Ouch! RSPB poised to increase membership subscription rates by inflation-busting 10 per cent

                                                       

Beccy Speight announced the proposed increase

          

THE RSPB is to put up its membership subscription fees.

The announcement came at this morning' AGM from chief executive Beccy Speight who said it would be the first increase for 10 years.

Ms Speight did not reveal the extent of the hike, but, according to insiders, it will be 10 per cent - more than three times higher the current rate of inflation which stands  3.3 per cent.

The RSPB has various subscription levels but the annual amount paid by an individual is £36.

The society currently has about 1.1-million members.

It is not known how many members watched the annual meeting, which was held online via Zoom, but about 2,500 registered in advance.

Amiable and gentle enough but Sam and Ade TV birding show lacks sparkle and vibrancy

 

The magnificent Yorkshire Dales provided the setting for part of the programme

IT certainly didn't help that so early in the show a Woodpigeon was wrongly identified as a Collared Dove.

Thereafter,  Sam West and Ade Edmondson proved as amiable in the first episode of the second series of Sam & Ade Go Birding as  they had in the first series.

It was set in spring in the magnificent countryside of the Yorkshire Dales where the duo marvelled at the sounds of a dawn chorus, then went on a successful safari to look for breeding Curlews and Lapwings.

But the hour-long programme never came to life. It limped along, with Sam describing the birds as "delightful", while Ade thought they were "lovely". Alas, there was never any fizz, nor excitement.

Although described as "birding buddies", the banter between the two seemed a little rehearsed without ever giving the impression of being born of a bond derived from an established friendship, trust and affection.

Later this month, there are to be be two further Thursday early evening episodes on Channel 5 - one shot as the pair thrilled to Red Kites at a feeding sanctuary in Wales and the other as they marvelled  at Gannets, Puffins and other seabirds off the Yorkshire Coast.

Here's hoping for something less soporific with a bit more urgency and  sparkle

Sam (left) watch Swallows and Swifts as they relax over a pint 

Sam and Ade get down to business - the former opting for Swarovski binoculars, while the later plumps for the Bushell brand  

Oh dear - a serious case of misidentification

Headline birds - the three species making a splash on front covers of this month's ornithological magazines

 

Short-eared Owl, White-throated Needletail and Isabelline Wheatear  are the species featured on the front covers of the October editions of three frontline ornithological titles.

                                                   

Birders head for nature reserve on Lincolnshire Coast in pursuit of mega-rare Eastern Bonelli's Warbler

Eastern Bonelli's Warbler - the bird here was photographed in Israel

A MEGA-rare Eastern Bonelli's Warbler sighted on the Lincolnshire Coast has today been a magnet for twitchers.

A vagrant from south-east Europe or western Asia, the bird was described as a "probable" when first spotted  at Gibraltar Point nature reserve by warden Kev Wilson, then photographed by colleague Owen Beaumont.

But its ID was later confirmed as this species, rather than Western Bonelli's Warbler, on the basis of its one syllable call note - likened by one hearer to the "back end of a Marsh Tit's call". 

The bird, a member of the leaf warbler family, was elusive this morning, but more conspicuous from early afternoon, though it was often hard to pick out among the abundance of similar-looking Chiffchaffs.

For this species, there are believed to be fewer than 20 other UK records, and this is the first for Lincolnshire.

Last year, there were three records, all in April or May - Dungeness in Kent, Barra in the Outer Hebrides and Whalsay in the Shetlands,

The bird is named after Italian naturalist  Franco Bonelli who grew up in Turin and became professor of zoology at that city's university with  further responsibility for oversight of its zoological museum.

The professor realised he had something special on his hands when a specimen was brought to him in December 1815 - a momentous year for him because he had earlier married Ferdinanda Dancona.

Sadly, for the next 15 years of his life he was dogged by ill health, and he was only 46 when he died on November 18, 1830.

He also has a species of eagle known after him.

Franco Bonelli - only 46 when he died 

                                    

Bonelli's Warbler as depicted in an antiquarian  book

* Pictures: Wikimedia Commons

New book by top birder-author Mark Cocker celebrates 'the art and practice of paying close attention'

A  DATE of October 8 has been set for release of The Nature of Seeing, the latest book by frontline birder Mark Cocker.

It is described by publishers  Penguin as "a celebration of the art and practice of paying close attention.”

The pre-launch publicity continues: "Whether it is the sight of moonlight across a bedroom floor or an owl as it hunts, or waxcap fungi that erupt across the fields overnight, the author encourages us to reclaim our innate gift for wonder and to see the living world in all its infinite detail and mystery.

"Through a series of diary entries describing his encounters with the natural world, he interrogates how we see and how it affects us at the most profound levels. 

"In precise and lyrical prose, he shows us that seeing is a creative act that can both transform us and change the world we share.

"Revelatory and profound, The Nature of Seeing is the culmination of a lifetime's love affair with the simple act of looking and all that it reveals."

The book is priced at £20 in hardback.

Two-hour twitch: Kilnsea Wetlands, near Spurn, in East Yorkshire

                                                             

Date: September 27, 2026

Time: 1.30pm - 3.30pm

Weather: Overcast with occasional squalls and sunny spells

Target species: Curlew-sandpiper (not seen)

Star species seen: Whinchat

Other species seen included: 

* Wheatear

* Skylark

* Meadow Pipit

* Reed Bunting

* Linnet

* Avocet

* Dunlin

* Knot

* Ringed Plover

* Little Grebe

* Wigeon

* Pintail

* Teal

* Common Scoter

This confiding Whinchat was good to see

Where has all the water gone ? The lagoon nearest to the car park was dry

Distant view of a lone Wheatear

All on its own - juvenile Ringed Plover

Avocets - always a delight to see

                                                   

A couple of Knot (left) joined these Dunlin 

                                                               

Beyond the wetlands and over the North Sea, these Common Scoter flew south 

Did producers of highly-acclaimed new film get it wrong with depiction of Mistle Thrush?

                                                                  

Mistle Thrush - also known as 'stormcock'

DID singing Mistle Thrushes predict the stormy weather in day before D-Day landings?

That is the premise  for inclusion of a brief songbird sequence in the  highly-praised 2026  film, Pressure, which explores the meteorological circumstances that led to postponement of the Allies invasion from the proposed date, June 5, to dawn the following day.

The Mistle Thrush was selected for the sequence as it is a species noted for singing in stormy weather - hence its occasional other name, ‘stormcock’.                               

The new movie has been widely praised

But ornithological word is that the bird depicted is not a Mistle Thrush - it is a Song Thrush which is not noted as a stormy weather songster.

Movie mistakes involving inappropriate use of birds and/or birdsong are commonplace - perhaps most notably the use of an American Robin rather than a European Robin in Mary Poppins.

Notwithstanding, Pressure is an engrossing film which will doubtless cause science-minded birders, at least as an afterthought, to reflect on the impact of weather on bird behaviour, particularly migration and vagrancy

Pressure is being screened in cinemas now.