Hon. President: Brian Myring DERBYSHIRE - Ww2.rspb .uk

2 Birdwatching WalksSince my review in last year’s newsletter therehave been two summer evening walks (due tothe walk scheduled for Attenborough beingrained off) and nine Sunday morning walks invarious differing locations. Also this seasonthere have been two daytime wildlife walks onTuesdays. The average number of peopleattending the walks has been 16 which isslightly up on last year. This season thehighest attendance was 30 at Attenborough forour post-Christmas walk in December 2013.!The total number of bird species recorded was106, and the highest for a single walk was 50at Potteric Carr.!On walks during the summer eveningprogramme most of the birds recorded werecommon species. The late evening walk atBlidworth Common was very disappointing thisseason in that although we had three rodingwoodcocks we did not see or hear a singlenightjar. Reasons for this are uncertain, but weare giving the area a rest for the foreseeablefuture.!The two daytime summer wildlife walks in2013 were to RSPB Coombes Valley Reserve,and Coombs Dale in Derbyshire. The latterwas a joint walk with Butterfly Conservation,and was aimed at butterflies, dragonflies aswell as birds. This was well attended with 26people. The weather was extremely hot as ittook place during the summer heatwave. Thebutterflies responded and we saw 15 species.!The summer season of Sunday walks in 2013culminated again with a full day's walk inPadley Gorge, Longshaw and Burbage. Wesaw most of the target species in the gorgeincluding pied flycatcher, spotted flycatcherand redstart, and also heard wood warbler. Inthe afternoon on Burbage Edge we hadincredible views of a pair of ring ouzels andthe male posed very well for photographers.Some green hairstreak butterflies were alsoseen on the bilberry. In September the newprogramme began with a return visit toPleasley Country Park in cool and windyconditions. In October we had a visit to RSPBMiddleton Lakes for the usual wetland species.A highlight was an obliging stonechat comingback repeatedly to its perch on the fence, anda passage wheatear.At Doxey Marshes in November notablespecies were large numbers of snipe, twoyellow-legged gulls, a kingfisher and a waterrail. The year finished with a post-Christmaswalk on a gloriously sunny day to our regularhaunt of Attenborough where we saw a goodrange of species.!2013 began with a visit to Potteric CarrYorkshire Wildlife Trust Reserve, Doncaster,where we were rewarded with views of amarsh harrier, kingfisher and lesser redpoll. InFebruary we returned to Carsington Waterrecording a range of common species. Thevisit in March to Clumber Park was ratherdisappointing with the main highlight being alarge number of treecreepers.!Up to the point of writing, the most recentevent was the annual visit to Whisby NR inlate April. We heard at least 3 nightingalessinging and had glimpses of a couple butsome people unfortunately did not manage tosee them. All the warblers we expected to seewere recorded, and in particular we had goodviews of a singing lesser whitethroat.Unfortunately it was not possible to cross therailway line to access the northern part of thereserve due to the closure of the levelcrossing.!In the new programme you will notice that Ihave again put on two daytime summer wildlifewalks, this year on Thursdays, where we willbe looking for a range of birds, insects andother wildlife. We will also be visiting a newlocality, New Lount Nature Reserve,Leicestershire.!May I take this opportunity to remind you that itis best to check with me in advance to makesure a walk is running in the event ofinclement weather. I look forward to yourcontinued support and welcome anyoneinterested in joining us on the walks in the newprogramme.!Max Maughan

Events and Sales, Bird Food Sales, Evening Talks 3Events and SalesWe attended 19 events over the year withvarious new venues, including Kirk HallamLakeside Festival and Littleover ‘Picnic in thePark’, as well as old favourites such asAllestree Park Farm at Christmas and EtwallWell Dressings. The highlight of the year wasDerbyshire Day at Kedleston Hall where we hadglorious weather and lots of interest.Many of our activities have involved children. Inparticular we ran a Flighty Friends Weekend atSudbury Hall and Museum of Childhood, andhave twice taken part in children’s events atShipley Park and Findern. We also spent 3days at Findern Garden Centre promotingGiving Nature a Home.Evening TalksYet again another great year for my bird foodsales project which began in 1985/86.This in spite of the fact we had virtually nowinter this year and a couple of regularsupporters have moved on to pastures new.The profit on this years working ended up at 1454.63, as I say, an excellent amount.This year’s profit now takes me to well over 20,000 since my initial year’s profit of 21.30.This could not be possible without the supportof you who buy your food from me at ourmeetings and events and those many nonRSPB people who purchase from my home.Thanks are also expressed to Taylor's of SouthWingfield for their generous discount and verypleasant service. Again thanks to theMickleover Fruit and Veg shop for theircontinued support and finally thanks to Paul,Margaret, Tom and Dave for their help in sellingthe bird food and with the carrying of heavyloads.I assure you that your support in whatever youdo is greatly appreciated and I look forward toanother successful year ahead.This year we have again enjoyed a variedrange of illustrated talks. The standard ofphotography from many of our speakers has asusual been outstanding.In September we welcomed back Susan & AllanParker with a talk about birding in North Norfolk.It was nice to see images of birds and placesthat lots of members are familiar with. OurAGM in October was followed by Ian Newtongiving an excellent talk on the wildlife of Alaska.In November we were privileged to have PeterHolden from the RSPB with a very informativetalk about the society's natural secrets. Theyear ended with a return visit by Chris Ward onwaders throughout the world which was foundto be very interesting by many members.We welcomed back Mike Lane in Januaryshowing his superb imagery of birds in aMidlands forest. Again in February moresuperb images were shown by Paul Hobsonwho took us on a photographic tour of Scotland.Mike Wilkes returned in March with a veryentertaining talk on the Gambia. The seasonended in April with a new speaker, Ben Hall,who showed us how he obtains his awardwinning photographs of various species ofwildlife, described by some members as worksof art.Attendances this season have generally beenhigh with an average of 81 which is verypleasing. The cost of the room hire hasincreased for next season, so again we urgeyou to come along and support us in order tomaintain the high quality of our talks, whencosts of speakers are also continually rising.You will receive a warm welcome and we hopeyou will enjoy another varied and interestingprogramme in the new season.Brian MyringMax MaughanIncome from events and sales was up slightlyon the previous year and my thanks go toeveryone who supported our sales by buyinggoods from me and giving me items to sell.Finally, a big thank you to all those who helpedwith events in so many ways.Margaret KeepBird Food Sales!!

4 Boxes and Badges, Coach OutingsCollection BoxesThree years ago I was collecting from tenboxes, now I have only six collection points toservice. Naturally the amount collected hasfallen considerably during this period but thislast financial year has seen a drop of only 3.25on the previous year. The total for the year was 774.01. Two of the boxes still bring in verygood donations, the best one at Byrkley GardenCentre totalled 392.09 for the year. My thanksare given here to all the businesses whichsupport us by letting our giant robins or tabletop collection boxes roost on their premises!Pin Badges!A few years ago I was looking after 28 pinbadge boxes, mostly in South Derbyshire but afew crept over the Dove into Staffordshire. Anumber of those boxes have been withdrawn;some were not producing enough to warrantleaving them in place, others removed followingchanges of business ownership. I now servicenineteen pin badge boxes and over the yearsdonations have fallen in each subsequent year.Not this year though, as my pin badge boxeshave brought in 1959.68, an increase on2012/13 of 218.69. The top box is situated onthe counter at the Main Sail Restaurant,Carsington Visitor Centre. All these boxes arewatched over for us by the staff at these placesand their attention and support is greatlyappreciated. Many thanks to you all!Looking forward . .!At the close of the 2014/15 financial year, I amconsidering reducing the number of collectionpoints (or maybe stopping altogether) as agegallops on. I feel a need to be running down alittle. It would be disappointing and sad if wewere to lose these collections, which havebrought into our Society over 42,000 ofdonations towards conservation work since Ibegan collecting pin badge donations in 1977.With this in mind may I ask you, should anyonefeel they could find the time to be a pin badgeminder, or maybe an existing minder willing totake on a few more boxes, please talk to meand I will give you information and anyassistance possible. I can assure you it is avery rewarding service to both our Society andyourself. Thank you!!Brian MyringCoach Outings!Although our coach trips remain popular, withsome attracting good numbers, the averageattendance dropped slightly to 35. Any drop inthe attendance puts pressure on the profitabilityof the trips. The 15 price of a ticket hasremained constant for two years even thoughthe cost of coach hire has risen every year. Weare now not in a position to absorb the cost anymore. So for the new season the cost will be 16 per trip. We regret the rise but hope youunderstand this is something we do reluctantly.!Your committee is also conscious that therewas a large gap between our trip in Novemberand the season restarting in February. On oneof the coach outings in the New Year we askedthose present if they would be interested in ourorganising an outing in January to Martin Mere.It was pleasing to see such a large show ofhands supporting this idea.!We are always looking for new places to takeyou to, so for the new season we are planning atrip to Hoylake. This comes highlyrecommended by our friends in RSPB NorthStaffs local group. We are twinning it with RSPBBurton Mere. We hope you support this tripalong with the others.!Every year throws up some highlights. Mineinclude the great grey shrike, woodcock andlong eared owl at Spurn in October. Both marshand hen harriers were seen at RSPB BlacktoftSands in November. Great white egret andlong-tailed duck brightened an otherwise verywet day in February at RSPB Marshside. Thecrossbills at Lynford Arboretum in March wereanother highlight.!A close up view of a snipe under one of thehides at RSPB Titchwell was a very specialsight in March.!!David Manning!Highlight of the day at Symond’s Yat!

MERLINRSPB Derby Local GroupNewsletter40th Anniversary EditionHonorary President: Brian MyringWelcome to this special edition of ‘Merlin’ in whichwe celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the foundingof the RSPB Derby Local Group. As the HonoraryPresident of the group I feel honoured to becontributing to this special occasion.In November 1973, following the RSPB NationalFilm Show at the Kings Hall, Derby, at which timelocal groups were being set up around the country,a small number of enthusiastic local RSPBmembers began exploring the possibility of forminga group in Derby. The outcome of this would be toarrange a meeting of interested people in a room atDerby Museum/Art Gallery on 6th March 1974.Subsequently at a further meeting on 17th April aquestionnaire on the aims and organisation of sucha group was produced. From these crucialmeetings the local group developed into the highlyrespected group that it is todayDuring these last 40 years the local group, and oursociety itself, has seen and undergone manychanges. We have developed into a highlyprofessional organisation respected not onlythroughout this country but worldwide,culminating in the RSPB being the UK’s solerepresentative in the Birdlife Internationalpartnership.Our presence at local shows and events has takenon a more professional look than in those earlydays.A great debt of gratitude is owed and given to thefounding members for their enthusiasm, foresightand determination, and also to the many committeemembers who have served gallantly (6 groupleaders, 5 treasurers and only one secretary), toour members and the RSPB staff at The Lodge andregional offices of NW England and the MidlandRegion to which are attached today.Sadly, I missed the first six years but I have beenprivileged to be involved during the last thirty fouryears and I look forward to more. May I say finally“congratulations Derby Local Group” on this greatoccasion and achievement and wish continuingsuccess with your very important role in the yearsahead. You have all contributed greatly to thissuccess, thank you.Brian MyringLocal groups were created to be the voice of theRSPB in their areas and to promote the society,to help recruit members and supporters, and toproduce a varied programme of events andactivities for local members to enjoy the beautyof birds, a vital part of our wildlife biodiversity. Tothis aim your local group has contributed atremendous amount. The production of ourannual programme provides interesting activitiesfor all requirements, slide show/lectures, coachoutings, guided birdwatching walks, promotionalevents, sales, fundraising and an opportunity tobe involved.Throughout the 40 years the standard ofspeakers and their photographs has improvedbeyond belief with every decade, to theexcellence we see today.Coach outings continue to visit reserves andspecial areas throughout the country and theguided walks still attract many people. Nowadayswe are more adventurous with destinations than inthe early years (walks in the local park werecommon at that time).Brian was presented with a President’sAward at the RSPB AGM in October 2013,in recognition of his achievements as adedicated volunteer over many years.He is pictured receiving a signed print‘Avocets Arriving’ by Robert Gillmor fromRSPB President Miranda Krestovnikoff

2 In the beginning . . .During one of our evening meetings in 2013Dr Allan Hough asked if he could address us. Heinformed us that our first Group Leader, Albert Kent,had passed away. It became apparent from thesefew words that, by some, very little was knownabout the formation and history of our group.As we celebrate 40 years, it is perhaps now timethat something is put down as a record of thoseearlier days.We approached Dr Keith Hammond, Dr AllanHough and Pauline Allcock (who was the group’sfirst Secretary, a post she still holds today) two ofour longest serving members and asked them fortheir memories of those early daysPauline recalls:“The Derby Members Group began life in 1973 atan RSPB film show, which attracted 800 people atthe King’s Hall (now Queen Street baths).The audience was asked if anyone would beinterested in forming a Members Group and wasinvited to attend a meeting in Derby Art Gallery.”Keith recalls:“I started going to the meetings very early on as Ihad always been interested in birds and my wifesaid it was time I got out a bit more! The groupcommittee developed from those interested inhelping to form a group to promote the RSPB. Mosthad been attending the annual film shows.”Pauline continues:“Under the leadership of Albert Kent, who was theRSPB representative at the time, a committee wasformed, myself included. Among this group ofpeople were Bill Land and his wife Gladys, whobecame treasurer. They gave regular talks andwildlife shows and Bill was on the committee forover 30 years.Joan and Philip Holmes organised coach outings.They went on to be the founders of DerbyEnvironment Week which involved many localsocieties.The early members of the committee were: Albertand Hazel Kent - Albert was Group Leader andtogether they ran the YOC.Phil and Joan Holmes - programme and tripsorganisers. Pauline Allcock - secretary. Bill andGladys Land - Gladys was Treasurer, Bill lookedafter projection and also took photographs andgave talks. Alan Boiling and his wife. VeraChambers, who looked after refreshments andsales, and David Pearson.Keith Hammond joined the committee very early onafter the formation of the group.”join the Club to enable us to use the bar. Thisvenue served us well for many years.Meetings were advertised by word of mouth, in theRSPB magazine and, later, in the local press and Ithink on Radio Derby.”Keith recalls the early meetings and walks:“Our speakers were often members of the Groupand also members from the DerbyshireOrnithological Society, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust andso on. As the group grew in size we had speakersfrom further afield. In the later years over onehundred regularly attended meetings andsometimes as many as 150. The group helped runthe Annual film shows put on by the RSPB, Sandy.Trevor Gunton and Roy Croucher usually presentedthe events at the Assembly Rooms and often wehad nearly 1000 people present. After a while thegroup ran these events without anyone comingfrom the RSPB Sandy.Outings: A monthly coach trip was started after thefirst few months and we visited many areas on theeast coast, especially Norfolk, and some on thewest coast. Outings were well attended. We usuallystopped at a pub on the way home which pleasedsome but not all, as some just wanted to get home!!The first trip I went on was to Bempton Cliffs andthere were about 25 pairs of gannets there!!Outings were organised by Phil and Joan Holmes.Local walks were started and held on Sundays andlater every two weeks on a mid-week evening.Albert Kent remained the Group Leader until 1976when I took over.”Pauline recalls:“Dr Keith Hammond took over as Leader and reallyestablished our group. Over the next few yearsmany events were organised and became regularitems in our programme.”Keith recalls:“We held meetings monthly in the Church Hall, StPeter’s Churchyard in the centre of Derby. Later wemoved to the Polish Club on Kedleston Road there was a bar here and some members had toOur first three Group Leaders, KeithHammond, Albert Kent and Brian Myringcelebrating our 21st birthday in 1994

!The early years . . . 3“That evening Magnus Magnusson (President of theRSPB) filled the Assembly Rooms and he stayed withme overnight. On the Sunday morning webird-watched at Elvaston Castle and in the afternoonheld a service at Derby Cathedral.During the year we gave many talks to local groupsand in are

WED 12 INDOOR MEETING - We welcome Chris Galvin to talk about 'AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 BIRDS'. Supported by Cameron Hughes, Chartered Accountants. SAT 22 COACH OUTING - RSPB BURTON MERE AND HOYLAKE Price: Adults 16.00, Juniors 8* SUN 30 BIRDWATCHING WALK - SENCE VALLEY AND KELHAM BRIDGE LRWT, LEICS