Trip reports

Cirl Buntings to Sea Eagles

Friday, 14 November 2008

Tim's talk covered 7 species â€" Cirl Bunting, Corncrake, Black Grouse, Stone Curlew, Bittern, Red Kite and Sea (white tailed) Eagle. His talk not only had some fine photographs of the birds but also many statistics showing how populations had changed, both in numbers and range before and following attempts to assist the species.
All is not doom and gloom.. Cirl bunting numbers have gone up to 800 pairs from 75 birds but the range has barely increased from the relic area of the coastline between Exeter and Plymouth. The solution is an attempt to move or translocate young birds to new suitable areas.
Ditto Bittern. Not only are they low in number, although increasing, their Norfolk habitat is liable to sea water incursion due to higher sea levels. If this happens at the wrong time of year they won't breed. The solution is to encourage birds to breed in new areas â€" possibly eventually in Newport Wetlands.
Stone curlew need sparse grassland to breed. They are mainly in Norfolk (where one field is fenced to keep rabbits in to keep the grass sparse) but also in S W England. Their numbers are now around 100 pairs.
Corncrake. These birds need late cut hay meadows to survive and these are found mainly in the North and West of Britain where old agricultural practices still survive. If the hay is cut early these ground nesting birds get harvested as well! Attempts are now being made to introduce German birds to the area around the Nene washes in Norfolk.
Black Grouse numbers similarly are increasing but the range is, if anything, decreasing making them vulnerable to a single incident.
Red Kite, the great success story of Wales, are now up to over 500 pairs from a low of 3 or 4 pairs. They are numerous enough to be exported to Ireland, both North and the Republic. In England the imported Spanish birds are increasing rapidly, in Scotland the birds are still subject to poisoning so numbers are holding steady.
Sea Eagles. Bigger than a Golden Eagle these huge birds became extinct in Britain about 1917 but made a comeback on the West coast of Scotland. Flying at 4000 feet an eagle could cross Scotland in very short order. They have been successfully released in East Scotland and soon may be released in Eastern England â€" hopefully away from Bittern breeding areas! Follow our “links pageâ€? to track them
Tim's charts showed a general increase in numbers and range of all theses birds, albeit with the odd hiccup, so there was a ray of light amidst the gloom that seems to surround matters ecological these days. As I write this the RSPB website reports a Sea Eagle hatched on Mull in 2007 has been found poisoned as was a buzzard in Angus in Scotland.