The RSPB Community

Will farmers see the lark ascending?

nik shelton — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:24:00 GMT

Yesterday the great and the good of the farming industry packed into a chilly barn on the border of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to get very enthusiastic about saving wildlife.

There was enthusiastic talk of changing the way our countryside is farmed to help protect birds, and admissions from farming leaders that the intensification of farming in recent decades has had negative impacts on the environment. They even invited government minister Hilary Benn along and nodded in agreement to every word he said.

Sound a little far fetched? Well get with the programme because things are changing in our countryside and this could be the beginning of something pretty special. Yesterday saw the launch of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment – and it’s hit the headlines in the farming press as well as the national newspapers.

The venue was the family farm of NFU president Peter Kendall and with guests including decision makers from all the main farming industry organisations, government environmental bodies and countryside conservation groups, this was clearly being taken seriously by all those involved.

But why? Campaigns, environmental schemes and rural projects are being launched all the time and few of them ever get this kind of fanfare and attention. Well a little background will help put things in perspective.

Back in the 70s and 80s grain and butter mountains caused by over production of food were resulting in falling produce prices. In response the Government introduced the policy of set aside. All this land left out of production provided a great habitat for farmland birds which was lost when the markets changed course, food prices rose and set aside was abolished in 2007.

Farmland birds are already suffering – they are now at half the level they were at in 1970 – so loss of this habitat could prove to be disastrous in the long term. In response the Government started looking for a way to replace the set aside policy and protect farmland birds and other wildlife. And after a lot of negotiation, debate and general to-ing and fro-ing, we have now arrived at the Campaign for the Farmed Environment.

It’s a voluntary scheme, so – aptly for the target audience of farmers – it’s more about carrots than sticks. But it’s one we urgently need to be successful, because if we lose skylarks from our skies, yellowhammers from our hedgerows and grey partridges from our wheat fields then our countryside will lose its heart.

No new data yet...

Alice Macmillan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:19:00 GMT

I've checked again for new data today (Friday 6th) but there's none available yet. It's looking like it'll become available tomorrow - as that's 7 days into November. Unfortunately I don't have access to a computer at the weekend - so it'll be Monday before I can get hold of it. Monday morning it'll be the priority job (unless something more urgent turns up...).

In the meantime, if you are around this Sunday it's the last of this year's Goost Roost Watches at Loch Garten - if you're in the area come along - it's looking like the weather will be better than last Sunday. It's on between 4 and 5pm - no guarantee of geese, but we had some last time even in the torrential rain. If we're lucky we might get to see and hear them whiffling as they come into land.

Have a nice weekend.

Tempted by the Viper

Adrian Thomas — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:00:00 GMT

One of my favourite things at this time of year is beginning to plan what I’m going to grow next year.

Usually it is a case of having been tempted by something I have seen growing this year, and here is one that has got me all excited and is right up there on my wish list.

It is a cultivar of Viper’s Bugloss (Echium vulgare) called 'Blue Bedder''. I've grown the native biennial previously, but this a hardy annual that has long been grown in cultivation.

There are three big things that are tickling my fancy about it. First, it produces nice, compact plants covered in these exquisite open blue flowers. Second the seed merchants say it’s easy to grow. And third the Honeybees LOVE it.

It will be interesting to see too whether some of the insects that like the full native version come to this too, such as this 6-spot Burnet Moth that flocks to it on the downs near me.

So what’s on your planting wish list for next year?

Seeing blue

Tim Webb — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:03:00 GMT

If you've ever set out to see a kingfisher, the chances are you've returned home disappointed.

I hopped on London's Northern Line to Gospel Oak to work at our Date with Nature on Hampstead Heath with no expectations for the day what so ever. What a day it proved to be. There were the usual but wonderful suspects; cormorants, tufted ducks, coots, moorhens, starlings, crows, swans, mallard and of course parakeets.

You know what's coming so, yes. I did see a kingfisher. Twice! They are so gorgeous. The movement, the colour and dynamics. Everything about them makes you stand and stare slack-jawed. One of our great volunteers, Don Wright had brought along a nifty digital video camera and while his partner, Clare, chatted to visitors, he captured some great footage of the kingfisher.

The same day I was within two metres of a pair of jays, pecking at the ground, oblivious to the people and dogs around them. Luckily, I have a pair of jays that visit our garden at home. Jays too are stunning to look at; maybe I'm a sucker for anything turquoise. The British Museum's Aztec collection is a typical example where the colour is at its best, with turquoise mosaics on skulls, carved snakes and all manner of artefacts.

It was incredibly mild on the heath and ladybirds were nesting in the corners of our marquee. If they didn't find somewhere to shelter over the weekend, I fear this week's cold weather will have taken its toll. They'll look for soft centres of twigs and crevices in trees and buildings. Some will shelter in shrubs or dead wood and this is another area of concern as quite a few piles of wood and cut shrubbery have been gathered ready for bonfire night.

Please give your bonfire a good check over before you set it alight. I'm not suggesting a painstaking CSI style fingertip search. Just look for wildlife before burning. Bugs, hedgehogs and birds may be sheltering in or around your Guy Fawkes night pyre. If you fancy a wildlife walk with Guy Fawkes history thrown-in? Visit our Rye Meads reserve in the upper Lee Valley. The gunpowder plotters supposedly met in the old Rye House ... all that remains is the gatehouse but it's a link with the past in an unexpected spot.

Tough words all round on CFE

mark avery — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:07:00 GMT

Today's Times regards today's launch of the Campaign for the Farmed Environment as a last chance for English farmers to adopt green measures - wow! That sounds a bit harsh really - given the good work by so many farmers already!

But Peter Kendall, the NFU President, is quoted as saying '“Many farmers do a lot of valuable work at their own expense. But we know, too, of the cynical minority who have never been involved in agri-environment schemes and it is our task to get them involved.” .

Those are tough words to come from an NFU President and demonstrates the seriousness with which the NFU and CLA are taking the task. Good for them!

And the RSPB is keen to work with farmers who want to do even more for wildlife on their land - or who want to take their first steps in that direction.

Still worried I guess!

mark avery — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:01:00 GMT

Back in the spring and summer we were lobbying for set-aside to be replaced with a mandatory set of actions for farmers to implement to benefit wildlife. That didn't happen, instead Defra went for a voluntary option for farmers.

The NFU's and CLA's Campaign for the Farmed Environment, their response to that challenge from Defra, will be launched at the farm of NFU President Peter Kendall later today.

We wish the CFE every success - in fact we have been working hard with lots of others to make it a success.

A key target will be the doubling of the area of in-field options implemented under agri-environment measures. This includes options such as beetle banks, skylark patches and nectar-rich field margins. If implemented then such measures will do a great deal of good for farmland wildlife. We know skylark patches work very well on our own Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire.

But these possibilities have been open to farmers all along, so the question is - how will the CFE encourage more and more farmers to join in? Well, Peter Kendall will have to be using his persuasive talents to the full (it's a good job he is very persuasive), travelling to NFU groups around the country no doubt, to sell the messages to his membership. He will be backed up with advice from many other organisations and regional coordinators that have cost the taxpayer £1.5m (there - you didn't know that the voluntary approach meant that you had volunteered the money did you?). In fact, as a taxpayer and consumer you have many stakes in this - I hope you want wildlife to flourish in the farmed environment, you are paying farmers their Single Farm Payments, you are funding agri-environment schemes, you have now funded regional coordinators and you go out and buy British food (I hope).

But Peter must be a bit worried about whether he can pull this off. It was he and the CLA President, Sir Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, who persuaded Defra down the voluntary route - now the ball is in their court. If they don't manage to enthuse farmers and land owners then they know that government might impose stricter and more onerous measures which would apply to all farmers.

But let's look to the bright side - the farming industry have been given a chance to shine. A chance to deliver the goods without being forced. Many farmers are doing their bit already - will they be able to transmit their enthusiasm to those farmers who have stood outside the agri-environment schemes or who, so far, have implemented the schemes in a minimalist way? Let's hope so, because our countryside wildlife is a precious and threatened resource.

Back to JFK

mark avery — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:22:00 GMT

I found these two extracts of a speech by President Kennedy on 10 June 1963:

Our problems are manmade; therefore, they can be solved by man. And man can be as big as he wants. No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man's reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable, and we believe they can do it again.

and

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal.

JFK was talking about about peace but his words seem to apply perfectly to the problem of climate change. How big can world leaders be in Copenhagen in December? Will Man's reason be applied to the problem? We all breathe the same air and we are all mortal.

Bird crime offenders named and shamed

nik shelton — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:50:00 GMT

Wildlife crime has been in the news again this week with a special report in the Independent on Sunday and news of a terrible breeding season for English hen harriers.

Last year the RSPB received 1,206 reports of potential offences against wild birds. Included in these were 210 reports of bird of prey killings, 133 poisoning incidents, 36 egg collecting incidents, 106 reports of illegal bird trading and 27 instances of disturbance to protected birds.

Not all of these end up in the courts, but the RSPB and our wildlife crime partners in the RSPCA and the Police pursue every conviction we can. Here’s some of those who have been collared by the long arm of the law recently for their despicable crimes against birds.

Roger Venton and Kyle Burden – Venton, head gamekeeper at Kempton Estate in Shropshire, was handed a suspended three month jail sentence, a fine and community service in January after he pleaded guilty to allowing his assistant, Burden, to use a cage trap baited with a raven. Burden was given a 26-week suspended sentence for killing badgers and buzzards on the estate.

Richard Pearson – In 2006 the home of Pearson, an illegal egg collector, was raided and officers were shocked to discover more than 7,000 eggs (pictured). Pearson was sent to jail last year for 23 weeks – one of 12 people handed custodial sentences for egg collecting since 2001.

Alistair Waters – In October last year Oban Sheriff Court in Aberdeen fined Waters £600 for recklessly disturbing a white tailed eagle nest on the Isle of Mull. Waters, eager to get a photograph of a pair of nesting eagles, had been spotted disturbing their nest just hours after an egg had been laid in it, despite the well advertised public watch points that had been provided nearby.

Robert Jenkins – Police and RSPCA officers entered Jenkins’ home in Port Talbot, Wales in May 2007 armed with a search warrant following reports of illegal bird dealing. They found 29 protected birds at the address, 22 of which had been caught from the wild, including linnets, goldfinches and chaffinches. He was convicted of possession of wild birds and fined £1,000.

Paul Cheetham and Jamie Griffiths – In August last year magistrates at a court in Rhyl described Cheetham and Griffiths’ drunken attack on a seagull as ‘sickening’. The pair, who were jailed for four months, filmed themselves on their mobile phones kicking the bird to death.

Night time surprises

ian barthorpe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:26:00 GMT

Now that the clocks have changed, it can be frustrating that it's dark before I go home in the evening. This means I can't pop into Island Mere Hide or down to Bittern Hide to check for roosting harriers, bitterns or starlings - unless I go at dusk and stay in the office later instead. However, it doesn't mean that there are no wildlife watching opportunities after work.

Last night was a great example. As I left the office at 5.30 pm, two tawny owls hooted from the nearby woods. Everyone loves owls, but tawnies can be among the hardest to see as they are strictly nocturnal. But their distinctive hooting call gives away the presence of these otherwise silent hunters, and November is probably the best time to hear them.

This is because tawnies stay on their territories all year and about now they are starting to strengthen their pair bonds ready to start breeding in January! Yes, as early as that. Tawny owls are probably the earliest nesting birds in the UK.

Despite being so difficult to see, a hooting tawny owl is one of the most distinctive and familiar sounds in our countryside, and may be heard in many gardens too. Yet the familiar "two-whit-too-woo" is not actually given by a tawny owl, but by a pair. One bird calls "ke-wick" followed immediately by a reply of "hoo-hoo". Last night, I heard just the hooting "hoo-hoo", although there were certainly two birds calling.

My night time wildlife watching didn't end there, as a short distance along the entrance road I slowed down as a large, hairy shape bumbled along the verge. The distinctive backside belonged to one of our most exciting mammals. A badger! We know there are a couple of setts at Minsmere, and we often see signs of their presence, but like the tawnies, badgers are usually nocturnal, so any sightings are a bonus. This was only the second time I'd seen a badger at Minsmere this year, after bumping into a mother and two cubs in broad daylight at our Springwatch weekend in June.

A night time drive home is often a good time to search for wildlife. Rabbits regularly scuttle from the verges, seemingly on a suicide mission. More frightening is the sudden appearance of a red deer in the headlights - not a creature you'd want to hit unless you can afford an expensive repair bill. As last year, the red deer rut viewpoint was incredibly popular, with superb views of these majestic beasts. The viewpoint is now closed, but if you're visiting Minsmere keep an eye open for deer at any time. There were four close to the path at lunchtime.

The leaves have fallen from most of our trees in recent gales - a sure sign of winter's coming. Yesterday's weather, though, wouldn't have been out of place in the tropics, but for the cooler tremperature. We had several showers of monsoon-like proportions, resulting in a rapid rise in water levels in the reedbed. The Scrape's looking superb too, so the long dry summer already seems a distant memory. Winter is very definitely on its way. I usually consider my first sighting of a Bewick's or whooper swan to be a sign of the changing season, and I saw both on Island mere on Friday, and again on the Scrape today.

Roll on the first frosts, and the arrival of winter proper, with its accompanying abundant ducks, glorious sunny evening and birds coming in to roost (though not starlings yet at Minsmere - Snape Maltings is the place to see them at present). Come along and see them for yourself.

That's our report!

mark avery — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:05:00 GMT

I'm told that the Government Chief Scientist, Prof John Bedddington, was interviewed on BBC TV last night and on the shelf behind him was a copy of State of the UK's Birds - a joint publication by RSPB, BTO, WWT, CCW, NE, NIEA, SNH and JNCC (alphabet soup!).

You can read it here without being Government Chief Scientist

Now is the autumn of our discontent...

mark avery — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:05:00 GMT

The autumn colours this year are lovely - last weekend's winds put a lot of leaves on the ground but there are still many leaves on the trees near where I live and I'm looking forward to more weeks of greens, golds, reds and browns.

Before next autumn's colours delight us, a general election will have taken place and we will certainly see cuts in government spending and perhaps a reorganisation of government departments and agencies.

So what about the Forestry Commission if we are thinking autumn colours? Set up in 1919 to ensure a strategic reserve of pit props for the mining industry the Forestry Commission is now a non-Ministerial government department whose aims are to protect, expand and promote the sustainable management of woodland and increase its value to society and the environment.

My experience of FC staff is that they are a very enthusiastic bunch, and good on delivering on the ground, but their enthusiasm is sometimes greater for expanding and promoting the management of woodland than for delivering the wider public benefits which could come from the land under FC's management. There are many, many exceptions to that generalisation but, if anything, the wider vision of what Forestry Commission England can deliver has narrowed in recent years.

I found this description of what the Dutch Forest Service, Staats bos beheer, does very interesting. At least in words, this seems a more rounded and progressive definition for what a state forest service should do. There are real questions about whether the state has a part to play in growing commercial timber crops - since we don't have a state fishing fleet, or state farms, and we no longer need that strategic reserve of timber for the mines, isn't growing trees just a business like growing wheat, oil seed rape or potatoes?

The Dutch model seems pretty relevant to the English situation. Both are crowded countries with high population densities and have suffered great losses of biodiversity-rich habitats in recent decades. Staats bos beheer manages 250,000ha with c1000 staff and Forestry Commission England manages about 260,000ha with about 800 staff.

FCE already has a large area (c60,000ha) of non-forest land under its management (including a large heathland estate - but FCE has been a bit slow in contributing fully to the government heathland recreation targets) and is converting another large area (c50,000ha) back to restore native woodland on ancient woodland sites where conifers were planted in the past. So we are already getting on for about half of the land area being committed to wider wildlife, landscape and other public goods rather than hard-nosed traditional forestry. This is good - that's probably what a state forest service should do although the Dutch model is far clearer about the direction of travel and, I guess, the direction leads to a much closer fit between what the Forestry Commission does and what Natural England does.

Whatever comes out of the next twelve months before we see the autumn colours again, we should seek to ensure that the really special areas of land currently managed by FCE remain protected for their wildlife and landscape value. A time of financial cuts and government reorganisation is always a dangerous time for the natural world (which is why we'd like you to sign the RSPB's Letter to the Future please!) but a secure future for the wildlife that has been protected by the Forestry Commission for so many years needs to be part of that future.

The Numbers Game

julian hughes — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:07:00 GMT

"That's a very anoraky thing to do," I was told by a visitor as I walked down to look across the lagoon last week. I had to confess that it was. I was counting the number of planks in our new boardwalk. And my boss thinks I don't have enough to do... There was a reason for it (honest) that I won't bore you with right now, but it made me realise how much a warden's job involves counting.

I do it automatically. When I walked round the reserve at first light today, I didn't just notice black-tailed godwits, I noted that there were eight, busy feeding in the shallows. When I stood by the estuary last night, impressed by the swirling mass of shape-shifting starlings preparing to dive into the reedbeds, I estimated how many thousands there were. Not just because it's useful to record, but also because I know that "How many starlings are coming into roost?" is a question that I'll be asked many times through the autumn (28 times so far, to be precise).

We judge our conservation success by the number of pairs of lapwings that breed here, our success in our education work by the number of children who come and have a quality hands-on experience of nature, the contribution that our visitors make to the RSPB's work by the number of pounds that they spend in the shop, with every penny going to our conservation work. So, I felt the need to share some numbers with you. Can you work out what the numbers relate to?

> Visitors to Conwy in the last 12 months
> Children who've experience nature hands-on in the last 12 months
> Bird species recorded at Conwy since we opened the gates in 1995
> Planks in the boardwalk
> % reduction in use of tap water in the last year
> Welsh mountain ponies grazing on the reserve
> Water rails calling in our reedbed this spring

The answers are 5, 8, 10, 230, 655, 2,602 95,460 - but which is which?

The lady who called me "a bit anoraky" already knows the answer to the boardwalk question - and I bet she'll remember it everytime she treads the boards.

Hen Harrier news from Geltsdale

Jen Selvidge — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:26:00 GMT

After a disappointing spring/summer for hen harriers at Geltsdale this year, it is now time to turn our efforts and eyes to different roost sites. This work is incredibly important to get an indication of numbers of birds using the area over winter and to act as a protective presence at certain sites. Any bird, which successfully survives the winter months, can then go on to be a potential breeder.

Hen hariers need quiet areas to roost that offer cover and shelter, areas that are relatively undisturbed by potential predators or human activity. Harriers can roost in tall heather or in marshy areas with plenty of Juncus (rush). Although spending the night with our feet in ice cold bog doesn't sound very apealing to us, it is a case of the the wetter the better regarding roosting harriers (foxes don't like getting their feet wet either) as these areas offer greater protection. So, this time of year, we dust off our bivy bags and sit out watching these areas on the reserve and in the wider area, with the help of a fantastic team of volunteers.

Roosts can be communal, with birds coming in from afar. Winter hunting grounds cover a much wider range than in the summer months. Depending on the weather, hen harriers usually come into roost before sunset. It is a great sight, picking up a hen harrier way off in the distance and then following it as it flies closer and closer to you before it comes down to roost in the patch you are watching. Birds can of course come in at different times and a radio-tagged bird has in the past been detected flying around in the dark before it came down to roost, long after it could be detected by sight.

During October, we had a few sightings of a grey male foraging on the meadow behind the office/visitor centre, giving some brilliant views of this graceful bird to staff and visitors alike. A ring-tail has also roosted on the reserve and we have had 5 sightings of roosting harriers at the different sites watched within a 20 mile radius of the reserve. A grey male has also been roosting regularly at RSPB Campfield reserve on the Solway coast.

The hen harrier hot line is open all year round - your records are invaluble! So please send in any sightings. 0845 4600121 henharriers@rspb.org.uk The root watches will be carried out until march, so expect another blog at the beginning of next month, hopefully with more harriers to report.

Leaf them alone!

John Day — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 GMT

Hi all,
I’ve loved reading all your comments from Adrian’s blog – its produced some great dialogue and exchange of ideas. I hope you’re learning from it as much as I am.

With all this conversation, I’ve been digging around in some cyber leaf mould! It’s amazing what you can find, the most useful so far has been on the BBC website. If you are limited for space, it seems bin liners are the way to go with a little water added from the water butt before tying the top and leaving in a corner. But, the site does give information on a quick and easy leaf basket. Knowing what a super keen DIY lot you all are, then here’s the link.

Where possible I prefer to leaf them alone! and let the worms do their job. I’m never that fastidious on lawns, so long as they are not completely smothered by big leaves. Where possible I always scatter them into shrub beds as mulch and something that the birds can forage about in.

Not having been about too much of late, I was conscious the mild weather has encouraged a flush of the arable weeds I share my vegetables with. Last weekend I found time to play the game, has anyone seen my onions? It was great fun, but a shame to remove the weeds. I saw some amazing spiders and millipedes while turning over the soil and hand weeding. I also had a tatty robin (obviously been in one fight too many) come to take advantage of the food I was turning up.

When I launched my blog, I said I would mention some of the other things I get involved with in my efforts to help the wildlife we share our green space with. I am helping our London Team with some of the research on house sparrows in the capital. We are currently a third of the way through our latest project ‘The London House Sparrow Parks Project’.

Through this SITA funded project, we are working closely with eight partners and have set up a whole series of trial and control plots across London in public green spaces. I have been advising and liaising with the project officer and green space managers on the landscape management prescriptions for the three different types of plot.

As a spin off to this, I've been working with one of the partners (Southwark) to facilitate a training course for green space managers, which I’m due to run next week. This will be the forth and final one of the year for me, the others having been held in Sheffield, Glasgow and Milton Keynes. I spent last Friday afternoon with the Borough ecologist, checking the park at the venue to ensure delegates are given enough to discuss in the afternoon and use the knowledge I give them in the morning about making green space valuable for wildlife and people.

A united kingdom of eagles

david sexton — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:51:00 GMT

There is a place called hope. Despite the poisonings, the losses, the persecution and the madness, there is a new ray of hope tonight that it is all finally beginning to really work - to really knit together. The project to bring the white-tailed eagle back to the British Isles actually began some 50 years ago. Long before Fair Isle in 1968 or Rum in 1975, there was Argyll in 1959. The late Pat Sandeman released three sea eagles in Glen Etive but as far as we know nothing came of it. Or did it? Occasional reports of an adult sea eagle drifting around the west coast in a desperate search for another of its kind persisted for many years. In theory one of them might even have still been alive when the fullscale reintroduction project started on Rum 16 years later. Just imagine, after a long, solitary quest the last remaining of the Glen Etive sea eagles rounds a vast headland and spies a distant but strangely familiar silouette soaring over the hills of Mull. After many years of dashed hopes, tangles with golden eagles and dark, lonely nights, our sole survivor is about to be reunited with one of its own. As the adult drifts ever closer, the newly released youngster suddenly realises that the mighty form heading towards it has a yellow beak, a dazzling white tail and eyes the colour of pale sunlight. They soar together, call loudly and talon grapple until finally they drift effortlessly away into a Hebridean sunset. A legend is born. Or...maybe not.

Since Rum in 1975, there has been Wester Ross in 1987, East Scotland and then Ireland in 2007. I had always dreamed of the day when the three populations from west, east and the Irish would all begin to merge. A real sign that the project to re-establish the lost birds to their former haunts was really beginning to work on a national, indeed international scale. And today comes news that it has finally happened. The comeback has really begun. We've had regular visits from our friends in Tayside since 2007. Some have been long stayers, others just day-trippers but most have wandered back east again, as they should. Then earlier this year came news of one of the Irish birds in Scotland. It was seen and reported by a ghillie on the mainland along a remote salmon river. Then last month one of their satellite tagged birds, a pioneering male 'bird L' was reported here doing a huge journey round the north of Scotland and even onto the Northern Isles. Recently, he started his homeward flight back towards Ireland. Some little understood but irresistable force was bringing him home to the hills of Kerry. But it was over the deep sea loch of Loch na Keal in the heart of Mull that the historic reunion occurred. At some point late one autumn afternoon, bird L passed over Mull where we also know east coast birds 5 and 7 were also recently tracked. Nearby was Venus, our 2009 satellite tagged female. He might also have encountered yellow black spot, even Frisa or Skye. Clearly he was tempted to stay; he was amongst friends and he roosted overnight here. Safe.

And so it had happened. For the first time since the early 1800's, populations of sea eagles from different parts of the British Isles were able to mix and mingle again. It was to be a brief encounter for soon he was moving on again, still heading south, stopping off on Islay. But it was a momentous occasion and one we hope will be repeated many times with other birds over the next few years. And where had it all happened? Eagle Island - where else? As the song says, there ain't no stopping them now.

Dave Sexton RSPB Scotland Mull Officer

Come and see the eagles yourself - Mull's Eagle Hide is still going strong. Call 01680 812 556 to book a trip this winter.

Seal of approval

helen moncrieff — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:05:00 GMT

Some years, Shetland's weather goes from summer to winter and seems to skip autumn. Such is 2009! This photo, taken at West Voe in the south of Shetland, shows typical conditions at the moment. You can see Sumburgh Head RSPB reserve in the background. Long-tailed ducks have returned from their Arctic breeding grounds and can frequently be seen in the area.

At this time of year, we have to find a day between weathers to reach Mousa RSPB reserve. We go to assist Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) with their annual Shetland-wide survey of grey seal pups. Grey seals are protected by law, and Shetland has an important population of them. Mousa is a great place for grey seals to haul out and have their pups. It is largely undisturbed by people just now as there is no ferry service. The shore is perfect for them to haul out of the water. Keeping our distance, we walk around the coast of the island and map out the adults and pups we see. Just like seabirds, it is important monitor population trends to help understand what is going on in the seas around us. It all adds to the bigger picture.

Mousa is a very different island in winter compared to summer. Gone is the sound of Arctic terns, skuas, skylarks and the chatter of visitors. Instead, you mostly hear seals and the occassional rock pipit. This photograph shows adults and their pups, none of which were over 10 days old. Those of you who have visited the reserve might recognise this area. It is where your journey begins once stepping off the ferry. There are four pups in this photo, plus three adult females and a large snoozing bull.

Here you can see some seals lying up from the shore, with the famous Mousa Broch and distant Sumburgh Head RSPB reserve. You might be able to see a grey blob in the puddle beneath the wall. This is a young pup, seemingly enjoying a bath. I remember watching a pup hide her head in a puddle, whilst her body remained out, peering up through the water. It brought to mind when children hide their eyes to you can't see them!

It is amazing to think that within this dry stone wall, there might still be a storm petrel chick!

I love seals, particularly pups. This individual is one of the oldest on the island. Born on a small rocky beach bound by steep sided cliffs, I worry in case the wind were to change to a north westerly. This year there hasn't been any dead pups recorded, but we always loose a few. I feel a little attached to this one, and on nights like this can't help but think about it and the other seals on Mousa. I hope to get back later in the month to continue with the monitoring. But we need that day between weathers.

Seasons End

Greg Morgan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:25:00 GMT

The end of October saw the end of our visitor season. It has been a good year overall with numbers holding up around the usual 4,000 mark despite the poor weather of July and August. The nice autumn certainly helped! Thanks to all those who came and we hope to see you and others again next year. The Gower Ranger, our passenger boat, was taken out of the water a few days ago for her winter overhaul and will be back in time for re-opening in 2010 on April 1st.

After the calm spell, November arrived with a bang! 30mm of rain on the night of 1st plus winds gusting in excess of 50mph made for a very rough Ramsey Sound and left the boat owners thankful they had acted swiftly in taking their vessels out. Such weather makes us realise how well sited our buildings are. Damage is rarely sustained (he says!) in storms and even the volunteers bungalow which is halfway through the process of having a new roof put on survived!

So it is just Lisa, myself and Dewi on the island now. Our thoughts turn to winter tasks - paperwork, report writing, livestock husbandry, getting the rams on and off, heather burning (if the weather allows), fencing and general building maintenance all ensure that we are kept busy (and warm!) through the winter months.

This morning saw the return of the fulmars to their breeding ledges for a few hours. We have just under 300 pairs nesting on Ramsey and following the breeding season they leave the cliffs (like all the other seabirds). They leave to moult their worn feathers in the relative safety of the open sea. Unlike other seabirds, they return once this process is complete and right through the winter we will see them for long spells on the cliff ledges, interspersed with days at a time spent out at sea. Fulmars spend the longest of any British seabird at their nest site.

Pembrokeshire is currently experiencing an influx of black redstarts with over 60 recorded last Saturday. Late autumn is a good time of year to see these birds on coastal sites as they move to, or arrive at, winter quarters. We have had up to 4 on Ramsey on some days this past week. Also of note here of late has been a juvenile hen harrier. These birds frequently turn up here at this time of year as small numbers head to Pembrokeshire for the winter. If you are visiting the County this winter take a look on the Pembrokeshire Bird Group Blog to see what birds are around and a list of local sites that are worth a visit.

A postcard from Barcelona

john clare — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:03:00 GMT

This week sees world leaders gathered in Barcelona to try to find a way forward before December’s crunch meeting of the UN climate change convention in Copenhagen. Here, our Head of Climate Change Policy, Ruth Davis, gives us her thoughts as the talk begins.

Once again, representatives from 192 nations are gathering to discuss how (and indeed whether) to avert the end of the world.

This time the climate change cavalcade has pulled up on the warm but rather desolate concrete spaces of portside Barcelona and for once, it seems minds are beginning to concentrate.

The question is, will it all be too late? There are only five days of official negotiating time left before Copenhagen.

Many think a deal in December without the USA is unthinkable, yet the Americans cannot make firm offers on emissions cuts or finance without domestic legislation to back them up. There is no chance of that before December, and so little chance they can play a full part.

Other countries will ask why the world should wait. Why should America be given yet more time and patience when people in Africa are already dying because of climate pollution?

So, should we push for an ambitious, legally binding treaty in December or counsel patience and look for the foundations of an agreement that could allow the US to join later?

In the end, it isn’t our call. What power we have comes from our ability to watch, analyse, explain and complain. We are, simply, here to tell the truth.

The truth is that time is running out for the Arctic, for the Amazon, for the millions of people who live in land threatened by floods and droughts.

We need a legally binding deal with the kind of ambition that will rescue us from dangerous climate change. That means deep, deep cuts in emissions from developed countries like ours, and action to halt and reverse tropical forest loss. We need a fair deal, which protects vulnerable people and ecosystems from the impacts of climate change, and helps poor countries cut emissions without stifling development.

If world leaders cannot deliver this in December, then shame on them. Yet, if they do fail we will not give up. We will demand they keep coming back until that fair, ambitious and binding deal is concluded.

Banking on the future

mark avery — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:15:00 GMT

I hear on the radio this morning that you and I are giving the Royal Bank of Scotland another £25bn - that's £25,000,000,000.

Or £400 each. Or the average wage of about a million people.

A couple of years ago we didn't use to talk about billions except in terms of astronomical distances or the age of the universe - real physical things that were still mind blowing. Now, hardly a day goes past without hearing that billions are going into this or that.

On the same radio programme I heard my old university chum, Simon Stuart, talking about the IUCN Red List - and how many species are heading for extinction on this badly-managed but still beautiful planet. You really wouldn't want to be an amphibian - they are having a really tough time. And about one in eight of the world's bird species is threatened with extinction.

Coming back to those £25bn of ours. I do hope that the money will be well spent. I hope it is providing funding for projects that make the world a better place and not ones which increase greenhouse gas emissions or habitat destruction. If you want the same, then please sign the RSPB's Letter to the Future and strengthen our call to politicians to protect and restore the nature on this planet.

Such a rare bird

mark avery — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:30:00 GMT

Many people talk about the hen harrier problem - but we are often talking at cross-purposes.

As far as we can tell, in England, there were only six successful hen harrier nests in 2009 - so we regard the hen harrier problem as being the lack of these birds. To hear some people talk, hen harriers are everywhere, overrunning the countryside and gobbling their way through red grouse and wildlife like nobody's business. Those half a dozen English pairs must get around rather a lot!

This summer one of those six pairs nested in a cereal field in southern England - not in the more usual moorland location. The RSPB was involved with Natural England in protecting this nest - we worked with the farmer concerned and the police. Just in case the birds return next spring I won't say any more about this pair except to celebrate its existence and to thank all who played a part in its protection.

John Swift, Chief Executive of the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, said: “A bad winter has left the hen harrier population even more vulnerable than before – this means that everybody must concentrate on doing what they can to ensure that the moorland habitat continues to be well managed and that persecution is confined to history.". Well said John - we await others to speak out in the same vein.

And, one more time, as we edge our way ever closer to the 200,000 signatures on our bird of prey pledge - please sign it!

That's all folks...

Alice Macmillan — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:41:00 GMT

...for a few days at any rate.

Well the last of the hourly data is in (thanks to the volunteers). The latest point I got for Rothes was 12 noon on Saturday (31st), and for Mallachie it was 2pm. The data shows both of them to have hung around their respective patches - Rothes near Varela and Mallachie near Sotokoi.

I'll check for new data regularly until I find out which day we'll be getting it through. In the meantime I'll not write any new blogs until I have some data to write about. So there'll be a bit of a gap in blogs for a little while.

The Goose Roost Watch went better than Richard and I expected - there were actually some geese and people. There was also quite a lot of rain - fortunately we didn't get the flooding they got over in Aberdeenshire...

I'll update again soon...

Wildlife Enquires update..

LloydScott — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:03:00 GMT

Yes, it's actually a goshawk
We have been sent hundreds of pictures of "goshawks" in gardens. These all turn out to be sparrowhawks, which are much more common. However, we were sent a photo of an actual male goshawk in a garden. This was is Wales and the area looked quite wooded so seemed suitable. It made a welcome change to say, "yes it is a goshawk"

Birds and windows
We received lots of reports of all sorts of birds pecking at their reflections in windows this week. This included two reports from further a field including some sunbirds in the Gambia and what we think is a crested goshawk pecking on a hotel room window in Malaysia.

Where possible we recommend putting up window stickers on the outside of the glass to break up the birds field of view on approach and reduce the number of impacts.

Bird disease
Still reports of dead finches coming in due Trichomoniasis. We are also getting reports of great tits with avian pox.

Starlings
Starlings in roofs is usually a spring thing but we are being asked how best to prevent them roosting. They can legally be blocked out as long as they are not nesting. If the starlings are blocked out then we are suggesting installing a nestbox on the roof to provide them with an alternative site.

Conversely, we are getting lots of requests for the best places to see starling pre-roost displays where they can watch this “allelomimetic” behaviour. Apparently, that's what it's called when they all copy each other's movements. Every day's a school day in Wildlife Enquiries.

Other recent sightings

Woodcock sightings are being made across the country with them showing up in peoples gardens and park land, 72 were seen on Fair Isle yesterday (01/11).

We also took a report of a little egret sighted on the western isle of Benbecula (30/10).

The invasion of Redwing and Fieldfare continues en mass across the UK - report your sightings here.

A New Wind in Bulgaria?

Andre Farrar — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:09:00 GMT

Bulgaria’s Ministry of the Environment has announced plans to sack all fifteen regional directors of the country’s environment inspectorates and national parks. This dramatic and incisive move comes ahead of news that the European Commission (EC) is starting an infringement action against Bulgaria aimed directly at stopping the destruction of wildlife sites that are amongst the best and most important in the European Union. This follows two already open infringements on similar grounds.

These high-level posts have been filled with political appointees who oversaw a planning process that was consenting development in internationally important areas for wildlife – a symptom of poor decision-making by these regional bodies. The plan is now to open up these posts to a conventional recruitment process.

The Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) – with the support of the RSPB - has been working to try and protect Bulgaria’s huge areas of fantastic, untouched natural areas from a veritable stampede of windfarm, infrastructure and tourism developments. Of course, a sustainable, planned development of the energy and tourism industries, which respected wildlife, would be welcome. However, this is blatantly not happening.

Since 2005, no fewer than 400 developments have been given planning permission within the Kaliakra Important Bird Area on the Black Sea coast, including no less than 223 wind turbines. This staggering number of projects threatens permanently to destroy priceless steppe habitats which provide feeding grounds for the thousands of birds (including red-breasted geese and Dalmatian pelicans) that use the ‘Via Pontica’ migration route along the Black Sea coast. This situation is sadly repeated in many other internationally important sites for birds in Bulgaria.

The infringement actions brought by the EC have been a key target for both the RSPB and BSPB – we welcome signs that our work is now starting to bare fruit. Hopefully, this recent announcement by the Minister of the Environment is the start of a new policy by the Bulgarian government to respect European Union laws and protect its fabulous wildlife for future generations of Bulgarians and all of those that care about Europe’s finest wildlife.

Gardening for wildlife - a blogging update

Adrian Thomas — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:00:00 GMT

Welcome to anyone who is here having seen the blog in the RSPB Homes for Wildlife e-newsletter – good to have you! It’s early days, but we’re already beginning to develop a lovely crowd of visitors. What I really want is to get your feedback, questions and suggestions – don’t hold back on me now :-)

I thought today I’d do a little update on some of the blogs so far. Remember the question of what berries are being eaten by what birds out there? Here is a photo (right) I took of a House Sparrows in mid-October, gorging itself on blackberries, its bill stained with the tell-tale evidence.

And on the left a Starling on Cordyline australis berries this weekend, and a pile of its mates getting over-excited. Any more observations of birds and berries yet, folks?

Returning to the subject of leaves in ponds, I’m sure many of you use netting to stop the leaves ever reaching the water, whereas I choose to go fishing them out daily. What I find I have to do is to check each leaf for pond snails – clearly they are grazing on something rather tasty there.

And as for my sink pond, my latest delight is watching the dozens of Gammarus freshwater shrimps, gliding on their sides along the white ceramic walls – they’re far more visible and watchable here than I’ve ever found them to be in a dark-linered pond. So it’s still a wildlife thumbs up for the sink pond.

Coming up on the blog in the next few weeks, plans for the flower garden for 2010, and some real gardens from real people! Hope you'll drop in to have a look.

The not-so-green economy

mark avery — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:00:00 GMT

We have solar panels on our roof that heat our water.

Now they never seemed a great financial investment but they do reduce our gas and electricity use significantly. Maybe such panels should be made much more of a standard fitting on new houses. Sometimes we have so much hot water we can't use it all - I'd love to be able to sell our hot water to our neighbours in some way - it seems silly that we have abundant hot water and they may be using fossil fuels to heat the water for their bath or shower in the house next door! It's not difficult to imagine ways of building new housing where such green technology is shared in some way. Surely the future will have more of such green technology?

So it's a shame that the firm that installed our solar panels has ceased trading - it seems that it's difficult to make money in the UK out of the green future.