Final thoughts
I hope you enjoyed reading about the wonderful range of birds we still have around our parish and it was nice to record three new species in the year to boost our overall total, the likelihood is that all of them will be recorded again as they are extending their breeding range. Undoubtedly, more people are birdwatching in Henfield so the more eyes that are looking the more birds will be seen and reported. All your records are important as it is crucial that we monitor the populations as the changing landscape and climate has an enormous impact on our birdlife and helps us deliver one of the original targets when we set up Henfield Birdwatch way back at the end of the last century. I’ve been looking back in my diaries that go back to when I arrived in Henfield in 1985 and it’s sobering and depressing that of species recorded regularly then such as Bewick’s Swans, Tree Sparrow, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Spotted Flycatcher, but now the first two were not recorded at all 2020, the third was only seen once and the fourth is reduced to an uncommon species only recorded on migration. Just recently, other species seen in the parish, Greenfinch, Swift and House Martin, have been Henfield Birdwatch 2020
added to the red data list of Birds of Conservation Concern so we need to continue monitoring them and encouraging their continued breeding in the parish. On a more positive note, in that same period we have seen increases in, and new arrivals of, some species, Little Egrets being one and the likelihood is that both Cattle and Great White Egrets will now follow their example. Common Buzzards and Red Kites are now regularly seen in the skies above our parish and we can perhaps look forward to seeing more White Storks and White-tailed Eagles due to re-introduction programmes. This summary is the first report that we intend to produce every year in the future and is yet another big step forward in understanding, learning about and enjoying the birds in our parish. It is an important part of providing information not just to our members but everyone residing within our parish and beyond our boundaries through our website, Facebook page and email group. As an organisation, I feel we are in a very strong position to carry on with what I believe is vital for the prosperity of birds that live alongside us.
- Mike Russell
29
