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I’ve got my 2019 Herts Bird Report too. Many congratulations to @csmo34 @Alang_46 @Birdinglondon and the rest of the team. I’m deep into reading it and have been thinking how important it is that this report comes out each year.
The first Herts Bird Report I bought was for 1976/77 – two years in one 56 page issue. I loved it. It fired the 12 year old me up to get out and see birds that I never knew were on my doorstep.
That report had records from 98 observers. 2019’s has 880. Yet today’s observers are seeing far fewer birds than their 1970s predecessors. I compared the entries for Starling and took a deep breath.
Covid-19 has reinforced how having a reason to engage with nature is important for our wellbeing. With records contributed by 880 people, that’s clearly true – we need our greenspace.
Producing the report is a marathon annual effort. If we can choreograph a team every year to do it, it shows that we care about birds and that birds are worth protecting.
Hertfordshire is geographically small, but in population terms, big, with ever more development pressure. So this is the story of the birds that are close to home for more than 1.2 million people in the county and many more, like me, around its fringes.
But it’s also about fun. Birders love to see their sightings, photos and survey results in print. Yes, there’s Twitter, but getting in the annual report means more. What better incentive for young birders to record what they see?
And it’s value. Joining the Herts Bird Club costs £12 a year and you get the Bird Report for free if you do that. This is a true labour of love. It’s all for the birds, and if you like birds, it’s important!
