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Red-breasted Flycatcher - South Gare
- September 2008
(Ian Boustead) |
Welcome to the Teesmouth Bird Club website.
The TBC is a thriving bird club with a very active membership. It is responsible for the annual publication of the Cleveland Bird Report, produces a newsletter three times a year and has recently opened a new hide for members at Dormans Pool.
Details of the TBC's activities and of birds and birding in the Cleveland area can be found on these pages.
Whether you are an expert or beginner, the door is always open to new members. If you are interested in birds in Cleveland, or would like to be, why not join us.
Next Meeting
6th October - 'Follow a
Swallow' by Sir John Lawton. Sir John Lawton is a leading expert on birds and climate
change and this talk follows hot on the heels from the one he gave to the Club in
November 2007, which was widely acclaimed as the best we have ever had. Don't miss
this one! Meetings held at Stockton
Library starting at 7:30pm with Tea and Coffee from 7pm. Visitors are welcome
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Announcements
MONDAY 13th OCTOBER – SOUTH GARE
Join John Sharp to look for migrants at South Gare. Meet by the lifeboat station at 10.00am. Hopefully, winter thrushes should be present
and expect the unexpected at this time of year. Ring John on 01287 633976 for further
details.
THE BREEDING BIRDS OF CLEVELAND
Later this
year, the Club will publish 'The Breeding Birds of Cleveland', the first ever such
publication for our area. It will cover all the breeding species in Cleveland and
will have accounts and maps showing their distribution. There will also be introductory
sections on the history and development of Cleveland's landscapes and how the survey
was conducted. It will be illustrated with photographs and maps and the whole book
will be in a high quality finish. For those who place an order before the publication
date (anticipated in November) the 20% discounted price will be £20 (excluding postage
and packaging). The non-discounted, post-publication price will be £25 (excluding
postage and packaging). Anyone who would like to register for a pre-publication
copy, please contact Ted Parker on 01642 275369 (or email: ecparker@supanet.com).
You don't need to send any money at the present time. Don't miss this opportunity
to secure your copy of this ground-breaking work.
BTO HANSON CHALLENGE - GREENABELLA MARSH
Huntsman Tioxide, who own Greenabella
Marsh, are keen to ensure
that all birds recorded on the marsh this year are added
to their master list (for a current copy of this,
click here) for the 2008 Hanson Bird
Challenge. It would be appreciated
if all those who have visited the marsh during the year could check their sightings
against the master list and let Tony Marron know of any ommissions. Tony can be
contacted by email at: tony.marron@sabic-europe.com or by telephone on 07974371176.
Thank you.
FAITH AND FEATHERS
David Peel, Adrian Hughes and Mark Winter will be leading 'Faith and Feathers' on the weekend of 17th-19th October, 2008. Accommodation will
be at Marygate House on Holy Island and the cost is £100 per person. Bookings to
the Revd Barry Hutchinson, St Cuthbert's Manse, Lewins Lane, Holy Island, Berwick
upon Tweed, TD15 2SB (st-cuthberts-centre@surefish.co.uk). Click
here for more
AUGUST NEWSLETTER READY FOR DOWNLOAD
The August 2008 newsletter is now avaliable by
clicking
here
ACCESS TO POWERSTATION FIELD
On 5th June
2008, I had a meeting with representatives of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
and Harbour Police to try and resolve past and ongoing issues regarding access to
the Power Station Field and Seaton Snook, which are owned by PD Teesport.
PD Teesport are happy for us to go on to their land and have made this clear to
the CNC. The farmer who leases the field for horse grazing is also happy for
us to use it. The meeting was very useful and a copy of the Minutes can viewed
here. Please
read these and I would be grateful if members could adhere to the actions agreed.
Please carry a valid TBC membership card with you, as you may well be asked
to produce this. We have to respect the fact that power stations are COMAH
sites and the police have a statutory duty to protect them. Please be courteous
at all times and if there are any incidents which give cause for concern, please
contact me and I will raise them with Sgt Elliot.
Ted Parker
CHAIRMAN
GUIDELINES FOR REPORTING POLLUTION INCIDENTS
I note from recent
comments on the 'Sightings' page, my own recent observations and comments made by
a number of members I have met in the field that, over the past few weeks, the amount
of rubbish blowing off the Teesmouth tips is excessive and unacceptable to say the
least. The Seaton Meadows Tip is particularly bad and rubbish has seriously polluted
large areas of Seaton Common and Dunes and the wider areas beyond, reflecting poor
waste management. Fence lines, shrubby vegetation and even the water-filled creeks
and pools are choked with plastic bags and other rubbish. This is both highly unsightly
and damaging to wildlife. In instances such as this, the Club has agreed a reporting
procedure with the Environment Agency, as follows: please ring the Agency's Incident
Hotline as soon as possible on their freephone number 0800 807060
(free from landlines only, not mobiles). It is open 24 hours a day and they will
take details of the incident, including its location, nearest road number/name,
nature and extent of the problem and your name and address (if you wish to give
these, otherwise you can remain anonymous). If you give your name, the Agency will
ask you if you require any feedback from them on the action taken. I know that incidents
involving the Seaton Meadows Tip have been reported to the Agency on a number of
occasions during the past several weeks, the latest being yesterday. As every report
is logged, please ring the Hotline when you see something: don't assume someone
else has done so and the more people who ring in about an event, the better. The
Agency also wishes us to report other incidents, including water pollution, illegal
salmon fishing, fly-tipping, dumping of fridges and freezers (such as at South Gare),
illegal burning of waste (eg wire burning, old tyres, etc) and poaching. Please
report all incidents you see - if you don't, the incident won't be logged and nothing
will be done. Thank you for your co-operation.
Ted Parker (Chairman)
BTO HANSON BIRD CHALLENGE 2008 - SCALING DAM
Northumbrian
Water has again entered Scaling Dam for the Hanson Bird Challenge in 2008. In 2004
and 2006, the reservoir came 2nd in its category nationally, notching up a creditable
146 and 140 species respectively. These figures were due to regular watching and
recording by a significant number of observers. In 2006, 210 visits were made, amounting
to 4 days per week, and we are hoping to increase this to 260 visits in 2008 (equating
to 5 days per week). We would be grateful if all sightings could be recorded in
the hide logbook. A Checklist will also be provided and anyone sighting a new species
for the year should not only enter this in the log but also tick it off the on the
list. It would be useful if as many members (and non-members) as possible could
visit the reservoir on a regular basis during the coming year, even if only for
short periods, as blanket coverage does pay dividends (in 2007, for example, there
has been Black-necked Grebe, Goshawk, Honey Buzzard, Hobby, Rough-legged Buzzard
and Hen Harrier to name but a few). Thank you.
Ted Parker and Martin Blick (Scaling
Dam Wildlife Advisory Committee)
ACCESS TO DORMANS POOL AND RECLAMATION POND - MEMBERSHIP CARD NOW NEEDED
At the
instigation of Impetus Reclamation Limited, the Club has just signeda 5-year, legally-executed
Licence Agreement, valid from 11th December 2007, which allows access to the Reclamation
Pond and Dormans Pool for Teesmouth Bird Club members only. This replaces the former,
unwritten access arrangement, which was rarely enforced. From 11th December, a current
TBC membership card must be produced when requested by security personnel and any
persons who fail to comply will be requested to leave the site. The Licence has
been drawn up by Impetus's legal advisers and has been favourably modified following
consultation with the Committee. I would be grateful if all members could comply
with these new arrangements. Thankyou
Ted Parker (Chairman)
BTO BIRD ATLAS 2007-11
TEESMOUTH BIRD CLUB
CONTRIBUTION TO MAPPING BRITAIN AND IRELAND’S BIRDS
Bird Atlas 2007-11 aims
to produce maps of distribution and relative abundance for all bird species breeding
and wintering in Britain and Ireland. It will enable assessment of changes in bird
distribution since the previous breeding atlases in 1970 and 1990 and since the
last winter atlas of the early 1980’s. Fieldwork will span four winters and four
breeding seasons, starting on 1st November 2007, during which the whole of Britain
and Ireland will be cumulatively surveyed. To fulfil these objectives there are
two core methods.
- Roving Records -
For distribution
maps to be comprehensive, we need complete species lists for every 10km square for
the breeding season and for winter. Roving Records are a means of submitting lists
for grid squares, one off records of hard to find species, and anything in between.
They are also a means of accumulating evidence of breeding and for providing records
of nocturnal species. Everyone can take part by supplying Roving Records.
- Timed Tetrad Visits
- These are
principally concerned with discovering the broad patterns of relative abundance
by counting birds for fixed periods in tetrads (2km x 2km squares). These visits
do not aim to produce a complete species list for the tetrad but a sample of what
one can find during two visits in winter and two visits in the breeding season.
Timed visits can be for one hour or for two hours. The aim is to cover at least
eight tetrads in each 10km square.
HOW TO HELP
Anyone and everyone can
take part by completing Roving Record forms. These are available from Regional Representative
Vic.Fairbrother, (01287 633744), from BTO HQ or can be printed off directly from
the website (www.birdatlas.net). Locally we need to produce the records that will
give complete species lists for each of the ten 10km squares that feature Cleveland.
In addition, we need to make Timed Tetrad Visits to a minimum of eight tetrads in
each 10km square. Records can be submitted on paper or on-line If you would like
to take on one or more local tetrads for Timed Tetrad Visits or require more information
please contact Vic Fairbrother or visit the website.
Vic Fairbrother
SITE GUIDE
I have started to add a site guide to Cleveland birding locations to the website
but it needs volunteers to write the guides for the various locations. If you are
willing to write one please let me know at James_Duffie@Hotmail.com and I will then
confirm that nobody else is writing that one.
Civil Nuclear Constabulary
patrols at Teesmouth
As regular visitors to
Teesmouth will be aware, police officers of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC)
regularly conduct counter-terrorist patrols in the vicinity of Hartlepool Nuclear
Power Station. They often stop members of the public and ask them to account for
their presence, particularly if they are in the possession of cameras or optical
equipment. Recently, on a number of occasions, officers have encountered people
who have stated that they are members of the Teesmouth Bird Club and, whilst the
police have no concerns over Club members' presence, they would like membership
cards to be carried as proof of identity. The Chairman has given an undertaking
to the CNC that he will make Club members aware of the situation and request them
to carry their membership cards. Ted Parker (Chairman)
Instructions for
reporting poaching can be found
here
Please read this document
and print a copy out to take into the field with you and please follow it to report
any poaching you see.
Avian flu - an
update
The RSPB is co-operating in a system to detect Avian Flu
by watching out for unexpected bird deaths on its reserves. If you are in the Saltholme
area and see a dead swan or 10 or more fresh corpses of any other waterbird, please
contact Kevin Bayes :
Tel 0191 233 4303
Fax 0191 233 4322
email kevin.bayes@rspb.org.uk
In the case of a dead swan, please inform DEFRA (08459
33 55 77) as they are collecting and testing the corpses.
Even reports of no dead birds will be useful as this will
be a way of assessing the monitoring effort.
The chance of wildbirds infecting humans with Avian Flu
is very small. However, to be safe, do not touch any corpses.
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