PEARL OF AN IDEA - INTRODUCED OYSTERS COULD HELP REDUCE HUMBER ESTUARY POLLUTION

Seagrass (pictured) and saltmarsh are precious to the welfare of the planet

 

HALF a million oysters are to be introduced to the Humber Estuary as part of a 'biodiversity' project.

It is hoped the activities of the creatures will filter and improve water quality and create 'biogenic reefs' - accumulations of living creatures.

Some 95 per cent of native oyster reefs have disappeared from the Humber since the early 1900s.

The intiative is a partnership between Danish offshore energy giant Ørsted, which has an important hub in Grimsby, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust and the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

As part of the same £2.5-million scheme, Ørsted will plant three hectares of saltmarsh and four hectares of seagrass.

The proposal has been welcomed by UK Environment Minister Rebecca Pow (pictured) who says:

"We are committed to developing schemes that work alongside the recovery of natural habitats.                                

"Climate change and biodiversity loss are significant challenges, and I welcome the commitment Ørsted is making." 

The Humber Estuary’s conservation status has recently been downgraded due to pollution and loss of habitat.

Although, the saltmarsh outside Cleethorpes on the Humber south bank has extended in recent years, it is rapidly declining elsewhere as a result of rising sea levels and land development across the UK encroaching on coastal areas.

It is hoped that 'rewilding' and reintroducing native species will help restore the estuary and play a vital role in addressing climate change.

In a similar way to trees absorbing carbon from the air, seagrass absorbs carbon from water - and does so at a rate 35 times faster than tropical rainforests. 

Saltmarsh is also incredibly efficient at capturing and storing large quantities of carbon and provides feeding and breeding habitat for wading birds such as curlew, redshank and snipe.                                         

Redshank feeding on Cleethorpes saltmarsh

Nature-based solutions can play an important role in adaptation to climate change and addressing issues such as flood risks.

Paul Learoyd, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, comments: "After spending time over recent years working with partners across the Humber to identify priorities for the estuary and its hinterlands, we ares extremely pleased to take forward this work with Ørsted and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. 

"The lessons from this work could see large-scale restoration across our North Sea, and beyond."

Agrees Rachael Bice, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust: "Through this collaboration, we aim to  help reverse decades of damage to the ecosystems of the Humber Estuary - we can’t wait to share the results in the coming years."

Closer to home, Ørsted is also working alongside World Wildlife Fund Denmark to improve the conditions for cod and other marine organisms in the Kattegat strait between Denmark and Sweden.

It is also attempting to growing corals on offshore wind turbine foundations in Taiwan.

 

IS DAILY TELEGRAPH REPORT AMUSING? OR DEPRESSING? OR BOTH?

 

MORE THAN 200 EXHIBITORS SET TO TAKE STAND SPACE AT GLOBAL BIRDFAIR 2022

                                       

THE countdown is on for Global Birdfair at the Rutland Showground in Oakham between July 15-17, 2022. 

Below is the list of more than 200 exhibitors who have already confirmed that they will be taking stands at the event.

However, it seems none of the county wildlife trusts will be represented following a spat between organiser Tim Appleton and previous Birdfair hosts, the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust. 

Optical Equipment Exhibitors

Benro

Canon

German Precision Optics

Hawke

Kite Optics

Leica - Sponsor

Nikon

Newpro UK - Vortex

Olympus

Opticron

Park Cameras - Sponsor

Sony - Sponsor

Sigma Imaging UK

Swarovski Optik - Sponsor

Transcontinenta UK Ltd including

Bushnell

Peak Design

Tamron

Tenba

Viking Optical - Main Optical Sponsor

Zeiss - Sponsor

Other exhibitors in alphabetical order are as follows:

2by2 Holidays

Action for Swifts

African Bird Club

Alcedo Wildlife Tours - Boris Belchev

Alexia Claire Limited

Alison Ingram Art

Alyssa Robinson Textiles

All India Birding Tours

Andalucia Bird Society

Andalucia Tourism Board

Anglian Water

Asian Adventures

Aigas Field Centre

Asturias Tourist Board

Atropos Books

Australian Birdwatching

Ayuntamiento de Noja

Ayuntamiento de Noja

Azerbaijan Tourism Board

BBC Wildlife Magazine

Bird Club

Bellavista Cloud Forest Lodge

Bellbird Tours, Australia

Bill Bolton Illustration

Bird Nuts

Bird Tour Asia

Bird’s, Wildlife & Nature

Birds Chile

Birda

Biebrza Wildlife Trust, Poland

Birdfinders

Birdguides

BirdLife International

Birdwatching Magazine

Bloomsbury Publishing

Bluetail Birding

Blue Sky Wildlife

BRANTA TOURS-Specialist in the Authentic East

British Birds

British Bulgarian Society

British Decoy & Wildfowl Carvers Association

British Dragonfly Society

Brockleby's Pies

Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism

Bush Trucker Tours

Butterfly Conservation

Calluna Books

Canopy Towers

Castilla y Leon Ecotourism

Catalan Tourist Board

Champagne Birds, Artist

Clinton Banbury Illustration

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Country Innovation

Crane's Cape Travel

Crow Artist

Cuba Birding Tours

Darren Woodhead Artist

David Finney Artist

David Lindo - The Urban Birder

David Tipling - his amazing Shoveler photo is our Event image

Discerning Journeys India

Duncan Smith Glass Craft

Ecotours Wildlife Holidays - Balazs Szigeti

Enchanted India

Estonian Tourist Board

Extremadura, Spain

Eyebrook Wild Bird Feeds

Fair Isle Bird Observatory

Falkland Islands Holidays

Falklands Conservation

Falkland Islands Tourist Board

Farakunku Lodges The Gambia

Finches Friend Nature

Finnature

Frances Daunt, Artist

From the Notebook Ltd, Produce

Gareth Watling British Bird Paintings

Gazelle Crafts

Grant Arms Hotel

Green Castle Estate, Jamaica

Greenspaces Nature

Greentours

Greenwings Wildlife Holidays

Guyana Tourism Authority

Haapsalu Birding Tarvo Valker

Hambleton Bakery

Heal Rewilding

Heatherlea Birdwatching

Helen Whittle, Artist

Hellenic Ornithological Society - BirdLife Greece

Heritage Expeditions

Iceland Birding

Inala Nature Tours Ltd

Incredible Birding

Inglorious Bustards

International Crane Foundation

Jennie McCall Artist

John Gale Art

Jonathan Latimer and Nigel Buckles, Artists

Jonathan Pomroy, Artist

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

Julie Wilson Sculpture

Lawson's Birding, Wildlife & Custom Tours

Limosa Holidays

Lincolnshire Bird Club

Livingstone Safaris

Local Swift Network

Lotus Bakery, Produce

Irene Brierton, Artist

LPO France - Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux

LROS - Leicestershire and Rutland Ornithological Society

Lynn Hazel ~ British Wildlife Sculptor

Lynx Edicions

MacWet Limited

Manakin Tours

Michael Potts Photographic

Mike Langman - Artist

Multum Gin Parvo, Produce

Mythic Hippo Photography

National Parks of Greece

NHBS (Natural History Book Service)

Natural History Museum of the Lesvos Petrified Forest

Naturetrek

Neophron Tours

Neotropical Bird Club - Neotropical Birding & Conservation

Mr Tracy Newman & Oswaldo Merchor, Artists

Oriental Bird Club

Oriole Birding

OrnithologicalSociety of the Middle East, The Caucasus and Central Asia

Pandion Books

Pandion Wild Tours

Paradise Promotions

Partnership for International Birding

Paramo Clothing

Planet Birdsong

Plantlife

Princeton Nature (incorporating WildGuides & Wild Nature Press)

ProColombia

Rare Bird Alert

Reef and Rainforest

Richard Allen & Jan Wilczur, Artists

Richard Lewington Art

Rockjumper Birding Tours

RSPB 

Rutland Bookshop

Sabah Tourism Board

Sam Veasna, Cambodia

Sandra Vick Artist

Sarus Tours

Save The House Sparrow

SEO, BirdLife Spain

Seriema Nature Tours

Serra dos Tucanos Birding

Simpson Brothers Outdoors

Skua Nature

Smart Images - Oliver Smart

Society of Wildlife Artists

Southern Sky Adventures

Spanish Tourist Office

Speyside Wildlife

Spurn Bird Observatory

Stephen Message Art

Sunbird Images

Suzanne Perry Art

Tadorna Tours

Taiwan Tourism Board

Tasmanian Odyssey Ltd

The Feather Lady

Tivat Tourism Organisation, Montenegro

The Earth Trip

The Imaging Warehouse

The Whale and Dolphin Company

Tony Feld Paintings

Tragopan

Tranquilo Bay Lodge

Trogon Tours

Tropical Birding

Turisme Comunitat Valenciana

Trymwood Studios

Under the Skin

Venture Uganda

VIGT India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka

Vine House Farm Feeds

Wader Quest

Wildcare

Wild Discovery

Wild Echo

Wild Herzegovina

Wild Sounds and Books

Wild Your Garden - Joel Ashton

Wildbird Tours Costa Rica

Wildfoot Travel

Wildlife Acoustics Inc

Wildlife Hides

Wildlife Poland

Wildlife Worldwide & The Travelling Naturalist

Wildwatching Spain

Wildwings

Woodland Trust

World Land Trust

World Wildlife Fund

Yorkshire Nature Coast

* Ticket information is at:

https://globalbirdfair.org/.

WHAT AN UNUSUAL PLACE FOR 'NATURE RESERVE' - OUTSIDE GRIMSBY FIRE STATION

                                                            

Plaudits to the team at Humberside Fire and Rescue Service's HQ off Peaks Lane in Grimsby.  On one of the walls they have installed bird nestboxes, while, outside, they have created a wildflower meadow, complete with its own bee hive.  The question is: When will they be selling their own honey?      

                                                 

 

SIX-HOUR TWITCH: NORTH YORKSHIRE MOORS

Location: Lealholm and Great Fryupdale, North Yorkshire

Date: June 10, 2022

Weather Sunny intervals, windy, mild

Target species: Hen harrier

Star species: Woodcock

Other species recorded:

Goldcrest, robin, chaffinch, bullfinch, greenfinch, whitethroat, willow warbler, chiffchaff, blackcap/garden warbler, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, nuthatch, cuckoo, swift, housemartin, swallow, woodcock, lapwing, curlew, kestrel, red kite, buzzard, pied wagtail, grey wagtail, meadow pipit, house sparrow, jackdaw, jay, carrion crow, rook, herring gull, black-headed gull, great tit, coal tit, blue tit, wren, robin, starling, pheasant, red grouse, red-legged partridge.

                                         

                                    

NATURE RESERVES CAN BE VERY INTIMIDATING PLACES FOR LONE FEMALE BIRDERS

 

Lucy - her confidence was shaken by a horrible experience

MALE birders seldom think twice  about personal safety when going out on their own.

But for their female counterparts, it can be a very different story - they may run the risk of the most obectionable of encounters.

Take Lancashire naturalist and conservationist Lucy Lapwing, for instance.

Watching through her binoculars a little egret in flight, she was shocked by what she suddenly saw on the opposite riverbank.

A man was not only exposing himself but he was using his mobile phone to film her reaction.

A woman and child were nearby, so Lucy shouted to alert them, prompting the offender to run off.

In retrospect, she wonders if she should have responded by filming her stalker so that she had evidence of the crime.

But in the trauma of the moment, the opportunuity was missed.

In a programme, Clipped Wings, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 earlier this week, Lucy recalled the deeply upsetting experience which sorely undermined her confidence in being in Nature on her own. 

Now, every time she passes a single man in the great outdoors, she grips tightly to the canister of defence spray in her pocket, braces herself and holds her breath.

In the broadcast, Lucy shared her experience with other women, for instance a runner, a hiker and another birder.

The "horrible scenarios"  are not especially rare  on nature reserves - RSPB Attenborough near Nottingham was named - where there is no CCTV, few wardens and limited lighting.

Patronising and sexist comments are commonplace and sometimes they lead to lewdness, suggestiveness and double entendres.

In the worst instances, a female birder will endure the horror of a man who makes a grab at her body, then runs. 

Observation hides are sometimes seen as dangerous places for a female birder. There is only one door, so what means of escape if a "weirdo" steps in?

A man on his own was  seen as the greatest potential threat - especially if he was standing (though less so if he was carrying binoculars).

There was a reference to the generally "nice culture of birding", but it was often  counterbalanced by the intimidating elitism and arrogance that is rife, especially in bird clubs.

"This is not welcoming to beginners," said one contributor.

The broadcast ended on a very sad note, when the presenter broke down.

"Sorry . . ."she said.

PROPOSED JOYRIDE ACROSS CLEETHORPES SALTMARSH CAME TO A QUICK AND STICKY END

Mud, mud, inglorious mud - the stranded 'all-terrain' 4 x 4 vehicle 

A PROPOSED joyride over an East Coast  saltmarsh ended it almost before it began for the occupants of a Land-Rover.

They misjudged the unforgiving nature of the mud at Cleethorpes in North East Lincolnshire and their vehicle became stuck in the mud.

That was last Friday, and, despite efforts to retrieve it, it was still there earlier today.

The saltmarsh, an uncommon coastal habitat in Britain, is part of a nature reserve and summer home to skylarks, meadow pipits, little egrets and other species.

It is illegal to take vehicles on to this part of the coast without authority, and, if he or she has no explanation, the occupant of the 4x4 risks having it impounded. There may also be the prospect of prosecution.

And what about the discarded drinks can that lies alongside the 'off-road' vehicle.

North East Lincolnshire is tough on those who dump litter - and this could lead to imposition of a hefty fine.