Hen Harrier survey results – what they say

The UK is missing around 2000 pairs of Hen Harriers according to a survey carried out in 2016 whose results were released today. We know that the main cause of this harrier-deficit is deliberate, intensive and illegal killing of Hen Harriers by those who wish to shoot Red Grouse for fun. The lack of Hen…

UK Hen Harrier Survey results

2016 saw a UK-wide Hen Harrier survey and the results are now out. The 2016 estimate of the Hen Harrier population for the UK is 545 pairs which is quite a lot less than the 2010 survey’s estimate (633 pairs) and an awful lot less than that for 2004 (749 pairs). However, it is worth…

Remarkable Birds – a new review

A review of Remarkable Birds, by Michael McCarthy, from Resurgence and Ecologist. Some extracts: I was particularly entranced by a moody, haunting vision of rooks rebuilding their nests in spring by the Russian 19th-century landscape artist Alexander Savrasov, and by the bold-faced osprey of his British contemporary Prideaux John Selby. Remarkable Birds goes beyond the…

Bee-eaters in Notts

It doesn’t look like a particularly interesting part of the world – but it is now! A gang of at least seven Bee-eaters have been found in rural Nottinghamshire, and the RSPB and CEMEX have set up, very rapidly, a viewing scheme. Good for them. I was the second viewer there this morning just after…