Enchanting studies of three much-loved native birds expected to fetch up to £100 at York auction

                                                           

These framed limited edition prints of Long-tailed Tit, Bullfinch and Goldfinch are set to go under the hammer at an online sale to be concluded  by auction house Duggleby Stephenson at their saleroom in York on November 5. They are the impressive work of Yorkshire artist Robert Fuller who has a gallery in Malton. The three are being sold as a single Lot (number 6594) for which the pre-sale estimate is that they will fetch between £50 and £100.

Moorland windfarm would be 'a nightmare for endangered birds' claims ex-cricketer Ian Botham

                                                      

The moorland habitat earmarked for the controversial project

FORMER England test cricket captain Ian Botham claims moorland windfarms are a menace to birds.

In a contribution to The Daily Telegraph, he expresses particular scorn for proposals to build one  of 23 turbines - each 200 metres high - on the top of Hope Moor near Barnard Castle in Co Durham.

He writes "These monster turbines would be a nightmare for the endangered birds that flourish on these moors.

"Their habitat would be destroyed, their lives disturbed by constant noise and blade tips slicing through the air at over 170 mph."

Lord Botham continues: "They would be a disaster for people, too.

"I have spent my life walking across these moors. I love them.

"These mega-turbines must be stopped.

"If you care about the desecration of our environment, please join me in resisting this stupidity."   

In an earlier piece for the Daily Mail, Lord Botham identified the three species - all raptors - that he fears might be most at risk: Hen Harrier, Merlin and Peregrine.                               

                                    

At risk? Lapwing

         

Breeding Curlews, Lapwings and possibly other wading birds -  plus Meadow Pipits, Twite, Linnets and Grey Wagtails -  are also believed  to frequent this peatland habitat.

The consortium behind the venture, which is in the North Pennines, is called simply Hope Moor Wind Farm. The member-companies are not known. 

It states:  "We take the potential impact of Hope Moor on birds and other local wildlife very seriously, and we are committed to protecting and enhancing biodiversity onsite.

"Research indicates that windfarms have a minimal impact on bird habitats and flight patterns, particularly when viewed alongside wider environmental pressures such as climate change, and that careful positioning of turbines can further limit any effects.

"We recognise that the area supports rare and red-listed bird species, and we will undertake detailed environmental and technical surveys to monitor these species and adopt suitable mitigation measures."   

                              

Between Barnard Castle and Richmond - location of the proposed windfarm

The former cricketer's comment piece in The Daily Telegraph

What am I bid for Thomas Bewick's History of British Birds? All will be revealed at Gloucestershire auction

 

The hammer is expected to fall at between £300 and £400 when Thomas Bewick's two-volume History of British Birds (plus his History of Quadrupeds) come up for auction in the Cirencester, Gloucestershire, saleroom of  Dominic Winter on November 4. In Also in the sale are  two volumes of the same title in a different edition. These are being sold, with a guide price of between £200 and £300, along with  Robert Robinson's Thomas Bewick: His Life and Times (not pictured).

                                                                   

Is some grudge-bearing malcontent deliberately releasing bird-killing stoats on island of Rousay in Orkney?

                                                                

The second Rousay stoat seen shortly before it was trapped and killed?

EARLIER this month, the RSPB and other conservation organisations were jubilant when they trapped what they thought was the only stoat on  the Orkney island of Rousay.

But their glee was  misplaced - another stoat has subsequently been detected.

This one, too, has been trapped and killed, but conservationists are concerned  - very concerned.

They now fear that the island may already be hosting additional stoats - or is at risk of doing so in the future.

The Orkney Native Wildlife Project, of which the RSPB is a partner, has put out this statement: 

"It is fortunate that we have removed a second stoat which posed a serious threat to the island’s native species  including Curlews, Red-throated Divers, Hen Harriers and Short-eared Owls, plus the Orkney vole, a unique subspecies found nowhere else in the world. 

"Now we need to continue apace with the biosecurity monitoring that is needed to ensure that Rousay is completely stoat-free.

"We  must remain vigilant before we can confirm that wildlife in Rousay is safe. 

"Our trappers and local community volunteers will be keeping the island under intense observation, so that.if any other stoats are seen, we can respond to remove them as quickly and effectively as possible.. 

The statement continues: "It is not currently clear how either of these stoats arrived on the island. 

"They may have swum across the Eynhallow Sound from the Orkney mainland to Rousay.

"The three kilometres is well within the distance of open water stoats have been known to cross. 

"It is also possible that somebody chose to break the law, and endanger Rousay's native wildlife and economy by deliberately releasing one or more stoats." 

Conservationists hope that DNA testing may help to confirm the stoat's origins.

Quick, there it is! There! On the mossy log! Rufous-tailed Robin! Too late, it's gone - you’ve missed it!

Rufous-tailed Robin as not seen at Flamborough because this bird was photographed in Thailand

DETERMINED birders are expected to continue wending their way to the Yorkshire Coast this weekend - but perhaps more in hope than expectation.

Their destination will be a well-wooded mini-ravine at South Landing in Flamborough where they will be all eagerness to catch sight (and perhaps photograph) of a super-rare (and even more super-elusive) Rufous-tailed Robin.

The bird, which is unrelated to our larger native Robin, has evidently been blown to Britain from its Russia-to-China autumn migration route. 

Up to 1000 enthusiasts - some from overseas - have already made the trip to Flamborough, and maybe less than half that  number have actually glimpsed the tiny charmer.

Some have waited hours, even a whole day or longer, only to experience the awful hollowness of missing out - the dreaded 'dip'.

Not only has 'Rufus' proved extremely secretive, mostly feeding out of sight in undergrowth, but the viewing options have been challenging, with one visiting Lincolnshire birder likening the experience to being a spectator on a Football League club terrace of yesteryear.

When the bird has shown, invariably on an exposed mossy log, it has sometimes been out of the sight of those birders located either at the wrong end of the 'terrace’ or at the back of it.

Where snaps have been achieved, they have mostly  have been of indifferent quality, one notable exception being the one clicked  by former Nottingham quantity surveyor David Carr, now a frontline birder who spends much of his time travelling the country to photograph rare birds.

David was magnanimous enough to post his shot on X with the accompanying comment: "The Rufous-tailed Robin finally gave itself up this afternoon at Flamborough. 

"It took me three days to see it but it was worth the effort...."

Gotcha! Patience paid off for David when he snapped the well-camouflaged Yorkshire bird 

There have only been four previous records of this species - and one of them was a dead bird picked up on the island of North Ronaldsay in the  Orkneys on October 2, 2010.

The others, according to Birding Information Services, were:

* October 23, 2004: Fair Isle, Shetland

* October 14, 2011: Warham Green, Norfolk

* October 6, 2019: Fetlar, Shetlands

Rewind to that 2004 bird which was first spotted by Fair Isle observatory director Mike Wood who then  alerted warden Deryk Shaw who subsequently recounted the experience in comprehensive, graphic  and enthralling detail in the May 2006 edition of British Birds magazine.

Before the identification was confirmed  - the bird first having been netted and ringed - it was first variously theorised by Mike, Deryk and a handful of other birders that it could have been a juvenile Robin, a Veery or a Hermit Thrush.

But when the reality emerged . . . cheers of elation" 

Wrote Deryk: "The next few  moments will live with all of us forever - a feeling of relief, then stunned shock as the realisation sank in that it really, truly was a Rufous-tailed Robin."

What of this week's Flamborough bird? Today it was showing relatively frequently - more so than on the previous two days.

But a storm has blown in. Will it still be with us for the weekend?

Time will tell. . . 

                                              

How, two decades ago, British Birds  journal reported Britain's first record of the species  

It was not long before crowds of twitchers arrived 

All eyes were on this log - favourite perching point of the vagrant

* Top picture: JJ Harrison via Wikimedia Commons 

Enchanting Grey-headed Wagtail and Lapwing paintings due to go under hammer at November auction

                                    

Grey-head Wagtail - scarce sub-species of Yellow Wagtail

TWO signed  bird paintings by John Cyril Harrison (1898-1985) are due go under the hammer as a single Lot at a sale to be conducted on November 14  by auction house Tennants at their saleroom on Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

One (21.5cm x 13) depicts a Grey-headed Wagtail; the other (21.5cm x 14.5cm)  shows two Northern Lapwings  

Both are described as being "pencil and water heightened by white".

A prolific artist, Harrison was born in Wiltshire but painted most of his studies during the many years he was living in Norfolk.

The pre-sale estimate is that the hammer will fall at between £200 and £300 on the Lot which is number 1025.

                                              

Lapwings in familiar wetland habitat

RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight raps Government over Jackdaw gas field go-ahead

                                          

Let the gas flow - the Jackdaw rig (photo:Adura)

THE chief executive of the RSPB, Beccy Speight, has spoken out against this week's announcement that the Government has approved further extraction of gas from the Jackdaw rig in the North Sea.

Says she: "Drilling in Jackdaw will have no meaningful impact on the UK’s energy security or household bills, whereas expanding fossil fuel extraction of any kind will risk deepening the pressures facing species and habitats across the UK from the growing impacts of climate change. 

"Our changing climate is already shifting the spaces birds can live in.

"Many are finding their food supply is no longer available at the right time to feed their chicks. 

"Extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change, is also impacting breeding success and survival. 

"In a worst-case scenario of high carbon emission levels, some seabird species in the UK, which are particularly vulnerable, are estimated to decline by more than 70per cent by 2050."

                                              

Beccy Speight - furious with the decision

Ms Speight goes on to urge the Government not to approve drilling at the much larger  Rosebank oil and gas field which is also in the North Sea.

"The Government must not make the same mistake again," she says. "It should not be approving either Jackdaw or Rosebank. 

"Instead, its focus must be on rapidly cutting emissions, scaling up clean renewable energy and restoring our peatlands and other carbon-rich habitats that are essential for both climate and nature's recovery."