Reading RSPB

ON January 14 we launched our 2025 indoor programme with a very informative and extremely entertaining talk on “Wildlife of the Chilterns” by Jon Mason.

He is a very experienced birder, naturalist, writer and geographer, a subject which he has taught in school for many years.

He is active online and on social media as
theearlybirder and describes himself as “crepuscular” with early morning and dusk being his favourite times for getting out into nature.

He lives in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, recently renamed Chiltern National Landscape, and has explored the area in depth over the years. Indeed, two years ago he visited 83 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust nature reserves in one year.

The Chilterns are made of chalk which overlies clay and famous for their chalk streams and for a wide range of orchids and other wildflowers which thrive on chalk.

The area also has a wide variety of habitats including chalk grassland, woodland, especially beech woods, arable/pastoral land and wetlands.

The wetland areas include reservoirs and lakes formed from flooded gravel pits. College Lake was created thanks to Graham Atkins who worked for Blue Circle and persuaded the company not to fill in the spent gravel pit but to flood it and turn it into a nature reserve.

It now attracts a wide range of bird species as well as polecats and lizards and in spring and summer has glorious fields of wildflowers, including the once common field cow wheat which now grows only at College Lake and one other site.

Weston Turville and Wilstone reservoirs boast such species as water rail, kingfisher and red-crested pochard as well as a range of wintering ducks, while such treats as black redstart can be found at Chinnor and hawfinches in Great Hampden churchyard.

Dockey Woods, Ashridge, are famous for their bluebells as well as having resident dormice (also to be found in Jon’s loft) and neighbouring woods are full of wild garlic and winter aconites while the presence of wood sorrel indicates that these are remnants of ancient woodland.

Despite the variety of wildlife on offer, there are signs of decline not only in biodiversity but in bioabundance.

Populations of both hares and rabbits are declining due to haemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis, which has spread from rabbits to hares. Curlew and lapwing which once bred in abundance in the Vale of Aylesbury have all but vanished. Ash dieback has affected some areas of woodland, although some surviving trees give hope of resistant strains.

We ended the evening inspired by Jon’s enthusiasm and depth of knowledge and full of ideas for exploring more of an area which starts on our doorstep in Goring and extends for 45 miles to Hitchin.

On January 19 we met at Wilstone Reservoir, near Tring. We walked from the car park to the hide, seeing a great white egret on the other side of the lake and two pairs of goldeneye swimming close to us, with many tufted ducks and pochard. From the hide we saw numerous wigeon, lapwing and a small group of snipe huddled under the bushes. A green sandpiper and little egret also appeared briefly.

We then headed round the lake, stopping at a nearby farm shop café for a welcome coffee.

We then walked along the disused canal to Tringford reservoir and back, adding a couple of fieldfares and a grey wagtail among others. In total, we recorded 38
species.

On January 21, we went to Bray gravel pits. near Maidenhead, for a walk.

The main sailing lake held lots of coots, a few great crested grebes and a few tufted ducks on the far side. The smaller lake is used mainly for fishing, which means it should be quieter, but we did see a pochard with the tufted ducks and a pair of gadwall.

We saw a number of long-tailed tits in the scrub round the lakes along with blue and great tits. On the main lake we also found two common gulls among the black-headed gulls.

A pleasant walk in which we recorded 24 species.

Outdoor trips in February include a minibus trip to Rainham Marshes on February 16 and a morning walk at Hosehill Lake on February 19.

On March 11 we will have the second part of Peter Holden’s “Inspired by birds”.

March’s outdoor trips include a visit to Fleet Pond on March 16 to look for early migrants and on March 18 there will be a morning walk in Swinley Forest to look for woodlark, crossbill and Dartford warbler.

All indoor meetings are held in Pangbourne village hall. starting at 8pm. Visitors are very welcome. There is an entrance fee of £5 for non-members, juniors half price. New members are always welcome with annual membership set at a modest £15 (£10 for juniors).

For more information, visit group.rspb.org.uk/
reading

Judith Clark