The bird that every innocent goat fears - and with very good reason (if you believe the legend)

                         

Included in The Bird Book is this depiction - in Der Naturen Bloeme  (1350) by artist Jacob van Maerlant - of a bird, thought to be a Nightjar, causing obvious distress to a goat

 

THE mystery of why Nightjars are sometimes known as 'Goatsuckers' receives a fresh airing in The Bird Book - a most absorbing new volume that has just been published.

The notion dates back to 350 years BC when  the Greek philosopher and writer, Aristotle, wrote: "Flying upon the goat, it sucks them whence it has its name."

The Romans followed suit, with Pliny, a 1st Century naturalist, maintaining that the activities of the Nightjar even led to blindness for any goat luckless enough to have its udder targeted.

But although the reputation has prevailed in many nations, including both Britain and North America, it is supported by not one jot of evidence.

The species' diet consists not of goats' milk but  of airborne moths caught in its wide gape by means of twisting and acrobatic flight.

No one seems to have a good word for the Nightjar. Another legend is that it is an unbaptised child doomed to wander in the form of a bird.

All this fascinating anecdotal material  about dozens of the world's individuals and bird groups is peppered liberally throughout The Bird Book, the subtitle of which is The Stories, Science and History of Birds.

Elsewhere, for example, Flamingos also come under the spotlight, notably with a quotation from William Dampier (A New Voyage Around The World, 1697) that a dish of this species' tongue is "fit for a prince's table".

And how many knew that the  legend of a phoenix arising from flames derives (according to one theory) from the spectacle, in the shimmering African heat, of a flamingo on its mud nest as if it were rising from warm ashes?

In one way or another, many birds have  figured  as religious icons - the white dove, representing the Holy Spirit, being the most obvious example.

As the book illustrates, birds have influenced much else in the development of human civilisation - for instance, painting, music, pottery, embroidery, literature, postage stamp design and cuisine.

Elsewhere, by means of often stunning illustrations and precise, jargon-free text, The Bird Book also explores the science of birds - from feeding behaviour to migration and from anatomy to courtship and breeding.

Written, illustrated and edited by a team of experts, it really is a most entertaining, informative and entertaining addition to the bookshelf.

The Bird Book is published in hardback at £30 by DK.

https://www.dk.com/uk/book/9780241634899-the-bird-book/

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust hopes to attract cuckoos and marsh harriers to proposed new wetland reserve

                                                            

Plenty of watery places proposed for what is currently agricultural land

A NEW kind of nature reserve is on the cards for  Lincolnshire.

The venture envisaged by the county's wildlife trust is also described as a "wetland ecosystem pilot project".

If it goes ahead, it will occupy some 50-plus hectares of agricultural land on the outskirts of Bourne in the south of the county.

Partners in the proposed Bourne North Fen Nature Reserve include consultant Mark Tarttelin, of Wild Planet Associates, the Black Sluice Internal Drainage Board, the Fens East Peat Partnership and the Environment Agency.

The stated aims are to: 

* Provide a series of biodiversity rich, shallow multi-purpose lagoons and reedbeds

* Restore carbon-capture peatland soils

* Improve  water quality for wildlife, farming and public  supplies

* Improve flood risk management

* Increase the resilience of local wildlife, communities and business to climate change

* Explore opportunities for paludiculture - wetland farming. 

The Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust states: "At present, this is an agricultural site with agri-environment stock grazing and arable land use in approximately equal amount. 

"The proposal is to use this site to work with drainage authorities and farmers in exploring working wetland landscapes and novel crops such as reeds, water farming and specialist grazing."

In a note on the birdlife, the LWT says the following species breed around the site's existing clay pits: Reed Bunting, Reed and Sedge Warbler, Cetti’s Warbler, Chiffchaff, Blackcap, Mute Swan, Grey Lag Goose, Mallard, Gadwall, Tufted Duck, Little Grebe, Kestrel and Jackdaw.

"There  have been breeding lapwing and oystercatcher in past wet years.

"Other possible and potential breeders include Marsh Harrier, Buzzard, Cuckoo, Heron and Cormorant."

                                              

Wildlife Trust hopes to welcome cuckoos to proposed new reserve

"Of other fauna, bats may use the  boxes provided on lager waterside trees around the pits and come from nearby houses. 

"There are two main badger sets and several outlying set areas in a raised spoil area on the edge of a clay pit and in an old house foundation. 

"Rabbits, hares and roe deer are frequently seen on both the arable and grassland areas, while water voles frequent at least one of the dykes."

Assuming the proposal is granted planning consent from South Kesteven District Council and proceeds, there is unlikely - at least in the early years - for there to be access for birders or other interested members of the public.

Says the LWT: "The site is not open to the public, although small numbers of visitors, accompanied by a warden or LWT employee/volunteer, will regularly visit to study the reserve, observe development progress, check stock and conduct routine site management."                                                

The farmland earmarked for the new wetland reserve

Bygone birding: are these the first recorded ringing recoveries of British Housemartins?

 From Tottenham to Barcelona and back - illustration of Housemartins in Gould's book

The extract below is from John Gould's Birds of  Great Britain, published in 1873:

I append a note forwarded to me by Mr. Philip Crowley, of Alton, in Hampshire, a gentleman fully imbued with a love for nature, and intimately acquainted with our native birds. 

It is dated July 8, 1852, at which time he was resident at Grove House, Tottenham, Middlesex. 

'The two Martins I caught, labelled, and set at liberty last year have returned. 

'I tied a small piece of parchment to one leg of each, and wrote on it - P. Crowley, Alton, Hants, England.

On the other side of one of them, I now find - Don Vangello, Barcelona.’

Meanwhile, in his  Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Arctic Regions in 1833-35, Captain King writes:

'That the Housemartin not only visits the same place but the same nest year after year is a fact which I ascertained by experiment.

'While residing in Kent about ten years ago, having selected a nest, I fastened a small piece of silk round one of the legs of its inmate, then sitting upon eggs. 

'The following season the bird returned, and, with the garter still affixed, was secured in the same nest - a convincing proof of the instinctive knowledge attributed to it.'

In confirmation of the above statement, Mr. Durham Weir reports that he caught several pairs of Martins at the windows of his house in September, 1838.

He fixed small silver rings round their legs, and learned that one of them had been shot in his immediate neighbourhood the following May.

Most cars pollute - so what is RSPB doing to make its reserves more accessible by 'green' transport?

                                        

RSPB Frampton in Lincolnshire - not easily reached without a car

It is a common lament that many of the RSPB's 200-plus reserves can only readily be reached by private motor vehicle. In response to a member's plea for improved access by non-polluting means, the society has responded thus:

We have begun publicising public transport options in our magazine as part of our efforts to encourage more and more  people to enjoy a visit to our reserves. 

The RSPB encourages visitors to travel by 'green' transport, and we are aiming to increase connectivity wherever this is possible. 

We believe nature should be accessible to everyone.  

Individual site teams work closely with local partners and communities to increase connectivity and better transport links. 

When thinking about developing our sites, we look at the site holistically and try to build in infrastructure that embraces connectivity and 'green' transport solutions.

However, we acknowledge that, given the remote nature of some of our reserves, public transport is not always a feasible or safe means of access.

                                            

There is a railway station at Bempton but it is two miles away from the RSPB's seabird-watching site on the coastal cliffs of Yorkshire  

RSPB insists: "We do take seriously public concern about impact on wildlife by bird-killing cats"

 

Waiting to pounce on an unwary robin or wren - a watchful cat

THE RSPB has issued an assurance that it takes "seriously" the threat posed to birds by Britain's estimated 9.5-million pet cats.

At last year's annual meeting a member claimed the society had traditionally been "dismissive" about concerns and had "downplayed" the threat - possibly for fears it might alienate its cat-owning members.

He said:  "We need to move from misinforming the public to informing them actively about the effect their pets have on birds. 

"There are continued studies showing the devastating effect of domestic cats on birds and other wildlife here and around the world.

"Can we rely on the RSPB to start  making the problem of domestic cats a prominent part of its conservation effort?"

Almost a year after the question, the society has responded.

It says: "The RSPB takes public concern about cat predation seriously and promotes measures to reduce the vulnerability of garden birds to predation by cats. 

"There are a great number of pressures on the UK’s wildlife including climate change and changes to land management, leading to loss of habitat and essential food resources. 

"We believe that encouraging the public to help support wildlife by reducing cat predation is important.

"There are a few ways the RSPB tries to help reduce cat predation in gardens. 

"For example, we try to make it widely known to the public through our website and other communications that fitting bells to quick-release collars and keeping cats in overnight are simple ways to reduce the number of wild birds and other wildlife that they catch.

"We have also researched ways to keep cats out of gardens by using ultrasonic devices like CatWatch. 

"This proved effective in reducing the amount of time cats spent in the garden."

The response continues: "Beyond gardens, cat predation can cause particular problems for vulnerable and restricted populations of birds, in particular birds that nest low to or on the ground such as Dartford Warblers and Nightingales. 

"It can also be an issue for birds that have evolved on islands where terrestrial predators would not naturally occur. 

"We undertake a lot of work to try to reduce these threats, including advising that new residential developments are not built too close to important sites for ground-nesting birds and reducing feral cat populations on islands where they do not belong."

The Wryneck says:  As is its tendency on matters controversial, the RSPB is 'pussyfooting' around the issue with this tepid and unconvincing response. In The Orkneys, the society  has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on combatting stoats, but, unless prompted by a member,  it mostly turns a blind eye to the menace of cats whose bird-killing activities are far more widespread. Obviously, the RSPB  cannot cull pet moggies in the way it culls stoats. Nor would anyone wish it to do so. But it could be much, much more proactive in discouraging feline devastation of our precious birds. After all, is that not what a bird protection society is supposed to do? 

Bygone birding: 'shorely' a very unromantic habitat to discover recently-arrived nightingales

                                                                 

This extract is from Our Summer Migrants by J.E. Harting, published in 1875: 

The Nightingale has been pictured by poets and naturalists in various romantic situations, but perhaps never before in so unromantic a spot as  "under a bathing-machine"! 

Yet Mr. Monk states that on the 13th of April, 1872, there were  Nightingales "on the beach under the bathing-machines along the whole length of the shore at Brighton." 

The explanation which suggests itself is that the birds had just arrived, and they had sought the first place which offered a woody shelter.

It is true that it is a shady place although of a very different kind to that which the birds would have been accustomed.

                                           

                                           

* Cartoon of 'mermaids' and bathing huts in Brighton via Wikimedia Commons                                             

Charity Commission satisfied RSPB has changed its ways following social media abuse of Cabinet ministers

                                              

The RSPB's HQ - The Lodge in Sandy, Bedfordshire. Chief executive Beccy Speight, who works from her home in Nottinghamshire, was not made aware un advance  of the abusive social message posted by a colleague, so she quickly apologised on BBC Radio 4  

THE Charity Commission says it has now closed its probe into the RSPB over the charity's   controversial  party political activity on social media.

It states: "Last year, we opened a regulatory compliance case into the RSPB after a six-part thread was posted on X (formerly Twitter) stating that named former ministers were ‘Liars’. 

"Charities should not be afraid to use their voice passionately to campaign for causes they represent, but they should always be acting in its best interests and must not be party political.

"It was important we took steps to ensure this did not happen again, particularly ahead of a General Election."

The statement continues: "We found that the tone and nature of RSPB’s post was inappropriate and had not been signed off at the appropriate level within the charity. 

"More could have been done to ensure internal policies and procedures were followed. 

"However, in July 2024,  we closed our case noting that the charity’s trustees had taken sufficient remedial action. 

"This included the charity issuing an immediate public apology, carrying out an independent investigation and implementing changes to strengthen internal policies with use of Commission guidance.

"We received no concerns about the RSPB during the General Election period."

The Commission  has also taken the opportunity to outline its approach to charities’ use of social media in campaigning.

It says: "Charities may use social media as part of their campaigning and political activity on issues that relate to their specific charitable purposes. 

"Social media can be an effective way to reach current and prospective supporters.

"However, the same rules apply online - charities cannot be party political and should take care to consider any risks of their social media campaigning activity that could negatively impact their charity’s reputation.

"This includes personal attacks or inflammatory rhetoric. 

"The Commission expects charities to engage in public discourse in a way that promotes respect, tolerance and consideration for others.

"All charities should take care to ensure they are aware of and follow our social media, campaigning, and political activity guidance."

It is believed that the individual responsible for posting the online insult has now left the RSPB to work for another charity.

Has 'self-isolating behaviour' of Puffins been key to their 2024 population increase in Farne Islands?

                                              

Puffins - bouncing back after disaster of bird flu

DESPITE declines elsewhere in Britain and other parts of Europe, Puffins are not just holding their own but increasing in the Farne Islands, off the coast of Northumberland.

The first count since 2019 has  delighted the National Trust which monitors the seabirds that breed on the islands.

The number of pairs this year is reliably estimated to have been 50,000 compared with just under 44,000 five years ago - up 15 per cent.

Says NT ranger for the islands, Sophia Jackson: "We feared the worse after we sadly collected 938 dead puffins - victims of bird flu - in 2022 and 2023.

"It seems they have weathered the storm thanks to self-isolating behaviour."

To conduct the count, Sophia and colleagues  monitored the birds by observing nesting burrows for signs of activity. 

If they were unsure if a burrow was occupied, the rangers donned wipe-clean, arm-length gloves, then put an  arm down the burrow to  feel for any occupants.

Continues Sophia: "We think another reason for Puffins having done well this year is down to the weather.

"During the breeding season, we had regular  periods of rain but none of the  storms that might have hampered the birds'  ability to fish for sandeels, their preferred food."

An interesting finding from this year’s observations was the variance in  numbers across the islands between this year and the last count.

Fewer pairs were recorded on the outer islands, with more nesting on Inner Farne, the largest of the archipelago, where 26,552 pairs were recorded.

On the downside, breeding numbers of both guillemots and shags have declined on the islands.

Will National Trust's proposed new wetland bird reserve give RSPB Frampton Marsh a run for its money?

 

The former golf course near Sutton-on-Sea - photo Lincolnshire County Council

CONTRACTORS are now on site at a former links golf course earmarked to become a coastal wetland nature reserve.

The National Trust paid £800,000 for the former Sandilands golf course, near Sutton-on-Sea, in Lincolnshire, in April 2020.

It says: "We plan to create new habitat for a variety of wildlife, especially migrating birds such as Black-tailed godwit, Spotted Redshank and Spoonbill along with breeding birds such as Snipe, Lapwing and Oystercatcher. 

"We are delighted to have this opportunity as the Lincolnshire coast is one of the most important stretches of English coastline for wildlife, especially as it is on the East Coast Flyway migration route for birds." 

                                                   

Potential breeder - snipe

It continues: "We are keen to work closely with the local community to shape the details so we can create a space that everyone can be proud of."

Because of hitches - not least the delay caused by Covid pandemic - it has taken until now to start excavating the lagoons and various scrapes.

But once these are established, is there any reason why Sandilands should not attract the same array of species-  and in similar numbers - as the phenomenally successful RSPB reserve some 35 mile away at Frampton Marsh, south of Boston, also in Lincolnshire?

The principal contractor for the Sandilands scheme is The Casey Group which is based in Rochdale, Lancashire.

The main works to be carried out are listed as follows: 

• Earthworks to re-model existing site levels to suit the new development

• Drainage installation to service the new wetlands including weirs and culverts

• New footpaths and boardwalk installations to provide safe access around the facility

• New play equipment and bird hide installations

• Soft landscaping including new planting

• New boundary fencing and information signposts

• New car parking areas and overspill grass car park

• Retaining structures and foundations to suit the site level

The Casey Group has  given an assurance to keep disruption to nearby residents to the minimum.

It says: "The public highway at  nearby Huttoft Bank will be kept in a condition whereby it is mud-free. 

"Wheel washing facilities and spray-off areas with sump facilities will be placed within our compound and at the main entrance to prevent mud and or other materials being deposited onto the highway.

"Vehicles can also be washed down upon arrival to site to control cross-contamination.

"Road sweepers will be used throughout the project and service the whole area and surrounding road network. 

"Daily highway checks will be carried out by the site management team and photograph records kept." 

Meanwhile, measures have already been taken to eradicate New Zealand Pygmyweed - an aggressive invasive non-native species that had been flourishing on the edge of  the southernmost pond.

Says a report: "The spoil excavated to create the pond by the previous site  owner had been situated on the edge of the pond. 

"A local contractor was therefore  engaged to bulldoze the material back into the pond, thereby effectively burying the weed.

"Subsequent checks have found no evidence of the plant in nearby ditches and ponds which remain dry for most of the year." 

By contrast, the National Trust says it is keen to ensure that  Bird’s-foot Clover persists at the site

"Sandilands is the only known location in Lincolnshire of this plant which seems to favour ground newly disturbed by human or livestock footfall."

All being well, the project should be completed by spring next year, though it may take a year or two more for the reserve to be established and discovered by birds and other wildlife.

Part of the funding came from a NT supporter who specifically asked for the money to be spent in Lincolnshire. Substantial further monies came from the Neptune Coastal Campaign.

It is the first coastal acquisition the conservation charity has made in Lincolnshire, and its first coastal purchase since acquiring 1.35km of the White Cliffs of Dover back in 2012. 

Partner organisations in the ambitious venture include the  Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, Lincolnshire County Council and East Lindsey District Council. 

Artist's impression of the proposed visitor centre - Jonathan Hendry Architects

Aerial view of the former golf course - photo: John Miller/ National Trust

Concerns grow for future of Common Gull - a seabird whose population is spiralling ever downwards

Common gull - numbers have plummeted

THERE is disappointing news on the fortunes of the Common Gull.

Despite its name, it was never particularly 'common' - and now it is becoming even less so.

Such has been the population decline of the species since the year, 2000, that it has now been officially re-categorised from Amber-listed to Red-listed.

According to an article in the current edition  of British Birds journal, the decrease between 2020 and 2023, when the last survey was conducted, has been  52 per cent. And the reasons for its demise are not known.

It is not the only British seabird that is faring poorly.

Also re-categorised as red-listed are Leach's Storm-petrel (down 79 per cent), Great Black-backed Gull (down 56 per cent) and Arctic Tern (down 50 per cent).

The Great Skua is also Red-listed.

On the positive side, number of European Shag, Common Tern and Black Guillemot appear to be increasing.

The first has been moved from Red to Amber, while the other two have moved from Amber to Green.

                                                    

Common terns - happily their numbers seem to be increasing

Where have all the cuckoos, swifts and housemartins gone? Poet Pam Ayres' lament for loss of wildlife

Pam Ayres - saddened by loss of cuckoos, swifts and frogspawn

POET Pam Ayres has expressed dismay at  the loss of wildlife since she was a girl growing up in a council house at Stanford-in-the-Vale,  Oxfordshire.

Ayres (77), who now lives - with husband Dudley - in a village near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, recalls a time  when cuckoos, swifts, swallows, water voles and frogspawn were abundant.

But interviewed by feature writer Ria Higgins for the August 31 edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper, she says: "When I was a child, I thought this would always be so, but now it’s all gone.

"It is so sad."

Since achieving success as a highly witty poet and broadcaster, Ayres has been able to afford the purchase of 22 acres of land which she is managing for wildlife.

The first things she did were to dig a pond and plant 500 trees - tasks to be followed later by planting border hedging including yew, spindle, hawthorn, bird cherry, hazel and holly.

Her next step was to put up nesting boxes for barn owls - presents from one of her sons and one of her brothers.

                                                   

Red-legged partridge - a species nesting in the poet's garden

These, she says, have proved a "great success".

After a promising start, less can be said of the housemartin nest boxes she has had put up under the eaves of her house.

The first year, there were 17 pairs, but the number gradually dropped, and last year there was none.

“It’s heart-breaking, she says. "I only hope we can bring them back."

On a brighter note her garden is home to both grey and red-legged partridges, with the latter nesting.

Doggedly Onward - A Life in Poems by Pam Ayres is due to be published by Ebury Press on  October 3.

                                       

Due to be published next month

Early signs are that Scottish rewilding project is boosting population of black grouse in The Highlands

 

Male black grouse - a bird with very specific habitat requirements

AN encouraging report seems to indicate that a rewilding project in the Scottish Highlands is reaping early dividends for the black grouse.

The project is a venture by rewilding organisation Affric Highlands with encouragement from RSPB Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) and certain landowners.   

The black grouse is a spectacular bird found across northern Europe in mosaic habitats where areas of woodland, moorland, and grassland meet.

Mature commercial forestry plantations, with their closed canopy, are  unsuitable for the species.

"Our initial findings are a cause for optimism," says Nicola Williamson, a field officer with the Affric Highlands rewilding team. 

"Restoring the health of a mosaic of habitats appears to be offering much-needed hope for the black grouse - and for nature more broadly."

Between April and May this year, 14 sites in the Beauly area of the Affric Highlands rewilding landscape were assessed by groups of trained volunteers, each studying plots covering five square kilometres.

These surveys recorded 405 lekking males -  a slight increase since the last survey in 2021, and the highest recorded over the past 17 years. 

The same survey sites have been monitored in previous years, using  the same methodology. 

In 2007, 250 lekking males were counted. 

With black grouse numbers fluctuating over time, and historic data lacking for some years, future surveys carried out as part of the study will confirm whether this overall rise is steady.

Rewilding  has involved excluding herbivores, such as deer, to reduce overgrazing and over-browsing.

This has allowed habitats to recover through the growth of healthy shrub layers and young trees. 

Simon McLaughlin, who is  RSPB site manager at the Corrimony and Glenborrodale Nature Reserves, comments: "The support from local volunteers, estates, and other organisations this year has inspired optimism that these birds will be well looked after in the coming years.

"We hope to see even more of this community involvement  as we continue collaborative efforts to safeguard this remarkable species."

Among those funding the project are  the Ecological Restoration Fund, the Dutch Postcode Lottery, WWF-Netherlands, and Arcadia.

The last UK-wide survey of black grouse was way back in 2005.

This estimated the  population to be 5,100 males - with 3,400 in Scotland, 1,500 in England, and 200 in Wales.