Many people are commenting on the absence of birds in their gardens. There’s always a lull in birds visiting gardens after the breeding season. It’s a time when the birds will replace their feathers and are a little less manoeuvrable on the wing. As a result, birds can be more secretive. This time of year also offers plenty of natural foods for birds in the wider countryside, including a berry crop ripe for the taking.
To mark the publication of SCOTLAND: A Rewilding Journey, a book I’ve been working on for three years, we’re releasing a series of behind-the-scenes films, the first of which follows my attempts to capture ospreys in camera.
Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in large-scale, commercial seaweed harvesting, in particular the kelp species Laminaria hyperborea.
In 2016, Marine Scotland opened a public consultation asking for views on ‘Wild Seaweed Harvesting’ (the Trust’s response can be found here), and recently Marine Biopolymers Ltd submitted a scoping report for harvesting L. hyperborea from Scotland’s west coast.
Even more impressively, to my knowledge this makes Fenns and Whixall Moss the only site in the whole of Britain, where both species are known to occur on the same site.
Nesting Hedgehog by Susie Lane, Skelton, Cumbria 20 May 2017
Why is farmland important for this species?
Hedgehogs are found throughout the UK in all habitats. They have historically been associated with farmland for centuries. Hedgehogs are insectivores, foraging in fields and on grassland for worms, and along field margins and at the base of hedgerows for beetles, snails and other invertebrates. They are considered a generalist species, inhabiting most areas of our countryside, our villages and many areas of our towns too. However, as the dominant habitat in the U
Ravens have been culled in Scotland as part of an unscientific experiment. They are being killed in England in larger numbers than Natural England appear to be prepared to admit. What about Wales? I couldn’t find any information on the website of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) so I submitted a Freedom of Information Request. I’m very grateful to NRW for taking the time to answer my questions. The questions were largely the same as I asked of Natural England a while back so I can compare the answers if need be.
New research using data from Garden BirdWatch has revealed that bird food provided in British gardens has helped Blackcaps to rapidly evolve a successful new migration route. This is the first time that garden bird feeding has been shown to affect large-scale bird distributions. The research uses data from volunteer Garden BirdWatchers.
Butterflies and moths may be tiny but to save them you have to think big.
Colonies of butterflies surviving in small isolated pockets of land are vulnerable. Research has shown that they can be encouraged to spread their wings and expand but only if they don’t have to fly too far.
Members of the Society mothing by Julie Lane. Linford Lakes NR 9 July 2016
Batty about bats and mad on moths?
Thursday 6th September 2018.
Doors open at 19:15 hrs.
Come and find out about the bats and moths here at Linford Lakes Nature Reserve.
Event starts prompt at 19:30hrs.
The evening will start with a presentation about bats followed by a walk with bat detectors and finishing with an insight on catching and identifying moths.
£3:00 per adult (£5 per couple), £2 for children
(All children must be accompanied by a responsible adult – event not suitable for children under 10 years old)
Friends and family welcome.
Please note, no dogs allowed on site.
MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.
The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are hosting a talk:
Location: Cruck Barn, City Discovery Centre, Alston Drive, Bradwell Abbey, Milton Keynes
Postcode: MK13 9AP (Google map)
New Zealand is home to some of the world’s rarest and endangered birds and the talk will concentrate on the country’s endemic land birds and nesting sea birds, their protection and conservation. The talk will be accompanied by lots of excellent photos, from both Gina & Brian, of birds like kiwis, keas, kakas and albatrosses.
Time: Doors open 7.15pm for a prompt 7.45pm start, ends at 10pm
Price: Group members £3, Non-group members £4, Children £1
See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information
MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.
Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) by Bob Phillips, Woburn Abbey 28 August 2018
Sika deer (Cervus nippon) by Bob Phillips, Woburn Abbey 28 August 2018
We met at Woburn Church car park at 7 pm on a warm late summer evening, dry with some sunshine. 30 members on the 2.5 mile walk to see deer, trees and water fowl.
We carefully kept to nominated foot paths, passing the sign showing deer casualties from traffic going through the park (2017 12 deaths, 2018 12 deaths so far with 4 months to go). There were signs warning of ticks and consequent Lyme disease on entry to park (Colin wore long red socks to prevent this).
The first part of the walk was through an arboretum with Lime, Oak, Cedar, Hornbeam, Scots Pine and Redwoods. The height of tall Lime tree near the path was estimated at 87 foot, and Redwood at 134 foot using triangulation and measured paces method.
The second part of the walk was at the entrance to the grassland area of the grounds where we were able to see 10 Red Deer stags (antlers up to 15 points), 30 Pere David Deer, 100 Sika Deer, 30 Fallow Deer, 3 Chinese Water Deer and 1 Muntjac. The small long pond had a mallard and one Garganey female (also seen on 27thAug).
Other birds seen included Heron, Sparrowhawk and Buzzard. Returned to car park via circular walk to and through the village of Woburn.
The Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a very interesting article on theSpotted Crake at Willen Lake
A few regular visits to Willen Lake (north) by Mike and Ted Wallen turned up trumps when they found a Spotted Crake early on the bank holiday Monday. Unfortunately it was rather distant at about 350 metres range! News was soon out and the bird was seen by many local birders as well as others from further afield. The bird remained all day and was again present on 28th August. Hopefully it will stay around for a while.
Dear member(s),
Herewith my first event notification of the Autumn fungus season! We visit Finemere Woods on Sat, Sept 8th and then follow it up with an identification session back at Derek’s house in Whitchurch. If you’d like to come to either part of the day please check the details on the website at www.bucksfungusgroup.org.uk/events.htmlwhere arrangements for this event – somewhat different from our norm – are fully explained.
You might be interested to take a look at our recently overhauled ‘Find a fungus image’ page at www.bucksfungusgroup.org.uk/image_list.html . Peter Davis, our webmaster, together with Joanna Dodsworth and myself have been working hard to update this handy search facility which now contains over 500 different species, all of which we’ve found in Buckinghamshire. The vast majority of the photos were taken within the county, all by BFG members over the last 20 years. When identifying fungi one can never have too many images of a species, and this page is so convenient to use. Furthermore, when you click to view one of the images there’s often useful information in the text alongside which gives added insight into the species. Why not give it a try?
Listen up everyone!!! Big Wasp Survey 2018 is launching…see link below. Last year we caught zero queens (so impact on wasp populations) and our limited bycatch has gone to other studies. So become a wasp sampler please! Some very exciting data in 2017 and we need more this year
Information on the status of biodiversity is crucial for species conservation and management. Large scale assessments are only feasible through citizen science but some taxa are poorly monitored because few people specialise in them. This paper explores how to alleviate this problem by using data collected for poorly monitored species as an add-on to existing bird surveys.
A long-awaited project to boost the population of golden eagles in the south of Scotland has taken off.Three young golden eagles have been released into the wild at a secret location in the Moffat Hills.
The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are leading a field trip:
RUTLAND WATER – Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre
Location: Meet in (free) car park at SK 877 072, LE15 8BT signed off A6003 1 mile south of Oakham.
Postcode: LE15 8BT (Google map)
We start our season at England’s premier inland water site. Passage waders and osprey are likely. Many hides, toilets, shop incl. books, bins and ‘scopes (but snacks only so bring lunch). Most paths wheelchair/buggy friendly. Entrance fee £6 (concessions £5).
Mobility scooter available to hire – Please telephone the reserve on 01572 770651 to book in advance (hire fee plus refundable deposit).
Walk leader Paul Tucker
Time: 10am to 3.30pm
Price: Entrance fee £6 (£5 concessions)
See the RSPB North Bucks Local Group website for more information
MKNHS is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites. You should check details of any events listed on external sites with the organisers.
On 12 July this year, a fell runner was out on a large driven grouse moor in Northumberland when he came across this trap containing a crushed merlin. These traps are commonly referred to as a rail or bridge trap. They typically consists of a log or pole across a small burn on which a spring trap is set and covered with a mesh cage. These traps are routinely used to kill rats, stoats and weasels. However, the images he took and sent to us (along with a precise ten figure grid reference – very helpful, thank you!) painted an unpleasantly graphic picture of the problems that rail traps can bring.
Justice for Ravens! have issued the following update”
Dear supporter,
This morning we have instructed our legal team to withdraw our application for judicial review of the Strathbraan raven cull licence.
The reasons for this are as follows:
Our initial objectives for applying for judicial review were to (a) establish that the process and scientific justification for the SNH raven cull licence (i.e. ‘just to see what happens’) was flawed and should not be permitted to be used as the basis for this or for any future cull licences for ravens or other protected species; and (b) to have the 2018 raven cull licence stopped.
We have succeeded in achieving both objectives.
At the end of July, SNH published a review conducted by its own Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) which utterly condemned the scientific justificiation and design of the ‘study’, calling it “completely inadequate”, “seriously flawed” and “will fail to provide any meaningful scientific evidence”.
As a result of this damning review, SNH also announced that the licence holder (Strathbraan Community Collaboration for Waders, SCCW) had agreed to ‘voluntarily suspend’ the raven cull from the end of July until the licence expires on 31 December 2018, having killed 39 of its licensed quota of 69 ravens. On a superficial level this appeared, initially, to be a satisfactory response, but we had concerns that the ‘voluntary suspension’ was not legally binding and so the SCCW could continue to kill ravens at any time for the remaining duration of the licence.
However, since this public announcement from SNH it has been revealed privately (via correspondence between SNH ‘s lawyers and our lawyers) that the phrase ‘agreed to voluntarily suspend’ was misleading and SNH’s lawyers have apologised for this. A more accurate description of what happened was that the SCCW made an ‘undertaking to voluntarily suspend’ the raven cull. In the legal world, the choice of language is everything. According to our lawyers, the word ‘undertaking’ has far more legal significance than the word ‘agreed’, which means if the SCCW does decide to continue killing ravens under the terms of the current (flawed) licence, even though it has undertaken not to, this would open an opportunity for us to launch a further legal challenge.
As we have successfully achieved both our objectives, our application for judicial review becomes just an academic exercise with no tangible benefits, as the SAC has already declared the scientific justification as being “completely inadequate” and SNH will not be issuing any further licences without substantial review, and an undertaking has been made by SCCW not to kill any more ravens for the duration of the licence. If we were to proceed with our application for judicial review on this academic basis alone, there is a risk the judge would consider our case unfavourably and dismiss it, leaving us exposed to a demand for legal costs from SNH.
We feel we have a responsibility to use our crowdfunded donations wisely and pursuing an academic exercise just to prove a point would not be a prudent use of these funds, nor a good use of court time. On balance, we would have more to lose than gain. Instead, we intend to hold the remaining funds as a war chest so that if/when SNH decides to issue a further licence permitting the killing of ravens in Strathbraan, we will be in a strong position to react quickly and launch another legal challenge if it is deemed necessary. Our funds are currently being professionally audited and we have a significant amount remaining, which will be held by our lawyers in a ring-fenced account.
Our fight to get #Justice4Ravens is not over. SNH indicated that the 2018 raven cull licence was part of a proposed five-year ‘study’ at Strathbraan and although SNH has admitted it has to review and amend its “seriously flawed” study design, we are well aware that future licences are quite likely, if not in time for 2019 then probably for 2020. We consider the withdrawal of our application for judicial review as a temporary measure and will not hesitate to apply for a further judicial review if SNH’s incompetence continues.
We’d like to record our sincere thanks to our legal team, Sindi Mules (Balfour & Manson) and Aidan O’Neill QC (Matrix Chambers) for their hard work and commitment to our case. They have been fantastic to work with and we look forward to seeking their advice again as SNH’s future raven cull plans become clearer.
We’d also like to thank you, our donors, whose generous support allowed us to launch this legal challenge. It’s a cliche but our success in this case would not have been possible without your trust and support (and of course, your donations!). Thank you all.
We will continue to keep you informed of any new developments.
Ruth Tingay & Logan Steele, on behalf of Scottish Raptor Study Group
Mant thanks to Sue Hetherington letting us know this news.
Culling by grouse moor managers is being blamed for the drastic decline of mountain hares on eastern Scottish moorlands to less than 1% of the level recorded more than 60 years ago.
Common cranes have been an annual sight along the coast of Aberdeenshire for a number of years, during spring passage. However, breeding was only proven in 2012, when a pair nested and fledged one chick. This was the first confirmed breeding attempt of cranes in Scotland for over 400 years!
What a year it has been! When I wrote Special Black-tailed Godwits last year, I finished by saying, “Imagine how exciting it will be if one of this year’s head-started birds is found breeding in the Nene or Ouse Washes next year”. Amazingly, nine of the 26 head-started birds from 2017 were back this year and two females definitely had nests, with one fledging a chick, and a further two paired together are suspected to have attempted to nest. From data shared with me by Roos Kentie, this return-rate is comparable to wild-breeding Limosa Black-tailed Godwits in her Dutch study-area.
The researchers studied the birds at sewage works where they flock to feed all year round. The worms, maggots and flies at sewage treatment plants have been found to contain many different pharmaceuticals, including Prozac.
The study showed that dilute concentrations of Prozac similar to those measured at sewage works appeared to make female starlings less attractive to the opposite sex.
Thanks to Janice Robinson and Mike LeRoy for their input. The most likely option seems to be:
It could be a male. Males don’t have pollen baskets, have a seventh abdominal segment (females have six), they have a more blunt tip to the abdomen with no sting, their antennae have an extra segment and curve away from the face. Perhaps a closer look at the original photo might show some of these features? The possibilities then are:
1. The male of the Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius, which has some yellow on the face, a band of yellow on the front of the thorax and a narrow one at the rear of the thorax, as well as the red tail. Males have visibly longer hair; the hair of the photographed bumble looks rather punky. Males of this species emerge from June.
2. The male of the Red-tailed cuckoo-bee Bombus rupestris, which has two faded yellow bands on front and back of the thorax, but also narrow pale straw-coloured bands on the abdomen, and the red tail. Males emerge July and August.
The Bilberry bumblebee Bombus monticola tends to be in mountains, uplands and moorlands. The only place I have seen it is amongst heather close to the Kerry Ridgeway in Shropshire, close to the Welsh border.
Original Post:Julie would like help to identify a Fuzzy Bumble (no it’s not something you do after a night at the pub).
In Julie words
Not a great photo but the only bee I can see that resembles it in any way is the bilberry bumblebee, bombus monticola which is not meant to be in this part of the country.
Sand dunes across England are set for a golden future following £4.3 million worth of funding to help restore and protect these at risk habitats.
The funding – awarded to a partnership led by Natural England as part of the European Union’s LIFE programme – will help deliver a major conservation project to explore how to re-establish the natural movement within dunes and create the conditions that some of our rarest wildlife relies upon.
Only 12 hours after Sir David Attenborough explained the personal and scientific benefits of Big Butterfly Count to the watching nation, I was standing under a tree in the pouring rain…
The Mammal Society have produced an app to monitor mammals:
Most wild mammals, including rabbits and iconic species like hedgehogs and mountain hares, are very poorly monitored. This makes it difficult to know which regions or habitats are most important, or to detect changes in their population sizes. The Mammal Mapper is designed to record information on the location and number of animals spotted on walks or bicycle rides.
Lewis Dickinson led the walk. He explained that the site was important for whorled water-milfoil and bladderwort.
During the second World War gravel was extracted from Felmersham gravel pits to be used in the construction of local war-time air fields and other military needs. Over the decades the disused and flooded gravel pits have been managed as a nature reserve and they provide a protected area for many varieties of flora and fauna. It is also important as bird sanctuary, both as a breeding habitat and for birds on migration.
It is one of the best sites in Bedfordshire for dragonflies and damselflies. One problem managing the site is that areas have become overrun with Water Soldier. You can view an interesting video showing its removal using the Truxor Amphibious Vehicle
Lewis explained that there was some concerns raised with the removal of the Water Soldier as they were hoping it would attract the Norfolk Hawker dragonfly to the site. As a compromise, the Water Soldier is being removed from most of the lakes but is being left in one contained area.
To start the walk we crossed the road and headed North East where we had good views of damselflies, dragonflies and butterflies. There was lots of dragonfly activity, some ovipositing, a lot of aerial combat and one unfortunate dragonfly being eaten by another. After 1.5km we turned right as if we continued on our path we would have reached the fishing lakes which tend to be more shaded with less diversity.
We tried to spot Bladderwort in some of the lakes. There were no yellow flowers visible, but some people thought they could see the small hollow sacs that are used to capture and digest tiny animals such as insect larvae, aquatic worms, and water fleas.
We passed a couple of active badger sets and we saw a couple of Buzzards circling and calling overhead. Crossing the road, we continued in a circle back to the car park where we had excellent views of a Brown Hawker perched conveniently on a low branch.
We didn’t keep a species list, but some of the species we saw were:
Butterflies
Green-veined White
Holly Blue
Large White
Speckled Wood
Dragon/Damselflies
Brown Hawker
Common BlueDamselfly
Emerald Damselfly
Rudddy Darter
Small Red-eyed Damselfly
Insects
Dark bush-cricket
Dock bug (Coreus marginatus)
Forest shieldbug (Pentatoma rufipes)
Hoverfly Helophilus pendulus
Scorpion Fly
Moths
Straw Dot
Mother of Pearl
Click on any of the pictures for a larger image.
Unless captioned otherwise, photos are by Peter Hassett licensed under CC BY-NC-SA
Normally, any news relating to hen harriers is bad news. For the past few years they have been on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England. Last season there were only three successful nests in the whole of England, all of which were in Northumberland. 2016 told a similarly dismal story.
But now there’s a small chink of light; the tiniest ray of light perhaps signalling hope. As we reported earlier in the week, this season there has been a threefold increase with nine successful nests this year, fledging a total of 34 chicks, and across a much wider geographical area, with four counties in England hosting hen harrier nests.
New BTO research uses information collected by bird ringers to investigate large-scale differences and flexibility in the timing of feather moult across 15 passerine species that breed in the UK. Different moult strategies were found between migrant and resident species, alongside within-species regional variation in moulting schedules.
It’s usually a good day if you see a Spotted Redshank in Britain or Ireland. How about a flock of 60?
On 27 July 1975, I was fortunate to be part of a Wash Wader Ringing Groupcannon-netting team that caught 60 Spotted Redshanks at Terrington, on the Lincolnshire border of Norfolk. When we fired the nets, we knew that there were some Spotted Redshanks in the catching area but, as these birds were part of a mixed catch of 414, most of which were Redshank and Dunlin, the total number of these elegant ‘shanks came as a very welcome surprise. Why so many, what did we learn about Spotted Redshanks and what do we know now?
Linford Lakes NR BioBlitz by David Easton. 24 June 2016
As part of the IUCN SSC Species Monitoring Specialist Group’s work to improve species monitoring for conservation (Stephenson 2018; Oryx 52: 412-413), and parallel efforts to improve the monitoring of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs), we are conducting a global audit of biodiversity monitoring to identify gaps in data, coverage and capacity in long-term species monitoring. This project is funded by the Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) Collaborative Fund, and involves partners and collaborators from around the world.
Conserving and making such data accessible is vitally important. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is the custodian of a wealth of ecological datasets. In some cases, these date back to the days of the Nature Conservancy in the 1950s and 1960s. Thanks to the efforts of our Environmental Informatics Liaison scientists, with a bit of help from CEH Fellows, many of these historic datasets are now being saved for long term re-use in the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre.
International photographic competition, which runs in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, awards special prize for the best close-up images
A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms are much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 × 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to stress that this does not mean that this number of bees will be killed, and also to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, which will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.
Almost one in five of British mammal species face a high risk of extinction, according to the first comprehensive review of their populations for more than 20 years launched today by The Mammal Society and Natural England.The red squirrel, wildcat and the grey long-eared bat are all listed as facing severe threats to their survival.The review – commissioned by Natural England working
Following on from the very successful BTO Owl Appeal this year will be the start of our Project Owl research. With new surveys starting from autumn 2018, we need your help to learn more about our nation’s fascinating but often mysterious owl species.
A special cricket and grasshopper event will take place this Sunday.
Also
Tea and coffee, home-made cakes available.
Second-hand books on sale as well as crafts and bird seed.
Great views through the Centre’s windows and balcony
Plenty to see: ducklings, dragonflies, butterflies, the first returning migrant birds.
Bring friends and family to enjoy the reserve.
A wealth of wildlife can be found and experienced in our parks and green spaces across Milton Keynes. The land in our care includes ancient woodlands and recent plantations; old hedgerows and ‘veteran’ trees; grazing pastures and hay meadows; areas of scrubland; ponds, lakes, rivers and streams.
Click here to find out more and to download the Parks Trust Biodiversity Action Plan
New research has identified the species of shark currently found in hotter parts of the world that could migrate to UK waters by 2050 as the oceans warm
Small, spiky and seriously endangered, the hedgehog is a much-loved mammal in Britain, and further afield. Four hundred years ago, however, things were very different
Be part of this nationwide survey and help take the pulse of nature. Butterfly declines reveal the poor health of the environment. We need your sightings
It seems a shame to mention the autumn whilst we are enjoying an amazing summer but autumn migration is gathering pace already. All of the BTO satellite tagged Cuckoos had left the UK by the end of June but since leaving some of them have had a rapid migration south; five have already successfully crossed the Sahara
From the nut-cracking crows of Sendai to ‘Turdus urbanicus’ (the new urban blackbird), animals are changing their behaviour and evolution in cities – and in dramatic and surprising ways
Our planning and preparation for the second year of Poole Harbour Osprey Project, a partnership between the Foundation, Birds of Poole Harbour and Wildlife Windows, started at the end of winter when we checked nests that looked fragile the previous year, and others that had been damaged by winter storms. In early March 2018 we […]
Silver-washed-Fritillary by Julian Lambley Bernwood Butterfly trail 24June 2017
Butterflies are benefitting from environmental action to increase their habitats, scientists have argued following a pioneering government report.
Research published today by Defra on the ability of butterflies to move around the countryside shows butterflies, including much-loved species like the Speckled Wood butterfly, have recovered significantly since a worrying decline at the end of the last millennium.
The northern bald ibis is critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 existing in the wild. But a German group is reintroducing these birds in Europe, where they once thrived, and is using ultralight aircraft to lead them on migrations south toward the Mediterranean.
Ambitious conservation project underway to save England’s forgotten farmland flowers and wildlife.
The poppy, one of the nation’s favourite wildflowers, is as iconic as the Brown Hare, Harvest Mouse and Skylark – endearing species we associate with England’s golden cornfields in summer. But did you know colourful cornfield flowers that characterised our farmland abundantly 100 years ago, are now the fastest declining group of wildflowers in the country and risk disappearing altogether if urgent action isn’t taken?
A newly discovered bandy bandy snake species, jumping sweetfish and baby tarantulas in Derbyshire are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
The evidence of negative impacts of agricultural pesticides on non-target organisms is constantly growing. One of the most widely used group of pesticides are neonicotinoids, used in treatments of various plants, e.g. oilseed crops, corn and apples, to prevent crop damage by agricultural insect pests. Treatment effects have been found to spill over to non-target insects, such as bees, and more recently also to other animal groups, among them pas- serine birds. Very little is known, however, on the presence of neonicotinoids in other wild species at higher tro- phic levels. We present results on the presence of neonicotinoid residues in blood samples of a long-distant migratory food-specialist raptor, the European honey buzzard. Further, we investigate the spatial relationship be- tween neonicotinoid residue prevalence in honey buzzards with that of crop fields where neonicotinoids are typ- ically used. A majority of all blood samples contained neonicotinoids, thiacloprid accounting for most of the prevalence. While neonicotinoid residues were detected in both adults and nestlings, the methodological limit of quantification was exceeded only in nestlings. Neonicotinoids were present in all sampled nests. Neonicotinoid presence in honey buzzard nestlings’ blood matched spatially with the presence of oilseed plant fields. These are the first observations of neonicotinoids in a diurnal raptor. For better understanding the potential negative sub- lethal of neonicotinoids in wild vertebrates, new (experimental) studies are needed.
Today the Government has published a revised version of its National Planning Policy Framework which now includes some reinstated protection for Local Wildlife Sites following a campaign supported by 25,000 people.
I have been reading a fascinating book Dragonfly by David Chandler and Steve Cham where they describe a stage in the dragonfly life cycle that is new to me:
What comes out of the egg?
Often a Dragonfly’s life cycle is simplified as egg—larva—adult—egg. This misses out one vital if short—lived stage — the prolarva.
The prolarva is what comes out of the egg. It can leap and squirm, and its job is to get to water, which is often where it finds itself on hatching anyway. But that isn’t always the case. The Willow Emerald Lester Lestes viridis damselfly is unusual among its near relatives in that it lays its eggs in twigs and branches over water. When things go well, its prolarvae simply fall into the water. When things don’t go well, however, the prolarvae find themselves on the ground and have to make their way to water. Prolarvae are not able to walk or swim, but they can have remarkable jumping abilities — one leap from the prolarva of the Japanese Relict Dragonfly Epiophlebia superstes can take it about 100 times further than its own length.
When it gets to water, a prolarva’s job is done. It moults and a very small true larva takes to the water. The prolarva may have survived for just seconds or perhaps an hour or two. Those of Aeschnophlebia longistigma, an Asian species, can make it to 14 hours.
Julie Lane has recommended “For the Birds”, part of the Milton Keynes International Festival:
I thought I should draw peoples attention to a wonderful lighting and sound installation called ‘For the Birds’ taking place this week at Linford Manor Park as part of the MK International Festival. It is a truly magical experience and great fun and for anyone who is interested in birds it would be a pity to miss out on it. Quite what the local wildlife makes of it is a different matter but it is well worth a visit. Tickets are £15 available from the Box office 01908 280800 and it is on in the evenings Wed 25th – Sat 28th July.
We have been colour ringing black-tailed godwits at the Nene and Ouse Washes to help us understand more about the birds’ movements in the breeding and non-breeding season. Godwits are known to undertake long and often complex migratory journeys, and the marking of individual birds provides valuable information about the remarkable journeys these birds undertake.
Red-tailed Bumblebee by Harry Appleyard, Howe Park Wood 14 March 2017
English sea wall flood defences support an important grassland habitat for bumblebees (Bombus spp.). However, annual cutting in midsummer (July-August) could negatively affect them. The mowing regime was then changed to a ‘late’ cut (September) on a sea wall and compared with an adjacent sea wall cut ‘normally’ (midsummer).
There were significantly more queens nest-searching in May compared to April. Sward height and the number of queens nest-searching were significantly higher on the normal cut sea wall than on the late cut one. No correlation between queen abundance and forage availability was significant. The nesting habitat therefore seems more important than forage abundance for queens.
The summer studies revealed the workers’ higher abundance on the late cut wall. However, this new spring study of queens reveals their preference for the normal cut wall. Having a mosaic of habitats seems the key to conserving sea wall grassland bumblebees.
For European starlings, the presence of aromatic herbs in the nest leads to some improved parenting behaviors, according to a new study. Specifically, birds whose nests incorporate herbs along with dried grasses were more likely to attend their nests, exhibited better incubation behavior for their eggs, and became active earlier in the day.
With Britain experiencing a sustained heatwave, our Chief Executive, Brian Eversham, looks at the effect warm summers have on Britain’s insect populations.
Eight out of 14 critically endangered black rhinos have died after being moved to a reserve in southern Kenya, wildlife officials have revealed, in what one conservationist described as “a complete disaster”.
Today we achieved 100,000 page views. That’s right, people have now viewed the website 100,000 times since it was launched on 17 March 2015.
Although we mainly publish articles about wildlife in the United Kingdom, our website has been accessed by over 100 different countries. Our top 10 countries are shown on the right
If you have any comments on the website, wildlife related article or local wildlife events that you would like to be published, please let me know at webmaster@mknhs.org.uk
If you enjoy reading the website, have you considered joining the Society? See our membership page for more information.
Linford Lakes NR BioBlitz by David Easton. 24 June 2016
We need to encourage people to spend more time noting what they see and hear so we can build up a much clearer picture of exactly how wildlife is affected by changes in climate and land use etc.
Over the past few years I’ve posted several pieces about how colleagues, students and myself have been monitoring one aspect of the environmental impact of the University of Northampton’…
Linford Lakes NR BioBlitz by David Easton. 24 June 2016
Our team at UEA (University of East Anglia) is studying how we might rank the importance of individual sites within ecological networks. To help us, we are examining how conservation and land management professionals emphasise various ‘criteria’ that could be used to prioritise sites for funding or management.
We would value your contribution to this survey – survey completion should take no more than 10 minutes.
A couple of weeks ago farmer David Corrie-Close wowed an audience of politicians, fellow farmers and NGOs with the inspirational story of his and his wife Bekka’s commitment to farming with n…
The first significant steps towards legally protecting the high seas are to take place at the UN in New York.
Many people are commenting on the absence of birds in their gardens. There’s always a lull in birds visiting gardens after the breeding season. It’s a time when the birds will replace their feathers and are a little less manoeuvrable on the wing. As a result, birds can be more secretive. This time of year also offers plenty of natural foods for birds in the wider countryside, including a berry crop ripe for the taking.
Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in large-scale, commercial seaweed harvesting, in particular the kelp species Laminaria hyperborea.
Even more impressively, to my knowledge this makes Fenns and Whixall Moss the only site in the whole of Britain, where both species are known to occur on the same site.
In their second article for our #summerofbeauty, Froglife provide a guide to the UK’s only venomous snake!
Ravens have been culled in Scotland as part of an unscientific experiment. They are being killed in England in larger numbers than Natural England appear to be prepared to admit. What about Wales? I couldn’t find any information on the website of Natural Resources Wales (NRW) so I submitted a Freedom of Information Request. I’m very grateful to NRW for taking the time to answer my questions. The questions were largely the same as I asked of Natural England a while back so I can compare the answers if need be.
New research using data from Garden BirdWatch has revealed that bird food provided in British gardens has helped Blackcaps to rapidly evolve a successful new migration route. This is the first time that garden bird feeding has been shown to affect large-scale bird distributions. The research uses data from volunteer Garden BirdWatchers.
Butterflies and moths may be tiny but to save them you have to think big.
A rare butterfly species has returned to an Oxfordshire beauty spot after an absence of 30 years.
The RSPB North Bucks Local Group are hosting a talk:
The Buckinghamshire Bird Club have published a very interesting article on theSpotted Crake at Willen Lake
Nightjars are breeding at RSPB HQ, The Lodge, for the first time in 45 years.
Listen up everyone!!! Big Wasp Survey 2018 is launching…see link below. Last year we caught zero queens (so impact on wasp populations) and our limited bycatch has gone to other studies. So become a wasp sampler please! Some very exciting data in 2017 and we need more this year
Fearsome predator was extinct in England but Scottish relatives have crossed the border and set up home in Northumberland
Information on the status of biodiversity is crucial for species conservation and management. Large scale assessments are only feasible through citizen science but some taxa are poorly monitored because few people specialise in them. This paper explores how to alleviate this problem by using data collected for poorly monitored species as an add-on to existing bird surveys.
A long-awaited project to boost the population of golden eagles in the south of Scotland has taken off.Three young golden eagles have been released into the wild at a secret location in the Moffat Hills.
On 12 July this year, a fell runner was out on a large driven grouse moor in Northumberland when he came across this trap containing a crushed merlin. These traps are commonly referred to as a rail or bridge trap. They typically consists of a log or pole across a small burn on which a spring trap is set and covered with a mesh cage. These traps are routinely used to kill rats, stoats and weasels. However, the images he took and sent to us (along with a precise ten figure grid reference – very helpful, thank you!) painted an unpleasantly graphic picture of the problems that rail traps can bring.
Justice for Ravens! have issued the following update”A rare species of jumping spider never recorded in the UK before has been discovered living in a nature reserve in Cheshire, scientists have said.
Culling by grouse moor managers is being blamed for the drastic decline of mountain hares on eastern Scottish moorlands to less than 1% of the level recorded more than 60 years ago.
Slavc is a wolf. In 2011, he began an epic 2,000 kilometre migration across Europe from Slovenia to Italy via the Austrian Alps
The RSPB have launched the Raptor Persecution Map Hub.Common cranes have been an annual sight along the coast of Aberdeenshire for a number of years, during spring passage. However, breeding was only proven in 2012, when a pair nested and fledged one chick. This was the first confirmed breeding attempt of cranes in Scotland for over 400 years!
The number of mountain hares on moorland in the eastern Highlands is at less than 1% of their levels in the 1950s according to new research.
What a year it has been! When I wrote Special Black-tailed Godwits last year, I finished by saying, “Imagine how exciting it will be if one of this year’s head-started birds is found breeding in the Nene or Ouse Washes next year”. Amazingly, nine of the 26 head-started birds from 2017 were back this year and two females definitely had nests, with one fledging a chick, and a further two paired together are suspected to have attempted to nest. From data shared with me by Roos Kentie, this return-rate is comparable to wild-breeding Limosa Black-tailed Godwits in her Dutch study-area.
The researchers studied the birds at sewage works where they flock to feed all year round. The worms, maggots and flies at sewage treatment plants have been found to contain many different pharmaceuticals, including Prozac.
Sand dunes across England are set for a golden future following £4.3 million worth of funding to help restore and protect these at risk habitats.
The Mammal Society have produced an app to monitor mammals:
Normally, any news relating to hen harriers is bad news. For the past few years they have been on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England. Last season there were only three successful nests in the whole of England, all of which were in Northumberland. 2016 told a similarly dismal story.
New BTO research uses information collected by bird ringers to investigate large-scale differences and flexibility in the timing of feather moult across 15 passerine species that breed in the UK. Different moult strategies were found between migrant and resident species, alongside within-species regional variation in moulting schedules.
In his second blog on the subject, our Chief Executive Brian Eversham discusses the long-term effects the long hot summer could have on our wildlife.
It’s usually a good day if you see a Spotted Redshank in Britain or Ireland. How about a flock of 60?
The photographer who took the pictures says it is “very exciting” to have the birds nesting in Hoy.
Conserving and making such data accessible is vitally important. The Centre for Ecology & Hydrology is the custodian of a wealth of ecological datasets. In some cases, these date back to the days of the Nature Conservancy in the 1950s and 1960s. Thanks to the efforts of our Environmental Informatics Liaison scientists, with a bit of help from CEH Fellows, many of these historic datasets are now being saved for long term re-use in the NERC Environmental Information Data Centre.
International photographic competition, which runs in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, London, awards special prize for the best close-up images
The Angus Glens’ wildlife is “impoverished” according to a leading animal charity investigator.
A strong argument can be made that the European Union has the most rigorous regulatory system for pesticides in the world, and that modern pesticide use poses fewer environmental threats than older regimes. Nevertheless, the impacts of pesticides on bees and other non-target organisms are much debated in Europe as elsewhere. Here we document changing patterns of pesticide use in arable and horticultural crops in Great Britain from 1990 to 2015. The weight of pesticides used has approximately halved over this period, but in contrast the number of applications per field nearly doubled. The total potential kill of honeybees (the total number of LD50 doses applied to the 4.6 million hectares of arable farmland in Great Britain each year) increased six-fold to approximately 3 × 1016 bees, the result of the increasing use of neonicotinoids from 1994 onwards which more than offset the effect of declining organophosphate use. It is important to stress that this does not mean that this number of bees will be killed, and also to acknowledge that our simple analysis does not take into account many factors such as differences in persistence, and timing and mode of application of pesticides, which will affect actual exposure of non-target organisms. Nonetheless, all else being equal, these data suggest that the risk posed by pesticides to non-target insects such as bees, other pollinators and natural enemies of pests, has increased considerably in the last 26 years.
Almost one in five of British mammal species face a high risk of extinction, according to the first comprehensive review of their populations for more than 20 years launched today by The Mammal Society and Natural England.The red squirrel, wildcat and the grey long-eared bat are all listed as facing severe threats to their survival.The review – commissioned by Natural England working
Following on from the very successful BTO Owl Appeal this year will be the start of our Project Owl research. With new surveys starting from autumn 2018, we need your help to learn more about our nation’s fascinating but often mysterious owl species.
A wealth of wildlife can be found and experienced in our parks and green spaces across Milton Keynes. The land in our care includes ancient woodlands and recent plantations; old hedgerows and ‘veteran’ trees; grazing pastures and hay meadows; areas of scrubland; ponds, lakes, rivers and streams.
It’s more important than ever to protect sharks and rays, says Global FinPrint’s lead principal investigator, Dr. Demian Chapman.
10:00- 13:00hrs.Researchers studying silk moths have found that the shape of their hindwings contributes to their survival.
Satellite imagery shows hundreds of glaciers shrinking as average annual temperature rises 3.6C in 70 years
By resurrecting a proposal to allow trophy hunters to shoot 250 hippos annually, Zambia stirs controversy.
New research has identified the species of shark currently found in hotter parts of the world that could migrate to UK waters by 2050 as the oceans warm
Small, spiky and seriously endangered, the hedgehog is a much-loved mammal in Britain, and further afield. Four hundred years ago, however, things were very different
Be part of this nationwide survey and help take the pulse of nature. Butterfly declines reveal the poor health of the environment. We need your sightings
From the nut-cracking crows of Sendai to ‘Turdus urbanicus’ (the new urban blackbird), animals are changing their behaviour and evolution in cities – and in dramatic and surprising ways
Our planning and preparation for the second year of Poole Harbour Osprey Project, a partnership between the Foundation, Birds of Poole Harbour and Wildlife Windows, started at the end of winter when we checked nests that looked fragile the previous year, and others that had been damaged by winter storms. In early March 2018 we […]
The northern bald ibis is critically endangered, with fewer than 1,000 existing in the wild. But a German group is reintroducing these birds in Europe, where they once thrived, and is using ultralight aircraft to lead them on migrations south toward the Mediterranean.
Ambitious conservation project underway to save England’s forgotten farmland flowers and wildlife.
A newly discovered bandy bandy snake species, jumping sweetfish and baby tarantulas in Derbyshire are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world
A photographer in Minnesota recently captured an adorable shot of a Common Merganser followed by dozens of fuzzy babies.
Today the Government has published a revised version of its National Planning Policy Framework which now includes some reinstated protection for Local Wildlife Sites following a campaign supported by 25,000 people.
Model predicts population of UK’s tallest bird could double within 50 years after its return to the east of England following a 400-year absence
Deadly heatwaves could continue for weeks, and possibly months, across much of the northern hemisphere, meteorologists predicted this week
An introduction to the UK Biodiversity Indicators 2018 publication, and the UK suite of headline indicators
Hope is that dams built by pair of beavers help hold back water and improve biodiversity
The long-term use of the pesticides for killing parasites is damaging the populations of these important insects.
Facts that will keep you busy
We have been colour ringing black-tailed godwits at the Nene and Ouse Washes to help us understand more about the birds’ movements in the breeding and non-breeding season. Godwits are known to undertake long and often complex migratory journeys, and the marking of individual birds provides valuable information about the remarkable journeys these birds undertake.
Sweden worst hit as hot, dry summer sparks unusual number of fires, with at least 11 in the far north
With Britain experiencing a sustained heatwave, our Chief Executive, Brian Eversham, looks at the effect warm summers have on Britain’s insect populations.
Eight out of 14 critically endangered black rhinos have died after being moved to a reserve in southern Kenya, wildlife officials have revealed, in what one conservationist described as “a complete disaster”.
Over the past few years I’ve posted several pieces about how colleagues, students and myself have been monitoring one aspect of the environmental impact of the University of Northampton’…
A couple of weeks ago farmer David Corrie-Close wowed an audience of politicians, fellow farmers and NGOs with the inspirational story of his and his wife Bekka’s commitment to farming with n…