El Annie
Tuesday 18th February 2003, 20:24
Red kite makes triumphant return in England and Scotland......
The red kite, the large fork-tailed bird of prey reintroduced to England a decade ago, is booming so much that its population in the Chiltern Hills north-west of London is now believed to be the densest in Europe. Nearly 150 pairs are nesting in the undulating beechwoods along the Chiltern ridge from Goring in Oxfordshire to Luton in Bedfordshire, new figures show, and the bird is now a regular and spectacular sight along the M40 motorway which cuts through the Chiltern escarpment at Aston Rowant, between High Wycombe and Oxford.
More information - Independent
Poisoning rats but not birds of prey.........
The methods landowners, farmers and pest controllers use to control rodents can make the difference between life and death for some of the UK’s most spectacular birds of prey. Now leading conservationists are asking for their help to protect these vulnerable birds from accidental poisoning by the publication this week of a new leaflet explaining the risks associated with rat poisoning (rodenticides). English Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are concerned about poisoning and widespread contamination of birds of prey by the latest chemicals used to control rats and mice.
More information - NFU Countryside
Flood protection work for bird sanctuary...........
Emergency work is to be carried out to reduce the risk of flooding on an internationally-important East Anglian nature reserve. Coastal erosion has caused the exposure of two 1.8m diameter pipes which allow freshwater from the Minsmere bird reserve and the surrounding area to flow into the sea. The Environment Agency is worried that shingle could be eroded from beneath the pipes and that this could cause their collapse. Such an event would either lead to a blockage and the flooding of the nature reserve - causing habitat damage - or the gauging of a new channel through the dunes and shingle, a phenomenon which could aggravate erosion problems over a large part of the coast.
More information - EDP24
Birdwatcher in a hole lot of bother............
Birdwatcher John Walshe is today singing the praises of his mobile phone and emergency crews after the horror of falling down a 15 foot deep hole in Ipswich. The 35-year-old was saved from a cold and lonely fate after he plunged down the 18 inch wide drain while doing a survey for the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. He told The Evening Star a new mobile phone undoubtedly saved him from hypothermia or worse and he praised the fire service emergency crews for finding him within ten minutes of his 999 call from below the ground. He had just one bar up on the battery display but it was enough power to call for help. He only bought this phone to replace his old one, which kept letting him down.
More information - Evening Star
More can be found at - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm
Annie :)
The red kite, the large fork-tailed bird of prey reintroduced to England a decade ago, is booming so much that its population in the Chiltern Hills north-west of London is now believed to be the densest in Europe. Nearly 150 pairs are nesting in the undulating beechwoods along the Chiltern ridge from Goring in Oxfordshire to Luton in Bedfordshire, new figures show, and the bird is now a regular and spectacular sight along the M40 motorway which cuts through the Chiltern escarpment at Aston Rowant, between High Wycombe and Oxford.
More information - Independent
Poisoning rats but not birds of prey.........
The methods landowners, farmers and pest controllers use to control rodents can make the difference between life and death for some of the UK’s most spectacular birds of prey. Now leading conservationists are asking for their help to protect these vulnerable birds from accidental poisoning by the publication this week of a new leaflet explaining the risks associated with rat poisoning (rodenticides). English Nature and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) are concerned about poisoning and widespread contamination of birds of prey by the latest chemicals used to control rats and mice.
More information - NFU Countryside
Flood protection work for bird sanctuary...........
Emergency work is to be carried out to reduce the risk of flooding on an internationally-important East Anglian nature reserve. Coastal erosion has caused the exposure of two 1.8m diameter pipes which allow freshwater from the Minsmere bird reserve and the surrounding area to flow into the sea. The Environment Agency is worried that shingle could be eroded from beneath the pipes and that this could cause their collapse. Such an event would either lead to a blockage and the flooding of the nature reserve - causing habitat damage - or the gauging of a new channel through the dunes and shingle, a phenomenon which could aggravate erosion problems over a large part of the coast.
More information - EDP24
Birdwatcher in a hole lot of bother............
Birdwatcher John Walshe is today singing the praises of his mobile phone and emergency crews after the horror of falling down a 15 foot deep hole in Ipswich. The 35-year-old was saved from a cold and lonely fate after he plunged down the 18 inch wide drain while doing a survey for the British Trust for Ornithology and the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust. He told The Evening Star a new mobile phone undoubtedly saved him from hypothermia or worse and he praised the fire service emergency crews for finding him within ten minutes of his 999 call from below the ground. He had just one bar up on the battery display but it was enough power to call for help. He only bought this phone to replace his old one, which kept letting him down.
More information - Evening Star
More can be found at - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm
Annie :)