Handsome bronze study of three Swifts certain to attract keen bidding during online charity auction

                                                                 

Whoosh - you can almost hear the sound of this Swift flypast   

 

A STRIKING bronze scuplture of three Swifts is one of the star lots in a currently-running online charity auction.

The work by by 67-year-old former soldier Mark Coreth is expected to fetch between £5,000 and £7,000 by the time the sale ends on October 26.

It was in Kenya, where he spent his early life, that Coreth developed his love of wild life.

Also up for bids is an enchanting painting of House Sparrows by 28-year-old Ambleside-based artist Daisy Scott-Bennett. It is expected to sell for betweem £350 and £450.

Proceeds of these and 88 other lots will go to the charity, Horatio's Garden, which, in beautiful settings, nurtures the wellbeing of people who have suffered spinal injuries.

More details of the auction, the lots and the artists are available from Salisbury-based auction house Woolley and Wallis at: https://www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk/

                                                     

Charming - this trio of House Sparrows 

'We know we have much more to do.' RSPB laments failure to recruit more people of colour to workforce

                                                        

Report highlights society's slow progress in recruiting people of colour 

DISAPPOINTING progress is being made by the RSPB in its efforts to attract more people of  colour to its workforce.

Its ethnic minority representation is only 3.7 per cent - up from 2.8 per cent last year but still very low compared with 16 per cent across the  UK workforce.

According to insiders, it now employs more staff - 10 - on equity, diversity and inclusivity initiatives than it does on ecology surveys.

This is expensive in payroll costs, but apparently to modest effect.

A section in the latest annual report states: "People and communities of colour  are often most affected by environmental  degradation and yet remain under-represented  in conservation efforts.

"We have been taking steps to increase  the representation of people of colour  at the RSPB, but there is still a long way to go.

 "At the RSPB, we believe that nature’s recovery demands everyone’s voices, perspectives and  skills." 

The society has its own  staff network for people of colour, Beyond Differences, which doubled in membership last year.

But the report continues: "Challenges remain. 

"There are still significantly more people of colour in temporary roles, and they are also under-represented in leadership. 

"This is not just a recruitment issue - it reflects deeper disparities in development and career progression across the sector. 

"Addressing this requires significant changes, and we are committed to tackling these barriers head-on.

"We know we have much more to do."

RSPB Scotland starts recruiting for what it says is "a dream job" based in Shetland

                                                     

Yell - island of fantastic birdlife (and sheep). Photo: Mike Pennington via Wikimedia Commons 

  

RSPB Scotland says it has a "dream job" on offer.

It is seeking to recruit a site manager for its  office in Shetland - famed for its beautiful scenery, its welcoming islanders and its superb birds (including regular stop-offs by rarities such as, this month's Siberian Thrush).

The salary on offer is in the range of £39,205 - £41,856.

Says the job description: "Working in some of the most stunning scenery in the UK, surrounded by a special landscape and sensational wildlife, we are looking for a site manager to help lead our varied and exciting work programme  in Shetland. 

"RSPB in Shetland operate across a vast area, managing 15 sites, all with their unique species, habitats and management requirements. 

"These include mire habitats for breeding Red-necked Phalaropes,  basin fen habitat for Curlews and vast seabird colonies at the southern tip of these stunning islands. 

"We have ambitious plans to reverse declines in certain species with habitat restoration and management, as well as maintain and increase populations of some of the UK’s rarest avian species."

It continues: "Working with a warden and an assistant warden, the site manager will have a core focus on three main peatland sites in Yell, responsible for accessing funding through appropriate routes, such as Peatland Action, in order to deliver peatland restoration."

Responsibilities will include

* Production/delivery of reserve management plan.* Developing, organising and controlling on-site activities to maximise conservation outcomes.

* Overseeing safe and compliant management of all site operations, * Compiling and supporting the management of the site budgets to ensure financial compliance and delivery of RSPB objectives.* Working  with fundraising colleagues to secure external grant/funding income 

The closing date for applications is 5pm on Sunday October 26.

More information is available from: kevin.kelly@rspb.org.uk

A 'most charismatic vagrant' - excitement as White-throated Needletail arrives in Yorkshire

A bird that likes reservoirs - White-throated Needletail (photo: JJ Harrison, via Wikimedia Commons)

A RARE White-throated Needletail has this week been delighting birders in East Yorkshire.

Also known as Needle-tailed Swift, the bird was first spotted on Wednesday afternoon at Yorkshire Water's Tophill Low Nature Reserve, near Driffield by visitors Mandy Gregory and Ray Maddison.

                                                     

Tophill Low (photo: Yorkshire Water)

They were unsure of its identfication, but it was clinched  by experts who then rated it the the second-rarest bird to have appeared at the reserve in 60 years - pipped only by an  Amur Falcon that was sighted in 2008.

A relative of the UK's smaller native Swift, it is a migratory species  that breeds in Central Asia and southern Siberia and winters in the Indian Subcontinent, South-east Asia and Australia.

Within an hour of the record having been distributed and broadcast on social media, some 50 twitchers had arrived at Tophill Low in the hope of catching a glimpse.

Those who arrived within half of its detection were lucky, but, soon afterwards, the bird  left, subsequently turning up at RSPB Bempton Cliffs near Bridlington.

By this time, hundreds of birders from all over Britain had arrived in East Yorkshire, but, by daybreak yesterday morning, it had departed - subsequently to turn up five miles north at Filey where it was variously seen over the beach and over the  caravan site that was once home to a Butlins holiday camp.                                         

Later yesterday, it continued its journey north (when it should have been heading south), and has this morning been providing excellent views above and around the castle ruins in Scarborough.

It is believed to be the first sighting in England since 1991 when individuals were seen at Wierton Hill reservoir, near Maidstone in Kent, on May 26, and at Blithfield reservoir, near Rugeley in Staffordshire on June 1.

Most of the dozen or so British records of the species are believed to come from north of the border, particularly the western islands.

The most famous British visitor, for a sad reason, is one  that was detected flying above the island of Harris in the Outer Hebrides on June 19, 2013 by author Mark Cocker and pal Adam Gretton who were on an early-summer birding tour of the islands.

Over a period of just over a week, it was seen by many birders, but, alas, flew into the shaft of  150 ft tall wind turbine with fatal consequences. Its skin is now in the Museum of Scotland in  Edinburgh.

Among those who saw it was Sussex-based twitcher Garry Bagnell who, in his book, Twitching by Numbers, describes the experience thus: "Watching the fastest bird in the world whooshing inches over my head felt like the defining moment of my twitching career.

"If Britain ever gets another twitchable one, make sure you see it as it really is the ultimate twitch."

Similar admiration for the species has been sounded by, among others, expert ornithologist Andy Stoddart who once named it as "arguably the most charismatic and desirable vagrant on the British List". 

This week's Needletail is not the first time the species has been recorded in Yorkshire - there was also a sighting over Ferrybridge in 1985.

As it hunts for flying insects, it is reputed to have a flight speed of up to 105mph, reportedly making it the fastest-flying bird in the world.

                                       

How Adam Gretton reported the 2013 visitor in the publication, Scottish Birds

Garry Bagnall's delightful study of the Harris bird in his excellent  book, Twitching by Numbers

Studies of Woodcock and Swallows in Dales catch eye in sale of contemporary art in Yorkshire

 

Piers Browne's study of  Woodcock in Wensleydale on a summer evening  fetched £950 when it went under the hammer at auction of contemporary art  held last Saturday by Tennants of Leyburn in Yorkshire. This was well above the pre-sale estimate of £400 - £600. Earlier in proceedings his intense but slightly disturbing study of a new moon and Swallows, also set in Wensleydale, sold for £300 which was at the lowest end of the £300- £600 pre-sale guide price. A prolific artist who staged many one-man exhibitions, Browne died peacefully at home on July 8 last year. He was 74.

                                                    

                                             

RSPB's annual report reveals pay hike for highly-regarded chief executive Beccy Speight

                                                       

Beccy Speight (third left) with her top team - Katie-Jo Luxton, Andrew Cook, Russell Powell, Emma Marsh and James Robinson (Photo: RSPB Images)

A SHARP increase in the number of staff on annual salaries of £60,000 or more has been reported by the RSPB.

According to the recently-published annual report, the figure has  more than doubled  from 26 in 2024 to 54 in 2025.

The highest paid employee is chief executive Beccy Speight who has seen a boost in her annual total remuneration.

Including  salary, employer pension contributions and other benefits, it has swelled from  £200,069 to £212,169. 

It may seem a lot, but the pay rise indicates how highly the society thinks of Ms Speight and her inspirational leadership since taking over the reins in 2019.

Crimean War was still raging when Britain's 'first' Siberian Thrush was sighted - and shot - in Surrey

                                                           

The study of a pair of Siberian Thrushes in Gould's Birds of Europe

IF he had still been alive, this week's occurrence of a Siberian Thrush in Shetland would have intrigued a certain Mr Drewett of Surrey.

Back in February, 1855, at a time when the Crimean War was raging, he shot a female of this species at St Catherine's Hill, near Guildford in the county.

Some while after it had been stuffed and mounted, the bird ended up in the possession of Mr Bond.

It is the same specimen (to the right) that was subsequently depicted  in John Gould's masterwork Birds of Europe (1873).

Writes Gould: "It is certain that many birds have visited us of late years, both from the east and the west, which do not appear to have been known in the times of Gilbert White, Montague and Bewick."

The provenance of the Guildford bird belongs to history, and the first official British record of the species is the one that spent October 1-4, 1954, on the Isle of May.

Since then, there have been some 14 other records - most on islands off the Scottish mainland.

Discounting the Guildford bird, the first English record is of the male that was sighted in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Christmas Day in 1977.