40 years of the RSPB giving nature a home on the Dee Estuary

Harrier over marsh, Parkgate

The popular RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2019. The well-known nature conservation charity first purchased an area of saltmarsh and mudflats the size of 2000 football pitches at Parkgate in 1979.

Doing so created a sanctuary area for the tens of thousands of water birds that flock to the estuary from Arctic regions every year, to spend the cold winter months in the UK. Their numbers had been falling during the preceding years and were at further risk from proposed development and disturbance.

Graham Jones, RSPB Dee Estuary site manager said: “I started coming to Parkgate as a teenager in the 1980s to watch the birds that thrive on the marsh and mud. This place played a major part in growing my knowledge and passion for birds and wildlife and helping me end up in the fortunate position I am today.

“Shortly before the RSPB established the reserve, by purchasing the land from British Steel, there were proposals to build a barrage across the Dee, or create a recreational lake within the marsh at Parkgate. Either of those would have caused the bird numbers to plummet further.”

Since securing the initial part of the reserve on the estuary, originally known as Gayton Sands, the RSPB land holdings have expanded significantly, particularly around the village of Burton, four miles from Parkgate.

Graham added: “The brilliant visitor facilities we opened at Burton Mere Wetlands in 2011 have been a major step in bringing the Dee Estuary’s rich wildlife closer for the public to enjoy easily. Since opening, we’ve welcomed nearly a quarter of a million visits, with excellent wildlife spectacles to be enjoyed every day that continually change through the seasons.

“As well as protecting these valuable spaces for birds to spend the winter, we’ve also undertaken extensive land management to support birds to nest, helping species like exotic avocets establish breeding, the largest little egret colony in the country and for the first time in 2018, a successful pair of marsh harriers raised young. The reserve also supports a whole range of other special wildlife; from the large like badgers and otters, to the small such as insects, orchids and lizards.”

To mark this significant milestone, the RSPB will be running some special events in 2019 to celebrate 40 years of giving nature a home on the estuary. They hope to welcome back those already visiting the site as well as introduce more local people to the extent of this important reserve. The site now encompasses half of the Dee Estuary, including most of the Welsh shore, forming one of the largest protected wetlands in the country.

The reserve team are keen to receive any photos, memories or tales of visitors’ experiences enjoying the Dee Estuary reserve over the past 40 years – or even before, given its rich history. These can be sent by email to deeestuary@rspb.org.uk or posted to the reserve office at RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve, Burton Mere Wetlands, Puddington Lane, Burton, Cheshire, CH64 5SF.

For further information on the special events and wildlife at RSPB Dee Estuary, visitrspb.org.uk/burtonmerewetlands.

NATIONAL SURVEY OF BREEDING WILLOW TITS

NATIONAL SURVEY OF BREEDING WILLOW TITS

The Willow Tit is the second fastest declining breeding bird in Britain – only Turtle Dove is in a worst state – and  is now severely endangered.

It is not an easy species to keep tabs on, though, and existing monitoring programmes no longer provide an up to date picture of numbers.

To get a more accurate idea of where Willow Tits are still found and in what numbers RSPB and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel are launching a national survey to be carried out during 2019 and 2020.

This involves visiting selected tetrads (2x2km OS grid squares) on two or more occasions and playing recordings of Willow Tit calls to see if they elicit any response.

82 such tetrads have been selected in ‘Lancashire’ (including North Merseyside), many of which have now been allocated to surveyors. But quite a few in Merseyside (mostly in Knowsley and St Helens) remain unallocated. These are important areas for Willow Tits and together with neighbouring Wigan constitute a nationally important area for the species.

In order to produce scientifically robust results, RSPB’s survey methodology is quite precise but it is not overly demanding.

If anyone would like to participate in this survey please contact me and I’ll let you know what areas need to be surveyed.

But even if you can’t commit to this you can make an important contribution by passing on any recent or future records of Willow Tits at any time of the year to me. To be of maximum use these should mention dates, numbers, sites and preferably an OS grid reference or postcode.

Steve White

County Bird Recorder for Lancashire and North Merseyside.

stevewhite102@btinternet.com

Supplementary reading 

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-projects/details/204776-identifying-the-cause-of-the-willow-tit-decline

https://www.gmwildlife.org.uk/carbon_landscape/downloads/willow_tit_survey_volunteer_handbook_2018_03_07.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/groups/167649310275619/

Example of Survey form

* Survey forms  available from Steve

Local group announcement

Chris in full flow

A reminder and for anybody who missed our announcement at the AGM in April. The price of our entrance fee to our Indoor meetings has been increased to £3 pp. This small increase was necessary to help cover rising speaker and venue hire cost. We trust you'll still consider this fee as value for money. Your committee (who, don't forget, are all volunteers and give up their time happily) are committed to ensuring you have value for money, are entertained by excellent speakers, and have the knowledge that additional  money  raised will go to improving the services of your  local group and the annual RSPB projects - our recent  group donation being -  £750 for Hen Harrier nest protection and £750 for RSPB reserves in the North of England

Laura

Wirral wader festival this October

WIRRAL WADER FESTIVAL

Saturday 27th -28th October 2018 

Add caption

http://wirralwaderfestival.blogspot.com/2018/09/hoylake-sailing-club-is-indoor-venue.html?spref=tw

Dates with Nature RSPB Blacktoft Sands

Juvenile Marsh Harriers- Cameron Lee

Great field trip at RSPB Blacktoft Sands on Saturday. 8 of us did the drive up Goole to this wonderful reserve and it was well worth it.

Blacktoft Tree Sparrows- L Bimson

We watched tree sparrows, goldfinch and chaffinch feeding on the feeders by the farmland hedge while we waited for everyone at arrive and watched a hare running after a pheasant. We walked into the reception hide and were greeted by Sara the assistant warden. After a quick chat about what's about we watched 2 marsh harriers come close to the hide then one started to turn and patrol a small stretch of reedbed as if expecting to make a kill!! What emerged out of the reedbed was a large dog otter which walked towards us. A fantastic start but slightly disappointing as they have stopped putting out grit trays for the bearded tits.

A walk to the other hides and ruff, redshank, curlew, black tailed godwit and a water rail showed. A walk to the last hide and we saw a weasel run off in front of us, we stopped and watched and he came back to collect a mouse it had killed and then bounced off with it. 

Ruff  - L Bimson 

Lots of greylag geese, teal, wigeon, 6 pintail and a solitary gadwall. It might be a long drive but it always delivers something different.

Chris Tynan

Leader

RSPB Liverpool Local group
e; christtynan@aol.com

t;+44(0)7831352870

twitter: @RSPBLiverpool
website; http://www.rspb.org.uk/groups/liverpool

RSPB Blacktoft recent blog

 

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/blacktoftsands/b/blacktoftsands-blog/archive/2018/10/09/waders-wildfowl-hen-harrier-and-fieldfares-winters-arrived.aspx

https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/blacktoftsands/b/blacktoftsands-blog/archive/2018/10/05/hen-harrier-sighting-and-old-foxy-develops-a-sweet-tooth.aspx

The RSPB is the country’s largest nature conservation charity, inspiring 

everyone to give nature a home. Together with our partners, we protect 

threatened birds and wildlife so our towns, coast and countryside will teem with 

life once again. We play a leading role in BirdLife International, a worldwide 

partnership of nature conservation organisations.

The Peoples’ March for Wildlife, London

The sodden 10,000 on the move

We all headed south.  It meant a very early rise, but it was clear that all were of one mind that this cause was something worth getting up early for.  Several of the Friends of Pickering’s Pasture were going to Hyde Park to join others passionate about the natural world to march through London on The Peoples’ March for Wildlife.

Chris Packham

The gathering at Hyde Park had a slow start initially, but numbers soon swelled.  One group had left Scotland at 02:30 while others had travelled widely from across the UK.  We caught sight of key UK naturalists including Mike Dilger, Martin Hughes-Games, Bill Oddie, and Iolo Williams.

Iolo adding some humour

The organiser, Chris Packham, had worked tirelessly for months supported by folk who have become known as his Ministers.  For two hours we listened to interviews with children, experts, keen supporters until at midday the more formal presentations began.  We heard passionate – and at times moving – talks from mainly young people.  Georgia Locock, Bella Lack, Mya-Rose Craig and Dara McAnulty spoke of their fears for the future: fears of species extinction, habitat loss, climate change and our estrangement from the natural world.  Adult experts provided numbers to endorse our concerns for the future: Dominic Dyer called for a halt to the badger cull and a stop to the slaughter of Scotland’s mountain hares; Professor Dave Goulson cautioned about the impact of agrochemicals on the natural environment; while Dr Ruth Tingay spoke of the challenges of wildlife crime.  We were uplifted by musical contributions from Billy Bragg, Saskia Eng and Grace Petrie.

Team Liverpool

Liverpool RSPB's Linda Rees

Jeff Clarke & Anno Brandreth crusading

Laura B and hedgehog friend

Team Liverpool on the move

At 1pm the move towards Downing Street began.  The slow progress was witness to the fact that 10,000 people had gathered to express their common goal that we should invest in wildlife.  Many had downloaded a file of birdsong so Piccadilly, Pall Mall, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall echoed to the calls of Blackbird, Blackcap, Chiff-chaff, Nightingale, Robin, Song Thrush and Skylark. This was to remind people that 44 million birds have disappeared from the UK countryside since 1966.  Passers-by paused to look at placards, to chat to people, to join in or to peep their car horns.  No-one could have ignored this collective of wildlife campaigners snaking through the City of London. 

Crowd at Whitehall

Once the head of the march reached Downing Street, Chris Packham and some of his young campaigners presented a copy of A Peoples’ Manifesto for Wildlife to the Prime Minister’s Office.  This excellent and challenging document contains 200 proposals to end the war on wildlife.  The march ended with more uplifting talks from George Monbiot, Mark Avery and Chris Packham.  For two hours the rained had poured incessantly, but this did nothing to dampen the spirits and resolve of those involved.

Leadership

Future generations  - fighting for wildlife

The march over, people then headed for the Underground and for the long journeys home.  Most were exhilarated feeling that, for once, it was good to be shouting out for wildlife.  Now the work begins.  This must not be a one off.  I am sure that those of RSPB Liverpool and  the Friends of Pickerings pasture who were there will be sharing their thoughts to the rest of the group.  Always active to ensure that all our local reserves and wild places provide a haven for wildlife, the work will continue.

If you want to read A Peoples’ Manifesto for Wildlife’ you can access it on: https://www.chrispackham.co.uk/a-peoples-manifesto-for-wildlife

More pics here -

https://www.flickr.com/groups/3168623@N20/

Peaty Jen & Laura

Parkgate Hen Harrier day vision

We had a dream - to bring Hen Harrier day to Parkgate in 2018. 

If you build it, they will come😃

Fabulous day - thanks to all who volunteered, supported and those who were just out for  a Sunday walk and became better informed😉

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OyGuDvSSl4

https://www.craigjoneswildlifephotography.co.uk/blog/events/hen-harrier-day-2018/20180815864/

Advertising at Martin Mere

Team Liverpool

Iolo 

Jeff did a fantastic job in opening  and closing the speakers  sessions . He really reinforced the fact that Hen Harrier Days need to continue and why we were all there all. Audeince particiation was as ever mandatory🤣👊 

Jeff socks it to Beefy Botham

The first speaker Colin Wells (former manager at RSPB Burton Mere) who spoke about the history of the site and how it is a fantastic place to come and see Hen Harriers in the Winter.👌

Second speaker was Colin's successor as manager at RSPB Burton Mere; Graham Jones spoke about how he was going to continue to protect the site for raptors and  breeding waders.👏

Next up was Alan Davies who talked about Hen Harriers, lifed the audience - He told them that they will lose eventually, no matter how long it takes.😆 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5PoH4-oWgE

Findlay Wilde was on next.Talking about the illegal persecution of upland wildlife and joined the other voices in calling for an end to this barbaric slaughter. Told a personal story about a Hen Harrier called Finn, her life cut down far too soon😡😰.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0n_iKWFOm4

Findlay

After Findlay it was James Bray from the RSPB  Bowland.  Talking about upland species of raptor  that should be breeding in Bowalnd likes Peregrine and Hen Harrier. Stories from the front line of raptor conservation.😡

Next was Dr Mark Avery, who  recapped on the history of Hen Harrier Days and his hopes for the banning driven grouse shooting .👊 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UNxNrdTHmw

Finally  Iolo Williams. Another heart felt,  rousing  speech relating  how  he used to go up on the moors and watch Hen Harriers as a child and yes he's  really 'pissed off' . 😆👍 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brwIAdCucro

Videos courtesy of Stuart pike

Gathering


See you next year 👊🤞👀

Prepare for an awesome autumn spectacle on the Dee Estuary

Lapwing- Sam Ryley.

Whilst some people lament the passing of summer, the Dee Estuary enters arguably its most exciting time of year due to the arrival of vast flocks of birds returning from their Arctic breeding grounds. The RSPB is inviting visitors to take part in a series of events across their Dee Estuary nature reserve to share some of the most impressive natural spectacles in this region.

Dan Trotman, Visitor Experience Manager for RSPB Dee Estuary nature reserve, said: “I’m a huge fan of autumn, it could even be my favourite season of the year. The reserve here comes into its own, supporting thousands of wetland birds as they swap the cold Arctic for our warmer climes. High tides make for some excellent wildlife watching too, pushing the vast swathes of wildfowl and wading birds into closer view along with the birds of prey that hunt them.”

To experience the growing flocks on the estuary, drop-in to the ‘Tidewatch’ event on Tuesday 9 October at the Donkey Stand on Parkgate promenade. RSPB staff and volunteers will be on hand with telescopes and binoculars to enhance the impressive views. Suitable for people of all ages and abilities, the event is free of charge, but donations are welcome. Timings vary depending on the tides, so visit rspb.org.uk/parkgate for more details.

Meanwhile, with earlier sunsets - another special autumn attraction on the Wirral - it becomes easier to witness the daily spectacle of the endangered hen harriers flying to roost on the marsh off Parkgate. Head to a ‘Raptorwatch’ event at the Old Baths car park, off Boathouse Lane, for the chance of seeing up to seven different types of birds of prey that make their home on the estuary in winter, plus northern England’s largest little egret colony flying in from the marsh to their night-time roost. The events take place on the second Sunday of each month until March, starting Sunday 14 October, and run from 1pm until sunset.

Elsewhere, the heart of the RSPB Dee Estuary reserve, Burton Mere Wetlands, is renowned for its growing flocks and wide variety of wading birds at this time of year as they move through on their long migrations. Families visiting the site can enjoy the ‘Wonderful Waders’ Wild Challenge quiz trail to learn about these birds. The trail is available between 9.30am and 3.30pm every day through October free of charge, normal admission charges apply for non members.

October also sees the return of Wirral Wader Festival, a partnership event between Wader Quest, the RSPB, Dee Estuary Voluntary Wardens, and Cheshire Wildlife Trust, now in its fourth year. Over the weekend of Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 October, the event aims to showcase the spectacle of wading birds on the protected Wirral coast with various events and activities at Hoylake and West Kirby. For full details of the events and activities during the festival, visit wirralwaderfestival.blogspot.co.uk or www.facebook.com/wirralwaderfest.

Dan added: “You don’t have to be an avid birdwatcher to appreciate the vast numbers of birds that call the Dee their home at this time of year. These upcoming events are planned to showcase these awesome natural occurrences and show why it’s so important for the RSPB to keep almost half of the estuary under its protection. These spectacles are perfect to wow families, and kids will love kicking fallen leaves and a bit of den building at Burton Mere Wetlands. So pop on an extra layer or two, and come along, we’d love to see you!”

For further information on events and wildlife at RSPB Dee Estuary, visit rspb.org.uk/burtonmerewetlands.

Mapping Raptor Persecution

Today, we’re very pleased to be launching the Raptor Persecution Map Hub – a set of online maps which we believe provide the most complete picture of known, confirmed raptor persecution incidents across the UK.

For some time, we’ve felt the need for a centralised ‘hub’ for raptor persecution data to sit, and be easily accessed. So the Map Hub was born. It’s new, interactive, and pulls everything into one place for the first time. You can search by year, incident type, county and country, visualise the incidents on a map and corresponding graph, and see where the highest concentration of incidents have occurred.

Currently it covers the five-year timespan of 2012-2016, and will be added to each year.

The persecution of birds of prey is a widespread and relentless problem in the UK, and is affecting some of our most iconic and vulnerable species, like hen harriers and golden eagles. It has been a National Wildlife Crime Priority since 2009, but despite this, the criminality continues. Every week the RSPB’s Investigations team get reports of yet another raptor being shot, trapped or poisoned. But for every one report we receive, we know there are many more that go undetected and unreported. As such, these figures only scratch the surface of the true extent of raptor persecution in the UK.

The Map Hub comprises two interactive maps – one which can be filtered by year and incident type, and the other that provides an overview ‘heat map’ of confirmed incidents across the UK. In the heat map, the black and red squares depict areas with the highest density of known incidents. For the timeframe 2012-2016, most of these blackspots occur in upland areas: in North Yorkshire, the Scottish borders and Aberdeenshire. This is consistent with what independent research has revealed about the persecution of birds of prey on land managed for driven grouse shooting.

Currently the Map Hub only covers a five-year period, so these ‘blackspot’ areas may change. Over time the Map Hub will evolve and be added to each year, and should become THE ‘go to’ portal for everyone to see and understand what’s going on where. The maps are designed to be used by everyone, from our law enforcement partners to members of the public.

The more people who are aware of the issues and where they occur, the more empowered we all become to pull together, work in partnership and maximise opportunities for tackling these issues head on. This should all help to prevent and detect raptor persecution, and to bring offenders to justice.

You can view the Raptor Persecution Map Hub here.

Seabird Ecology Group, University of Liverpool - Free lecture by Cleo Small

Dear RSPB Liverpool

I'm part of the organising group for the 14th International Seabird Group Conference in Liverpool this September. 

Cleo

As part of the conference we are opening up the first plenary by Cleo Small from the RSPB & Birdlife International to non-delegates, which I'm wondering whether members of the RSPB Liverpool group would be interested in. The talk will focus on global conservation of seabirds, including success stories and solutions for future conservation of the world's seabirds. Tickets are free, and available to book online via the conference website. 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/global-seabird-conservation-hoisting-the-mast-for-hope-on-a-stormy-sea-tickets-48334977218

Global seabird conservation: hoisting the mast for hope on a stormy sea

Cleo Small, RSPB & Birdlife International

Most seabird populations and species are declining, many to globally threatened levels. At sea, commercial fisheries and pollution are taking their toll; on land, alien invasive predators and habitat disturbance and destruction are impacting many colonies. Climate change may cause (or exacerbate) problems in both domains. However, the last two decades have also seen notable successes in eradicating alien predators (mainly on uninhabited islands) and in finding solutions to seabird bycatch in longline and trawl fisheries. I will present the view from BirdLife International on whether we have reasons to be optimistic for the future of the world's seabirds, by reviewing some current and prospective global initiatives, including the development of new research and monitoring techniques, as well as pioneering collaborations involving governments, non-governmental organisations, scientists and civil society.

I would be grateful if you could pass this on to any members that may be interested in attending!

Thanks very much

Alice Trevail

PhD student in the Seabird Ecology Group of the University of Liverpool

Hen Harrier Day 2018

     

We’re missing our Hen Harriers and we want them back.

This year we are marking the Inglorious 12th  on our home patch.. we got it to PARKGATE, so be there

Join the official Hen Harrier Day protest event at Parkgate, Wirral 12noon Sunday 12/8/18.

The Parkgate message to our RSPB members who share their disgust and sadness at this persecution for the sake of a minority's so called  'sport'....

*Satellite tagged Aalin disappeared,  assumed dead

Hen Harriers are still being heavily persecuted by the Driven Grouse Shooting fraternity, already this year two satellite tagged Harriers from this year’s broods have disappeared in suspicious circumstances. England still has fewer than a handful of breeding pairs and nobody is getting prosecuted for the illegal persecution of this iconic species.

It is up to all of us to bring pressure to bear on the powers that be - politicians, the police, the CPS and DEFRA/Natural England to take this situation seriously. To enable us to do that we need to speak with a unified voice and a very loud one. We also need to get our message across to the general public, for whom this issue has little, or of no relevance. We need to get their support if we are going to turn this super-tanker of destruction around. It is for this latter reason that this year we have chosen Parkgate Old Baths as our venue for the awareness raising protest. Till now we have largely preached to the converted, from here on we must ensure that non-birders know just what is going on in the name of ‘sport’.

How can you help? Spread the word, share it on social media ..tell everyone about the event that's taking place and try and persuade them to attend if at all possible. This is a numbers game!

We have some great speakers,

James Bray (Bowland Project Officer for RSPB),

Findlay Wilde (A Young Campaigner on Conservation Issues)

Mark Avery (Author, campaigner and naturalist) pictured with RSPb's Tim Melling

Iolo Williams (say no more) 

Hen Harrier day 2017 Dunsop Bridge

*Missing, assumed dead Aalin

https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com/2018/03/21/satellite-tagged-hen-harrier-aalin-disappears-near-ruabon-grouse-moor-north-wales/

RIP - LIA- did'nt make it to her first birthday

http://raptorpolitics.org.uk/2018/07/25/nos-da-to-our-tagged-welsh-hen-harrier-lias-journey-is-over/#more-24227