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 March is Bob Steed's Grey Heron See it here
The Club's summer outings are now available to see - check here for details
Congratulations to Garth Peacock for winning the 2023 Photo of the Year competition. View the winner and runners-up here
- Next Club talk Friday 12 April, 7.30pm: 'Island Conservation: Past damage, developing understanding, modern solutions', by Mike Brooke. At Cottenham Community Centre.
Club e-Bulletins up to November are now available to all to read. They contain records, photos, articles and event reminders: read here
The bird club Chair's Report for 2023 has now been added to the 2024 AGM papers. View here
The deadline for submitting 2023 records for the Annual Report was 10 March. Jon Heath, county bird Recorder is however, still asking for any unsubmitted descriptions of species requiring scrutiny by the club's records committee.
The Cambridgeshire Bird Report 2021 No. 95 can be purchased from the Club - see 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
Dates of tweets on our Twitter feed have now gone haywire, more than one browser is affected - apologies but it seems to be out of our control. Other report the same issue.
Twitter feed: many thanks to Brendon Doe for setting this up on our website, and maintaining our Twitter account.
Summer evening outdoor meetings 2024
Dates for your diary - The Club has four field trips planned for this Summer:
Contact / booking via Erica Towner: fieldtrips@cambridgebirdclub.org.uk
Friday - Most probably 24th May (not 17th May) 2024 Kings Dyke Nature Reserve, near Whittlesey
Meeting on-site for 19.00 start
Friday 28th June 2024 Chippenham Fen NNR, north of Newmarket
Meeting on-site for 19.00 start
Friday 12th July 2024 Ouse Washes (RSPB), Welches Dam near Manea
Meeting on-site for 19.00 start
Friday evening in August Dernford Reservoir, south of Stapleford
Meeting on-site for 18.30 start. (Confirmation of date and further details in future bulletins and on this website)
Picture of the Month - March
Grey Heron © Bob Steed, Fowlmere RSPB, 27 March 2024
Joanna Kubica chose March's Picture of the Month.
"A great selection of images for this month, from bird portraits to birds in flight, as well as birds in their environment. What stands out the most to me though is the Grey Heron with a Pike by Bob Steed. What a fantastic shot showing bird behaviour! Getting a photo of a bird in action requires great skills to react instantly at the scene. The photo perfectly captures the moment of a heron with its prey just before the demise of the pike. It also shows the bird in an interesting unusual pose - a frontal shot which is not common in bird photography but at the same time it greatly shows the prey at full length!
I also like the Cormorant by Tracey Graves - an interesting frame, it feels as if the Cormorant is deeply thinking about something which makes it intriguing. It's also lovely to see it in the breeding plumage (white patch on the thigh and white head feathers). Another vote goes to Whooper Swans by Matthew Webb. A great use of light making it look very artistic as well as capturing the birds in their natural environment combined with an urban factor in the background adds a nice finish to the overall result!"
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.
Friday 12 April, 7.30pm: 'Island Conservation: Past damage, developing understanding, modern solutions', by Mike Brooke.
Main Hall at Cottenham Community Centre, 250A High St, Cottenham CB24 8RZ.
See https://www.cottenhamcc.org/map/ The Centre is opposite the Co-op store. On-street parking. Enter via the side door, where there is a ramp.
(Please note: this is not the Village College venue)
After expeditions to seabird islands a Cambridge undergraduate, Michael Brooke, was hooked. Since then, he has been lucky enough to travel the world in pursuit of seabirds, in conjunction with an academic career at Cambridge University. This period has seen a revolution in the ability of conservationists to undo the damage done to remote islands by alien invasive species. The talk will address why alien species so often have the ecological edge over an island's native species, and how this knowledge has fed into island restoration projects, mostly notably those involving the eradication of rats and other nasties.
After completing a seabird DPhil at Oxford while employed as warden of Skokholm Bird Observatory, Michael undertook post-docs at Oxford and then Cambridge. He is now Strickland Curator of Ornithology (Emeritus) at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge. His conservation work ranges from the strictly practical to more theoretical research which nevertheless aims to provide information of direct use to conservation planning.
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.
