tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3398953989195382522024-03-05T20:07:12.738+00:00In the CountrysideObservations on the countryside and its wildlife, some of which are published in my regular column in the Eastern Daily Press (EDP)Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.comBlogger742125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-35620980540641737022015-01-31T05:33:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:33:58.637+00:00Our place in nature<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There has been much discussion over the years about our place within the
natural world; are we part of nature or apart from it? Some authors have
suggested that while we were once part of the natural world, closely in tune
with its shifting seasons and living within the landscape, we were separated
once we became a predominantly urbanised society. Apart from a handful of
‘primitive’ communities still living within nature, deep in some South American
rainforest, every other one of us has become removed (to varying degrees) from
the natural world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is this removal, this act of seeing ourselves as standing apart from
nature, that has driven our over-exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources.
Divorced from the natural world we cannot comprehend the damage that we are
doing; even when we are told about that damage it seems remote and intangible.
Typing these words on this keyboard has a cost but I cannot see that cost; all
I can see is the keyboard and the benefits that it brings to my daily life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In some senses it could be argued that we are still part of nature; that
our activities and the way they have changed the world are no different from
what many other organisms are doing. The difference, and the thing that
potentially does set us apart, is that we can comprehend the impacts that we
are having. Understanding what we are doing and what the consequences of our
actions are means that we have the option to do something about it. As
individual organisms we can make a conscious choice not to exploit the Earth’s
resources, to return to a position where we are closer to being part of nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is at the level of society that this reconnection becomes difficult –
some would say impossible – because society is driven by behaviours much stronger
than those of the individual. Our consumer society has spiralled to levels
where we are outstripping the resources available to us; yet we continue to see
these resources as infinite. Societal change is needed but if it is to come it
can only come from the individual or from nature herself, imposing on us a new
way of living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-20536520641146034722015-01-30T05:32:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:33:02.558+00:00Challenging times for owls<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2014 proved to be a particularly good year for barn owls, their breeding
success in East Anglia well above average. Most of the volunteers monitoring
barn owl nest box schemes reported high levels of box occupancy and large broods,
reflecting the abundance of small mammal prey available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Just how much of this success carries through into 2015 will very much
depend on the availability of mice and voles over the next few weeks – that
difficult late winter period when levels of owl mortality increase as the
weather bites. The long growing season last year, with grass continuing to grow
well into the autumn, will have benefited the herbivorous field voles and
should mean that there are plenty of voles around for owls and the other predators
who feed on them. The challenge will come from the weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Barn owls are surprisingly light birds, soft plumaged and poorly
equipped to deal with difficult winter weather. High winds and heavy rain
reduce the owl’s opportunities to hunt. Even if they can get out the noise of
wind and rain can limit their ability to locate small mammal prey – barn owls
have sensitive hearing and use this as their main means of locating prey moving
about in the grassy swards over which they hunt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Barn owls are able to catch voles through a light covering of snow but
deep snow presents a real problem. Unable to detect and capture voles still
active under snow a barn owl loses weight quickly and may die from starvation
within just a few days. In response to deep snow cover a barn owl may move away
from its usual foraging range to seek opportunities elsewhere. It may also
switch to hunting other prey, notably small birds which may be taken from their
roosts. Small birds are probably more of a challenge for a hunting owl, which
lacks the speed and manoeuvrability of those raptors that specialise on such
prey, and any shift in hunting range may expose the bird to roads and other
hazards. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Daylight hunting may also become more evident at this time of the year,
benefiting those of us who like to see the county’s barn owls, and it is worth
keeping an eye out for these enigmatic birds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-40544735065160600852015-01-29T05:31:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:32:04.050+00:00A taste of the Orient<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">First reported from the wild in Britain in 1945, the Chinese water deer
is one of those introduced species that has stayed below the radar of those
calling for the control and removal of such exotic imports. The reason for this
is that we have not yet seen the development of any conservation problems
associated with the species. Chinese water deer to not occur at the high
densities that the introduced muntjac populations sometimes reach and there has
only been occasional damage to agriculture, and none to forestry. Most of the
established populations are still centred on the areas into which they
initially escaped from captive collections and there has been only a very
modest amount of expansion into new sites.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In Norfolk this small deer is most commonly encountered in the Broads,
favouring reedbeds and the surrounding grazing marshes and farmland that
provide feeding opportunities. Woodland habitats are also used and there is a
preference for denser vegetation, which provides cover. Over recent years we
have seen a gradual extension to the Chinese water deer’s range, with
increasing numbers of records coming from the grazing marshes of the North
Norfolk coast. Records from Titchwell and Sculthorpe Moor in the west of the
county underline the distance travelled. There are very occasional inland
records from the Brecks, perhaps the result of individuals escaping from a
former wildlife collection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At this time of the year, these small deer are readily seen around the
Broads and south into the river marshes of the Yare Valley. In their thick
winter coats they appear stocky but at other times of the year I think they
seem rather scrawny and very different from the solid muntjac that are more
commonly encountered. The adult males have a long and curving upper canine that
protrudes as a ‘tusk’. Readily visible in the field it proves a useful feature
for identification. These teeth are smaller in the females and do not protrude.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There are probably fewer than 5,000 of these Asian deer in England but
it has been a while since the last attempt to survey their numbers. Indications
of their presence mostly come from birdwatchers and from those individuals
reported dead on the county’s roads, following collision with traffic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-81454079141563970262015-01-28T05:30:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:30:53.685+00:00A remarkable meal<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Spend enough time watching wildlife and you will be guaranteed occasions
that surprise, impress and delight you. Just the other day I chanced across one
such occasion. Scanning across the marshes I picked out a heron struggling with
an unusually large prey item. The bird was distant and the magnification of the
binoculars insufficient to resolve what it was that the heron was struggling to
swallow. Quickly setting up my telescope I was soon on the bird. Much to my
amazement the heron was attempting to swallow a stoat, the rear two-thirds of
which were hanging from the bird’s beak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The stoat was dead, of that there was no question; the russet body and
black-tipped tail hung limply, swinging pendulum-like as the heron attempted to
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efforts to swallow the stoat, throwing its head back and pointing its bill
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This, however, was not the end of the struggle. The bulge of the stoat
could be clearly seen in the throat and the heron again began to throw back its
head. Such a large prey item was causing discomfort and the bird still had some
way to go to get its meal further down the digestive tract. Moments of
continued effort were followed by periods where the bird stood still, only the
great bill opening and closing as if the heron was struggling to draw breath.
Then, the act of swallowing still unfinished, the bird walked down the bank,
into a drain and out of view.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Whether the heron had stumbled across the stoat, already dead, or
whether the stoat had wandered unknowingly within range of the heron’s
dagger-like beak, was unclear. I suspect the latter but whatever had happened
prior to my arrival it was still a remarkable sight. Herons will take larger
fish and they regularly take small birds and mammals but this was something that
I’ve not seen mentioned in the literature. It was new to me and all the more
astonishing for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-63658479738039840502015-01-27T05:29:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:29:42.128+00:00The meadow at night<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The recent weather has caused the river to overtop its banks and the
depth of water now present on the meadow has greatly changed the dynamics of
the site. Areas of exposed mud have been submerged and the geese that roost
here are now spread over a much larger expanse of water. The higher ground
remains dry, however, and the rabbits feed nervously on the short turf, ever
alert to danger and to the stoats that hunt here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The flooding has made movement around the site less easy and our
nocturnal visits in search of snipe and woodcock more difficult. It is not so
much the depth of the water, which is readily tackled in wellingtons, but that
it has pushed these wintering waders into the tussocky swards where they are
difficult to spot. Snipe are jumpy birds at the best of times and the squelchy
of our approach, coupled with the agitated sounds coming from the roosting
geese, prompts many to flush before we get close enough to pick them out in our
torchlight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These snipe are feeding rather than roosting, the latter a behaviour
usually restricted to the daylight hours. There are two peaks in feeding
activity. The first of these occurs during the early part of the night, the
second just before dawn. With their long and probing bills, snipe are able to
feed on a wide range of invertebrates, taking many beetle and fly larvae during
the course of their nocturnal foraging. Snipe can increase their body weight by
as much as 25% during the winter. This additional weight is added as a layer of
fat that insulates the bird and provides a food reserve should the weather
worsen and favoured feeding sites freeze over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">If the weather does deteriorate then the snipe will move south or
southwest in search of more favourable conditions. Some will remain, however,
seeking out the margins of streams and rivers, where the ground has yet to
freeze. Vast numbers of snipe winter here, often overlooked, with many arriving
from elsewhere within Europe. Wintering numbers mask conservation concerns
about a declining breeding population and more research work is needed identify
opportunities for improving the conservation status of these smart little
birds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-59252218845686137592015-01-26T05:27:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:28:14.182+00:00Whoopers<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A scattered flock of white dots, distant on the dark soil of a fenland
field and some way back from the railway, can only be a group of wintering
swans. Two days ago the swans were too distant and the light too poor to permit
identification. Today, on a later train and in better weather, the birds are
feeding much closer to the curving track. As the train approaches so the dots
resolve themselves into whooper swans, long-necked and with wedge-shaped bills.
A rough and ready count suggests a flock in excess of 200 individuals; winter
visitors from their Icelandic breeding grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Over the long term we have seen an increase in the size of the
population wintering in Britain, something which has been brought about by an
increase in the Icelandic breeding population. A successful breeding season is
reflected in the ratio of young to adult birds, the swans helpfully arranged in
family parties and the youngsters readily identifiable from their soft grey
plumage tones. Calculating that ratio is not something I can do from a
fast-moving train and I am tempted to return by car on another day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The numbers wintering here may change from one winter to another, the
birds distributing themselves in relation to the weather and feeding
opportunities. There is also a degree of movement within a winter and a period
of cold weather on the Continent can push birds into the southeast of England
and East Anglia. My impression is that there are fewer here this year but we
will only know for certain once the results of monitoring projects, like the
Wetland Birds Survey, are published.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Although I encounter wintering swans across East Anglia there is
something about the fenland landscape that seems to fit best with these birds.
Perhaps it is the way in which their crisp white plumage contrasts with the
richly dark soils or the often-brooding skies that are such a feature of the
fenland washes. Late winter is very much the time for these birds and trips out
to search for them have become part of my winter birdwatching routine. The
swans will be here for a few more weeks yet, so there is still time for more
encounters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-76511802384015670062015-01-03T05:26:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:27:03.096+00:00Bird feeders gaining use<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Over the past fortnight we have seen an upturn in the numbers of small
birds visiting our hanging feeders. Being the festive period, we have been
around the house more but we’ve also seen the quantity of sunflower hearts in
the feeders falling more quickly, a sure sign that more birds are making use of
the supplementary food. While it is the visiting goldfinches that have
dominated the feeders, we’ve also seen smaller numbers of greenfinch, chaffinch
and the usual great and blue tits. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Also present, but as an occasional visitor, has been the coal tit. This
small member of the tit family does well in Breckland, reflecting the fact that
it is really a bird of coniferous woodland. Its small size and thin but pointed
beak, enables the coal tit to search for insects within the evergreen needles
of conifers. Being small has its disadvantages, however, and the coal tit often
loses out to the other, larger, species that use the bird feeders. It is
interesting to note how the coal tits that visit our garden tend to fly in,
grab a sunflower heart from a vacant feeder port and then fly off to feed
elsewhere. Larger birds, particularly the greenfinches and goldfinches, choose
instead to feed at the port, striking out at other individuals that attempt to
displace them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The use of garden feeders by coal tits has been shown to vary according
to the availability of natural food supplies elsewhere. Coal tits also take
conifer seed and in those years when conifer seed is abundant they do not make
as much use of garden feeders. In years when the conifer crop is poor, garden
feeders become more important and are used to a greater degree. This pattern
has also been demonstrated for the siskin, another conifer specialist, for
which it has been noted that the use of garden feeders increases on damp winter
days and drops on dry ones. Conifer cones remain closed on damp days but open
on dry ones, determining whether or not their seeds are available to small
seed-eating birds like siskin and coal tit. That small birds make use of garden
feeders more when food is less readily available elsewhere underlines how the
food we provide can help when times are tough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-70841040606266489122015-01-02T05:25:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:26:08.847+00:00Old nests revealed<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Clearing the young alders that have sprung up across one of our local
sites is hard work. Each of the young trees, and there are many hundreds of
them around each of the old pits, has to be cut low to the ground and then
treated with a chemical to kill the roots and prevent regrowth. The work is
being done to prevent this non-native form of the tree from shading out the
important wetland and reedbed habitats that are such an important part of the
site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is while clearing the reed litter and moss from around the base of
the trees that we have turned up the nests of reed buntings, long empty remains
of the now distant summer. Reed buntings are common on the site and tend to
nest around the margins of the old gravel pits. The nests are invariably built
within thick cover, placed just off the ground and hidden beneath an
overhanging piece of vegetation. The nest itself is a bulky cup of sedge and
grass, lined with finer stems and, sometimes, hair or reed flowers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We sometimes find reed bunting nests while looking for those of other
species but they can also be found by watching the female as she returns to the
nest. This is not always as easy as it sounds, especially when the nest has
been placed in a sedge bed that is uniform in appearance. Many of the nests are
found while the female is incubating. The eggs, like those of our other bunting
species, are marked with lines and squiggles, as if an artist has been given
free rein to decorate them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The placement of the nests, well-hidden within the thick vegetation,
should afford them some protection from the attentions of nest predators, but
we suspect that they still suffer quite high losses, with both otter and grass
snake present on this particular site. If a nest is lost then there is still a
good chance that the birds will get some young off later in the season. Each
pair may make two or three nesting attempts over the summer. That we’ve been
finding so many old nests might suggest a healthy population at this site and a
run of nesting attempts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-2210916001137618002015-01-01T05:24:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:25:10.839+00:00Wintering duck numbers down<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The pools have been rather quiet this winter, with far fewer wintering
duck than has been the case in recent years. A few dozen tufted duck and
mallard mingle with single-figure counts of coot and the occasional gadwall,
underlining the effect that a run of mild weather can have on their numbers.
The duck that would normally be here, wintering on our lakes, gravel pits and
quieter pools, have remained on the Continent. Of course, all of this could
change with the arrival of some properly cold weather.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The run of mild winters has seen many migratory birds winter closer to
their breeding grounds, a behaviour known as ‘short-stopping’. Britain and
Ireland have provided important wintering grounds for many wildfowl and waders,
the influence of the Gulf Stream lifting our winter temperatures by a few
degrees to deliver more favourable conditions than are to be found on the
Continent. As the average winter temperatures have increased, so the conditions
elsewhere have improved and the benefits of moving to Britain have reduced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Such changes in wintering behaviour can be seen in the counts of
wildfowl collected at sites across Europe. These reveal a redistribution in
wintering numbers for species like goldeneye, whose numbers have decreased in
Britain and The Netherlands but risen significantly in Finland and Sweden,
where waterbodies have increasingly remained unfrozen during the winter months.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One consequence of these changing patterns of winter distribution may be
that our network of protected sites – many of which may have been designated
because of their wintering wildfowl populations – might no longer provide
protection. If duck no longer winter on a site where they are protected but
instead winter at a site where they can be shot, then this could have important
implications. The latest research suggests that while currently protected sites
might lose some of their key species, they are likely to gain others and so
remain important. However, there is a need to monitor what is happening at
other sites, outside of the protected area network, and to establish to what
extent they are now being used by wintering waterfowl and to assess whether
they need protection. It is interesting to reflect that what is happening on my
local waterbodies has such wider relevance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-23919443711097585472014-12-31T05:23:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:24:05.984+00:00Counting for conservation<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is at this time of the year that I get a chance to catch up with my
field notes and pull together the records of birds, invertebrates and other
creatures that need to be submitted to county recorders. Sharing wildlife notes
in this way is an important task. Extracting records from notebooks that would
otherwise sit on a bookshelf to make them available for researchers and
conservationists helps turn a hobby into something with greater worth and
purpose. Some of my records have already gone into recording systems that allow
the data to flow straight through to the county recorders. My bird records, for
example, are recorded through BirdTrack (www.birdtrack.net), a free online
system operated by the BTO that I can use in the field through a smartphone
app.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The winter months also provide an opportunity to reflect on the season
and to place my observations into a wider context. 2014 was, for example, a
year in which the breeding season started particularly early for many resident
birds, but which was a poor year for many migrants, who returned in smaller
numbers than usual. My records of nesting birds underline this, with many early
clutches of blackbird, song thrush and (in particular) woodpigeon. In fact, I
monitored more woodpigeon nests this year than I have ever done before, with
the majority of these encountered much earlier in the season than I would
normally find them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the case of insects, it is a more complicated story and it is clear
that while spring and early summer were good, the late summer and autumn
weather conditions rather curtailed the season for many species. It was noticeable,
for example, that my late summer garden was rather lacking in both ladybirds
and hoverflies this year, a pattern now being reported by other observers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As well as looking back over the season just gone, I like to use the
turning of the year to look forward. I can think about the projects that I want
to focus on during the coming year and identify particular sites or species
that I want to spend time looking at. It is also a good time to be making
resolutions and there is plenty of opportunity for doing more for the natural
world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-66594076203689234482014-12-30T05:22:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:22:53.792+00:00A reedbed for the night<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The reeds jostle in the breeze, their dry stalks pale against the darker
alders that fringe these lagoons. Stripped of the vibrant greens of summer the
reedbeds appear lifeless. This, however, is a deception and instead they
shelter many thousands of overwintering insects and a few still active flies,
beetles and spiders. A scolding wren, one of several dozen heard here this
morning, underlines the invertebrate life that remains available to
insectivorous birds at this otherwise difficult time of the year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While some of these wrens are local birds that have bred on the site,
others have arrived from elsewhere. Being small, wrens lose body heat quickly
and are unable to build up stores of fat to see them through the challenging
winter months. This prompts them to move to those sites and habitats, such a
reedbeds, where invertebrate food remains available throughout the winter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So important is this access to food that the wrens establish winter
territories, smaller than those used in the breeding season but still defended
against other individuals. Many wrens will remain on these territories through
into March when, with the approach of the breeding season, they will return to
their former haunts. Holding a small territory at this time of the year secures
access to both feeding and roosting opportunities, the wren becoming
increasingly familiar with the resources available within its small patch of
East Anglian reedbed. Competition for territories can be fierce and research has
demonstrated that birds which fail to secure a winter territory tend to suffer
increased levels of overwinter mortality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Despite maintaining a winter territory, individual wrens may come
together in late afternoon to share a roosting site. Communal roosting enables
these small birds to share their warmth and reduce the amount of body heat lost
during the long winter nights. Several dozen wrens may cram themselves into a
nest box or other cavity, and I wonder to what extent the wrens wintering
around these pools make use of the nest boxes we have erected here over the
years. The mild start to the winter will certainly have benefitted the wrens
but if it turns significantly colder then even here they are likely to
struggle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%;"> </span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-53182183417481054582014-12-29T05:21:00.000+00:002015-02-19T05:21:37.066+00:00Spreading its wings<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A familiar silhouette catches my eye as we drive down the muddy track
that winds between the pools. ‘Harrier’ I call but Dave doesn’t quite catch the
bird before it drops back below the treeline. He’s not sure; it could be
something else and we stop the car to check. The bird soon reappears, drifting
towards us in the early morning light, its wings held in a shallow ‘v’. It is a
marsh harrier, long-winged and pale-headed, a young bird and one of only a
handful of sightings from this inland site.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The presence of the harrier is an encouraging sign, reflecting a species
whose population is increasing and whose breeding range now expanding. There
are now more breeding marsh harriers in England than at any other time during
the last two centuries but their history has been a mixed one. The marsh
harrier seems to have been a familiar sight to the Norfolk naturalists writing
in the mid-1800s. Lubbock, for example, writing in 1845, noted how every
Norfolk pool of any extent had its pair, but numbers declined rapidly to leave
just a single English pair at Horsey in 1911. The following decades saw a small
recovery, but it was not until the 1980s that the breeding population began to
grow and reached a size where the bird’s future as a breeding species no longer
looked precarious.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The return of the marsh harrier to East Anglia has been dramatic, the
increasing number of breeding pairs year on year revealing a remarkable change
in fortunes. East Anglia has become the stronghold for the species within
Britain and it is the Broads and north Norfolk’s coastal grazing marshes that
support the greatest numbers. The harriers favour reedbed sites for nesting but
have also taken to arable crops, such as wheat and oilseed rape, a preference
that has opened up new opportunities for these birds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I suspect that there might not be a sufficiently large reedbed to
attract breeding harriers to the site we work but it is just possible that a
pair might give it a go. We know that they breed not far from here and if nothing
else we’d expect to see more harriers here over the coming years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-87278335240059383642014-12-06T18:41:00.000+00:002015-01-30T18:41:39.708+00:00Cats and birds<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The sodden remains of a blackbird make a forlorn sight on the gravel
path. What is left of the carcass sits within a wider pool of damp feathers,
most of which are contour feathers but here and there are wing feathers, the
squared off ends to the quills revealing they have been bitten off rather than
plucked. This evidence alone directs the finger of blame towards one of the
neighbourhood cats, of which there are many. Throughout the course of the year
I will find half a dozen or more such corpses and who knows how many other
birds, amphibians and small mammals will have been taken and eaten elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is an odd thing that we tolerate this level of butchery of our
wildlife, the nation’s cats the agents of death for many tens – or possibly
hundreds – of thousands of wild creatures each year. Perhaps the excuse that
‘it is in their nature’ is one that we collectively accept. It doesn’t seem
right though, that we allow our pets to decimate wildlife in this manner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The sad thing is that we do not have the figures to properly establish
the impact that cats might be having on wildlife populations already under
pressure from other things. It is just possible that cat predation might not be
having an impact on birds like house sparrow and blackbird, which are often
taken. Birds die and are killed by many different things, some of which – like
disease and starvation – may be linked to how many birds there are, through a
process known as density dependence. Cat predation may simply be removing some
of the birds that would die anyway but, equally, it could be adding to the
problem. We do know that the level of predation by urban cats is sufficient to
make some parts of our towns and cities unsustainable for small mammals like
mice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While there is a need for impartial science to tell us the real impact
of cats there is an overwhelming moral case for us to accept responsibility for
the actions of our cats. It might be in their nature to kill but it is we who
allow it to happen by letting them have free run outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-71936989390166180742014-12-05T18:39:00.000+00:002015-01-30T18:40:21.092+00:00A Breckland flora<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The soils and surface layer geology of the Breckland landscape are
particularly interesting, having been shaped by the tundra-like conditions that
existed here during the Devensian Glaciation. The underlying chalk is covered
by varying depths of sand, and in places sand and chalk may sit alongside each
other at the surface. Under the tundra-like conditions surface layers may have
slid downhill, riding on a still frozen subsoil, while in other places the
lower layers may have 'mushroomed' up following freezing and expansion. Add to
these processes a climate that delivers high summer temperatures, low rainfall
and frequent night-time frosts and you have conditions that deliver an
interesting plant community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The 'poor' Breckland soils kept agriculture at bay for many generations,
the area dominated by heath and rough grazing up until fairly recently. The
continuity of open habitat may have seen species like field southernwood
survive here for more than 10,000 years but change did come; first with
enclosure and the practise of marling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(using chalk dug locally to improve soil quality) and later with sheep,
rabbit production, forestry and arable farming. The impacts of these changes
have been dramatic, the area of Breckland heath and grassland declining from an
estimated 29,000 hectares at the beginning of the last century to just 7,000
hectares today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Thanks to recent funding, efforts are now underway to see the
re-establishment of some of Breckland's rarest plant species. Species like the
Breckland, spiked and fingered speedwells, the proliferous and maiden pinks,
and Spanish catchfly may all benefit from the work that is planned. Much of
this work is based around clearing the surface soil to expose the seed bank
beneath, the success of this approach already being seen at sites like Cranwich
Camp. While such 'landscaping' may seem heavy handed on first appearance,
perhaps making site owners somewhat nervous, it is proving a powerful tool for
the restoration of former plant communities. The plans to recover the lost
Breckland flora should once again raise the botanical profile of this rather
special area. With luck, many of those species now restricted to just a handful
of sites will become a familiar sight to a new community of observers, each
with a growing interest in Breckland’s botanical heritage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-28448711609395709652014-12-04T18:38:00.000+00:002015-01-30T18:39:06.589+00:00A smudge of grey<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A smudge of grey, ever so slightly darker than the flat tones of the
fenland sky against which it moves, catches my eye above the peaty horizon.
‘Plovers’ I say but Lyn cannot pick them out at this distance; ‘I can’t see
them, where are you looking?’ I point but it makes no difference. It is not
until we are much closer, 30 seconds or so as the car speeds along the
carriageway, that the smudge becomes a flock of individual birds and is now
close enough for Lyn to see. ‘How did you manage to spot them at that
distance?’ comes the question but I cannot answer. It is just something that I
do; the birders sense of what is out there to be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The birds are golden plovers, their identity now clear as they turn and
pass through a shaft of sunlight that has forced its way between the heavy
clouds. This is plover country and at this time of the year the fields provide
feeding opportunities for these winter visitors. This is only a small flock,
numbering fifty or so birds, but I have seen much bigger flocks out here in the
fens in previous years. More often than not they may be seen feeding on the
ground alongside lapwing and black-headed gulls but it is in flight that they
most readily capture the imagination.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">At the distance that I first spotted them they might have been a flock
of one of these others species, but at the back of my mind I was already
thinking ‘golden plover’. At times, when I have called distant flocks in this
manner, my companions have sometimes accused me of conjuring the birds out of the
air. The magic, if there is any to be found, is in knowing what might occur at
a particular time and place and in being alert to the possibility of its
presence. It is based on experience and is an important tool for the
birdwatcher. Knowing what to look for is the starting point but familiarity
with different species is what refines this base knowledge into something more
tractable. If it gives the appearance of magic then it shows that I’m alert to
the possibilities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-38144016033532599952014-12-03T18:37:00.000+00:002015-01-30T18:37:58.001+00:00Familiar haunts<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I find myself returning to these same patches within the forest year
after year, much like the bird that I have come to see. While it won’t
necessarily be the same individual that I have seen here in previous years, the
great grey shrike present this winter is no doubt attracted to the open
habitat, with its isolated thorn bushes and abundance of prey. There is a good
chance that the bird will remain for much, if not all, of the winter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I wonder for how many generations these striking birds have been coming
to Norfolk. They don’t appear every winter at this site but most years there is
a good chance of catching up with one somewhere in the Brecks. The Brecks seem
to suit this bird and its character; both are a little wild and a touch unloved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These visiting shrikes arrive from Norway and other parts of
Fennoscandia, the first individuals turning up from late September onwards. By
now most of the birds present will have established a territory for the winter.
A few of those here in late November will move on to other sites, perhaps
located further south within the country. The territory maintained by the
shrikes is surprisingly large, with individual birds moving between different
patches in the forest, often several kilometres apart. It is on these patches
that the shrike will catch small mammals and birds, some of which are then
impaled on a thorn or barbed wire fence to be kept for a few days as part of a
larder. It is this habit that leads some birdwatchers to refer to shrikes as
‘butcher birds’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Great grey shrikes are rather smart in their appearance, the mixture of
black, white and grey plumage striking to the eye. Somehow they always look
neat, immaculately dressed, as any good butcher should be. That the birds
return to sites favoured in previous years makes them fairly easy to find and
individual sites may attract good numbers of birdwatchers over the course of
the winter, all keen to see this winter visitor. Grimes Graves, just up the
road from me in the Brecks, is one such site and well worth checking out this
winter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-5622247993489752982014-12-02T18:36:00.000+00:002015-01-30T18:36:32.050+00:00Nature's gardeners<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">On a damp evening, the patio slabs wet with moisture, I am surprised by
the number of earthworms that have emerged. A good number are stretched across
the slabs, one end tethered in the narrow band of soil that separates each slab
from its neighbour. It is clear that the worms are after the fallen hazel
leaves; one such leaf is in the process of being dragged into the soil by an
unseen worm. Viewed as a whole it is as if a single creature lurks beneath the
patio, the worms its tendrils seeking out nourishment from the surface above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The worms are alert and most retreat to their burrows as I cross the
patio to the garden beyond. They are not sluggish but draw back into their
burrows with a swift movement that suggests a certain elasticity to their
tubular bodies. The sense of elasticity is further emphasised by the distance
over which some of the worms appear to have stretched their bodies. Perhaps
most surprising of all are the few worms that have emerged from the narrowest
of cracks within the concrete path or from around the drain cover. It is a
reminder that while the surface may appear impervious and lifeless, it is only
a thin skin below which a myriad of creatures continue with their lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These look like common earthworms, one of a number of species that dwell
within the garden soil here at home. The different species may be found at
different depths within the soil profile and not all of them emerge on the
surface when temperature and humidity are favourable. Unusually, common earthworms
not only forage on the surface for dead leaves and other plant material, they
also mate here, as the occasional sighting will testify. Earthworms have an
obvious external segmentation to their tubular bodies and it is this that
contributes to their amazing ability to extend and then rapidly contract their
body length.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Chance encounters like this underline the numbers present within the
garden and the quantity of plant material that they must recycle over the
course of the year. Come morning, the only sign of their presence will be a few
dozen worm casts and the occasion leaf, half submerged in the soil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-2582675979979442502014-12-01T05:58:00.000+00:002014-12-02T06:03:17.176+00:00A damp morning<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The still air hangs heavy with the scent of decay; autumn’s fragrance, deep with a richness that can be tasted as much as smelt. The damp leaves stick to my boots and the layer of decaying leaf matter holds an impression of my passing steps within its patterned surface. Black-headed gulls dance on light wings to snatch titbits from the surface of the swollen river, their crisp white tones contrasting with the deepening colours of fading autumnal light. It doesn’t feel like the end of November, but it is.</span></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The morning air lacks any real bite, the temperature above average for the time of the year and kept higher by the insulating blanket of overnight cloud. Even now the hazel in the garden at home still carries a few green leaves, each of which looks oddly out of place against its yellow and brown fellows, starved of wanted nutrients and ready to be jettisoned. There is a sense that winter has been happening somewhere else. The arrivals of rough-legged buzzards, short-eared owls and waxwings all point to tougher conditions elsewhere, but not here. Here the hunting opportunities remain and the afternoon fen provides a stage for hunting owls and harriers, seeking out small mammals and birds.</span></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">There is an expectation that the winter must come, that the temperatures must drop and that the first proper frosts must replace the damp with a welcome crispness more befitting the season. Were it not for the damp this unseasonal weather might tease more strongly, to hint at a spring that is still many months away. Is this the shape of things to come? Is this how our winters will be? I suspect not but right now it feels as if this dampness will continue indefinitely.</span></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<br /></div>
<div class="s8" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: start;">
<span class="s3" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The damp conditions muffle the landscape and increase the sense of stillness. Only the calls of newly arrived swans echo across the flat fenland fields from a distance, piercing the gloom of the afternoon. More closely, the ‘chack’ of fieldfares and the indignant alarm of a startled moorhen deliver a more immediate soundscape. It is time to turn for home, brush the mud from my boots and to shut out the damp and darkness for another day.</span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-73892319256157463582014-11-08T10:54:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:55:23.198+00:00Persecution<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The news that four pairs of hen harriers nested in England this summer
has been very welcome. Nine chicks were reared from the pair of nests located
in the Forest of Bowland (Lancashire), five from a nest in the Derwent Valley
(Derbyshire) and an unreported number from a nest at an unspecified location in
northern England. While the figure of four pairs is nowhere near the number
that should breed in England, the situation is an improvement on last year;
2013 was the first year in nearly four decades with no hen harriers reported
breeding in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The lack of breeding hen harriers underlines the levels of persecution
still impacting on this and other scarce birds of prey. Hen harriers breed on
heather moorland and in the early stages of plantation forest; their breeding
populations in these habitats are influenced by the availability of food and by
deliberate human interference and illegal killing. The latter is a particular
problem on driven grouse moors, where harriers are viewed as an unwanted predator
of young grouse, destined to be shot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That illegal persecution of our bird of prey populations still continues
is revealed by the recent case in which a worker on Norfolk’s Stody Estate was
found guilty of the illegal poisoning of 10 buzzards and a sparrowhawk. Then
there is the case of the disappearing Montagu’s harrier. Several of these rare
birds have been fitted with satellite tags, allowing researchers the
opportunity to follow their movements, and one of the birds – a three-year old
female nicknamed ‘mo’ – disappeared shortly after leaving a roost site close to
Great Bircham. The sudden loss of the tag signal is an exceedingly rare
occurrence with this type of tag and the researchers suspect that she may have
suffered illegal persecution.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The issue of illegal persecution is, at last, catching wider attention.
There have been high profile campaigns against the persecution and,
additionally, calls to ban driven grouse shooting. Back in August, the national
Hen Harrier Day protest attracted much media interest and celebrity support. A
growing number of people now recognise that we need to address the persecution
taking place here; after all, how can we challenge the appalling illegal
slaughter of birds in Malta when we allow persecution to continue here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-89630248222461198392014-11-07T10:54:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:54:38.432+00:00All change<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">I may have only been away for a week but the changes on my local patch
reveal the shift from autumn to winter that happened in my absence. The storm
that passed through while I was away stripped many of the local trees of their
leaves, changing vistas and shifting horizons. The dry hues of autumn no longer
adorn branches but instead crunch beneath my feet, the tapestry of autumn
colour now a carpet to be sullied, swept away and broken down. The only saving
grace has been the temperature, remaining unseasonably high; the now dark
evenings lack the bite of what will inevitably arrive over the coming weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The soft calls of redwings in the night sky provide a different signal
of the changing season, a pleasing sign of migrants arriving from further
north. There is plenty of fruit for them this year, although it may remain
little used until the first frosts restrict access to the soil-dwelling
invertebrates on which these and other thrushes feed. The clear skies will see
temperatures fall overnight, perhaps bringing with them an end to the late
flying migrant hawker dragonflies and the last of the season’s crickets and
grasshoppers. The odd bumblebee and butterfly is still on the wing though, and
a few warming rays of sunlight are enough to see them stir. I wonder how the
large white caterpillars munching on bolted greens in the vegetable patch will
fair?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is the time of the year when the lure of home grows stronger and
where a good book replaces time spent in the field. There’s still the opportunity
for a walk, although this has become a weekend treat and not something to slot
in before or after work. Still, the dark evenings provide opportunity for
reflection and for the collation of notes made throughout the year. There are
ringing and nest recording submissions to be made, data to be processed and
delivered and observations to write up. It is the time of the year for repaying
the pleasure that has come from spending time in the field. There is also the
opportunity to start thinking about next year, to make plans and to think about
what new delights the countryside will deliver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-75702940723749937772014-11-06T10:53:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:53:59.729+00:00Rock-pooling<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The low tide reveals a series of rock pools, rich in marine creatures
cut off from their wider domain for a few brief hours. Such pools provided a
happy hunting ground when I was child; armed with a net and a small,
castle-shaped bucket I would push aside seaweed and turn over stones with keen
anticipation. These days my rock-pooling is more measured and my knowledge of
the creatures revealed better developed. I can now put names to the things that
I find, extending identifications from beyond the simple childhood categories
of ‘fish’, ’crab’ and ‘prawn’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The pools here on Scilly are rich in marine life and more diverse than
any I have seen on the mainland. Many of the pools are quite sizeable and
provide the depth required to sustain larger creatures. Plate-sized crabs of
several different species mix with young mullet and giant gobies, the latter
providing a sizeable meal for the grey herons and little egrets that haunt the
shoreline. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Beyond the rocks is a shallow sandy bay, exposed at low tide and transformed
into a vast ‘puddle’ just a few centimetres deep. Walking through the water
disturbs a blur of darting shapes – north Atlantic prawns and sand gobies –
that scatter at my footfall. There are hundreds of the bright, orange-brown
starfish <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luidia ciliaris</i>, each with
its seven velvety-textured limbs and frill of long white spines extending along
the uneven length arms. At first glance most of these starfish appear to be
dead, resting inanimate on the sand, but this is not the case as a few minutes
patient watching soon reveals. I do not spend long with the starfish, however,
as I have so little time on these islands and there is so much more to
discover, as the sense of childhood fascination returns.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The opportunities for rock-pooling have become fewer, not just because I
now live an hour from the sea but also because the soft geology of East Anglia
provides a less suitable substrate for the formation of these temporary tidal
pools. Even so, there are places along the Norfolk coast where a particularly low
tide will uncover some happy hunting grounds and the opportunity to seek out
some of these fascinating marine creatures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-71097981097336752992014-11-05T10:52:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:52:52.019+00:00Peregine<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is on these rocky western coasts that the peregrine seems most at
home. Over the past few days, one or more different birds have become a totem
for this wild landscape of granite and short, salt-sprayed turf. I have
developed an eye for their presence; the distant sea stack with a telltale blip
in an otherwise rounded profile that reveals a peregrine perched and scanning
his domain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The bird that I have spent the most time with is an adult male, whose
favourite perch I pass on the way to my own favourite ‘perch’ from where I
watch the sea for passing skuas, shearwaters and cetaceans. He seems tolerant
of my presence, secure in the knowledge that his perch, located a few dozen
metres off the cliff, is surrounded by an uncrossable sea that beats an ever present
rhythm against the shore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The particular perch provides a panoramic view of three fields that
slope down towards the granite boulder beaches. Each of the fields delivers
rough grazing for the small group of hardy cattle that supply the island with
milk and butter. The cattle attract meadow and rock pipits, together with
passing redwings and resident blackbirds, all potential prey for a hunting
peregrine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">One afternoon I am treated to a hunt. The peregrine seems restless and
more alert than usual, leaning forward as if to peer at something that has
caught his eye in one of the fields. He bobs his head and lowers the foot that
has been tucked within his belly feathers. The foot is retracted – a false
alarm? Then more head bobbing and the foot is placed firmly down onto the rock.
A ripple pulses through the bird as it shakes out its plumage; the male
defecates and then he is airborne. A sweeping glide low over the sea brings him
at speed into the field and out of my view behind a headland. Suddenly he
appears above the headland in a vertical stall, wings outstretched, before
turning and dropping back down into the field. He must have killed something. A
few moments later and the kill is confirmed, the bulk of a female blackbird in
his talons as he flies to another of his favoured perches with his prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-9529076142080370332014-11-04T10:51:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:52:08.011+00:00By the sea?<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is a strange sensation to be woken by the shrieking of seagulls –
more so because I am a good hour’s drive from the coast. The sound of the gulls
takes me back to childhood holidays in Cornwall and Devon, where the birds were
part of the holiday experience and something that sat alongside fish and chips
and ice cream in a cone. That the gulls have now become part of my inland
soundscape has everything to do with a change in their behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">We have seen a huge increase in the numbers of inland-breeding gulls and
a good number of our cities now support breeding colonies of lesser
black-backed and herring gulls. While numbers are increasing over much of the
UK, there have been declines in the gull colonies of northern Britain and
Ireland. The birds here in Thetford are lesser black-backed gulls and this is a
species for which we have seen a significant increase in the use of man-made
structures, particularly rooftops, for nesting. I suspect that some of the
large, flat-roofed, industrial units on the edge of town are being used by
these birds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The numbers of gulls present inland during winter has also increased and
mixed flocks, often in the company of black-headed gulls, can be seen on fields
and around the many piggeries that have become a feature of the Breckland
landscape. On occasion, there are even lesser black-backs in with the
black-headed gulls on the river at Thetford. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">It is thought that these increases, both in winter and during the
breeding season, are linked to a change in the feeding opportunities available
to the gulls, coupled with a reduction in the levels of persecution. Increasing
quantities of food waste seem to litter our streets and our landfill sites now
contain vast quantities of organic waste and kitchen discards, all of which provide
access to food throughout the year for these opportunistic birds. During the
winter months other gulls may join the local birds from further afield, with
some arriving from elsewhere in Europe to winter here. At the same time, some
of our birds leave Britain to winter elsewhere: a few lesser black-backed gulls
winter as far south as West Africa, underlining just how mobile these birds can
be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-92083165608463100992014-11-03T10:50:00.000+00:002014-11-22T10:51:11.192+00:00Nordic nomads<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The first wave of short-eared owl arrivals has already happened; the
appearance of birds at various sites along Norfolk’s curving coastline heralds
a welcome return. These nomadic wanderers have become a feature of the Norfolk
winter, with individuals wintering on many of our coastal marshes and, further
inland, along river floodplains and on smaller areas of rough grassland. Being
active during daylight hours, these stunning owls always prove a delight for
the county’s birdwatchers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">These winter visitors may have come from our own breeding population,
found on the uplands and coastal marshes of northern England and Scotland, but
others will have crossed the North Sea, arriving from Scandinavia and other
parts of northern Europe. Given the distribution of wintering short-eared owls
within Britain, with a strong wintering population in northern England, it
seems most likely that those wintering in East Anglia will have arrived from
overseas, while our breeders winter locally within the northern half of the
country. A recent review of the movements made by short-eared owls, undertaken
using information collected from bird ringing, has revealed that these birds
are now wintering further north than they did just a few decades ago. Since the
species is highly nomadic, responding to the availability of its favoured small
mammal prey, it may be that a changing climate is allowing them to remain
further north than was formerly possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">That the short-eared owl is now regarded as a winter visitor to Norfolk
underlines its loss as a breeding species. Pairs were regularly found breeding
around the Wash, on the east coast marshes and inland within the Brecks, all
lost over the last 40 years. The individuals present during the winter months
will be feeding predominantly on field voles and other small mammals, but small
birds are also taken, sometimes from roost. Ringed plover, dunlin, skylark and
snipe may all feature in a short-eared owl’s diet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As winter progresses, many of these newly-arrived short-eared owls will
settle on favoured sites and several individuals may be found hunting over the
same patch of grazing marsh, often hunting alongside the local barn owls. It is
quite a sight to see half a dozen of these enigmatic birds quartering a piece
of ground and one well worth connecting with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-339895398919538252.post-19935053107840945382014-10-11T10:49:00.000+01:002014-11-22T10:50:10.654+00:00A question of time<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Many of conservation’s headline figures, which underline pronounced
population declines for various plants and animals, come from monitoring
datasets that extend back over just a few short decades. Declines in our
farmland bird populations, for example, which are evident from a dataset that
extends back to the 1960s, pick up the impacts of agricultural intensification
that began in the late 1970s. Such declines are alarming, illustrating how the
changes we make to the landscape can quickly impact on other species.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">There is, of course, a wider context to these changes and it is
important to realise that the headline figures do not always tell the whole
story. Still using farmland birds as an example, it is apparent that our
countryside is no longer suitable for a range of species, their populations now
at much lower levels than they were before the Second World War. Go back a
century beyond this, however, and things would have been different again,
though not necessarily in the ways that you might expect. Some of our
‘farmland’ birds are species that benefited from the development of arable
systems, their numbers increasing as new opportunities emerged. Now those
opportunities have gone, their numbers have fallen back. The barn owl provides
an example of a species whose population increased as farming systems developed
– it used to be more common than the tawny owl – but which then declined from
the late 1800s to the numbers we see today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This does not mean that we shouldn’t be worried about the declines we
have seen over recent decades. If anything, we should be more concerned because
of the speed of change that is taking place. All of the changes that humans
have made to the landscape – extending right back to when we first arrived in Britain
– have had some impact on other species but it is the scale of the current
impacts that is particularly alarming. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The increasing tendency to focus the conservation debate within economic
arguments, giving wildlife and the ‘services’ it provides a measurable economic
value, is a particular concern. It removes the moral responsibilities we have
to consider how our activities impact on the other species with which we share
this land. Taking more for us leaves less for them, no matter what the timescale.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Mike Tomshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02473243594728929401noreply@blogger.com0