Jeffrey Kirk

From RSPB South East Regional Office

We would really appreciate a few more moments of your time to email DEFRA Minister Richard Benyon MP, (richard.benyon.mp@parliament.uk) to tell him what you think about the shocking announcement by DEFRA to allow the destruction of buzzard nests and to permit buzzards to be taken into captivity to remove them from shooting estates.  Please ask your friends, family, colleagues, local group members to do the same!

Tell him what you think about illegal, scientifically-illiterate and unethical trial.  Ask him what scientific evidence was used to justify the proposal and whether there was any consultation on the issue, and if there was, which organisations were consulted?

Please also email/write to your MP and ask them to raise the issue with Richard Benyon. Good points to raise are:

• Predation by buzzards is a relatively small cause of loss of pheasants
• Buzzards are a native and recovering species, while pheasants are a non-native gamebird
• The good that £400,000 could do for species of highest conservation concern, such as the hen harrier (ie, rather than paying for this ‘trial’)

If you ‘tweet’, are active on facebook or have your own blog, please spread this message asking your friends to do the same.

For more details, see Martin Harper’s (RSPB Conservation Director) blog written today www.rspb.org.uk/community/ourwork/b/martinharper/default.aspx, also a full RSPB media release below.

Thank you VERY much in advance

Jenny Sweet
Volunteering Development Officer

Media Release

RSPB ‘STUNNED’ BY DEFRA ANNOUNCEMENT TO ‘imprison’ BUZZARDS near shooting estates

The RSPB in the South East is stunned by Defra’s announcement to allow the destruction of buzzard nests and to permit buzzards to be taken into captivity to remove them from shooting estates. The Society believes this intervention against one of England’s best-loved birds of prey will be no more than a costly and unnecessary exercise.

The move by Defra followed lobbying by the pheasant shooting industry. Buzzards usually scavenge on animals which have already died, but they will sometimes take young pheasants which are released for sports shooting.

The buzzard was eradicated from large swathes of Britain following decades of persecution. Legal protection and a general warming of attitudes towards buzzards and other birds of prey on the part of many land managers, led to buzzards recovering across the UK: a fantastic conservation success story.

Martin Harper, is the RSPB’s conservation director. Criticising Defra’s proposal, he said: “We are shocked by Defra’s plans to destroy buzzard nests and to take buzzards into captivity to protect a non-native game bird released in its millions. Buzzards play a minor role in pheasant losses, compared with other factors like collisions with vehicles.

“There are options for addressing the relatively small number of pheasant poults lost to buzzards. Destroying nests is completely unjustified and catching and removing buzzards is unlikely to reduce predation levels, as another buzzard will quickly take its place.

“Both techniques would be illegal under current wildlife laws, and I think most people will agree with us that reaching for primitive measures, such as imprisoning adults or destroying nests, when wildlife and economic interests collide is totally unacceptable. ”

Pheasants are not native to the UK. Around 40 million birds are released every year for shooting.  The impacts of this practice on wildlife have been poorly documented, but serious questions have been raised about the impact such a large injection of non-native birds might have on our countryside.

Buzzards will take young pheasants from rearing pens, given the opportunity, but the RSPB believes the issue can be managed without destroying nests or moving buzzards. Measures include providing more cover for young pheasants in release pens, visual deterrents to discourage birds of prey and providing alternative food sources.

Mr Harper added: “At a time when funding for vital conservation work is so tight, and with another bird of prey, the hen harrier, facing extinction as a breeding bird in England, I can think of better ways of spending £400,000 of public funds. This money could work harder for wildlife, and I hope the Minister will therefore put a stop to this project.”

Speaking about the threat to buzzards in the South East, the RSPB’s Samantha Stokes said; “Although the sight of buzzards is becoming increasingly commonplace across the south east, we know that people still get a thrill from seeing them. A walk along the beautiful South Downs can become extra special on hearing the ‘mewing’ calls of a buzzard and seeing them soaring overhead.

“They are wonderful birds and we want to keep it that way, we will do our utmost to ensure buzzards are properly protected.”

A spokesman for the The Hawk and Owl Trust, said: “We are totally against persecution of any birds of prey, and destroying the nests of buzzards is tantamount to this. We believe that alternatives should always be sought to lethal control where the commercial interests of humans come into conflict with birds of prey.”

Editor’s notes:

1)   An independent study carried out by ADAS (an independent consultant), commissioned by the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, found that on average, 1-2% of pheasant poults released were taken by birds of prey. It found 45% of poults released were shot, with the remainder dying as a result of other factors, such as road collision and disease, or surviving to join the feral population. The study therefore concluded that losses to birds of prey were negligible compared to other much greater causes of loss. It found the financial cost of “average” bird of prey predation to a shoot releasing 1,000 poults per year, would be just £30.

2)   According to a 2004 report by the Public and Corporate Economic Consultants (PACEC) The Economic and Environmental Impact of Sporting Shooting, more than 40 million non-native gamebirds are released into the UK each year. In 2009, over 37 million pheasant and 13.8 million partridges were registered on Defra’s Great Britain poultry register.

As we drove into the car park a cuckoo called, wood pigeons were joined by chaffinch, greenfinch, goldfinch and house sparrow around the feeder area.   We moved off towards the Marshland viewpoint, chiffchaff singing in nearby bushes.   In the distance a couple of us heard willow warbler, so Malcolm decided to veer off towards the Ernie Hemsley viewpoint, as the group moved towards the willows where the bird was heard it moved further in and eventually we lost track of it.   Blackcap, great tit, linnet, dunnock and wren were singing around us.   Swallow flew through low over the trees.

At the viewpoint there were rooks and jackdaw in the fields, and three lapwing were seen – one possibly on a nest.   Retracing our steps, swift and more linnet gave us great views.   Long-tailed tit fed in the willows, and a cetti’s warbler sang nearby.   As we got into more open land a cuckoo flew through.

From the Marshland Viewpoint we found a single redshank, a dozen black-tailed godwit, five avocet,  little grebe, shelduck, tufted duck, canada geese, greylag, grey heron, little egret, mute swan and mallard.   Following the path beyond the orchard and onto the heron trail we heard more cetti’s warbler and a green woodpecker called as it flew ahead of us.   Cinnabar moths were newly emerged looking bright and clean in the grass, and longhorn moths, the males with long anntenae, danced around the may blossom.

With herons, little egret and rooks noisily circling overhead a garden warbler started to sing.   After several minutes a couple of us found the bird in a nearby bush, but the others were too far ahead to call back luckily with a bit of patience and some good spotting the birds was refound on the way back and everyone had good views.

We moved slightly up one of the paths and had a distant view of  a small hawthorn with little egret nesting in it.   Rooks were by far the most numerous birds around, but there were herons on the nest too.

Back on the trail and a grizzled skipper took our attention for a while, the second time we had seen this species on the reserve recently and in two separate locations.   Their favoured food source is apparently potentilla and bramble.   We also saw several orange tips, comma and peacock butterflies during the day.   We also added a funghi to our interest – unfortunately nameless so far.   Let us know if you can identify it.

unidentified funghi (the feet are Trevors!)

On our return journey we added oystercatcher to our list of seen species, along with two mediterranean gull overhead showing their pure white wings beautifully in the sunlight, and heard a nightingale – although not in full song it was unmistakeable.   A brilliant end to a great walk.

Thanks to Malcolm and Sally for guiding us and giving such a great background to the history of the reserve and its occupants.

Sue

Meet outside Gravesend Railway Station, on Clive Road, TQ646740 (DA11 0RS).

The coach will leave at 8am SHARP, so don’t be late!

Wicken Fen is home to an incredible range of wildlife including birds, dragonflies, butterflies and wild flowers.

If you want to come along, check the details here and give Sally a call to see if there are any late cancellations.

Organiser: Sally Jennings.

Well during the last few days I have been at Millbrook Garden Centre with Irene helping Malcolm and Sally with the Spring Birdwatch event.   This time with a photographic competition for those who wanted to take part, and a colouring activity for the children over the weekend.

Once again a great success with lots of old friends calling in to see what we were up to.   The Sampson family called and spent several hours taking some great photos which were then put on show near the cafe and in the hide.

The main stars of the show – as always – was the wildlife itself.   With the breeding season in full swing there were several song thrush and blackbird nests around the site, with robins also finding the oddest places to build their nests.

In the wildlife area itself the feeders were busy with chaffinch, dunnock, great tit and blue tit being the most numerous species, but great spotted woodpecker and greenfinch were occasional visitors as well.

The instinct of the parent birds drove them to constantly visit the feeders, and we were lucky enough to have a great insight into how hard they work by watching a nearby great tit nest.   The family were situated in a nest box near the hide and with the live pictures being shown in the hide we could watch the adult feeding on the seeds and nuts and then follow the feeding progress inside the nest box.   Seven eggs were hatched on Friday 4th May, and on my first visit on Thursday 10th the remaining six showed a massive growth and development with the tiny wings starting to show feather-like markings.   At this stage the hatchlings were blind and basically comprised a huge gape wobbling on top of a rather unstable body.

By Sunday 13th they had sprouted small downy feathers and looked like little punk-rockers, still a bit wobbly but there was a definite dominance starting to show.   Wings were being preened, and the occasional wing-flap took place.   It was only when the parents came back with food that all six were visible – a couple seemed to be permanently at the bottom of the heap.   The parents seemed to feed the young almost constantly until around 2.00 pm then one or other would take a few minutes to do some spring-cleaning of the nest and then settle down on top of their offspring for five minutes rest.   They looked exhausted, but after only a short break they would be up and off again, until the process was repeated perhaps an hour or so later – presumably by the other parent – but in all the time I watched, I only saw them settle three or four times.   Who’d be an avian parent!

Such was the interest in the young family we had people calling in several times during the week to check on their progress.   Given the opportunity, people love wildlife and birds in particular and our great tit brood were more than playing their part.

We spoke to nearly 350 people over the course of the week tiring (even for me) but very rewarding.   All had stories to tell of their own gardens, their successes and failures.   Much of the conversation was around keeping troublesome species out of the garden – feral pigeons and magpies being the most topical subjects.   Sometimes it is hard to persuade people that everything has it’s place.    Others wanted to share their ideas and designs.   It is amazing what people are doing to support nature, one lady has three wildlife ponds and over 20 nest boxes in her garden with at least 12 of them being used currently.

Millbrook, and Graham in particular, have done a great job in showing us all how we can make space for wildlife in our gardens.   With a little thought and a little less “management” we can all provide a haven for many species.   The more we treat our garden as another room in the house; the more we tidy up, the less space we allow for other species.

The week was a great success.    Well done, especially to Malcolm and Sally who basically spent the whole week supporting the event.

Sue

As for our Great Tit family, by Sunday 20th they were down to five young, but they have turned into handsome sleek youngsters, with fine feathers and just a hint of the down they were covered in a week ago.   There was much fanning of wings and it won’t be long before they are off out of the safety of the nest box and exploring their new world.

For the parents I suppose it could well be another brood for them to raise.   They have been extremely successful to only lose two of the chicks so far, especially given the heavy rain and cold weather from when the eggs hatched.   Nature’s way is to exploit every opportunity to maximise breeding success, so watch this space.

Within a few metres from the car park we were listening to two male nightingales, one giving a very fine vocal performance, although offering only scant and fleeting views.

Whitethroat, blackcap, wren, greenfinch, green woodpecker, woodpigeon and a distant cuckoo were soon added to the list.

From the viewing mound, looking out across the marshes, there were 6 avocet, displaying lapwings, black-tailed godwits, shelduck, gadwall & tufted duck.  From here we walked into the Northward Hill reserve.  Soon we had sedge warbler, garden warbler, robin, chiffchaff, long-tailed, great and blue tits added to our listening list.  From the upper ride we had fine views over the marsh and watched the herons coming and going to their tree-top nests; this year it is reported that there are 150 pairs nesting in the wood.

Further up in a small sunny glade we came across a grizzled skipper, scorpion fly and long-horned moth, which were obliging enough to have their photographs taken:

Grizzled skipper - taken by Sally Jennings

Scorpion fly - taken by Sally Jennings

Long-horned moth - taken by Sally Jennings

Near to this point Paul captured a short recording of the sounds in the woodland:

Recorded around 7:30am on 19 May 2012 in Northward Hill RSPB reserve.
Featuring, in order of appearance: nightingale, woodpigeon, robin, green woodpecker, wren & blackbird.  Can you hear any others? (to listen again click the little cross in the top right hand corner then click the large blue play button).

On the return leg we listened and watched the rooks and jackdaws in their large rookery- with a couple of nightingales trying to compete for attention.  Over head there were swifts, occasionally screeching.  For the record, I reckon that we heard 6 or 7 nightingales singing, many in the ‘newly’ planted areas.

Again, noticeble by its absence was willow warbler and, on this trip, we did not hear turtle dove, although a small number have been reported this year.

Report by Paul Yetman.

Meet in the Bromhey Farm car park, TQ768764 (ME3 8SR), for a 10am start.

 Another visit to catch up with the birds from last weekend’s meeting plus butterflies and wild flowers.

Leaders: Malcolm & Sally Jennings.

… with the RSPB’s summer wildlife survey

After the huge success of its Big Garden BirdWatch at the start of the year, the RSPB is asking people in Kent to take part in its summer survey, Make Your Nature Count, which runs from the 2-10 June.

Not only is the RSPB asking people across Kent to record birds, it also wants to know about some of the other wildlife visiting gardens, like hedgehogs, squirrels, deer and for the first time ever, slow-worms.

Make Your Nature Count, is the UK’s largest summer wildlife survey and takes just an hour to complete. To take part, simply record what slithers, tweets, forages and snuffles about in your garden or green space.

Last year nearly 3000 Kent residents stepped up for nature and took part in the RSPB’s summer survey, revealing that blackbirds were the most frequent garden visitor, being recorded in 92% of all gardens in Kent, followed by woodpigeons in 84% and collard doves in 83%.

Other regular garden visitors included frogs, which were seen in over 32% of the county’s gardens, followed by bats in 28%, and hedgehogs in over 23%.

Samantha Stokes of the RSPB South East said: “Gardens are teeming with wildlife at this time of year so it’s the perfect time to sit back and enjoy an hour of wildlife watching.

“Make Your Nature Count is a chance for people in Kent to work with thousands of others across the UK to provide an important snapshot of summer wildlife in our gardens, so we can see which species are thriving and which might need our help.”

Many people will be coming across nesting birds and chicks at this time of year, and the RSPB is asking participants to pay special attention to young robins, song thrushes and blackbirds. Counting young birds helps to give an indication of how important gardens are for these birds to breed in.

Last summer over 33% of the county’s gardens had young blackbirds and 17% had young robins, but fewer than 6% saw young song thrushes. Less than 5% of respondents in Kent had house martins nesting under their eaves.

Gardens can be a valuable source of habitat and food for wildlife, and the RSPB is keen to support efforts by gardeners and urban residents to make their homes more wildlife-friendly.

Miss Stokes added: “Urban areas make up about 10 per cent of land in the south east, and more than 80 per cent in London, so there’s plenty of space in towns and cities for helping wildlife if gardens and buildings are used to their full potential.

“With biodiversity still declining, it’s important that we look at every possible way of boosting habitat for a variety of species.”

More information about the charity’s Homes for Wildlife project can be found at the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk/hfw.

Similar to how the RSPB’s winter survey, Big Garden BirdWatch, identifies trends among wintering bird populations, the RSPB believes, in time, Make Your Nature Count will build a picture about summer wildlife in gardens and green spaces nationwide.

Since its launch in 2009 many different species have been recorded in gardens and green spaces in summer. This information is helping identify how summer species are faring and which may need help. By participating in Make Your Nature Count you can help the RSPB save nature.

To take part, simply spend one hour during the week of 2-10 June, counting the birds and the other wildlife that visit your garden or green space, record the highest number of each species seen at any one time and send the RSPB your results.

For further information about Make Your Nature Count, or to submit your results online, visit the RSPB website www.rspb.org.uk/naturecount where an online survey form will be available from 2 June.

Alternatively, you can download a survey form from here, or you can get one sent to you by ringing 0300 456 8330; the hotline number will be operational until 6 June 2012.

……….

The RSPB works to save nature, tackling the problems that threaten our environment. We are the largest wildlife conservation organisation in Europe with over one million members. Wildlife and the environment face many threats. Our work focuses on the species and habitats that are in the greatest danger. People engagement is core to our mission.

The RSPB’s work is driven by the passionate belief that:

• wildlife enriches people’s lives
• the health of bird populations is indicative of the health of the planet, on which the future of the human race depends
• we all have a responsibility to protect wildlife.

Meet in the Bromhey Farm car park, TQ768764 (ME3 8SR), for a 6am start.

Warblers, nightingale, tits, woodpeckers, thrushes, finches plus breeding grey heron and little egret & possible turtle dove and hobby.

Leader: Paul Yetman.