El Annie
Phew..............
Lifeline to sparrows...........
Emergency measures by North Lincolnshire farmers could help save the tree sparrow from possible extinction this winter. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is urging local farmers to help prevent the bird population decreasing further by participating in its BirdAid project. The charity believes farmers can offer a valuable lifeline to these birds by turning areas of their land into giant bird tables. BirdAid will fund farmers to provide supplementary seeds and grains on their farmland as an additional food source for the birds. Lack of seed and insect food have been blamed for a 95 per cent decrease in the tree sparrow population over the past 30 years, resulting in these once common birds becoming a rare sight around the region's farmland.
More information - this is scunthorpe
Wild swans return...................
More than 5,000 wild swans are getting back to a normal daily routine in the Fens after the disruption caused by recent flooding. Centre of attraction - Debbie McKenzie feeding wildfowl The birds spend the winter in the area around the Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, hundreds of miles from their remote Arctic breeding grounds. Cygnets just three months old undertake their first hazardous, long-distance flight with their parents to their winter home. Around 1,800 Icelandic Whooper swans and 3,500 Russian Bewick's swans are attracted by the undisturbed roosting conditions at the wildlife reserve.
More information - Cambridge News
Wild bird thief is first to be jailed.................
A bird-snatcher yesterday became the first person in the country to be jailed for stealing a hawk from the wild. Leonard O'Connor, 35, was jailed for four months by Knowsley magistrates after he admitted possession of a wild bird after plundering a goshawk nest. O'Connor, of St Anne's Road, Huyton, also pleaded guilty to making a false declaration to the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (Defra) in relation to the bird in October 2001, taking two goshawks in May 2000 and being in possession of a goshawk tail. A change in the law in January 2001 means that anyone caught in possession of a wild bird can now face a sentence of up to six months in prison and a £5,000 fine.
More information - icLiverpool
Egg thieves fined £5,000 for 'wildlife crime spree'............
Three men were fined a total of £5,000 yesterday after admitting wildlife crimes. The men, from Merseyside, were caught after police seized 30 rolls of film that showed them on a "crime spree" in Scotland. John Latham, 22, of St Helens, was fined £2,500 for offences including stealing the eggs of Arctic terns, great skuas and snipe on Orkney. Michael Stockton, 26, also of St Helens, was fined £2,000 for charges including disturbing the nest of a red-throated diver in Caithness. Andrew Kinsley, 32, of Newton-le-Willows, was fined £500 for stealing two camouflage nets from a nature reserve in Aberdeenshire.
More information -
Telegraph
Scotsman
Herald
Times
Special status lands eagles a golden future.............
Eight pairs of golden eagles can look forward to an easier life after the Scottish Executive yesterday classified more than 110sq miles of Skye as a special protection area (SPA). Crofters and landowners can now be paid for "eagle-friendly land management" by encouraging restoration of heather moorland, maintaining the rabbit population for the eagles to kill, encouraging native woodland restoration, and adapting the way they look after sheep. The eight pairs of Skye eagles range near the Cuillin ridge. The mountains were put on the market almost two years ago.
Quarry becomes a haven for birds.................
Birds have been provided with a 'des res' in the surroundings of North Staffordshire's largest quarry The restored grounds of Croxden Quarry, near Cheadle, are rapidly becoming a haven for wildlife and more than 40 different species of bird have been recorded at the site, including barn owls. Woodwork students from Cheadle High School have linked up with Tarmac bosses and have crafted nest boxes to be erected around the quarry. It is the second time the school and Tarmac have worked together on the environmental project, which is aimed at encouraging birds to nest on the site.
More information - this is staffordshire
Rescue mission as 173 swans die.....................
A group of Sussex wildlife experts has been called to help colleagues in Kent who are dealing with the deaths of 173 swans. Five workers with the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue Ambulance Service (WRAS) went to Canterbury yesterday after being called up by the National Swan Sanctuary. The swans have been found dead throughout a huge area of wetlands called the Monkton Marshes over the past two weeks. The swans, which are a protected species, had flown into a network of power cables which are part of the National Grid. Trevor Weeks, a rescue officer with the WRAS, expects to be on the site for two days. He said: "The area is huge and the swans have been found in dykes and undergrowth.
More information - This is Worthing
Rare visitors drawing flocks of eager ornithologists to supermarket car parks......................
Waxwings, normally rare visitors to Britain, are arriving in supermarket car parks and becoming a focal point for birdwatchers. The birds, which fly here in search of food from Scandinavia and Siberia, feed in flocks on the ornamental berry bushes that surround some out-of-town stores. Their presence has attracted "twitchers", who gather in the unlikely spots to watch the birds, which have pinkish-brown plumage, red and yellow wing markings and red-based curling crest. More than 1,000 waxwings, which have a soft trilling call, have arrived so far. There have been sightings at Tesco stores in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, an Asda in Durham and a Morrisons store in Hull.
More information - Independent
conserv@tion can be found at - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm
Emergency measures by North Lincolnshire farmers could help save the tree sparrow from possible extinction this winter. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is urging local farmers to help prevent the bird population decreasing further by participating in its BirdAid project. The charity believes farmers can offer a valuable lifeline to these birds by turning areas of their land into giant bird tables. BirdAid will fund farmers to provide supplementary seeds and grains on their farmland as an additional food source for the birds. Lack of seed and insect food have been blamed for a 95 per cent decrease in the tree sparrow population over the past 30 years, resulting in these once common birds becoming a rare sight around the region's farmland.
More information - this is scunthorpe
Wild swans return...................
More than 5,000 wild swans are getting back to a normal daily routine in the Fens after the disruption caused by recent flooding. Centre of attraction - Debbie McKenzie feeding wildfowl The birds spend the winter in the area around the Welney Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre, hundreds of miles from their remote Arctic breeding grounds. Cygnets just three months old undertake their first hazardous, long-distance flight with their parents to their winter home. Around 1,800 Icelandic Whooper swans and 3,500 Russian Bewick's swans are attracted by the undisturbed roosting conditions at the wildlife reserve.
More information - Cambridge News
Wild bird thief is first to be jailed.................
A bird-snatcher yesterday became the first person in the country to be jailed for stealing a hawk from the wild. Leonard O'Connor, 35, was jailed for four months by Knowsley magistrates after he admitted possession of a wild bird after plundering a goshawk nest. O'Connor, of St Anne's Road, Huyton, also pleaded guilty to making a false declaration to the Department of Environment, Fisheries and Rural Affairs (Defra) in relation to the bird in October 2001, taking two goshawks in May 2000 and being in possession of a goshawk tail. A change in the law in January 2001 means that anyone caught in possession of a wild bird can now face a sentence of up to six months in prison and a £5,000 fine.
More information - icLiverpool
Egg thieves fined £5,000 for 'wildlife crime spree'............
Three men were fined a total of £5,000 yesterday after admitting wildlife crimes. The men, from Merseyside, were caught after police seized 30 rolls of film that showed them on a "crime spree" in Scotland. John Latham, 22, of St Helens, was fined £2,500 for offences including stealing the eggs of Arctic terns, great skuas and snipe on Orkney. Michael Stockton, 26, also of St Helens, was fined £2,000 for charges including disturbing the nest of a red-throated diver in Caithness. Andrew Kinsley, 32, of Newton-le-Willows, was fined £500 for stealing two camouflage nets from a nature reserve in Aberdeenshire.
More information -
Telegraph
Scotsman
Herald
Times
Special status lands eagles a golden future.............
Eight pairs of golden eagles can look forward to an easier life after the Scottish Executive yesterday classified more than 110sq miles of Skye as a special protection area (SPA). Crofters and landowners can now be paid for "eagle-friendly land management" by encouraging restoration of heather moorland, maintaining the rabbit population for the eagles to kill, encouraging native woodland restoration, and adapting the way they look after sheep. The eight pairs of Skye eagles range near the Cuillin ridge. The mountains were put on the market almost two years ago.
Quarry becomes a haven for birds.................
Birds have been provided with a 'des res' in the surroundings of North Staffordshire's largest quarry The restored grounds of Croxden Quarry, near Cheadle, are rapidly becoming a haven for wildlife and more than 40 different species of bird have been recorded at the site, including barn owls. Woodwork students from Cheadle High School have linked up with Tarmac bosses and have crafted nest boxes to be erected around the quarry. It is the second time the school and Tarmac have worked together on the environmental project, which is aimed at encouraging birds to nest on the site.
More information - this is staffordshire
Rescue mission as 173 swans die.....................
A group of Sussex wildlife experts has been called to help colleagues in Kent who are dealing with the deaths of 173 swans. Five workers with the East Sussex Wildlife Rescue Ambulance Service (WRAS) went to Canterbury yesterday after being called up by the National Swan Sanctuary. The swans have been found dead throughout a huge area of wetlands called the Monkton Marshes over the past two weeks. The swans, which are a protected species, had flown into a network of power cables which are part of the National Grid. Trevor Weeks, a rescue officer with the WRAS, expects to be on the site for two days. He said: "The area is huge and the swans have been found in dykes and undergrowth.
More information - This is Worthing
Rare visitors drawing flocks of eager ornithologists to supermarket car parks......................
Waxwings, normally rare visitors to Britain, are arriving in supermarket car parks and becoming a focal point for birdwatchers. The birds, which fly here in search of food from Scandinavia and Siberia, feed in flocks on the ornamental berry bushes that surround some out-of-town stores. Their presence has attracted "twitchers", who gather in the unlikely spots to watch the birds, which have pinkish-brown plumage, red and yellow wing markings and red-based curling crest. More than 1,000 waxwings, which have a soft trilling call, have arrived so far. There have been sightings at Tesco stores in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, an Asda in Durham and a Morrisons store in Hull.
More information - Independent
conserv@tion can be found at - http://www.habitat.org.uk/news1.htm
