KenM
Well-known member
Yesterday, I raised my head to a squawking ''half squadron'' of RN Parakeets and a sole Magpie, joining forces in driving off a flyover female Sprawk.
I thought this although natural (both species potential prey items)..a little incongruous...the pairing of the ''native'' with the introduced ''escape''.
This got me thinking about our ''originally pure'' bio diversity...how it's changed since at least Roman times, and what currently constitutes our ''pure remainder'' in percentage terms of the whole?
Introduced species such as (Red Kite, WTS. Eagle e.g.) are ''qualified'' by their previous historical presence, as compared against accidental/deliberate releases from...Mute Swan to North American Crayfish...Buddleia to Japanese Knotweed...Chestnut trees to Grey squirrels, the list is comprehensively long...and the ensuing impact as such, from an historical context, up to the present time, are probably incalculable!
As we have clearly unwittingly...f****d-up? our Sceptered Isle...why not introduce some potentially beneficial species?...such as Cooper's Hawk, in NA they sit between Sharp-shinned Hawk and Goshawk (good at culling Squirrels). At the moment, they don't have an ''effective'' avian predator within the UK. while at the other end of the avian spectrum why not introduce Anna's Hummingbird? attractive pollinators that are resident, and range as far North as Alaska...what would you introduce and why?
I thought this although natural (both species potential prey items)..a little incongruous...the pairing of the ''native'' with the introduced ''escape''.
This got me thinking about our ''originally pure'' bio diversity...how it's changed since at least Roman times, and what currently constitutes our ''pure remainder'' in percentage terms of the whole?
Introduced species such as (Red Kite, WTS. Eagle e.g.) are ''qualified'' by their previous historical presence, as compared against accidental/deliberate releases from...Mute Swan to North American Crayfish...Buddleia to Japanese Knotweed...Chestnut trees to Grey squirrels, the list is comprehensively long...and the ensuing impact as such, from an historical context, up to the present time, are probably incalculable!
As we have clearly unwittingly...f****d-up? our Sceptered Isle...why not introduce some potentially beneficial species?...such as Cooper's Hawk, in NA they sit between Sharp-shinned Hawk and Goshawk (good at culling Squirrels). At the moment, they don't have an ''effective'' avian predator within the UK. while at the other end of the avian spectrum why not introduce Anna's Hummingbird? attractive pollinators that are resident, and range as far North as Alaska...what would you introduce and why?