Carsington Bird Club – Page 46 – Formed in 1992 when the construction of Carsington Water Reservoir was completed and opened to the public.

There goes the countryside?

The English countryside is under threat again. The government is trying to push for large-scale changes to the planning laws, which would make it easier to build on green field sites. This is all happening over the next few weeks. The National Trust warns of “unchecked and damaging development” and Friends of the Earth predicts “a building free-for-all that will blight our countryside with bad building”. A petition may make the government think again. If you feel strongly about this, you can visit https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/save-our-countryside and sign an online petition.

Note: Whilst CBC supports the general principles of conservation, the views of 38 Degrees do not necessarily respresent the collective views of the CBC Committee.

Gannet visits Carsington

A near adult Gannet was found by Steph Hicking and Roger Carrington, from Paul Stanley hide, shortly after 15.30hrs on 13th September 2011. It appeared at Stones Island and then on the new path near Hopton End where it had a brief altercation with the immature female Pergrine. Shortly after this the Gannet flew off high North East. This is the first record since November 2009. Other observers included Dave Newcombe, Clive Ashton and Chris Brown.

Nice one all!

Carsington Bird Club News

Is you mobile phone smart enough?

Did you know that the Carsington Bird Club website is compatible with most smart phones/devices – such as Android OS phones and Apple’s iPhone, iPad, etc. ?

Well yes, it has been configured to work for these devices, allowing almost all of the content to be viewed and accessed, including the ability to submit sightings whilst out in the field. To help in this, the Submit Sightings page has been laid out in a very simple way, making it easier for mobile users to input a record. What is a Smartphone anyway? Click here to find out. There is no need to configure anything on your mobile device, although if you have problems viewing the siste, or you just don’t like the new layout, then go to the bottom of the home page and switch the mobile version On, or Off, as required. All the content will appear as date-stamped blog entries and clicking “Menu” will provide access all the web pages, shown as icons, as well as being able to browse by Category and by “tagged” word entries, eg. Osprey, curlew, etc. You can also search the entire website by clicking the magnifying glass icon and entering your search word/s. The icon “Latest Sightings – Mobile” links to a page specifically designed to be displayed on a mobile phone/device, without any headers or footers. If you wish to view or bookmark this page, then here is the link: http://www.carsingtonbirdclub.co.uk/cbc/asp/listsightings_wp_mobile.asp

Click “Menu” to return and click “Home” to return to the blog pages.

Click here to see a view using an Android smartphone or an Apple iPhone – image1 – image2

Click here to see a view using an Apple iPad – image1

Try it out and let me know how you get on.

Regards,

Webmaster – CBC

ps – for the nerdy amongst us, a list of those user agents supported by this website:

Device Classes	User Agents
iOS/Webkit	iphone, ipod, incognito, webmate
Android	android, dream, cupcake, froyo
Blackberry Storm/Torch/Bold 3	blackberry9500, blackberry9520, blackberry9530, blackberry9550, blackberry 9800, blackberry 9780
Windows Phone 7	iemobile/7.0
Palm Pre/Pixi	webos
Samsung	s8000, bada
SEO/Indexing	googlebot-mobile

Carsington Bird Club

September 2011

CBC – Outdoor Events Programme for 2011/12

Tuesday September 20th 2011 – Hognaston Village Hall from 7.30pm
‘The History of Birdwatching Part 2 – 1939 onwards’ by Peter Gibbon (the ‘long-awaited’ sequel !!). Entrance £2 members and £2.50 non-members.

Bird of the Month for September – Bar-tailed Godwit ( Limosa lapponica )

A long-billed, long-legged wading bird which visits UK shores for the winter. Most usually seen in its grey-brown winter plumage, birds in spring may show their full rich chestnut breeding plumage. In flight it shows a white patch stretching from the rump up the back, narrowing to a point. It breeds in the Arctic of Scandinavia and Siberia and hundreds of thousands of them pass through the UK, on their way further south, or stop off here for the winter. Click here for more details.

They have AMBER Status.