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  1. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hi Phil, I did take the opportunity to read the link you gave before extending my thanks to you for locating it. Without a scientific background, however, I was (and still am) unsure of the correct meaning of some of the terminology being used. My post originally contained a comment to the...
  2. A

    Who To Believe?

    Ah yes, a case of 'one lump or two' I suppose!
  3. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hi Phil, Many thanks for providing this link. Regards, Anthony
  4. A

    Who To Believe?

    Mike, And while you're at it, don't forget to look under the bed for the Bogey Man tonight! ;) Anthony
  5. A

    Who To Believe?

    James, My apologies for only just replying but I have been 'off-air' for around 36 hours. Did you really think that I would be satisfied with a posting (I won't call it an answer) which began "Another thread of deliberately obtuse cod-science. Having tried all other debates we're now left...
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    Who To Believe?

    Hi Malky, No, I'm afraid I didn't - but we did come surprisingly close to having a debate at one stage. My only hope now is that StevieEvans will not be put off from posting his 2005 personal observations, as I suspect that I wouldn't be the only one who would like to read them - whatever the...
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    Who To Believe?

    I really don't know how else to say this, Ian, but you seem to have got the wrong end of the stick right from the start and are still doggedly refusing to let go of it. This first line of Posting # 1 of this (MY!) thread was to set the scene, in that two postings on another thread had arrived at...
  8. A

    Who To Believe?

    No at all, but like you I also get rather annoyed when I see my name cropping up in your postings - especially the ones not addressed to me. If you don't like it, there's a very easy way to prevent it as I'm sure you know! No Ian, the reason I didn't enter into the debate about the paper...
  9. A

    Who To Believe?

    Ian, As with most of your contributions to BF, I'm having trouble trying to work out whether they are fish or fowl - if you'll excuse the unintentional pun. For example, are you presenting entirely your own views, or are they those of the RSPB? Either way, it's beginning to look as though they...
  10. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hold on just a moment while we all catch our breath. I began this thread by referring to two earlier postings which appeared to me to be giving opposing answers to the same question. I did not express an opinion in any way, shape or form as to which one I felt was correct but instead invited...
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    Who To Believe?

    WASSAT?
  12. A

    Who To Believe?

    Now come on, I've told you a million times already - don't exaggerate!
  13. A

    Who To Believe?

    No, PLEASE don't stop it - I'm on a bonus if we go past 125 postings on this one!
  14. A

    Who To Believe?

    I'm afraid that I didn't go to university and I certainly haven't got a degree in biological sciences BUT I can at least add up! 2 breeding pairs = 4 adults. 2 double broods of 4 = 8 nestlings per pair x 2 pairs = 16 nestlings. Therefore - 4 adults + 16 nestlings = a total of 20 Song...
  15. A

    Who To Believe?

    If you read the whole of my Posting # 29 again, you will notice that apart from describing The Field article relating to the BTO/UEA paper as "interesting", I made MADE NO OTHER COMMENT WHATSOEVER as to whether I agreed or disagreed with any of its content. This was quite deliberate and was a...
  16. A

    Who To Believe?

    Good grief, talk about trying to blind people with science. Yet at the end of it all I'm still not overly impressed, because each of the various authors quoted only gives their personal version of what's already happened. Not one of them offers any suggestion as to what needs to be done to put...
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    Who To Believe?

    Tim, Agreed - but I prefer to look at it as a possible indication that the perceived scientific opinion regarding songbird predation is perhaps not set in tablets of stone after all. Anthony
  18. A

    Who To Believe?

    Richard, And as Ian rightly pointed out, we've had a succession of mild winters for at least ten years, so we can't just blame the weather for declining numbers. Anthony
  19. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hi Ian, Exactly that! There are always going to be a host of variables which could affect the outcome of the breeding season, with the weather being just one of them. I agree totally with your reference to mild winters but if you think 1963 was bad (which it was) you should have seen the mess...
  20. A

    Who To Believe?

    Jane, Are you suggesting that songbird populations can never become an exact science and that it's more a case of 'what you see is what you get'? Anthony
  21. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hi Ian, I think you'll find that there aren't two separate papers and that the scientific paper referred to in the article I quoted from is indeed the one prepared by the BTO/UEA. At face value, this does seem to contradict the accepted science on magpie predation and was prepared by a number...
  22. A

    Who To Believe?

    Jane, That doesn't seem to be the case in the example outlined by StevieEvans, where the immediate increase in songbird numbers the year the Larsen traps were employed (2003) was exceeded in 2004. I accept that this wasn't conducted as a scientific experiment (I don't believe it was ever...
  23. A

    Who To Believe?

    Hi Ian, Can I suggest a few options to perhaps resolve this matter and prevent us going round in circles? 1. Do you have any contacts at the BTO or the University of East Anglia who can provide a copy of the original paper 'Large-scale spatial variation in the breeding performance of song...
  24. A

    Who To Believe?

    If You Want Songbirds, Kill Magpies. Obtuse cod-science? That's rather dismissive and not a little patronising, isn't it? I freely admit that I'm only a foot-soldier when it comes to the scientific side of birding, so I'll leave others to pick the bones out of what follows. Please note...
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    Who To Believe?

    Tim, I am not looking to start another literary punch-up, as Keith and others have correctly surmised. My concern is that there appears to be two conflicting answers here, so which one is correct - or are they both perhaps wrong as I believe you may have suggested earlier? I'm also sorry if my...
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