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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Coney Meadow and Adjoining Areas (4 Viewers)

Further sightings since Friday:

Little Owl Ladywood on Friday
Yellowhammer at Hawford on Friday
Peregrine Middleton bank on Saturday
Water Rail showing well at Mildenham
Cetti's heard at Coney on Friday
Three Snipe Hawford today
Three Blackcaps west of Salwarpe including a sub-singing male
Tufted Duck Porter's Mill
Skylarks widespread - including a flock of 8 over Coney Meadow
Ravens displaying and nest building

Singing birds included Coal Tit, Blackbird, Goldcrests, Bullfinches, Dunnocks, Chaffinches, Mistle Thrushes, Song Thrushes and Reed Buntings.

My first Butterfly of the year - a Red Admiral
 
A few extra species seen over the weekend:

Kingfisher at Mildenham, Cormorants, Grey Wagtail, Linnets, Grey Herons, Jays, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers, House Sparrows, Meadow Pipits, Red-legged Partridges, Nuthatch (heard only), Redwings and Fieldfares in good numbers and about 100 Starlings Coney.
 
A few further items from the weekend:

Singing Redpoll near Hawford on Friday
Two Water Rails along the canal between Mildenham and Hawford
Yellowhammer (male) near Harford Hill on Saturday
Tufted Duck at Tapenhall pool

Skylarks, Red-legged Partridges in various places, Cormorants, Grey Herons, Goldcrests, Coal Tits, still plenty of winter Thrushes, a few Linnets, Bullfinches, Greenfinches, Nuthatch, Ravens still nest-building, Canada Geese, Great Spotted and Green Woodpeckers.

A couple of Bumblebees seen - my first for the year.
 
They say you never switch off, Mary does it again, photo taken off her phone with details. Waxwings 10 to 20 birds seen by pedestrian hump back bridge between Ledwych road and foot path over King George playing field Droitwich canal.The birds flew off west towards westlands. I took a walk around 1/2 half later with no luck.
 

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Destruction of Reeds along the Droitwich Canal

I am sad to report that almost complete removal of reeds has taken place along the canal between Droitwich and Salwarpe over the last week. The removal appears to be completely unjustified as it does nothing to improve the navigability of the canal. In several meetings that have taken place with the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and other waterways authorities over the past few years, they have agreed that such clearances would only take place when further mitigation schemes were established to offset the losses. This, however, has not occurred. I have voiced my concerns and put in a complaint to the CRT via the following email address:

[email protected]

It would be very helpful if as many other people as possible voice their concerns about this matter. I am very aware that this could be just the start of further clearances which are likely to have great impact on the local wildlife, particularly breeding Reed Warblers and the Cuckoos which are dependent upon them. As we know from experience, Coney Meadow is very vulnerable to fire and so does not (in itself) offer any real safeguard to the loss of fringing reeds.

Please take a few minutes to email the CRT and voice your objection to what is happening. If enough people do this, they will take it seriously and the matter will be escalated.

Many thanks.:t:
 
Woodchat said:
I am sad to report that almost complete removal of reeds has taken place along the canal between Droitwich and Salwarpe over the last week. The removal appears to be completely unjustified as it does nothing to improve the navigability of the canal. In several meetings that have taken place with the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and other waterways authorities over the past few years, they have agreed that such clearances would only take place when further mitigation schemes were established to offset the losses. This, however, has not occurred. I have voiced my concerns and put in a complaint to the CRT via the following email address:

[email protected]

It would be very helpful if as many other people as possible voice their concerns about this matter. I am very aware that this could be just the start of further clearances which are likely to have great impact on the local wildlife, particularly breeding Reed Warblers and the Cuckoos which are dependent upon them. As we know from experience, Coney Meadow is very vulnerable to fire and so does not (in itself) offer any real safeguard to the loss of fringing reeds.

Please take a few minutes to email the CRT and voice your objection to what is happening. If enough people do this, they will take it seriously and the matter will be escalated.

Many thanks.:t:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the email address.

Could you provide more detail on the exact location, as I don't know the area?

I'll combine this with a request for further info on why the CRT have seen fit to remove all the trees on the islands on Terrys lake at Earlswood last week, and then dumped the cuttings on the islands so they can't be used by nesting wildfowl. They've also been aggressively scaring away cormorants at Earlswood for several weeks, numbers on site are noticeably down and other species e.g. Grey Heron are also using the lakes less.
 
Rob_S said:
Thanks for the email address.

Could you provide more detail on the exact location, as I don't know the area?

I'll combine this with a request for further info on why the CRT have seen fit to remove all the trees on the islands on Terrys lake at Earlswood last week, and then dumped the cuttings on the islands so they can't be used by nesting wildfowl. They've also been aggressively scaring away cormorants at Earlswood for several weeks, numbers on site are noticeably down and other species e.g. Grey Heron are also using the lakes less.
Click to expand...

Hi Rob,

Yes the location is (approximately 200 metres completely removed and another 200 metres almost completely removed) of reeds along the Droitwich barge canal between the A38 road bridge (Droitwich end) and Salwarpe village. This is adjacent to Coney Meadow reserve.

The grid references are ~ SO 88056 62341 to SO 87580 62211

Thanks - much appreciated. :t:

I hope they sort out the mess they have created and put a stop to their apparent anti-wildlife policies at Earlswood too.
 
Woodchat said:
I am sad to report that almost complete removal of reeds has taken place along the canal between Droitwich and Salwarpe over the last week. The removal appears to be completely unjustified as it does nothing to improve the navigability of the canal. In several meetings that have taken place with the Canal and River Trust (CRT) and other waterways authorities over the past few years, they have agreed that such clearances would only take place when further mitigation schemes were established to offset the losses. This, however, has not occurred. I have voiced my concerns and put in a complaint to the CRT via the following email address:

[email protected]

It would be very helpful if as many other people as possible voice their concerns about this matter. I am very aware that this could be just the start of further clearances which are likely to have great impact on the local wildlife, particularly breeding Reed Warblers and the Cuckoos which are dependent upon them. As we know from experience, Coney Meadow is very vulnerable to fire and so does not (in itself) offer any real safeguard to the loss of fringing reeds.

Please take a few minutes to email the CRT and voice your objection to what is happening. If enough people do this, they will take it seriously and the matter will be escalated.

Many thanks.:t:
Click to expand...

Have mailed them, as we are members soley to support their wildlife work, so need to know that's what they use the subs for!
 
Woodchat said:
Hi Rob,

Yes the location is (approximately 200 metres completely removed and another 200 metres almost completely removed) of reeds along the Droitwich barge canal between the A38 road bridge (Droitwich end) and Salwarpe village. This is adjacent to Coney Meadow reserve.

The grid references are ~ SO 88056 62341 to SO 87580 62211

Thanks - much appreciated. :t:

I hope they sort out the mess they have created and put a stop to their apparent anti-wildlife policies at Earlswood too.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Email sent.
 
Thanks Mary and Rob - I appreciate it.

Please see the attached. It was posted on Facebook by the people who removed the reeds (Droitwich Waterways group AKA Pamela May Trust) and clearly states their intentions to keep the reed growth suppressed throughout the season between Droitwich and Ladywood so that it won't be large enough for anything to nest in. The arrogance of these people is both astonishing and infuriating. In other documents I have seen they state that they eventually want to do this along the entire length of the canal. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of people who if you give them an inch will take a mile so it is important to keep the pressure up.

There are undoubtedly some good people at the Canal and River Trust but I get the impression that the majority are not particularly engaged in the concerns of wildlife conservation. It is my impression that CRT will probably do as little as they think they can get away with in terms of compensating lost reeds along the canal. They have past form on this - they were originally supposed to create a second reedbed at Hawford in 2008 when the canal was originally dredged - but they reneged on that because not enough people made a fuss.

If we make enough noise, they will have to do their duty to protect and enhance the wildlife habitats in the area. If we keep quiet they will carry on destroying and degrading them.

Thanks again for your help with this. :t:
 

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Phil Andrews said:
WTF??!!??

Are there any other ways to make our displeasure known Dave?
Click to expand...

The best way is for as many people to make their complaints directly to the CRT - I think they have an overarching responsibility.

You can use the link already posted or send directly to the waterways manager, Nick Worthington or chief ecologist Mark Robinson. The format for their email addresses is as follows:

[email protected]

I will let you know if any other avenues for voicing dissent become apparent.

Cheers
 
Reed cutting on canal bank
Email sent asking what are reasons for so much effort.
"so they are not large enough for anything to nest in" What is it they are trying to stop nesting.
This amount of effort should be directed at Habitat creation not destruction.
Tweeted @wbdcs58 Droitwich canal society and Worcs wildlife trust for their comments
 
Worcs Wildlife Trust have replied via twitter saying they are aware of the work and believe it has now stopped and they will be in touch with @CanalRiverTrust . Were they consulted prior to work and what was the motivation for the work. Will they oppose the continuation through the nesting season.
 
discors said:
Worcs Wildlife Trust have replied via twitter saying they are aware of the work and believe it has now stopped and they will be in touch with @CanalRiverTrust . Were they consulted prior to work and what was the motivation for the work. Will they oppose the continuation through the nesting season.
Click to expand...

Cheers Trevor,

I have been liaising with WWT over this and keeping them informed. They did attend meetings with CRT and the various canal interest groups last September. I was sent a report from that meeting which stated that any losses would be compensated by offsetting schemes. I think the WWT were as surprised as me at these latest developments. :t:

I, too, am most concerned by the attitude of the perpetrators that they are actively trying to prevent birds nesting - both baffling and sickening at the same time.
 
Woodchat said:
Thanks Mary and Rob - I appreciate it.

Please see the attached. It was posted on Facebook by the people who removed the reeds (Droitwich Waterways group AKA Pamela May Trust) and clearly states their intentions to keep the reed growth suppressed throughout the season between Droitwich and Ladywood so that it won't be large enough for anything to nest in. The arrogance of these people is both astonishing and infuriating. In other documents I have seen they state that they eventually want to do this along the entire length of the canal. Unfortunately, these are the kinds of people who if you give them an inch will take a mile so it is important to keep the pressure up.

There are undoubtedly some good people at the Canal and River Trust but I get the impression that the majority are not particularly engaged in the concerns of wildlife conservation. It is my impression that CRT will probably do as little as they think they can get away with in terms of compensating lost reeds along the canal. They have past form on this - they were originally supposed to create a second reedbed at Hawford in 2008 when the canal was originally dredged - but they reneged on that because not enough people made a fuss.

If we make enough noise, they will have to do their duty to protect and enhance the wildlife habitats in the area. If we keep quiet they will carry on destroying and degrading them.

Thanks again for your help with this. :t:
Click to expand...
I'm rather confused by just who is responsible for this work. The address on the fb page gives the Droitwich Canal Trust, who have done the work, but seem to be separate from the CRT. I wonder just which organisation is in charge here.
 
Mary said:
I'm rather confused by just who is responsible for this work. The address on the fb page gives the Droitwich Canal Trust, who have done the work, but seem to be separate from the CRT. I wonder just which organisation is in charge here.
Click to expand...

From what I gather the CRT has overall responsibility for the canals and the buck stops with them - even though they may not have actually sanctioned the the work. Certain people within the CRT may be solely focused on commercial opportunities arising from boat trips (as in this case) and may have given the go-ahead. I think the investigations being carried out will reveal what went wrong. In any case, the true attitude of the CRT will be revealed by how this case plays out.
 

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