'SIGNIFICANT' FLOOD RISK PUTS HOLIDAY LODGES PROJECT IN JEOPARDY AT WILDLIFE HOTSPOT

One of the lakes at Far Ings nature reserve near where the lodges might be built

A PLAN for 19 lodges next to the Far Ings nature reserve at Barton-on-Humber has been put in jeopardy because the site is vulnerable to potentially dangerous flooding  

The Environment Agency has lodged an objection to the planning application, stating that the scheme would  pose "an unacceptable risk to life from flooding". 

It says: "Areas behind flood defences are at particular risk from rapid onset of fast-flowing and deep water flooding, with little or no warning, if defences are overtopped or breached. 

"The site has a hazard classification of 'danger to all’, indicating peril to all types of people, including emergency services, under present day conditions as well as when allowance is made for climate change.

"The site could experience flood depths of greater than 2.0m, arising from a breach in the defences during a flood that has a 0.1per cent chance of occurring in any one year up to 2115, allowing for climate change. 

"Moreover, it could experience depths greater than 2.0m arising from a breach during a flood that has a 0.1per cent  chance of occurring in any one year under present-day conditions." 

The EA points out that there is also uncertainty over the future management of defences in this location, particularly post 2028. 

In addition, due to their temporary nature, lodges/caravans are more susceptible to the consequences of flood risk as they become unstable during flooding, putting occupiers at significant risk.

Far Ings was badly flooded during the tidal surge of 2013. 

Applicant Tom Hazeldine believes the risk could be mitigated if the accommodation were to be installed on the first floor of the lodges, but this has not washed with the EA.

Is there any way, the agency might lift its objection?

It states: "We would only withdraw our objection on the basis of a temporary permission. 

"We request that, should the planning authority decide that the proposal is otherwise acceptable, the lifetime of the proposed development be curtailed.

"This can be achieved by time-limiting any planning permission by means of conditions requiring review of that permission (initially in 2028) in relation to rates of coastal change and removal of the development prior to the anticipated impact of the coastal change.

"A condition would also be required to prevent use of the lodges at the time of year when tidal risk is highest. 

"No lodges should be occupied between 1 November (or the following Sunday, if half terms extends into November) in any one year and 14 March in the succeeding year."

There have also been numerous objections from naturalists plus the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

A planning decision  is not expected to be made by North Lincolnshire Council until later this year at the earliest.

BYGONE BIRDING: KNIGHTSBRIDGE'S HOUSE SPARROWS WOULD 'FLY DOWN TO FEED OFF DUNG'

From Diary of A Black Sheep (1964) by Richard Meinertzhagen: 

"In those early days (1844), Knightsbridge, Piccadilly and right into the heart of the City had wooden carriageways and all traffic was horse-drawn. 

"Men with as housemaid's pan and a handbroom were stationed every 200 yards to remove horse dung the moment it was deposited.

"These men were kept very busy. 

"In competition with them were several large flocks of house sparrows watching  the roadway from the houses, and so soon as a horse relived itself, they would fly down to feed off the dung.

"The competition between the human scavenger and the birds was amusing."

PRINCE CHARLES WELCOMES RELEASE OF CAPTIVE-BRED CURLEW CHICKS ON ROYAL ESTATE

The Prince chats with Chrissie Kelley, of the Pensthorpe Conservation Trust, and Natural England chairman Tony Juniper (Photo: Martin Hayward Smith)

PRINCE Charles was on hand this week to oversee the release of 11 captive-reared curlew chicks on the Royal estate at Sandringham.

It is part of a programme involving the release of almost 100 chicks here and on the nearby Wild Ken Hill Estate.

The hope is that the birds will flourish and help check the decline in the UK's declining breeding  population of this much-cherished wading bird.

                                           

Curlew - evocative call 'cherished' by Prince 

The project involved the collection of 147 eggs from eight military and civilian airfields where nesting curlew were deemed to present  a collision risk to aircraft. 

Of these, 106 were transported to a new purpose built rearing facility at Pensthorpe Conservation Trust in Norfolk and  41 taken by the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust for a similar release project on Dartmoor.

After they hatched, the chicks were reared to fledging age to be released.

The Sandringham project aims to expand an existing breeding population of curlew in Breckland, creating a new curlew nature recovery network. 

Some of the birds have been fitted with  radio tags by the BTO to allow their progress to be monitored and to provide information on their dispersal, habitat use and survival.                                             

A leafy part of the Sandringham estate

Said Prince Charles: "I have always cherished the evocative call of the curlew, but it is now dangerously close to being something that our grandchildren will never have the chance to enjoy.

"I am therefore particularly delighted that the Sandringham Estate has been able to assist in a small way the recovery of this wonderful bird.

"This initiative would not have been possible without the work of many people and organisations working in partnership towards a common aim.

"Every curlew nest is something to prize, nurture and protect, and it is vital that we work together to turn this iconic bird’s fortunes around."

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IAN BOTHAM: RSPB RESERVES ARE 'DISASTER ZONES' FOR BREEDING BIRDS LIKE HEN HARRIERS

                                                   

Here's Ian Botham having a pop at the RSPB in his column in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph

And what does he mean by "failings"? Please clarify.

It will be interesting to see if and how the RSPB responds.

WORK SET TO START NEXT MONTH ON NEW WETLAND BIRD RESERVE OUTSIDE GRIMSBY

The field bordered red, top left, is the 35-acre site earmarked for the wetland bird refuge

WORK is expected to  start next month on a proposed new bird reserve for the outskirts of Grimsby.

The proposal is to create a 35-acre wetland for waders and wildfowl on land next to the Novartis factory at Pyewipe and adjacent to the Humber.

Once developed, the  site will be overseen  by Rachel Graham, ecology chief at North East Lincolnshire Council, but, as at the Cress Marsh mitigation site at Stallingborough, birders such as Lincolnshire Bird Club members are likely to play a key recording role.

The intention is for the works to be completed by Christmas next year.

The council's private sector party is the French firm, Engie, which is currently seeking two "suitably experienced" contractors - one to carry out site preparation and the other to undertake construction and civil engineering.

Once established,  there are hopes that the reserve - to be known as Novartis Ings - will provide excellent feeding and roosting territory for many wading species, with, fingers crossed, occasional visits from spoonbills, glossy ibis  and other less frequently encountered species.                             

Golden plover - one of the species likely to be seen at the new reserve

HOLIDAY LODGES PLAN FOR REEDBED WILDLIFE HABITAT SPARKS PROTESTS FROM BIRDERS

This Blyth's reed warbler was a surprise visitor to Far Ings last summer

A ROW has blown up over plans for 19 holiday lodges to be built at the site of one of Britain's most important nature reserves.

Entrepreneur Tom Hazeldine is keen to press ahead with the project off Far Ings Road, Barton-on-Humber. 

He reckons its will boost tourism and create jobs and other economic benefits in  a site close to the Humber Bridge.

Trouble is the location is a site of scientific interest and home to rare reedbed breeding birds such as marsh harrier, bearded tit and bittern which would certainly be disturbed by the development and increased visitors.

                                         

Leaflet highlighting the attractions of Far Ings 

In June last year, it was visited by a super-rare Blyth's reed warbler which stayed for several weeks.

There have been numerous objections from naturalists with one stating: " I am totally flabbergasted at this proposal and cannot think of a more inappropriate location for such a development.

"The building works can only create unacceptable disturbance to this wildlife, from which it is unlikely to recover. 

"In addition, 19 lodges once completed will mean at least 19 cars regularly using the new road with the associated noise, pollution, and disturbance to such a precious, fragile reserve.

"The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world (State of Nature Report, 2018) and a development such as this will only exacerbate this downward trend."

                                      

Green and watery - habitat at Far Ings

However, in his application form Mr Hazeldine has ticked 'No' in the boxes querying whether his project will have an impact on priority species, important habitats or other biodiversity features.

It is not yet known if the application will be supported by an ecological appraisal.

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust is opposing the application.

 Says Chief Executive Paul Learoyd: “The Trust is not against sensible development in the right place but Far Ings is one of the most important sites in the country for its wildlife.

"The application has been put forward with no acknowledgement of the value of the sites and the impact that the development could have. 

"We therefore feel we have no other option than to oppose these plans."

It is possible  that Natural England and the RSPB - plus Mr Hazeldine - will also comment in due course.

The proposal will be determined in due course by planners at North Lincolnshire Council where a senior case officer, Emmanuel Hiamey, is currently collating and assessing the comments.

The proposed lay-out scheme for the lodges prepared by Robert Farrow (Design) Ltd

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BYGONE BIRDING: GREENLAND FALCON PERCHED ON SHIP'S RIGGING WEST OFF PORTUGESE COAST

                                                  

Philip Munn

The following Letter to the Editor appeared in a 1914 edition of The Ibis - journal of the British Ornithologists' Union 

Sir - It may interest some of your readers to learn that an immature Greenland Falcon  flew on board the Braemar Castle in Lat. 38° N. and Long. 12° W (west of Lisbon) on October 21.

It was  caught after it perched on the rigging. 

I think this must be the  farthest south for this species. 

Philip W. Munn.

Laverstoke

Hampshire

December 4, 1913

* ONE of the most intriguing ornithologists of the first part of the 20th Century was former Army officer and banker Philip Munn - not least because what happened in his personal life.

Was it some midlife crisis that prompted him to quit a comfortable existence in the UK - including the companionship of his novelist-wife and their daughter - in order to settle on what was then a remote and relatively undeveloped Spanish island?

Whatever the facts, if he hoped for an unbroken idyll, he was set for some unwelcome surprises.

For much of the 1930s and 1940s, Majorca was embroiled in political unrest - first the Spanish civil war, next partial invasion by a Fascist Italian regime, then rule, in effect, by Hitler’s Gestapo.

Conditions became so wretched for Munn that he was forced to flee his farmland home in favour of exile, until war ended, in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon.

Yet there were also plenty of happy times, many of them when he was watching and recording the birdlife of the island.

Munn became an expert on several species - for instance, the Kentish Plover and the Little Ringed Plover - and, quite soon after his arrival he wrote this illuminating and entertaining account of his discoveries which was first appeared in The Ibis, journal of the British Ornithologists’ Union of which was a member.                                       

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NEWSPAPER COLUMNIST CANDID ABOUT MENACE POSED BY CEREAL CROP CHEMICAL SPRAYS

 

From Jeremy Clarkson's column in The Sun newspaper yesterday. If the chemicals sprayed on the crops on his Cotswold farmland  are harmful to human skin, what harm are they doing to bees, butterflies and birds? Sadly, we all know. Bring on the second series of the show!

NEW RESURGENCE OF COUNCIL HOSTILITY TO OPPORTUNISTIC URBAN GULLS

 

Here we go again! Council chiefs ganging up once more on gulls - chiefly herring and lesser black-backed gulls - even though they bring colour and character even to the gloomiest of urban settings. This letter has been published in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph. 

COLD START TO SUMMER HAS TAKEN TOLL ON BRITAIN'S BUTTERFLY POPULATIONS

Fewer butterflies - such as this peacock - are being seen this summer

 

WHERE have all the butterflies gone? 

The cold and wet early summer has hit numbers in most, if not all, parts of Britain.

 Although April was the sunniest on record, it was also very cold with a record number of frosts. This was then followed by the wettest May for over 50 years.

According to the national organisation, Butterfly Conservation, the speckled wood was particularly low in numbers this spring, but the small tortoiseshell, comma, green-veined white, large white and red admiral have also been down in abundance compared with their 10-year average.

Says a spokesperson for BC: "The UK is experiencing an increasing number of extreme weather events, a likely result of climate change, and it is important we learn the effect these changes have on our native butterfly species in order to understand the likely long-term impacts on biodiversity."

Today, BC launches its annual three-week Big Butterfly Count.

The survey is open to everyone, of any age, living in towns, cities or the countryside. 

Taking part just requires you to spend 15 minutes in an outdoor space  counting the amount and type of butterflies, and some day-flying moths, you see. 

There were over 145,000 counts submitted to the Big Butterfly Count last year, more than ever before. 

Chris Packham, vice-president of Butterfly Conservation and wildlife broadcaster, says: "Climate crisis is an urgent issue and it can be overwhelming to think about what we can do as individuals to really make a difference. 

"Because butterflies and moths make excellent indicators of the impacts of climate change and other human environmental factors, collecting data on their numbers is really important. 

"So, something as simple as recording a butterfly spotted in your garden, at your local park or on your window box can play a part in vital research into a global problem." 

The 2021 Big Butterfly Count runs from today(July 16 to August 8). 

For more information and to take part visit www.bigbutterflycount.org

FORMER CRICKETING HERO IAN BOTHAM IN 'ECO-HYPOCRISY' BLAST FOR TV NATURALIST

                                          

Chris Packham - tour guide and climate change campaigner 

TV naturalist Chris Packham has come under fire from former cricket star Lord Ian Botham for promoting exotic holidays which generate hundreds of tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Lord Botham is dismayed that Mr Packham fronts up adventures to destinations such as Papua New Guinea and Alaska while at the same time campaigning on behalf of Extinction Rebellion - the climate change activist group which is opposed to long distance air and sea travel for leisure.

In an article in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, the former Test Match hero, now a crossbench peer, has accused the BBC SpringWatch presenter  of "grotesque eco-hypocrisy".

The £14,000 per person trips to Papua New Guinea and Alaska were run by Steppes Travel, a specialist company that “carefully creates pioneering journeys in the world’s far-flung places”.

On the website of another travel firm,  Spencer Scott Travel - which prides itself on its conservation safaris - Mr Packham says: "I’ve done lots of trips tour guiding for them (Cuba, Peru, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda) and they have all been of the highest order, well planned, great itineraries, excellent support and clients always totally satisfied. 

"They are a total pleasure to work for and I have loads of great memories to treasure as a result. Check them out if you want something special."

In his defence, Mr Packham has countered that Lord Botham harbours a personal grudge derived from a longstanding dispute between the pair over the rights and wrongs of driven grouse-shooting.

Although, the broadcaster is still featured in the publicity material for both holiday companies, it is understood he has since ceased hosting  excursions on their behalf and, where possible,  has trimmed his own personal and professional travel arrangements.

                                     

Lord Botham's controversial column

The Wryneck says: Travel, especially over long distances, is a sensitive issue for birders. For many of us, journeying far and wide to see new or exotic species has always been a longstanding part of the hobby. But we cannot bury our heads in the sand in the hope that others, but never us, will make the sacrifices required. In fairness to Chris Packham, since becoming a champion of climate change activism, he seems to have made himself less available for hire by  travel companies. However, given that climate change has been a global concern since before the turn of the century, it is regrettable that it has seemingly taken so long for his conscience to be tweaked. 

BYGONE BIRDING: THE MIGRATION OF WRENS AS OBSERVED AT AN IRISH LIGHTHOUSE

                                                               

Wren - a markedly hardy bird

Below is an extract from an article by Prof C. J. Patten that appeared in the edition of The Irish Naturalist journal of July 1912. It was headed: Wrens on Migration Observed at The Tuskar Rock and Lighthouse. The Tuskar Rock is off the coast of County Wexford. 

When I went up to the lantern to study migration, it was my custom to remain all night out on the balcony. 

Thus when wrens came along, I managed to secure four, one on the night of the 13th of April, and three during the next night.

None of these birds struck in the strict sense of the word.

They came to the lantern glass as softly as would a moth. Indeed, a cockchafer attracts far more attention than a wren when it comes in contact with the glass. 

The wren comes along very quietly, makes little, almost no noise at the glass, and straight away settles down to rest in a recess or on a sash of the window pane. 

Now the evidence afforded by the presence of a limited number of wrens at the lantern of a tall tower, such as the Tuskar, which rises up from a rock almost on the sea level, is little or no criterion of the numbers actually on migration. 

Far greater numbers of this species frequented the rock in the intervening daytime than ever were seen round the lantern at night, thereby affording evidence that the flight of the wren during migration is relatively low and so the lantern is avoided. 

This is very much strengthened by the fact that those wrens which appeared at the lantern came flying almost perpendicularly up from below, ascending to the glass through the spaces between the balcony railings. 

I was much interested watching large numbers of wrens as they crept in and out among the rock crevices during the daytime of April 14th and 15th, and in small numbers on April 16th. 

I collected six and could have had more were they needed. 

The birds had evidently come some distance. They were tired, very tame and moved about with their feathers puffed out, a sign in birds of incipient exhaustion from hunger. 

Of course, there is no doubt that any land-bird which appears on the Tuskar rock, is making a passage. 

At high water, the weather need not assume a marked tempestuous state for the rock to become for the major part wave-swept, and I doubt if there is suitable food, even in fine weather, for insect-feeding birds to sustain life for a longer period than a few days.

Meaanwhile, fresh water is not available, this precious commodity being carefully conserved for human use. 

Hence small birds never remain long on the rock, but the Tuskar is an excellent observatory for recording the fleeting visits of migrants made during the daytime.

I wish to thank Mr. Glanville, principal keeper, and Mr. Power, his assistant, for ready help in securing me specimens during their hours on watch.

Regarding the wing-power of the wren, It is true that its flight feathers are short, but  they are strongly built as is the whole wing.

We find the same holds good in the case of other short-winged birds, many which have heavy body-weight to sustain and yet are excellent fliers when put to the test. 

It seems to me that what is most important of all, in considering the migratory flight in birds, is their powers of endurance. 

Long pointed pinions are very useful to seabirds, endowing them with buoyancy enabling them to slacken their speed as they survey the waters below for food or to indulge in fantastic aerial gyrations. 

But land-birds, whose food is not at hand and whose environment is totally foreign when crossing the sea, are not possessed of, and can manage to dispense with, such wing-faculties.

What is required is the power of flying straight ahead at their accustomed speed, backed by sufficient endurance of wing power to enable them to keep up, and sufficient vitality to enable them to live down the pangs of hunger, thirst and exposure to adverse weather.

Surely the hardy, ubiquitous wren, a denizen even of the bleakest, almost treeless and wind-swept areas of the country where it is as much at home as in sheltered woods and glades, must be accredited with such endurance of flight.

As for speed, anyone who watches a wren dart across an acre of open field will be enabled to estimate for himself what rapid progress could be made in a cross-channel migration by this species.

Structurally the wren is a strongly framed bird, and its wing musculature is in no way inferior in development to that of the smaller warblers of somewhat similar body-weight.

Its reproductive powers are notoriously great, its voice is particularly strong, and altogether physiologically it seems to be a markedly hardy bird.

An interesting feature in connection with the Tuskar migration of  wrens which I witnessed is that the two birds obtained in autumn proved to be males, while the ten taken in spring are females. 

I wish I had secured more in the autumn to satisfy myself that there is a tendency for the sexes to keep apart when on migration. 

The spring evidence on this point seems well worthy of attention.

Another point of interest is that the gizzards of the birds taken at the lantern were quite empty, while those of the birds secured on the rock in the daytime contained, in varying amounts, some insect remains, pointing to the fact that the birds managed to procure something to eat as they perambulated on the rock from daybreak until they were collected.

THIRTY-MINUTE TWITCH: DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES HOSPITAL, GRIMSBY

Location: Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital, Grimsby, North-east Lincolnshire

Date: July 8, 2021

Weather Sunny and sultry

Target species: Black Redstart

Star species: Swift

Other species recorded: Robin, wren, herring gull,  chaffinch, house sparrow, wood pigeon, collared dove, blackbird, feral pigeon, carrion crow