Editorial .....................................................................................Eddie Bathgate

The Harrier

Suffolk Ornithologists’ Group

Editorial

Welcome to the Spring Harrier 184, though as I write this, there is definitely no spring in the air. I hope you’ll enjoy the range of articles inside.

There is an update on our SOS Swift campaign as well as the 2016 plans for Operation Turtle Dove. Both the Garrod and Dennis Ockleton awards were presented at the AGM – see inside for the winners. Eddie Marsh has taken over the reins of the monthly bird news review and a couple of other changes are detailed in the notes of the AGM.

The ‘Wild Ipswich’ project to map the county’s House Sparrow and Swift populations asks for volunteers; as does an article about Springwatch in Malta – which is vastly different from Springwatch on the BBC. You can read about their work and see how they monitor illegal hunting: it would make for a very different type of birding holiday. Operation Turtle Dove’s monitoring programme also needs volunteers, so there are plenty of opportunities to get actively involved.

There’s news of the Dutch research into Spoonbills as they journey from Mauritania to Western Europe. I was struck by what a fantastic recovery Spoonbills are making right across Western Europe, with the population taking off in several countries over the last 10 years, giving a much-needed sense of hope. The article’s co-author, Professor Theunis Piersma, is a world authority on the ecology of migratory birds and in 2014 was awarded the Spinoza Prize, the so-called ‘Dutch Nobel Prize’ worth €2.5 million – we are not worthy! Stephen Rutt is our SOG exile again, this time from North Ronaldsay, where he shows it’s not all bird ringing and survey work, and Alison Ballantyne provides this edition’s poem: ‘Wren’ by Ted Hughes. Birding highlights for me recently have been the SOG trips to Levington and the Brecks, meeting new members, having a laugh and seeing great birds. My kids had good fun taking part in the RSPB Garden Watch. We were very pleased to see Redwing in our garden, quite chuffed in fact, until I heard that Chris Courtney had got a Waxwing in his! It was nice also to add both Cattle Egret (amongst cattle) and Green-winged Teal to my Suffolk list. I had seen a Cattle Egret previously in Suffolk, but wasn’t sure I could tick it, as it was only associating with the Konik ponies at Minsmere.

Photo: Chris Courtney Waxwing