NEXT MEETING:

 Friday  21st September  at 7:45 in The Barn Hall , Chiltern Avenue, Amersham ,  HP6 5AH 

Speaker   :  Andy Tucker 

Subject  :  The wildlife of Spain 

Meanwhile  

 Watch the Roseate Terns Live on the Webcam below

A birdcam you may find interesting found by Diana        carnyx.tv      which has webcams watching nesting birds , they have one on the peregrines at Chichester, a barn owl site, the osprays at Loch Garten and kittiwakes on the Baltic.  There is a listing and ‘active’ sites are flagged up. You can watch some very colourful Puffins and Roseate Terns on Coquet Island  just off the coast of Northumberland. This is a commercial company selling all kinds of tv monitoring equipment and other optical stuff. 

OTMOOR UNDER THREAT       RSPB mounts a campaign 

Otmoor

· A unique habitat of rare wetland and grazing floodplain in landlocked Oxfordshire, home to 1,000 acres of nature reserves 

· RSPB reserve

· Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 

· Uncrossed by any road since Roman times

· Thousands of visitors enjoy its special feeling of remoteness, 

· Ancient fen with over sixty rare and protected species.

Otmoor RSPB Reserve

It is a haven for wildlife. Among the rare birds that nest/visit are:

· Turtle Dove (Red List species of conservation concern in the UK; and Biodiversity Action Plan species). These are in decline and numbers are halving every six years

· Bittern. Numbers dramatically declined and almost extinct in UK, but numbers slowly increasing but at very low levels. Present at Otmoor.

· Rare birds of prey - Hen Harrier and Marsh Harrier

There are many other rate and unusual birds that breed or visit here. Information about birds and animals seen (including harriers and bitterns) can be found here:   http://otmoorbirding.blogspot.co.uk 

Heritage

Route S2 would run very close to a number of very important heritage sites including –

· Beckley Park, a triple moated Grade I listed hunting lodge with a number of other listed buildings and rare flora

· Shotover House and Park a Grade I listed building with listed buildings and monuments in the park

· A Roman Road crosses Otmoor

THE OT MOOR RIOTS  1815


In the early 1800's villagers grazed   
their animals on Ot Moor. However, later  
on, certain landowners thought that if  
Ot Moor was enclosed and drained it     
would make valuable plough land.In     
1815 Ot Moor was enclosed and drained   
by altering the course of the River    
Ray.The villagers were so annoyed,they 
rioted onto Ot Moor pulling down hedges 
and throwing them into the ditches. The 
troops were called in and 44 rioters   
were arrested. They were taken to       
Oxford on St Giles Day, which was       
crowded  with country folk enjoying    
the annual fair. The prisoners raised   
the cry "Ot Moor for Ever!".The crowd   
followed their example and attacked the
troops with bricks and stones.The      
troops were overpowed and all 44       
prisoners escaped. The landowners won   
their battle in the end, but the River  
Ray flooded and Ot Moor didn't dry out.

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Seen Locally

For up to date sightings go to  Twitter  and type in  TringBirds  or  Bucks Bird News or College_Lake 

Seen recently and reported on Twitter

 at College Lake 

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Turnstone                      22/5

Grey Plover                   13/5

Dunlin                             13/5

 at Pitstone Hill 

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Wheatear       29/3

  at Marlow Gravel Pits 

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Caspian Gull                15/5

Reed Warbler               23/4

Garden Warbler, Swift            22/4

Avocet    x 3                    12/4

Sedge Warbler             9/4

Common Tern    x  7   9/4

Sandwich Tern              9/4

Little Gull                        9/4

 at Wilstone Reservoir or  Startops , Marsworth,   Tring

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Black Terns    x24                         21/5

Little Tern                                         3/5

Common Sandpiper, Pink Footed Goose, Swift, Hobby, Arctic Tern      23/4/18

Black Necked Grebe                15/4

Marsh Harrier                           14/4

Swallows  , Sand Martins, House Martins , Common Tern        11/4

Little Gull                                      8/4

 at Ivinghoe 

*

Green Hairstreak Butterfly!!!    22/4

Ring Ouzel x 5          13/04

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This site was last updated on 23/5/18