I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the August tally was a rather low 16 days out of 31 . January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days out of 31. April: 20 days out of 30. May:…
Category: VERY BIRDY: birdwatching and birding nattering
Guest blog: pesticides and farmland birds by Gerald Collini
Gerald Collini was an arable agronomist for 43 years. For the latter 33 years he worked independently. The declining numbers of some farm land birds and a possible contributing factor? Several recent European and home studies suggest that insecticides may be implicated? The 1970s and the start of intensive arable farming appears to…
Red Kites in July
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – the July tally was a rather low 15 days out of 31 . January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days out of 31. April: 20 days out of 30….
Angus Glens – they should have gone to Specsavers
The Angus Glens Moorland Group provide this useful checklist for visitors – there won’t be too many genuine ticks on the left hand side of the page and anyone ticking Redshank here ought to provide a photo of the bird to their local county bird recorder for verification. 103 bird species were not just recorded…
Birdwatch August issue
Comments Off on Birdwatch August issue
The latest Birdwatch landed on my doormat today and will be available in the shops soon. It’s what we could think of as the Hen Harrier Day issue! There’s a useful leaflet with details of Hen Harrier Day events but much more. Rob Sheldon writes about HHDays past and present and the Guest Blog by…
Red Kites in June, and a return to the UK
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – since I spent less than 24 hours in the UK in June the tally was a feeble 0 days out of 30. January: 22 days out of 31. February: 24 days out of 28. March: 26 days…
Red Kites in May
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – in May the tally was a feeble 7 days out of 31. My absencves from the country this month, and from the world range of the Red Kite, explain the low strike rate. Let’s see what June has…
British Birds, May
In the May BB there are many other interesting articles as well as the important paper on Peak District raptors (or lack of them) mentioned earlier. What was the origin of the term ‘jizz’? Apparently the explanations that have often circulated are simply nonsense! What fun! This is an interesting article by the Greenwood brothers,…
Red Kites in April
I’m keeping a note of whether I see Red Kites on each day through the year – in April the tally was 20 days out of 30. The grotty weather and spending a few days in London are probably the reason for the lower strike rate in April than in other months. January: 22 days…
Raptor persecution in PDNP in British Birds
Today British Birds publishes a paper on raptor persecution in the Peak District National Park by Tim Melling, Mark Thomas, Mike Price and Staffan Roos. Here is the abstract: Abstract: The Peak District National Park is the southernmost area managed for driven Red Grouse Lagopus lagopus shooting in England. Grouse-moor management includes intensive moorland burning…