdringing.org/spofl-menu/
And please send in every record from now until October to spofl@cambridgebirdclub.org.uk
BTO Urban Breeding Gulls Survey 2019
Last summer we successfully contributed to the Cambridgeshire component of the UK breeding seabirds census. This year, there is an add-on project specifically to survey urban breeding gulls
You can chose from randomly-picked urban 1km squares across all the towns in the county - two visits are all you need to do.
If you are interested, please email Louise Bacon, county recorder, with an indication of which part of Cambridgeshire / Peterborough you would prefer. The survey starts soon so please respond now if you if you want to be involved.
Photo of the year: 2018
Congratulations to Neil Bramwell for winning the Photo of the Year competition with his photo of a Hawfinch. In second place was Nigel Sprowell's Spotted Flycatcher, and in third place was a Peregrine Falcon by Simon Stirrup. View here to see all three, and click here to see the photos entered.
Picture of the month: April
Common Tern, Fen Drayton Lakes, 25th April 2019
© Garth Peacock.
Eric Towner has made the selection for April.
The photo takes me right into the world of this elegant bird dipping the very tip of its bill into the rippled water - wonderful light and contrast highlighting the subtle colours of the plumage. The Great White Egret at the Ouse Washes (23rd April) taking a pike by Brendan Doe also took my eye, the fish having just been plucked, still dripping, from the water. What happened next? Neil Bramwell’s eyeball to eyeball second shot of the Hobby at Wicken Fen (29th April) shows the bird alert and highlights the aerodynamic shape and plumage detail.
e-Bulletins
- Our e-Bulletin for January 2019 is now available for reading, click here to view it
Annual General Meeting 2019
The 2019 Annual General Meeting of the Cambridgeshire Bird Club was held in the Tony Cooper Suite, Cottenham Village College at 7.45 pm on Friday 8th March. To view the Agenda, click here, and for the Minutes of the 2018 AGM click here. The audited and signed Financial Statement for 2018 can be viewed here.