Good summer weather means success for most birds - but not all.

Grey Partridge have had a good breeding
season - as long as they have been looked after!

In general, I think it has been a good breeding season for birds here in the UK, with encouraging reports from a number of quarters. Even some birds returning to our shores to over-winter, having spent the summer breeding elsewhere seem to have done well! 

For instance, a record number of at least 45,800 Pink-footed Geese have arrived at Lancashire's Martin Mere WWT (Wildfowl and Wetland Trust), counts have revealed. This beats the previous record of 36,000 in 2010. Over the next couple of weeks, numbers will continue to increase as more of these birds make the 500-mile journey from Iceland to spend the start of winter in Lancashire. The geese will ultimately winter to the south and east, particularly in Northumberland and Norfolk.

The Grey Partridge breeding season seems to have also fared well this year, following two poor years. Reports of large sized coveys are coming in from those estates and farms that have provided good nesting cover, insect rich foraging habitat and have also implemented legal, targeted predator control. Some Eastern areas such as Norfolk and Lincolnshire do not seem to have performed quite as well as the rest of the country however, with keepers telling me that there were prolonged cool winds in from the North sea during the peak chick hatching time, which may well have reduced insect numbers at a crucial time.

Two other species which I'm particularly pleased about this year, because they had taken a real bashing from the weather over the last couple of breeding seasons (not helped by the lack of small mammals) is the Barn Owl and Kestrel. I have had a number of farmers excitedly telling me of the “biggest ever clutches” eventually fledging from the boxes that they had put up in trees and barns.

As with all things in life though, not all birds have had a brilliant year. A farmer in Hampshire told me just this last Thursday, that his long term House martin colony that had been in existence as long as he could remember, had this year fallen silent, with not one nest being occupied. He was genuinely upset as he said it was very much part of his summer to watch these delightful birds flying overhead.

It was with great interest then that two days later, a letter popped through the post box from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), asking for help in order to study the worrying decline in House Martin numbers – a UK decline of 16% over the last decade, but an English decline of as much as 65% longer term. What is interesting is that there have been alarming declines in the south of England and yet some healthy increases in the North and across Scotland and Ireland.

Of course, with migratory species, these regional differences may not necessarily be as a result of what is happening here during the summer, but might be that more northerly House Martins go to a slightly different place to over-winter than southerly based birds and may therefore have had better weather or habitat conditions during their winter stay there.

This is exactly why research from organisations such as the GWCT, BTO and WWT is so vital in helping us to understand the intricacies of our wonderful bird life. So make sure you support their work!!!

Barn Owls have had an excellent breeding season

  

       

For one Hampshire farmer, there were no little House Martin heads peeking out of nests this year.

 

Mind your Rhea

Not something you would expect to come across in the English countryside - a Rhea

If you happen to be out and about in the Hampshire countryside any time soon, just be prepared that you might wander around the corner of some field and quite literally come eye to eye with what might at first look like a bird on steroids, but is actually a small Ostrich type species called a Rhea!

By all accounts, this bird has been living quite contentedly for the last couple of years in the wild. The bird would normally be found in South America and differs from an ostrich in being smaller, with a feathered neck and only three toes. The flightless bird is regularly spotted around the village of Long Sutton, which is situated about 3 miles to the south of Odiham.

The bird is “known to police” and the RSPCA, having escaped from its owner about two years ago and has so far evaded attempts to capture it. You would think that a large flightless bird would not be that difficult to catch, but do bear in mind that these long legged creatures can run up to 40 MPH and if caught, can give you one hell of a kick!   A statement from a rather relieved police spokesman said: “Generally the bird keeps itself to itself and clearly appears to be coping with living in the wild".

I do suggest it keeps its head down though (not necessarily an easy thing for a Rhea to do!) as back in their homeland Rheas have many uses. Feathers are used for feather dusters, skins are used for cloaks or leather, and their meat is a staple to many South American people. In fact, the Gaucho people traditionally hunt rheas on horseback, throwing Bolas, a throwing device consisting of three balls joined by rope, at their legs which immobilises the bird.

Last spring, another Rhea, named Rita, was also on the loose roaming the East Hertfordshire countryside. Rita, chose a bad area to reside in however, as in the end she had to be shot. A statement from Hertfordshire Constabulary said: “Police have received notification that the missing rhea has been lawfully killed near a carriageway in Anstey, as there was fear of it getting onto a main road and causing a collision.

I have a large number of folk gathering at my house for Christmas this year. Wonder where that South American cookbook is…….

A particularly "buzzy" Sunday morning!

Some of the Hornet catch!

 You might well imagine that there could not be a gentler, more relaxing pastime, than setting a moth trap over-night and then sitting down with a cup of coffee in the morning, to find out what might have got itself caught. Well, believe you me, it’s not always quite like that!

It is a while since I put the trap out, but experience tells me that I would expect to catch the occasional Hornet at this time of year, as they too are attracted by the strong mercury vapour light. However, to find 54 Hornets inside the trap this morning came as quite a shock, and as you can imagine, their presence begins to knock the words “gentler and relaxing” for six!

Actually, Hornets tend to be fairly benign I find, sitting together in groups on the egg cartons, waiting to be softly lifted out of the trap and placed on the garden table, so that they can fly off in their own time. Nevertheless, to get this many at one time poses quite a problem, as you are almost bound to knock one of them, however careful you are, and to aggravate any individual tends to send a wave of hostility through the ranks.

Well to cut a long story short, upset them I did, resulting in one of them being quickly nominated to see off this human intruder! It chased me across the garden and into the house, buzzing extremely loudly right behind my right ear. It must have been quite a sight as I arrived at speed into my kitchen, swearing loudly and waving my arms around frantically! What is more, this irate Hornet showed no signs of giving up its quest and now appeared to be going down my shirt collar, resulting in me ripping my shirt off – numerous buttons pinging across the kitchen floor!

Rosie, my little Lurcher, who was curled up fast asleep in her bed, awoke from her slumbers and on seeing this outrageous display of crazed madness, fled in complete panic. (I later found her hiding in the boot room!).

Luckily, the frantic buzzing now came from my button less shirt lying on the floor, so that after a few seconds of manic stamping on the unfortunate garment, all fell silent.

Later in the day I managed to take a look at the Moths that I had caught. Nothing that exciting, but a lovely Frosted Orange brightened up the day somewhat!

Despite all this frenetic activity first thing on a Sunday morning – I do still like Hornets as they are noble beasts. My Lurcher on the other hand, is still viewing me with much suspicion!

    

A beautiful Frosted Orange moth made it all worthwhile in the end!!

Beautiful Bee-eaters basking in where did you say - the Isle of Wight!!

The exotic Bee-eater

Back in April, I was seeing multi-coloured Bee-eaters almost every day during my visit to the Extramadura region of Spain, but now I discover that I could simply take the ferry over to the Isle of Wight to go and watch them!

 This is because a pair of Bee-eaters are breeding this year on National Trust land on the island, hopefully becoming only the third record of this exotic southern European species to breed successfully in the UK in the last century.

Bee-eaters, which would normally be found nesting in southern Europe, were last recorded breeding successfully in the UK in 2002, when a pair nested in a quarry in County Durham and two young successfully fledged. Before that, two pairs were recorded raising seven young in a Sussex sand pit in 1955, though a pair failed in Herefordshire in 2005. 

The pair have chosen the sandy hills of the Wydcombe Estate (in the south of the island) in a small valley where the soft ground, rolling landscape and stream access provides ideal conditions for their nest burrow, which can be up to three metres long.

Further information on the Wydcombe Bee-eaters can be found on Ian Ridett's blog at: www.facebook.com/IsleofWightNT.

A designated public viewing point has been identified overlooking the birds' favourite feeding area so that visitors can get the best possible views of them. This will be carefully managed, though, as the birds' well-being and welfare takes priority. If you want to go and see them, the Wydcombe Estate is located at PO38 2NY (grid reference SZ511787).

The Cotswold Grey Partridge Group - a winning team!

The Cotswold Grey Partridge group turned out in force!

Richard Benyon, John Phillips and Mark Tufnell

The winning team - Stephen and John back on home soil 

 The Cotswold Grey Partridge group (there are about a dozen groups run by the GWCT across the country including Scotland) held its summer meeting the other evening and around 70 people turned up, reaffirming just how highly regarded the little grey bird is held amongst country folk.

The outdoor meeting was held on the estate of last year’s winner of the coveted trophy - Richard Benyon MP. The trophy (Sponsored by the Calmsden estate, owned by the chairman of the group – Mark Tufnell) is given out annually to the person who is considered to have done the most to help the Grey partridge in the area during the year.

The group was shown around by Richard and Grey partridge keeper David Wiggins (One of the best!). Not only did we see a range of top quality habitats targeted at partridge, but also Lapwing plots with plenty of young Lapwings present – not a surprise really as David is strong on controlling Fox and Crow numbers.

 In fact, alongside the Grey partridge, the estate now has every target farmland bird species present except the Corn Bunting. Tree sparrow, Yellow Wagtail, Skylark, Lapwing, Reed Bunting and perhaps most surprising of all – the Turtle Dove, a species in free-fall decline, are all found on the estate. A classic demonstration that when you put the correct management in place for Grey Partridge – all the other farmland birds respond too. 

  

This year’s winner is John Phillips from Far Hill Farm near Fairford in Gloucestershire, who is a tenant of the Ernest Cook Trust. John, with the help of keeper Stephen Jones, has once again put everything in place for Grey partridge and all other farmland birds.

Alongside the important role that Stephen plays in providing targeted predator control during the breeding period, John has provided tussocky grass areas for nesting, planted wonderful wild flower margins around many of his fields which are alive with insect life – so important for the chicks to feed on – grows wild bird seed mixes to provide food for birds over-winter and has even planted up a couple of hectares with a mix to attract Corn Buntings to nest in. Stephen also scatters grain about on the tracks and places hoppers around the farm, filled with food for birds to feed on when natural supplies start to dwindle at the end of the year. In all, John has put a staggering 17% of his farm into habitats for wildlife – I think that says it all – an incredibly worthy winner of this year’s trophy!!

Back on Richard's estate meanwhile, the evening event finished off back in the barn, where we all gathered to "talk partridge", drink a beer or two and feast on mouth-wateringly delicious Hereford beef burgers, so locally produced that we could see the pure bred herd from the barn! Now that’s what I call a successful evening event!!!

    

What it is all about - creating great habitats - one of John's flower margins !

When is an alien not an alien?

OK – a test for you! Which of the list below would you say is a non-native or so called “alien” to the UK?

1)      Little Egret

2)      Fallow Deer

3)      Ground Elder

4)      Rainbow Trout

5)      Little Owl

6)      Oxford Ragwort

7)      Brown Rat

8)      Red-Legged Partridge

9)      Sycamore Tree

10)   Brown Hare

11)   Charlock

12)   Collared Dove

(Answers at the bottom of this page)

The Non-Native Species Secretariat defines non-native plants and animals as those that have been introduced to the country by humans, deliberately or accidentally, since the last Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago)

A study in 2005 revealed an unbelievable 2,721 non-native species living in the wild in England - 66% of which are plants.

Most non-native species, sometimes known as "aliens", do not cause problems, but a minority are deemed "invasive" when they have negative impacts on wildlife, habitats or the economy.

The introduction of non-native species is rising sharply due to the increase in trade, transport, travel and tourism. World globalisation has offered species new pathways and increased opportunities to establish in new areas.

The term alien or non-native species should only be applied to species that have been moved around the world by people and released – deliberately or accidentally – into areas outside their natural range. Such introductions are one of the primary drivers of global biodiversity loss and are a serious issue.

From the list of 12 species at the top of the page, only numbers 1 & 12 (the Little Egret and the Collared Dove) arrived here under their own steam and as such can be deemed to be native to our shores - the others are aliens!!

Collared Dove first bred in Norfolk in 1954

The Little Owl was introduced to this country

Just for the record - are you a "Twitcher"?

First for Hampshire - a Beautiful Marbled

 Keeping records is an important part of monitoring wildlife and I do try to play my part. Bird watchers, especially men, can often be quite obsessed with their lists – World lists, UK lists, County lists and lists comprising the “most seen in a day” or totals from a certain “favoured patch” and some will go to great lengths to add a new “tick” to the list – which is known as “twitching”.

I admit that I have jumped into the car to go and see a rare bird locally, but twitching does not really seem to be in my genes. I prefer to have real purpose behind the recording that I do, so that it hopefully adds to our greater understanding of a habitat or species. I must admit that I do usually keep a record of species seen on a foreign birding holiday, but that is about it.

During the year I do however carry out organised surveys, such as walking transects or monitoring a particular kilometre square of countryside, for both the British Trust for Ornithology and the GWCT, the results being sent in as part of national recording scheme or a research project. I also try to send in the records of the moths that turn up in my moth trap or interesting species that I happen to come across when out in the countryside.

In England, each county has a Biodiversity Information Centre (BIC) where all these records, sent in by a wide range of people, are collected together so that we have a reasonable handle on what exists where within the county! To any land manager, whatever their particular interest may be, these BICs are an invaluable resource. If you have to give advice on the management of a block of woodland or some farmland, it is vital that you know what species are present or likely to be there, BEFORE you go charging in with your “expert” advice. Many a species (or opportunity to improve a habitat) has been lost through well intended actions, because the adviser did not know what was present.

As important as these centres are, they have felt the Government’s axe recently and most are now running on a much reduced staffing level. If Government is truly serious about the well being of the British countryside, then in my opinion it is absolutely vital that these BICs are properly funded. Apart from anything else, what on earth is the point of all these volunteers (me included!) beavering away to collect important data, if it is not accessible to those who can then use it in a meaningful way?

Having told you that I don’t keep lists, I do keep a few notes however – but that does not mean you can call me a Twitcher! Here are 3 “firsts” for my garden!

On the 31^st of July 2004 I caught a Beautiful Marbled (Eublemma purpurina) moth in my garden which turned out to be only the second record for the UK and the first for Hampshire.

Last Saturday I walked into my garden and was immediately greeted by the rambling, scratchy song of a Sedge warbler – the first record for my garden since I moved here in 2000, which just goes to show that you never quite know what might turn up.

Also last Saturday, I saw my first Humming bird hawk moth of the year, an insect that will have crossed the channel from France to nectar on the pink Valerian in my garden that I grow specifically to attract them.  

First for this year - Humming Bird Hawkmoth 

First for my garden - a Sedge Warbler

RSPB should be congratulated

The Carrion crow is sometimes controlled on RSPB reserves

Martin Harper, the RSPB’s conservation director has published on his blog the number of “vertebrates killed on RSPB reserves by us and our contractors during 2012/13”.

He goes on to say “As I have written previously, vertebrate control on RSPB reserves is only considered where the following four criteria are met”:

• That the seriousness of the problem has been established;
• That non-lethal measures have been assessed and found not to be practicable;
• That killing is an effective way of addressing the problem;
• That killing will not have an adverse impact on the conservation status of the target or other non-target species.

There are four main situations where the above criteria are met. These are to:

• Increase breeding productivity of ground-nesting birds (mainly waders), principally by controlling foxes;
• Reduce numbers of deer where they are having a detrimental impact on the vegetation, especially by overgrazing the ground flora in woodlands and preventing tree regeneration.  Often deer management is undertaken to prevent damage or aid recovery of nationally important wildlife sites;
• Protect nesting seabirds;
• Benefit water voles by killing non-native mink.

Martin has also recently addressed the National Gamekeepers Organisation AGM, stating afterwards that “the debate was actually healthy and friendly. It is only through talking that we get to understand each other a bit better and that is a prerequisite to any collaboration”.

Before the AGM Lindsay Waddell, the Chairman of the National Gamekeepers' Organisation, said: "It is a great pleasure to have Mr Harper as our guest at the AGM. I'd like to extend to him a warm welcome. I am greatly looking forward to hearing his address on the RSPB's position regarding shooting and conservation and its stance on the environmental work done by gamekeepers across England and Wales."

Lindsay added: "Make no mistake, Mr Harper's landmark speech will break new ground for us. It will be the first time the RSPB has engaged directly with the NGO's membership at a national level. I hope for a constructive discussion on how game management and the RSPB can work more harmoniously for the good of our countryside and its wildlife."

As I have often said on this blog, I am a great believer in “Jaw, jaw rather than war, war” when dealing with a range of difficult subjects that arise when managing a complex countryside, and that a sensible debate, with all sides being prepared to listen and discuss these issues, has to be the way forward.

So I congratulate Martin. I'm quite sure that behind the scenes he will have taken some stick for talking at the NGO’s AGM and for openly admitting that predator control takes place on RSPB reserves, by publishing numbers of Crows, Foxes and Deer that have been culled. He has been refreshingly brave in clearly stating the RSPB’s position.

If we are to continue to be allowed to have legally targeted predator control and to stamp out the illegal persecution of, in particular Raptors, we must all work together.  By “ducking” issues that scientific studies highlight, just because they are considered a little unsavoury and may prove to be unpopular with the population as a whole, is not the answer. 

We must all be brave too.

To read in full what Martin has said,

Go to:      http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/martinharper/archive/2014/04/16/managing-predation.aspx

Can we really no longer share our homes with the birds?

House martins - such delightful birds

A local birder that I know, checks out the numbers of House Martins nesting in the small Hampshire town of Ringwood each year, concentrating on the area around the market square and high street, and last year he reckoned there were around 200 nests tucked away under various eaves. This year however he was dismayed to find that most of the nests below a certain height (Ladder height) had gone, leaving behind only the very highest nests and as a result the numbers of House martins flying around seemed to have dropped substantially.

Obviously nesting birds directly situated above a shop entrance is not ideal as quite a lot of guano collects in a mound below the nest, but to go around knocking the whole lot down seems a real shame.

On the other side of the coin, I have a friend who lives in Suffolk who always runs the hose on some soil during hot weather so that "his" House martins have an ideal source of damp mud for building nests under the eaves of his house!

   

I remember a few years ago giving a vicar – who will remain nameless – a short sharp lecture on why it was so wonderful to have Swallows nesting in the porch of the church and that netting the roof space to stop them doing so was hardly in the spirit of his religion, I reckoned!

Has our environment really become so sterilised that we can’t live with a little bird poo, in order to have skies filled with darting Swallows and Martins?

I have taken this advice is taken from the RSPB’s website:

With house martins amber listed due to their population decline, it is inappropriate to prevent them nesting. While most people welcome house martins, the birds can occasionally be a problem, for instance if a nest is above a door. These conflict areas can be isolated by closing in the triangle under the eaves where the nests are built with a piece of wood, fine mesh chicken wire or parallel wires stretching from the outer edge of the soffit board to c.15cm down the wall. 

Do not deny martins access to parts of the roof where their presence does not create a problem. Never put these deterrents in position to prevent access to an active nest and only remove existing nests, if essential, during the winter months when the martins are not in residence.

  

Knocking down an active nest or preventing birds access to their eggs or young is illegal and attracts potentially high penalties.

Skylark, Bullfinch and Spadgers!

Male Bullfinch - what a stunner!

I seem to have been on a run of early morning wake-ups over the last few days, but it has given me the opportunity to hear the start of the local dawn chorus. 

Rather surprisingly, well to me anyway, was that at exactly 4.45 am each morning, the first bird to kick off the show was a Skylark. With darkness still fully in command and only a hint of light in the sky, this little bird has ascended into the heavens to announce the start of a new day and proclaim that this little part England is his patch! 

As I lay in bed I was regaled by this wonderful song for a full 10 minutes,completely uninterrupted by any other sound, before eventually a Blackbird, Dunnock, Pheasant and Robin all joined in, seemingly as the organised chorus behind the soloist. Then it was the turn of the Song thrush, who never seems to start first, but continues his song relentlessly for three hours or so into the morning! He was then followed by Wren, Blackcap, Chaffinch, Mistle thrush, Wood pigeon and Greenfinch, with minor parts played by Great and Blue tits!

On another topic, I am lucky enough to have Bullfinches in my garden throughout the year. The male Bullfinch must surely have amongst the finest plumage of any British bird and they have always been one of my favourite species. I regularly talk to people who have Bullfinch visiting their feed hoppers to take various seeds, especially it seems black sunflower seed and sunflower “hearts”. I have to say "I'm jealous"!

Can I get my Bullfinches to even look at one of my hoppers? I have tried flat trays with mixed seed, seed on the ground, different perches attached to numerous hopper types and even though I have seen Bullfinch sitting within feet of these various feeders, never have I seen any of them eat as much as one seed!

That is until last weekend, when my wife casually announced that there was a lovely Bullfinch on the seed hopper.  I wandered over to the window to look at what would surely be a highly coloured male Chaffinch, only to find out that she was damn well right – it was a Bullfinch, and what is more it was a beautiful male in full spring plumage! Since then, both the male and female are regularly visiting the various hoppers dotted around my garden to feed on mixed seed.

So why now, after about 14 years of trying to persuade them, what has changed? Well, the thinking is that maybe it is a “learning” thing and that somewhere along the line an individual Bullfinch has to be shown what to do by another Bullfinch. This seemed to be the case when Blue Tits used to open the tops of milk bottles to take the cream off the top, it appeared that parent birds would take their young to the doorstep and “teach” them what to do to get the reward. 

Over the years, Goldfinch, Siskin and Redpoll all seem to have started using feed hoppers in gardens and certainly the Goldfinch is now a common sight at bird tables. Presumably they too went through this learning process. I fully expect that Bullfinch will soon be a fairly frequent visitor at feeders too, as this new “skill” is passed from bird to bird.

Talking of waking up early, I have to be up at the “Crack of Sparrows” tomorrow – an odd phrase, especially as House Sparrows always seem to be the very last bird to emerge from their slumbers! The reason for my early start is that I am off to the Extremadura region of central Spain, to immerse myself for a whole week amongst its magnificent natural history. I will report back on what I come across in a week or so's time!    

   

My Swallow is back home!!

"My" Swallow is back!

I know that the first Swallow you see each year does not make a summer, but hey, it doesn't half make a good start! 

“My” Swallow turned up sometime today – he was not around at all this morning, but  was flying in and out of my shed this afternoon when I got home and then twittering his happy, bubbling song from my TV aerial!

I am saying that it is a “him” as usually the males arrive a little before the females to check out the nesting area in preparation for the “missus” to swan in a little later on – how chivalrous! Males also have slightly longer tail streamers, which can be quite noticeable if they sit together on a wire.

I must now go out to the shed and place a little bit of wire netting around the light, as last year they decided that this was the best place to nest, despite putting up numerous man-made nests (which they have used in previous years) and also strips of wood placed in strategic places, ideal for supporting nests!

I try to get them to nest in a place where the “guano” that mounts up below does not matter. That failed miserably last year, as everything that came out of the shed was greeted with “bloody Swallows!”

This year the weather is much more conducive to getting straight on with nest building and egg laying than it was last year, when the cold, bleak weather meant that there was little insect activity and it was well over a month before any sign of nesting started.

So, here’s wishing you all a long hot summer – Swallows included!  

Advice: Don't linger with a Reeves!

A cock Reeves pheasant

I was out doing a bird survey the other day when I came across this handsome looking chap – a Reeves pheasant.  I was immediately on my guard as these guys are pretty fearless and if a male has his “dander up”, he can actually be jolly aggressive, attacking anything that deigns to enter his territory, including people, quad bikes and even land rovers!! He "escorted" me through the woodland, walking very close to me, but was actually not aggressive at all.

Reeves were introduced from their native China by the British naturalist John Reeves, who was a tea collector for the East India Company, based in Canton. He brought back live specimens to England in 1831.

This spectacular pheasant is actually mentioned in the Guinness book of records for having the longest natural tail feathers of any bird species, which can apparently measure up to 2.4 metres or 8 feet in length! This chap’s tail, although most impressive, still had some growing to do if he was going to compete with the record!

I expect the odd one is released to keep walkers from dawdling as they pass through the wood or maybe to raise a little bit of money on a shoot day – shoot and miss at a Reeves and it will cost you (donation to a charity) – kill it cleanly and it is yours to take home!

The mist clears a little on trapping birds

Large stretches of coastline are mist netted

Back in the spring, I caught up with a bird watching chum who had just returned from a North African bird watching trip. I could tell that he was genuinely shocked by the amount of bird trapping that was taking place along the North African coast. He said that there was literally mile after mile of mist nets.

So I am delighted to read that a one-day coordination meeting focusing on the issue of bird trapping in Egypt and Libya took place at the UN Campus in Bonn, Germany, on 29th November 2013 and I report some of that meeting below.

The aim of the meeting was to take stock of the latest available information on the issue of bird netting in both countries and to agree on a Plan of Action on bird trapping for the Mediterranean coasts of Egypt and Libya.

The widespread hunting and trapping of migratory birds in both countries, especially through the use of mist nets along vast stretches of the Mediterranean coast, have become issues of public concern in a growing number of European countries. Unfortunately, this is despite both Egypt and Libya being contracting parties to CMS [the Convention on Migratory Species] and a number of other international environmental treaties.

However a spokesman said "The good representation from both Egypt and Libya at the Bonn coordination meeting shows that the authorities have recognized the issue, are aware of the growing publicity and are looking to cooperate with international partners and other stakeholders to try to address the issue in their countries."

The trapping of Quail and illegal use of mist netting targeted at songbirds is indiscriminate and results in many protected species being killed. The practices have been repeatedly raised by conservation organizations and by selected media as an issue of international concern, affecting millions of migratory birds trapped by the nets as they cross the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Africa.

The meeting agreed that the main goal of the action plan was to ensure that the practice of bird trapping along the Mediterranean coasts of Egypt and Libya is both sustainable and legal and to undertake measures to better understand the current bird trapping practices in order to end any unsustainable and illegal practices in both countries.

"I am extremely pleased about the outcome of the meeting as well as the strong commitment and good spirit of cooperation which was evident in the room. We now have a strong basis for effective and coordinated actions on the ground in the months and years to come," a spokesman said.

So, it was obviously a very good meeting. Let’s hope that this optimism and cooperation is now translated onto the ground for the sake of millions of birds.

Tuning into wildlife can be quite a hoot!

A Dunnock in full song

As far back as I can remember, I have always had an ear sub-consciously tuned into the sounds of wildlife.  It does not seem to matter what I am doing – I might be in a meeting, reading the Sunday papers or in full conversation with someone, when an alarm call or snippet of song will override everything and burst into my conscience!  Some of my friends (so called!) say that this happens to me because my ears stick out at right angles – giving me one of the many nicknames I had at school of “world cup”!!

Alarm calls in particular, are very useful to pick up, as they give me time to turn and glimpse the little male Sparrowhawk as it twists and turns through the trees or the Red Kite gliding over the fields behind me, which I would have undoubtedly missed if the calls had not made me aware.

At this time of year, it is the winter flocks of small birds, usually made up of mixed tit species, with the odd Goldcrest thrown in for good measure, that create a sudden high pitched din of various alarm calls, seemingly well before the predator appears – one of the advantages of being part of a group with numerous eyes all on the lookout for danger.

In the summer months the alarm system seems to be handed over to the Swallows and Martins, who literally have a bird’s eye view of what is lurking in the shadows. I have often thought that predators such as the Sparrowhawk must dread the return of these summer visitors, as one short alarm call from above, sends every small bird below hurtling to the safety of some thick, impenetrable cover.

The nights so far this autumn and the early part of winter, have been filled with the hoots and woos of Tawny owls. They are trying to kick out the youngsters and set up new territories, (I have some sympathy with Tawnies on this front!) but what a racket it has been this year! Although the noise goes on all night, they gather together in the large Oak outside my bedroom window as the very first glimmers of the new day appear, to have one final set to – so there has been no need to set the alarm clock for what seems like months!!

As the hootathon dies down, a little Dunnock, which roosts every night in the honeysuckle directly  beneath the open bedroom window takes over, with a short and at first, rather muted little burst of song, as though it is not quite sure if singing is allowed while it is still so dark. But it soon ups the volume as it is joined by the local Robin and from this morning, the Song thrush.

I had a meeting at the Hampshire Wildlife Trust offices yesterday and as I arrived in their car park and opened the car door, I was greeted by the drifting notes of a distant Mistle thrush, singing from the very top of a Beech tree – such an evocative spring sound. Even though 2013 has a few more weeks to run, already plans are under way for next year’s breeding season. Now that is a comforting thought!       

Tawny owls have been particularly noisy this autumn

Small songster is superbly successful!

Little Jenny Wren

I spent a while this morning trying to catch a wren which had flown into our utility room (polite name for the room that has everything chucked into it!) through an open window. Eventually I caught it and having admired it for a few seconds, I released it back into the garden. To my surprise it flew to the top of a large bush and burst into song! They may be small, but they certainly have plenty of spirit!
 

I see from the new bird Atlas, (not yet got my own - but soon!) that the Wren was the most widespread breeding bird across Britain between 2007 / 2011, which was when the surveys were carried out for this book. In Britain, out of the 2,860 10-km squares covered in the Bird Atlas, the Wren was only absent from 73 of those squares!
 

Bet you would not have guessed the birds that came in second and third in the widespread stakes – the Skylark and Pied Wagtail were in 2,753 and 2,746 respectively. I would definitely have got it wrong!

Irish Grey partridge - back from the brink.

Grey partridge hiding by a crop planted specially for them

The alarm went off at 4.30 am yesterday morning as I had to catch an early morning flight to Dublin to visit one of the Irish Grey partridge re-introduction projects. The North Dublin Grey partridge project covers three farms, totalling about 1000 acres and is organised by the Irish Grey partridge Conservation Trust, working alongside local biodiversity Government officers, who are also funding the project.

Because Grey partridge have been completely lost from most of Ireland, lots of habitat restoration has had to be put in place prior to any thought of releasing Grey partridge back into the area. Plenty of good nesting cover, in the form of tussocky grass margins has been created and alongside them, cereal and Kale strips have been planted, which are left for two years so as to provide food and cover throughout the year.

Supplementary hopper feeding and areas of wild bird seed mixes are also used, while a targeted, spring and summer predator control programme has been put in place to limit numbers of Fox, Crows, Magpies and ground predators such as rats.

The project has already had some success with breeding taking place and broods successfully reared. We were treated to a lovely covey of 12 birds bursting out of cover, flying away over a tall hedge, the sunlight picking out their heart shaped brown chests as they turned.  A wonderful sight!   

I managed to advise on a number of points which will hopefully tweak what they are already successfully doing, so that even more coveys are established by this time next year.

Incidentally, the news from one of the other projects in Boora, county Offaly, that I visited a couple of years ago is very positive too, with Greys doing well. What is equally important is that the local breeding population of Lapwing (which has all but disappeared from Ireland too) is thriving on the back of the Grey partridge project.  This year was exceptional, with 81 nests producing 178 fledged chicks on just 694 acres. Not bad for a bird which had previously been almost lost as a breeding species in the country!

So, well done to Kieran Buckley and his team from the Irish Grey partridge Conservation Trust, and also the Irish Government for the vital funding they are giving to these projects. Not only are they saving the Grey partridge, but the Lapwing too! I should have added that Skylark numbers are also going through the roof too!!  

The enthusiastic project team - although they don't look that keen in this photo!

Wood pigeon are on the move!

Wood pigeon on the move

I noticed some big movements of wood pigeon over the weekend, flying high in a westerly direction. Most autumns we see big flocks of pigeons flying along the south coast, sometimes westwards and sometimes straight out to sea heading towards France. On the 14th of November ornithologists counted 45,000 moving over Chichester harbour and on the 10th a count came from South Wales where 156,000 were counted in 4 hours.

We get flocks arriving from the continent and a general movement to the south and west, related to cold air and food sources – although this year there is so much food around, they should have an easy time of it this winter.

The local pigeons seemed to be mainly feeding on beech mast, with large flocks clattering away from under these trees as I approached. Hopefully, with abundant source of natural food around this year, farmer's oil seed rape crops will be left alone at least until the new year anyway!

I don't know what all the fuss is about - I fancied a holiday!

A resting Barnacle goose 

Only yesterday I blogged about some of the records set by birds and low and behold I now read about another!! A barnacle goose that failed to turn up on its overwintering grounds at WWT's Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in Dumfries & Galloway (Scotland) has turned up safe and well, a record 900 miles further south in Spain! It's the furthest south that a Barnacle Goose has ever been recorded.

The goose had migrated safely for six consecutive years between arctic Svalbard and Scotland before being absent from Scotland last winter. With no sign of him again this winter, WWT staff feared he hadn't survived. But amazingly, birdwatcher Emilio Martinez spotted the goose this week in the sunshine of the Rouxique marshes near Vigo on northwest Spain's Atlantic coast.

The goose's leg ring, a bright orange one with CBZ written on it identified it as an adult male ringed by WWT at Caerlaverock Wetland Centre in 2004. There, on the Solway Firth wetlands, WWT provides protection for one of the world's three breeding populations of Barnacle Geese, which is loyal to the Solway Firth in winter and Svalbard in summer – well most of them are anyway!

Looking out of the window at the rain pouring down, I think if I had the choice of over-wintering in the UK or continuing to keep on flying down to Northern Spain – I think it would be a fairly easy decision!

I don't believe it - how old did you say that bird is?

Rooks can reach quite an age!

I never ever tire of reading about the great milestones that some birds achieve, such as the Spotted Flycatcher (one of my favourite birds!) that was ringed in a Norfolk garden in 2004, but then unfortunately flew into a window of a nearby house almost exactly 8 years later, setting a new longevity record - having flown around 60,000 miles migrating to Africa and back each year! Just how amazing is that for such a small bird – surely it deserved a better way to finish off its days.

How about the Mute Swan in Dorset who also set a new age record for its species, 28 years and counting, when its colour-ring was read. Personally, I find that the Rook who turned out to be 22 years and 11 months old is somehow even more incredible.

Having said that though, you have to give it to the old bird of the seas, the Manx Shearwater, found to be 50 years, 11 months and 21 days old when it was captured.

If you find all of this remarkable and want to read more, then go to the BTO’s website:  http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/ringing/publications/online-ringing-reports?dm_i=IG4,1RQEL,39GZIS,6B8XV,1   

Tree sparrow villages are a great success!

An actual MDNIA tree sparrow!

I had a meeting with the Marlborough Downs Nature Improvement Area (MDNIA) today. This is one of the 12 national NIAs, but is unique in that it is the only “farmer led” NIA in the country.

I chair the MDNIA's Downland Species Delivery Group which keeps tabs on how well the farmers are actually delivering for species on the ground. Amongst many other things, the farmers have been building new Dew ponds, establishing areas of wild flowers, planting wild bird see mixes for feeding over-wintering farmland birds and creating “Tree Sparrow Villages”!

What on earth are Tree Sparrow villages I hear you ask!!! 

Well, Matt Prior is a fantastically knowledgeable and keen ornithologist in the area, who has a particular penchant for the engaging little tree sparrow and he has come up with this idea of creating summer villages for them – in other words creating the perfect environment for them to successfully breed.

He puts up nesting boxes in small groups as tree sparrows like to nest in loose colonies, but he also gets the farmers to grow nearby areas of insect rich flowers and to plant lots of shrubs and small trees, all of which provide the ideal foraging areas for the sparrows to gather lots of insect food – vital if they are to fledge good numbers of young.

This all has to be established within a maximum of 600 metres of the nesting boxes, as this is as far as the adults want to fly to forage for food – ideally much closer than that! Matt also rings these young birds so that he can begin to follow their future movements and where they may eventually bring up their own young.

Is it working? Well, Matt estimates that there were 142 pairs of tree sparrows nesting in the North Wiltshire Downs this summer and 72 of those pairs were using MDNIA boxes and they raised 397 chicks this year!!

Not only does the MDNIA pay for the nest boxes, but before too long Matt and a number of farmers will be out scattering supplementary small grain around tracks and field corners, so that when seeds supplies start to run a little thin, the MDNIA tree sparrows will still have plenty to eat! The MDNIA pays for this food too.

Now that is what I call successful targeted conservation in action! So, well done to all the MDNIA farmers, well done Matt for coordinating the work on the ground and well done to Jemma Batton as well, as she over-sees us all - the farmers, Matt and me!!!
 

Find out more about the Marlborough Downs NIA by going to:

http://www.mdnia.org.uk/index.html