30.
DANBURY COMMON - 19 JUN 77
A cool cloudy day
enabled the party of 40 to
hear more than 30 of the
40 bird species encountered
still in full song. Two
male Tree Pipits treated us

to a fine song-flight display
and Nightingales were seen by

Tree Pipit
(song flight)
some. Speckled-yellow Moths were
in flight and Celery-leaved Buttercups
and Heath Bedstraw were flowering.
Ian Misselbrook
JUST BATS - 20th AUGUST 1977
In rapidly failing light at Rye House,
near Hoddesdon, Mike Clark and Clive Brooks
assembled outsize butterfly nets on 8 ft.
poles and commenced to leap about, caring
nought for cowpats, attempting the impossible,
to snatch bats from mid-air - and succeeded!
The first to appear were Serotines,
accompanied at a higher level by a couple of
Noctules. At this stage, first bat to Clive
and first blood to the bat - Serotines bite
hard!
Back at Rye House we entered the sewage
works. Caring nought for the dangers of the
lagoons, our heroes were soon in action
and in no time had secured five "Pips".
Kevin Roberts, the RSPB Warden, had
kindly opened up the Centre for us and here
we examined, measured and released the three
Serotines and five Pipistrelles.
Grace and Colin Sims