Headline news

Stroud Valleys Project are clearing  ivy from the headstones at Bisley Road Cemetery in order to protect the lichen this Thursday 13^th February.

More volunteers are welcome – Please get in touch with Katherine Hallewell beforehand (01453 752577 is the best place to leave a message).

Come dressed for all weathers, bring gloves, secateurs etc.  9.30 am finishing at 1 pm.

Posted on behalf of:
Julie Wickham
Marketing and Fundraising Manager
Stroud Valleys Project
8 Threadneedle Street
Stroud
Gloucestershire
GL5 1AF
tel. 01453 753358
www.stroudvalleysproject.org

I would like to draw the attention of GNS members and those visiting the GNS website to two related issues, both close to my heart. The first is World Wetlands Day which is recognised worldwide, and marks the anniversary of the approval of the text of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands on 2 February 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shores of the Caspian Sea.  The Convention is the first of the modern conservation conventions; it is an intergovernmental treaty by which states designate wetlands in their territory for the Ramsar “List of Wetlands of International importance”, and promise to make “wise use” of all wetlands in their territory, whether or not they are included in the List.  Currently 168 countries have joined the Convention, listing 2,171 wetlands (covering over 207 million hectares) for the Ramsar List. Worlds Wetlands Day is an opportunity to give greater publicity to the work of the Convention, and to the value of wetlands for biodiversity, flood control, water supply and quality, carbon storage, agriculture and fisheries, and support for human livelihoods. Much of the early work on the Convention was carried out in Gloucestershire by the International Waterbird and Wetlands Research Bureau, then based at Slimbridge (nowadays with headquarters in the Netherlands and known as “Wetlands International”). The Convention Secretariat is housed with IUCN in Gland, Switzerland. Ramsar is close to my heart, as I worked for some 25 years with the Convention, first in Slimbridge, later in Gland.

To coincide with World Wetlands Day, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is publishing its report for winter 2011/12 on the Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS). WeBS is a series of monthly counts of water birds, which aims to monitor the numbers of waterbirds (among them swans, geese, ducks, waders and herons) which visit the UK in winter; the counts continue through spring, summer and autumn, mainly on coasts and shorelines, where numbers of passing migrant waterbirds (particularly waders) are monitored. These counts began in UK in the 1940s and now extend worldwide; they form one of the bases for judging whether a wetland qualifies as a possible Ramsar site. Within Gloucestershire (where I am the WeBS Local Organiser), counts are carried out on the Severn Estuary (both in the Frampton/Slimbridge area, and between Lydney and Chepstow), at inland sites in the Severn Vale (such as Walmore Common, Ashleworth Ham and Coombe Hill Meadows) and at sites on the Cotswolds, in particular the Cotswold Water Park. These counts are made by volunteer bird-watchers who submit their data to the BTO, and the annual report presents a picture of the numbers of water birds occurring in a previous winter, with comments on increases, decreases or particularly interesting observations.  Anyone who would like to join in the counting operations is cordially invited to contact me. The BTO website www.bto.org provides a good deal of extra information about WeBS counts, including new features giving details of the status of waterbirds, and access to historical data. Do take a look!

Link to Ramsar Convention on Wetlands website

Posted on behalf of Mike Smart
Hon Chairman, GNS
Revised 30/01/2014

A Live Animal Event for Gloucestershire February Half-Term Week

This email, which was sent to a large number of birdwatchers, has been posted here by request from Mike Smart.

Dear Colleague,

May I first of all explain that I have extracted your contact details from the Birdwatchers Yearbook 2014. I sincerely hope you don’t feel the following request is an intrusion. If so, then I apologise unreservedley.

In early 2013 I registered an E-petition relating to the licencing of upland grouse moors and gamekeepers as I believe some form of regulation is the only way forward to address the continuing practice of raptor persecution. The explanatory details accompanying the petition adequately set out the provisions I feel need consideration and discussion. After being personally involved with Hen Harrier protection for over thirty years, mainly with RSPB during the twenty years I ran what was formerly NW England Region, the current situation whereby we have lost the species as a breeding bird in England is sad news indeed and an ever present reminder that further action is required.

Whilst I’ve no illusions that a petition will automatically result in suggested measures being brought into being, a well supported proposal will allow that depth of feeling within the wider electorate  to be communicated to politicians in the hope that further debate will arise and the subject kept alive. The petition closes on the 27th February, 2014, has attracted in excess of 7500 signatures, but clearly many more would have a greater impact!  Following its closure the issue will be raised with politicians and others and the support for it quoted as an indication of the seriousness with which the matter is held.

I’m writing to you now in a personal capacity, as clearly you are involved in the “birding world”, to ask if you would promote the petition to family, friends, work colleagues, committee members of your Society or group and, indeed, to as wide a membership or constituency as possible as opportunity allows.  Full details are set out below.  By all means contact me by E-mail if you have any queries.  From time to time updates on progress will appear on my Blog  ( again, full details are given below ) to which you are welcome to refer people.  If you feel it more expedient to simply circulate this E-mail to your personal address book, or to that of your Society or group or any other appropriate list, then I have no objection to my personal details being circulated in such a way or to receiving enquiries from your contacts.

E-mail address:       John Armitage.     jsa@ornquest.plus.com

Blog address                                     http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/

E-petition details                             http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/46473

Click on any of the above to gain direct access to your required source.

Some of you, I am sure, will already be aware of the petition, indeed may have already signed it. If so, please excuse this duplication and many thanks for your previous support.  However, any further support you can offer in its promotion will be valued greatly and I am very much appreciative of your potential contribution. Thank you.

Best wishes for 2014, good birding and, again, many thanks,

John Armitage.

John S. Armitage
Isle of Islay,
Argyll,
Scotland.
PA47 7SZ

http://www.birdingodyssey.blogspot.com/

In view of recent statements about possible destruction of ancient woodlands in development sites, if new trees are planted, readers may like to see the policy of The Wildlife Trusts on biodiversity off-setting. This is a concept which has also been mentioned in relation to development of the Cinderford Northern Quarter.
This briefing was issued in July 2013:
biodiversity_offsetting_july_2013_final (PDF file)

This is a statement issued in November 2013 giving an overview of the Trusts’ position:
biodiversity_offsetting_twt_posn_pdf_59809 (PDF file)
Posted on behalf of Mike Smart.

I hope the latest issue of GNS News provided some interesting reading over the Christmas period.

Feature articles included: Reed warblers without reedbeds, the CPRE Awards 2013 for Churchdown Park Ponds project, an update to The Forest of Dean willow tit project, the mystery of the little owl in Gloucestershire and reports from this autumn’s field meetings.

Please contact GNS if you are interested in becoming a member and receiving the quarterly journal, or if you would like to contribute any notes, articles or pictures for the next issue. Please send any input to the editor (details in the News) by February 1st 2014.

Anyone wanting serious information on Ash Dieback should look at the webcasts of a recent conference “Living with Ash Dieback in Continental Europe”. http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI810ZkJIgiS9ALeeT5tq3g

This was held at the Linnaean Society in London on 29 November 2013. In all, there are more than 6 hours of footage, with 23 papers.

They consider country by country the disease’s spread across Europe; the commercial implications; ways of combating it by plant hygiene or plant breeding. For naturalists, particularly concerned by the potential damage of the disease in the wider environment, the two opening talks of Session 3 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxNcNUYigMw) – Ash Dieback as a conservation biology challenge, and The impact of Ash Dieback on veteran and pollarded trees in Southwestern Sweden – are very valuable.

For modelling the Epidemiology of Ash Dieback in the UK, see the paper by Professor Chris Gilligan starting at 38 minutes into the webcast of Session 4. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eBKXElvVxQ). This is a brief paper, lasting only 10 minutes. Towards the end, he shows slides which indicate that before the end of the decade Ash Dieback will be across England and Wales.

In case one gets too depressed by the preceding papers, the final presentation by Professor Steve Woodward is on the Emerald Ash Borer beetle which is heading our way. He says that if Ash Dieback doesn’t get our Ash Trees, then the Emerald Ash Borer will.

This book offers unbeatable quality at only £11.99.

It describes over 60 walks in Gwent, each of which provides an interesting selection of wild bird species.  The walks vary in length from less than one mile to over six miles, while some can be extended beyond this distance.  Each route, provided by an expert birdwatcher who knows the area intimately, has been checked for accuracy by other walkers.

The walks cover an astonishing range of habitats including:

• the Wye Valley with its ancient woodlands and spectacular viewpoints
• the deep valleys, fast-flowing rivers and high moorlands of the north and west
• the broad agricultural sweeps of the Usk and Monnow valleys
• the wetlands and reedbeds of the Gwent Levels
• the saltmarshes and mudflats of the Severn Estuary

For each walk there are:

• superbly detailed maps and directions
• lists of birds you are most likely to encounter
• your approximate chances of seeing the most notable species
• tips on how to see birds

Other features include:

• an introduction to Gwent’s habitats
• a checklist of Gwent’s birds
• what birds to expect at each season and where to find them
• information on public transport and wheelchair access

Not just for the birds!

You don’t have to be a birdwatcher to enjoy the enormous variety of walks presented.  Even regular walkers in the county will be bound to find something new here.

The book can be ordered from the GOS website www.gwentbirds.org.uk