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 want your photos. We have field projects, we have indoor meetings and trips, and we keep you informed with our monthly emailed bulletins. We have links to active bird ringing groups. And have a look at our Facebook and our Twitter sites.
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
Picture of the Month for August is Simon Stirrup's Common Buzzard See it here
We have added Mark Hawkes' his updated "County Toplists" spreadsheet - see here
- Next indoor Club talk - change of date and venue - now Wednesday 16 October, St. John’s Church, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8RN, starting 7.30pm (doors open 7.00pm): Wildlife and Ranger Life on East Anglia’s two oldest nature reserves: Wicken Fen and Blakeney Point by Ajay Tegala.
Celebrating the Club's Centenary year kicks off with the chance to buy a superb 2025 Bird Calendar - Christmas presents for relatives or friends sorted! See below.
The 2022 Annual Report (No 96) is available to purchase. Look here for details.
Congratulations to Garth Peacock for winning the 2023 Photo of the Year competition. View the winner and runners-up here
Club e-Bulletins up to May are now available to all to read. They contain records, photos, articles and event reminders: read here
The 2019 Annual Report (No. 93) is now available to read on this website - read here
The CBC recording checklist can be viewed and downloaded here
Club Bulletins back to the first issue in 1951 have now been digitised and were added to the website in 2021- read them here
Cambridgeshire Bird Club 2025 Bird Calendar
This professionally produced A4-sized wall calendar is now available. Produced to celebrate the CBC’s 100th anniversary, it features bird species with a connection to our county, with all photos taken by club members. You will also enjoy the background information on each species. Everyone needs a wall calendar, and they make great gifts. Calendars are available at £10 to include postage & packing.
Please pay either by bank transfer to:
Cambridgeshire Bird Club
Account Number 08205116
Sort Code 60-04-23
Please add your name to the bank transfer details and then send an email to notify us. Please confirm your mailing address in your email to: chairman@cambridgebirdclub.org.uk
Or by cheque to:
CBC Treasurer
Mr. R. Swain
4 Bakers Field
Dry Drayton
Cambridge
CB23 8EG
Dates of tweets on our Twitter feed are now erratic - more than one browser is affected - apologies but it seems to be out of our control. Others report the same issue. For now, it's also messing with our Twitter site -Twitter .
Twitter feed: many thanks to Brendon Doe for setting this up on our website, and maintaining our Twitter account.
Next indoor meeting
Please note the change of date and venue
Next meeting: Wednesday 16 October, starts 7.30pm - Wilkinson Room, St. John’s Church, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 8RN. Doors open 7.00pm. Wildlife and Ranger Life on East Anglia’s two oldest nature reserves: Wicken Fen and Blakeney Point by Ajay Tegala
Ajay Tegala is a wildlife presenter, author and ranger. He has worked on East Anglia's two oldest nature reserves: first Blakeney Point on the North Norfolk Coast (the subject of Ajay's first book) and now Wicken Fen (the subject of his new book), which celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2024.
The talk looks at wildlife, Ranger-life and history at both of these iconic nature reserves. From the dramas of managing nesting seabirds and breeding seals to the complexities of protecting rare fenland and restoring land for nature.
This is a joint meeting with the Cambridge RSPB group. Please bring some small change for refreshments and raffle.
Picture of the Month - August
Common Buzzard © Simon Stirrup Aldreth, 19 August 2024
August's bird was chosen by Jon Heath
My choice for the August photo of the month is Simon’s Stirrup’s Common Buzzard. Simon has caught the raptor in a moment of action with the bird’s beak wide open and wings up, with the underwings illuminated by soft light contrasting nicely with the smooth background. It is likely this juvenile is begging for food – one of the sounds of the Cambs countryside in late summer. Other notable photos this month include Simon’s Merlin (Aldreth the raptor hotspot!), Garth’s Pink-footed Goose with open symmetrical wings, Cookie’s courting Coots, Tracey’s Yellow Wagtail in flight with a nice shadow, Roger’s Cattle Egret action shot, Gary’s cute Tawny Owlet, and Ian’s Moorhen feeding a damselfly prey to its young.
Photo of the year: 2023
Congratulations to Garth Peacock for his winning photo of a Peregrine Falcon. Second place goes to Ian Dale with his Black Redstart, and Jon Heath's Coot takes third place. Click here to view all three photos. and click 2023 candidates to see all the photos that were entered.
Picture of the month: February
Starling © Simon Stirrup, Ouse Fen RSPB, 24 February 2024
Andrew Dobson selected February's Picture of the Month.
"There are fine portraits of some of our common resident species such as Roger Cresswell’s Little Grebe and Colin Brown’s Jackdaw. Our ‘waxwing winter’ continues with plenty of contributions of this photogenic species, and Jon Heath’s photo of a flock enables an accurate count. However, the series of photos by Simon Stirrup of the starling murmuration at Ouse Fen really took my breath away. As someone who loves cetaceans, I was very tempted to select the ‘whale’, but I’ve chosen the photo he has captured so perfectly of thousands of starlings blackening the sky at dusk —it’s totally absorbing. It could pass for an abstract painting. Why not visit the reserve to experience the murmuration for yourself?"
Where's that site?
If you are unsure of the location of the less well-known birding sites, check our Gazetteer, which also provides standardised names to include in recording checklists for the Club's database and Birdtrack. Check the Grabagrid map which provides precise site grid references, and also shows pop-up vice-county boundaries
Avian Flu
AVIAN FLU: The Angling Trust’s Voluntary Bailiff Service reported last winter that avian (bird) flu was confirmed in fenland swans. They advised, "Please be aware that you may see dead swans on the Nene or Drains. Dead swans may be found elsewhere too. Please under no circumstances go near or touch them. Phone Defra: 0345 933 5577, option 7: 'all other enquiries'. They will direct you to the correct local swan rescue (recovery ) people as all dead swans must now be collected for investigation". Email: defra.helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk and provide details. More info at Avian influenza (bird flu) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
For sick swans, the RSPCA is the first place to contact and they will give help as to who should be informed.
Lists and facts
County birders life lists, individual record year lists / record day lists, garden lists and other records - view them here
Found and injured bird? Contact a rehabilitator. Baby birds? Read here and also here
Local bird news from Cambirds.
