Godstone Parish Mag articles
2008
December In January 2009 the local group will have be twenty five years old and for many years our indoor meetings have been in Godstone at the Hart White Barn. Over the years the group has raised over £32,000 for various RSPB projects, including in recent years donations for the purchase of land at Farnham in West Surrey to turn it into a heathland reserve to encourage such birds as nightjar, Dartford warbler and woodlark among other bird species, and also to encourage flora typical of lowland heaths. Further donations have been made to Farnham, it currently being the only RSPB reserve in Surrey. Donations have also been made to support the reserve being created at Cliffe in North Kent.
In the year 2003 eminent local ornithologist Ken Osborne died. Ken was well known in the birding world, being deeply involved with the London Natural History Society, as chairman of the society’s records committee, and also the editor of the London Bird Report for a number of years. Most Octobers found Ken on the Isles Of Scilly, a mecca for autumn bird migration. He was a regular on our monthly field trips and well known for always wearing a shirt and tie no matter whether the weather was a heatwave or a snow blizzard. Ken had a vast library of natural history books which he left to the local group. From the sale of these books, the group has raised over £4,000.00. In memory of Ken, the group sponsored a feeding station at the Farnham Heath Reserve together with an inscribed plaque.
In the year 2004 the group received a grant from the National Lottery Awards for All Scheme which allowed us to purchase a new slide projector for use at our indoor meetings, visits to schools and other slide show talks and events.
Over the years we have had our sales and display panels at many local events, and have raised funds by running film shows, art and craft exhibitions and quiz evenings.
Our field trips have recorded well over two hundred species of birds, including such rarities as pallid harrier, yellow-browed warbler, Pallas’ warbler, common crane, white-winged black tern and pectoral sandpiper. On one field trip in Kent, one of our members heard a Baillon’s crake, a call he had only heard many years before in Israel. The presence of the crake was confirmed the next day when the bird was seen by the Kent county recorder. It was the first record for the British Isles for many many years.
The group indoor meeting in December is on Wednesday 10th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone at 8.00 pm. This meeting is our Christmas social so is a general chitchat, with local members photographs, and light refreshments, but everyone is still welcome, admission £2.00.
The December field trip is on Sunday 14th to the RSPB reserve at Dungeness and the surrounding area.
The group indoor meeting in January is on Wednesday 14th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker is the well known birder and author of bird books and articles Dominic Couzens, who will give a talk entitled “Viva la Difference” a light-hearted comparison of life styles of British and European birds.
Everyone is welcome, admission £2.00.
The January 2009 field trip is on Sunday 18th to Harty Ferry and Shellness on the Isle of Sheppey. A must for winter waders and raptors, and a good spot to get your year 2009 bird list off to a cracking start!!
For any further information on the group events and activities please contact me.
Keith Brandwood 01883 742740
November The first year of the BTO Bird Atlas Survey has just been completed. The surveys carried out during the winter months showed that we had good numbers of redwing and fieldfare feeding in the fields around the local villages, large numbers of siskin were found in various places, and both lesser redpoll and brambling were recorded. Spring saw our local resident birds nesting in all the usual places. It was nice to see skylark, yellowhammer and linnet nesting in suitable habitat as all three of these birds have been decreasing in numbers in recent years. The arrival of our summer visitors showed that spring had finally arrived. Chiffchaff, blackcap, whitethroat, lesser whitethroat, garden warbler, along with swift, sand martin, swallow and house martin were all found breeding in our area. There were odd records of spotted flycatcher, willow warbler and turtle dove as these birds are now relatively rare in the local area, and cuckoos were hard to find as they continue to decline locally. Tawny, little and barn owl all bred locally, and common buzzard continue to expand and can now be seen in all areas very regularly. Ring-necked parakeets are a regular sight, although there does not appear to be a dramatic increase in our area, compared to other parts of the country. Green and greater spotted woodpecker were common but I had no sightings of lesser spotted woodpecker, a bird that was relatively common locally in the 1970s/80s. Our local waterfowl species numbers seem to be stable, but increasing numbers of mandarin duck were recorded.
One of the 2km square tetrads that I surveyed covered the southern half of Godstone village up to Tilburstow hill and east just beyond the church. I recorded some sixty species of birds over the year, with forty seven species in the winter months and fifty three species during the summer, including twenty eight species where there were indications of breeding. While doing the surveys I also saw a number of mammals including stoat, weasel, roe and sika deer and hare.
In November look out for our winter visitors such as redwing, fieldfare, and siskin and if you are lucky you may even see redpoll, brambling and crossbill.
The group indoor meeting is on Wednesday 12th November at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be Robert Canis who will give a talk entitled “ A Nature Photographer’s Year”, an insight into the work of a professional wildlife photographer. Everyone is welcome, admission £2.00.
The group will have a sales stand at the late night opening at Knights Ivy Mill Garden Centre on November 14th, hopefully we will be able to answer any of your bird queries.
The all day field trip is to the RSPB Reserve at Rainham Marshes in Essex on Sunday November 16th. For any other information on the group events and activities please contact me.
Keith Brandwood 01883 742740
September In my article of April this year, I mentioned the increasing numbers of cattle egrets that had been recorded in the British Isles in recent winters, and that this bird could start breeding in this country in the not too distant future. In a Somerset heronry a pair of cattle egrets raised a single young this summer and it is hoped that this will be the first of many pairs over the next few years. It is known that cattle egrets are very capable of expanding their range very rapidly. In South America the first record of cattle egrets was in 1877. They spread quickly north and by 1940 were successfully breeding in North America.
By the end of July the breeding season of our birds is coming to an end in most cases and the autumn migration is beginning. The first obvious migrants that are on the move are waders and species such as ruff, whimbrel, greenshank and green sandpiper are already visiting wetland areas around the country. Most of the early returning waders are either non breeding birds or females and will have started to move in late June or July. In many species of wader, once the eggs have hatched and the young are a few days old, the female parent bird will leave the male bird to continue to raise the young and start on her journey south. The males and young of the year will follow a few weeks later. Through August and September the numbers of waders will increase dramatically, many coming from the arctic regions, some species spending their winter in this country and others moving further south for the winter.
By the end of July most of our summering swifts will have left, and the first of the swallows, sand martins and house martins will be on the move. Cuckoos which have been silent for weeks are thought to have left by the end of July, but there are many records of cuckoos being seen through August and September, these being mostly juvenile birds. Once cuckoos stop calling there is tendency that they are becoming under recorded as they become inconspicuous.
The group indoor meeting in September is on Wednesday 10th at the White Hart Barn, Godstone starting at 8.00pm. The speaker will be Brenda Holcombe, a popular speaker who has visited us many times before. Her talk this month is entitled “New Zealand and its sub-Antarctic Islands” from the mainland onto Macquarie Island and the world of the albatross. Everyone is welcome, admission £2.00
The all day field trip in September is on Sunday 14th to Rye Harbour and Pett Level, meeting at Godstone Green car park at 8.00am.
We are holding a Quiz Night (teams of six)at the White Hart Barn, Godstone on Friday October 31st. Tickets are now available at £8.50 each, which includes a fish or chicken or vegetarian and chip supper. Everyone is welcome so why not come along and enjoy a relaxing evening answering simple questions. Monies raised will go towards the RSPB Reserve at Cliffe in North Kent. For tickets and other information on the quiz night please contact Richard Lowe on 01342 835354. For any other information on the group events and activities please contact me.
Keith Brandwood 01883 742740

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