HEN HARRIER DAY IS COMING!

A website dedicated to Hen Harrier Day 2015 has been launched – http://henharrierday.org

A one-stop-shop for everything Hen Harrier Day related :

If you have a Hen Harrier-related news item you want to write or suggest we look at, we want it for the Blog Page.

If you have an “Occupy The Butts”, “The Only Hen Harrier I Saw Today” or “Birder and Badge” selfie picture, we want to display it on the relevant Gallery Page.

For all the above, let us know on the dedicated Hen Harrier Day e-mail address : info@henharrierday.org

Buy a badge, bag or teeshirt and show your support!

Head behind the scenes at RSPB Hesketh Out Marsh and witness a wildlife spectacle

BROWN HARE - CHRIS GORMERSALL RSPB

There is a wonderful wildlife spectacle to witness on the Ribble Estuary as the breeding season gets underway, with fantastic views of nesting birds and other wildlife to be had – and what better way to experience this than on a guided walk with the RSPB at Hesketh Out Marsh.

Thanks to a £43,000 grant from The Veolia Environmental Trust, which was awarded through the Landfill Communities Fund, the RSPB has transformed this saltmarsh reserve from fields back into a thriving home for nature, with the creation of new pools and the provision of nesting sites attracting a range of wildlife.

Now the team are offering people the chance to join a guided ‘Springwatch-walk’ at the reserve, near Hesketh Bank, on Saturday 23 May and take a look behind the scenes to see the recent changes and the wildlife spectacle that the nesting birds provide.

John Langley, Assistant Warden for RSPB Ribble Reserves, said: “Thanks to the funding from The Veolia Environmental Trust, we have been able to turn the reserve back into a wonderful, tidal wetland, with the new pools offering a variety of wildlife a home, including avocets, redshanks, peregrines and brown hares.

“It is a truly fantastic site and a guided walk is a great way to find out more about the wildlife here and the changes we have made on the marsh. We hope as many people as possible come and join us.”

Paul Taylor, the Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, added: “It is great to hear that this project has been a success. It has brought many benefits for birds and people and is a great example of how the Trust and the Landfill Communities Fund can both help improve habitats and make it possible for more people to experience and enjoy the natural world. I look forward to hearing about the reserve thriving in the future.”

The guided walk will include some moderate periods of walking along footpaths and sturdy footwear and waterproof clothing is essential.

This event will cost £4 for RSPB members and £5 for non-members. Booking is essential, please call the Ribble Discovery Centre on 01253 796292 to book your place.

Meet at 2pm at the Hesketh Out Marsh car park, Dib Road off Shore Road, between Hesketh Bank and Banks villages.

For more information about Hesketh Out Marsh, please visit rspb.org.uk/heskethoutmarsh

INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAY

Sunday 3rd May is
INTERNATIONAL DAWN CHORUS DAYKnow your Chiff Chaff from your Willow Warbler? they look very alike but their song gives them away.
Bird lovers from around the world will be joining in on this world-wide event.

So, why not drag yourself out of bed, go for a stroll or sit in your garden and enjoy the birdsong, you could always tell us how you got on!?

The dawn chorus starts before sunrise with one or two birds singing. 

The robin is known to sing all night long 

http://www.xeno-canto.org/27554    Copy and paste link

Around 4.30am another resident songster, the blackbird, breaks the robin's monopoly.

http://www.xeno-canto.org/25554    Copy and paste link

The dawn chorus is joined later on by other species 

Perhaps a woodpigeon with their characteristic ‘coo-coo coo coo-coo’

A song thrush, with a repeated  phrases several times.  http://www.xeno-canto.org/237596

A wren with its trilling song.

Willow warbler   http://www.xeno-canto.org/236672

Chiff chaff

Blackcap

Go to Xeno canto for lots of bird song recordings

Oh deer, oh deer. Proposed cull of 10 Deer at Leighton Moss

Stag at Leighton Moss

You may have seen the news yesterday on tv about the proposed deer cull at RSPB Leighton Moss

Lots on the forum chat

http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/leightonmoss/f/12409/t/114874.aspx?pi2132219858=2

Difficult decisions

Here's more information from our Site Manager to explain the situation:

RSPB Leighton Moss is situated in an area of outstanding natural beauty, enjoyed by thousands of people every year. The RSPB wants to continue to attract visitors to the area to ensure future generations are inspired by their natural surroundings. This can only be achieved if we manage the special habitats here for all wildlife, so that species such as bitterns, otters and marsh harriers can thrive.

As part of maintaining this wonderful landscape and managing valuable habitats such as the reedbed, it has become necessary to control the deer population at Leighton Moss. Red deer are a native species and are important to the site. However, the current deer population on and around Leighton Moss has increased steadily in recent years, resulting in excessive deer grazing pressure. This has caused significant damage to the important reedbed habitat, which is impacting on key species of birds and other wildlife.

In order to protect the iconic and internationally important reedbed at Leighton Moss, the RSPB needs to take action to reduce and then maintain the populations of deer. Leighton Moss is currently designated as Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Protection Area (SPA) and as such, we have a legal responsibility to improve and maintain the condition of these habitats.

We review the condition of the habitats on an annual basis and use this to determine our management actions.  It was through this process over a number of years that we identified that the habitat condition at Leighton Moss was deteriorating due to deer browsing pressure.  We are a science-led organisation and base our decisions on the best available evidence. Using a combination of data from habitat surveys, deer counts, aerial footage and fixed point photography, we have concluded that deer are having a significant negative impact on the reedbed.  

Deer have no natural predators in the UK and with relatively mild winters, there is little mortality caused by the frost and snow. Therefore their population levels are not naturally kept in check. The deer population at Leighton Moss and the surrounding area has been steadily increasing since the early 1980s and has now reached a level which is not sustainable for the health of the reedbed and surrounding land. Deer management will help to address this and maintain the health of the reedbed ecosystem, enabling the red deer to thrive alongside a rich variety of important wildlife.

The decision to control deer has not been taken lightly and we are not alone in having to do this. Deer control is a legal and widely undertaken part of countryside management in Lancashire, Cumbria and elsewhere in the UK. We have a legal responsibility to maintain and improve the condition of the nationally important wildlife habitats at Leighton Moss, and the deer control will be carried out as part of a wider landscape scale deer management programme in the area. The RSPB is a science-based organisation and we considered all non-lethal alternatives before determining this was the only remaining option to restore the quality of the habitat.  

Fencing is not a suitable option as we do not want to fence deer in or exclude all deer from the site, but maintain a sustainable population of red deer at Leighton Moss. By using fencing to exclude deer, the problem of deer grazing pressure would move elsewhere in the area. We could also not guarantee all deer would be removed from a fenced enclosure. Scaring is not a sustainable option and could potentially impact on other priority species using Leighton Moss.

Birth control is also not a viable option for use on a free-ranging wild population of deer, such as those in the Leighton Moss area. This would not address the need to reduce the current population of deer at Leighton Moss and hence not reduce the current damage to habitats on the reserve.

Red deer are one of the most popular species for visitors to see at Leighton Moss and that will remain the case following the deer management. We will maintain a population of red deer at Leighton Moss, providing enjoyment for visitors to watch them, whilst striking a balance to ensure we can also enhance the reserve’s important habitats.  We take our responsibility to protect vulnerable habitats and wildlife very seriously and would not be undertaking this action if it would have a detrimental impact on local populations of wildlife.

We appreciate that everyone is entitled to their own opinion and to voice their concerns, but we hope this explains the need to take this course of action.

Laura

Big Garden Birdwatchers in Merseyside should ‘look at their gardens through the eyes of a bird’, says the RSPB

World’s biggest garden wildlife survey takes place on 24-25 January

People in Merseyside taking part in this year’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January) should watch how the birds use their garden as well as watching the birds themselves, says the RSPB.

Jay

“Seeing things through the eyes of a bird will help you to understand exactly how they use what’s in your garden, spot anything that makes it an unsafe or inhospitable place, and allow you to improve the ways you give nature a home when spring arrives,” says RSPB conservation scientist, Dr Daniel Hayhow.

Goldcrest

More than half a million people are expected to watch and count their garden birds during this weekend’s RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, which is now in its 36^th year. The survey provides important information about the changes in numbers of birds using our gardens in winter, and helps alert conservationists to those species in decline like house sparrows, greenfinches and starlings.

Experts are interested to see how the mixed weather conditions around the UK so far this year affect the number of birds in gardens in different areas. Will numbers be low because natural food sources in the countryside are abundant, or will birds appear in their droves to make the most of garden feeders? RSPB scientists are keen that, whatever the weather, as many people as possible take part.

Daniel continues: “Whilst putting out food for birds is important, it’s not the be-all and end-all. Birds need a wide variety of plants to shelter and perch to be able to make use of the feeders we provide in winter, as well as nectar-rich plants that attract insects in summer. During this year’s Birdwatch look at how the birds approach your feeders using the various trees, shrubs and bushes. Making your garden more nature-friendly is the best way you can help the birds and other wildlife that use it – and by doing so you’ll attract even more to your garden for you to enjoy! ”

Nuthatch

Last year, for the first time, the RSPB asked participants to log some of the other wildlife they see in their gardens to help build an overall picture of how important our gardens are for giving nature a home. Participants don’t have to see and count these other species during the hour of the Big Garden Birdwatch survey. They just fill in the form to tell the RSPB how frequently they saw them in their gardens over the past year.

Grey wagtail

“It’s not always possible to survey other animals in the same way as birds, as they tend to be more secretive, nocturnal, less numerous or hibernating at the time the Big Garden Birdwatch happens. But this way the RSPB can find out where in the country these creatures appear and how frequently,” says Daniel.

Fieldfare

Like last year, the RSPB will share the results with Amphibian & Reptile Conservation (ARC), People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and The Mammal Society to add to their species databases. Results will help all the organisations involved build their understanding about the threats facing garden wildlife.

New additions to the survey list this year are slow worms and grass snakes, while other species that will be surveyed again include badgers, hedgehogs, deer and foxes.  Alternating the wildlife species surveyed each year will enable a system by which species are surveyed at least once every three years. This will provide sufficient data to determine whether distributions change over time.

Marina Pacheco, CEO of The Mammal Society said:  “The best thing people can do for mammals in the garden is having a pond or ready source of water at ground level and gaps in their fences so that animals like hedgehogs can get into their gardens. We are very worried about the proliferation of concrete baseboards for garden fences as it is keeping our wildlife out of gardens and reducing connectivity.”

Dr John Wilkinson, from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), said: “Not many people realise how important gardens are for some reptiles and amphibians. If you can, having a compost bin will not only help recycle garden and kitchen waste but you might even get slow worms setting up home in the warm, decomposing vegetable matter and if you’re very lucky, grass snakes will find your heap and lay their leathery eggs in it! If reptiles do start using your heap, avoid turning the compost in summer and autumn when baby slow worms and grass snakes are emerging.”

Henry Johnson, Hedgehog Officer for the People's Trust for Endangered Species, said: “Once again this massive survey is showing us how amazing gardens are for wild things. Brits still have hedgehogs visiting their gardens, and this is something to cherish as they are in trouble. Hedgehogs cannot fly and need lots of gardens to thrive, so make sure yours is linked to your neighbours with a small (13cm²) hole. Then every British street can be a Hedgehog Street.”

Dr Daniel Hayhow from the RSPB, added: “This huge survey shows how important our gardens are for the amazing variety of wildlife living there. Adding slow worms and grass snakes to this year’s survey is a big step towards capturing more data to help us and our partners identify how the distribution of garden wildlife may have changed amongst a variety of species in coming years. Hopefully, the fact that more people are helping to give nature a home in their gardens and outside spaces will mean we’ll begin to see improvements rather than declines.”

The RSPB hopes to use the data to build an overall picture of how important our gardens are for all types of wildlife and tailor its advice so people can help their wild visitors find a home, feed and breed successfully.

The Big Garden Birdwatch is part of the RSPB’s Giving Nature a Home campaign, aimed at tackling the housing crisis facing the UK’s threatened wildlife. The charity is asking people to provide a place for wildlife in their own gardens and outside spaces – whether it by planting pollen-rich plants to attract bees and butterflies, putting up a nestbox for a house sparrow, or creating a pond that will support a number of different species. To find out how you can give nature a home where you live visit rspb.org.uk/homes.

You can register to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch and find out more by visiting at rspb.org.uk/birdwatch

2014 Big Garden Birdwatch results: top 20

Rank	2014 UK species	Average per garden
1	House sparrow	3.8
2	Blue tit	2.5
3	Starling	2.4
4	Blackbird	2.2
5	Woodpigeon	1.7
6	Chaffinch	1.5
7	Goldfinch	1.4
8	Great tit	1.3
9	Collared dove	1.2
10	Robin	1.1
11	Magpie	0.9
12	Dunnock	0.8
13	Long tailed tit	0.8
14	Feral pigeon	0.6
15	Greenfinch	0.6
16	Jackdaw	0.6
17	Coal tit	0.5
18	Carrion crow	0.5
19	Wren	0.2
20	Great spotted woodpecker	0.1

Children in Merseyside to spot the wildlife in their playgrounds

RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch – 5 January - 13 February

It’s back – the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch has started, with children across Merseyside peering out of their classroom windows to take part in the world’s biggest school wildlife survey.

Running from 5 January-13 February 2015, the survey encourages schoolchildren of all ages, and their teachers, to count the birds in their school grounds for one hour of one day. Each school’s findings will help the RSPB’s experts to build a picture of bird populations and monitor any changes.

Last year, more than 70,000 pupils and teachers across the UK took part in the Big Schools’ Birdwatch, which revealed the blackbird as the most commonly seen bird in school grounds, with 85% of schools seeing an average of five.

Now the RSPB is looking forward to receiving this year’s school wildlife sightings, which also contribute to the results of the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch – the biggest wildlife survey in the world, which takes place on 24-25 January.

Siobhan McGuigan, RSPB Regional Youth Development Officer in Northern England, said: “Taking part in the RSPB’s Big Schools’ Birdwatch is a fantastic excuse to stare out of the classroom window and discover much more about the wildlife which visits your playground. It only takes an hour and can be held anytime between now and 13 February.

“By keeping a look out and making a note of the different kinds of birds, children will not only improve their observation skills and enjoy a great learning experience, but they will also be encouraged to want to help to give nature a home, which is fantastic.”

There is still time for schools to sign up to take part in the Birdwatch. Teachers, helpers or children don’t need to be experts to take part in the survey. Everything a teacher would need to plan a fantastic Birdwatch, and develop their children’s knowledge and interest in the birds they see everyday, is available to download, including guidance notes, recipes, things to make and counting charts.

Siobhan added: “There’s plenty of flexibility for schools to run the survey as simply as they would like, or as the centrepiece of cross-curricular studies, project work or as part of work to improve their school grounds.

“It’s fun, easy and simple to set up, it works for all ages, and even if it’s a dull, rainy January day, you can still gaze out of the classroom window and see a flash of colour. We hope as many schools as possible in Merseyside will take part in this great event and, don’t forget, the Birdwatch can also be adapted for youth groups such as Brownies and Cubs.”

The RSPB has also produced specially designed resources for under-5s, children aged five to eleven and for those aged 11 and above.

For further information on Big Schools’ Birdwatch, visit rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch and for more information on the Big Garden Birdwatch, visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch