Sad fate of a pair of Capercaillies - stuffed and soon to be sold at forthcoming auction in Yorkshire

                                                           

Given its declining status in the wild, especially in Scotland, there is something disquieting about this pair of stuffed Capercaillies currently to be viewed on the premises of  Tennants auctioneers in Leyburn, North Yorkshire ahead of a sale on August 5. The pre-sale estimate is that the hammer will fall at somewhere between £600 and £800. Sad to see but there are many more stuffed birds in the sale including (see below) Hoopoe (guide price: £250-£50), Roller (£120-£180), Bewick's Swan (£350-£400) and Gyr Falcon (£600-£800). 

                                             

                                         

                                           

                                                   

Stand by for autumn publication of another book - yes, another one - about the demise of the Great Auk

                                                  

Projected to be "a pivotal primary source in extinction science", this book is due to be published at £24.99 in  paperback in November. Derbyshire-born John Wolley (1823-1859) was a notable ornithologist who had a special interest in the Great Auk.

On song! Bumper price paid at auction for Charles Darwin letter about Nightingale migration

                                                               

A LETTER in which Charles Darwin inquires about Nightingale migration has this month sold at a London auction for an astonishing £22,860.

The sum is way higher than the pre-sale estimate of auction house Christie's that it would fetch  between £4,000 and £6,000.

Written from Beckenham in Kent, in May 1869, the three-page letter is addressed to ornithologist John Jenner Weir (1822-94) with whom Darwin (1804-81, author  of Origin of Species,  regularly corresponded about his sightings.

It includes a reference to a Darwin associate and collaborator, John Gould, also a notable author as well as being an illustrator 

A section reads: "'Mr Gould told me that male nightingales immigrate before the females; and that he had ascertained this was the case with the snipe and he believed that it was general with migratory birds.

" There is a man in or near Brighton, who sometimes writes in the Ibis, and who I imagine may be a bird-stuffer, and who seems to have paid special attention to migratory birds.

"I fear that the migratory birds are not largely caught by the bird-catchers, and the South coast would be the best place for observation."

According to a note in the Christie's sale catalogue, Darwin was "particularly interested in the role of migratory birds in dispersing plant and animal species over long distances."

The vendor of the framed letter is believed to have been a Japanese collector, but it is not known who bought it and whether it will remain in this country.

Saved from extinction? A brighter future beckons for Switzerland's rare Corncrakes - or does it?

                                                       

Corncrakes need herbaceous vegetation that provides good cover, but allows passage through  the ground, such as this nettle thicket. Photo: Lucas Lombardo, BirdLife Switzerland

 

There is some good news from Switzerland on determined efforts to ensure a future for the country's  small population of  breeding Corncrakes where the species has long suffered from the same challenges as in Britain. Birdlife Suisse (which has 72,000 members) has issued the following press release. 

It is 11 pm somewhere in the mountains of Graubünden. 

Silence.

Then then, suddenly, the characteristic crex-crex call. 

Hearing this in Switzerland has become very rare. However, it was once omnipresent: just a few decades ago, the "song" of the Corncrake was part of the balmy early summer nights on the Swiss Plateau. 

A century ago, people complained that they could not sleep because of the noise of the many Corncrakes. 

Today, in Switzerland his cries hardly resonate at all.

When BirdLife Switzerland launched it in 1996, its starting point was to save the Corncrake from extinction.

The project seems to be paying off. Last year, newly protected sites achieved 17 successful broods.

The field staff of BirdLife Switzerland spend nights searching (and listening) for singing males, certain farms have adjusted their crop-mowing dates and  cantons have provided finance for on-site protection.

"Without this partnership, the protection of Corncrake broods in Switzerland would not be possible," says Lucas Lombardo, project manager at BirdLife Switzerland.

All but gone from the country's plateau meadows, Switzerland's Corncrakes are now all but confined to sites 1000m above sea level

Graubünden has become the main refuge area, with around 50 per cent of all sightings. 

Corncrake nesting requires at least eight weeks of unmowed meadow - a period generally incompatible with current farm practices. Hence the need for protected zones.

Continues Lucas: "We are celebrating 30 years, but we are not celebrating without continuing concern.

"In Switzerland, the promotion of biodiversity occupies far too little place in agricultural policy.

"For the species to survive in the long term in the country, agricultural policy must become very much more orientated in favour of biodiversity. 

"Today, less than 15 per cent of direct payments are made for biodiversity, but  85 per cent is directed to  other areas, sometimes including payments that are harmful to biodiversity.

"If the nature and diversity of species were to be treated as what they are - our lifelines - then we could safeguard our Corncrakes much more effectively. 

"The challenge for the next few years is clear: to move from reactive nest protection actions to a proactive design of the environment.

"New technology - such as thermal imaging drones for detecting  Corncrakes -  are opening up new possibilities for research and protection. 

"But agricultural policy needs to promote and pays for large-scale environmental enhancement."                                  

Corncrakes need species-rich, late-mowed meadows, such as this flower meadow in Zuoz in the Engadine region. Photo: Enea Fadini, BirdLife Switzerland

                                                                   

The image may only be used in the context of this press release and with exact acknowledgement of the source.

Hammer price of bird paintings by Archibald Thorburn exceed expectations at today's auction in Yorkshire

                                          

This enchanting Archibald Thorburn painting of Common Terns at their nest was a star performer at an auction staged earlier today by Tennants of Leyburn in Yorkshire. It sold for £11,000 - more than three times higher than the pre-sale estimate of  £2,000-£3,00. Three other bird paintings by the same artist - Woodcock (£6,500), Jay (£5,000) and Robin (£4,000) - all also achieved substantially high prices than had been expected.
  

 

Judging by number of drumming males, Snipe seem to be flourishing at RSPB wetland reserve near Aviemore

                                            

Expansive - the huge Insh Marshes floodplain beloved of wetland birds

SNIPE seem to be faring well on the RSPB's expansive Insh Marshes reserve near Aviemore in the Scottish Highlands.

According to the society's recently published reserves report for 2025,  a record 128 drumming males were recorded.

Sadly, the Spotted Crake seems to be a breeding species here no longer.

None was recorded at Insh Marshes - nor at any of its other 200-plus reserves apart from Ynys-hir, in Powys, North Wales, which had four.

Other wetland bird absentees from RSPB sites in 2025 included  Little Bittern and Baillon's Crake.

                                            

Image of drumming Snipe on 1937 cigarette card 

         

Harmony - two Snipe feeding together

                         

Chris Packham: I'm often confronted by things which make me sad - but they never rob me of hope

 

Chris Packham: "I constantly change the way I think" (photo: BBC)

You can't keep celebrity naturalist Chris Packham off the TV. He returns on Monday July 13  (9pm) with a new five-part BBC-2 series, Evolution. The second of  the 60-minute episodes will focus on how birds - for instance, the Ostrich - have evolved from prehistoric creatures. Here, he talks about the show.

Introduce us to this news series.

It is the exploration of  a concept which to many people is quite impenetrable. They believe that it happens very slowly over vast periods of time, and they may even think that it's stopped. But evolution is a dynamic process. There's a pattern. There's a mechanism, but also it involves chance. And automatically through evolution we've come up with this diverse, beautiful, fascinating collection of life as we have it at the moment.

What is the purpose of  evolution?

It  is about the need for all life to try and avoid competition, to find its own way of doing things so that it can maximise its potential. Over a period of time - and that could be five minutes, it could be a year, it could be a million years - if resources change, then life has to change to be able to take advantage of those resources.  Nature has an inbuilt programme which allow species to change. Some will fail and become extinct. Others will then take advantage of the gap that they've left.

Did making the series change the way you see or think about the natural world?

I constantly change, and I constantly change the way I think about the natural world, because I care about it. And often I'm confronted by things which make me sad. But they never rob me of hope.

Meanwhile, writing for The Sun, celebrity farmer, broadcaster and columnist Jeremy Clarkson has this to say in today's edition: