What future the famous Rye Meads nature reserve in Hertfordshire when the RSPB pulls out in November?

                                      

Anger is continuing to simmer over the RSPB's decision to vacate the popular Rye Meads reserve in Hertfordshire as a cash-saving gambit. It is understood that, in November, Thames Water will assume responsibility for oversight of the reserve, but it is not clear whether the reserve will continue to be managed for the benefit of birds and other wildlife life or whether access will be maintained  for birders and others.  These and other issues are due to be thrashed out at a public meeting starting at 7.15pm  on Thursday September 3 in the function room at Stanboroughs Conservative Club  at  Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire.

RSPB wardening post on Tayside offers 'varied and rewarding' work for wetland birds enthusiast

Whooper swans are among the winter visitors to the reserves 

    

A PART-TIME warden is being sought by the RSPB for three of its Tayside reserves in Scotland.

They are those at Loch Leven, Loch of Kinnordy and Tay Reedbed.

Says the society: "This is a permanent role for 15 hours per week.

"It offers a varied, practical and rewarding working environment. 

"The successful candidate will contribute to habitat management, species monitoring and visitor experience across all three sites, working alongside colleagues and volunteers."

The job description provides more information as follows: 

* At Loch Leven, you will be part of a team managing a range of habitats with a focus on wet grassland. The site supports an ever-changing range of wildlife, from breeding waders and wildfowl in spring and summer to flocks of migratory geese and swans in autumn, with Red Squirrels year-round.

* At Loch of Kinnordy, you will help to deliver management in and around the wetland, including the open water, reedbed and fen. This site is rich with wildlife including Ospreys, Otters, Beavers, Red Squirrels and a range of waders and wildfowl.

* At the Tay Reedbeds, you will  work within the UK’s largest continuous reedbed, an internationally important habitat along the River Tay. Here, species such as Bearded Tits, Marsh Harriers and Water Rails depend on rotational reedbed management.

The position is based at Loch Leven, and the salary is the pro-rata equivalent of £30,977.00 - £39,359.00 per annum

The closing date for applications is Sunday September 27, with interviews proposed for October 6.

Further information is available from Vicky Turnbull at vicky.turnbull@rspb.org.uk.

The reserves are home to many winter-staying wetland visitors

Former footballer reveals reasons for his admiration for dusk-hunting British bird of prey

 

                                               

Gliding through a calm paradise - a Barn Owl hunting for rodent prey

Footballer-turned actor Vinnie Jones has revealed the bird he would most like to be.

Quizzed in a two-page spread about him in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, he is quoted as saying: "I'd be a Barn Owl. 

"I was watching one the other night just before dark when I was out with the dogs. 

"Silent. Hovering above the ground. Nothing wants to attack it. 

"It was majestic. Peaceful. Innocent. Gliding through a calm paradise."

Jones stars in The Gentlemen, a series to be screened on Netflix from September 3.

                                               

Interviewed for the Review section of The Daily Telegraph - owl-lover Vinnie Jones

 

New book will explore devastating impact of bird trade on wild population of African Grey Parrot

                                        

Too intelligent for its own good - the much-exploited African Grey  

AN autumn publication date has been set for a book which is likely to shine a spotlight on the trade in wild birds and other animals.

Because of its capacity to imitate human speech, the African Grey Parrot is now widely kept in cages and aviaries across the world.

But it has become increasingly scarce in the wild.

In her new work, American author Nancy Jacobs explores how the bird became an "international commodity".

The pre-launch publicity from Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books states: "Few animals have fascinated people like the Grey Parrot, celebrated for its intelligence, mimicry and uncanny ability to 'speak'. 

"The Global Grey Parrot traces the remarkable history of this intriguing bird from West and Central African forests to markets and homes around the world. 

"For centuries, the species  lived as a social being within complex forest communities, sharing landscapes with African people who understood their calls, behaviour and ecological roles. 

"That relationship changed dramatically with the expansion of Atlantic trade and European empire. 

"As markets expanded, the birds themselves became commodities - captured, transported, and sold across continents as curiosities, pets and research subjects. 

"Drawing on documentary research, fieldwork in Africa, and insights from ethology and environmental history, Nancy J. Jacobs reconstructs a five-century story of entanglement between humans and parrots.

"She reveals how colonial extraction, global capitalism and the international pet trade transformed a wild forest animal into an endangered species that now primarily reproduces and exists in captivity. 

"The Global Grey Parrot offers a striking new perspective on how human desires reshaped the lives of animals and the world they inhabit."

The title is due to be published in hardback on November 3.

'Housemartins' as you've never seen them before. Nice photograph - shame about the caption

                                               

Surely some mistake here? The impact of this photograph in today's edition of the Sunday Telegraph newspaper is, alas, somewhat diluted by the inaccurate species identification in the caption.

Scops Owl and African Crowned Eagle among raptors to be featured in one-off wildlife documentary on BBC-TV

                                                 

Wildlife cameraman and presenter Hamza Yassin returns to  TV screens tomorrow (Sunday) with an hour-long film, African Birds of Prey, featuring  some of Kenya's most magnificent raptors. Travelling from the plains of the Maasai Mara to the shores of Lake Naivasha to the ancient forests of the Kenyan coast and the  escarpments of the Rift Valley, Hamza encounters a cast which includes African Fish Eagle, Martial Eagle, Scops Owl, Lappet-faced and Rüppell's Vulture, plus the elusive African Crowned Eagle. The film was made by Silverback Films and will be screened on BBC-1 at 7pm.

Handsomely-illustrated book which promises to open window on owl-rich birdlife of Finland

                                              

Finland boasts no fewer than 10 breeding owl species

IT  is a country probably not visited by many birders, but this could change following  the publication earlier this month of Birds of Finland.

The table of contents is as follows:

* Introduction

* Seasons

* Habitats

* Birdwatching in Finland

* How to find owls in Finland

* Best birdwatching sites in Finland

* How to use this book

* Species accounts

* Further reading and resources

* Acknowledgements

* Photo credits

* Index

It is described thus by publishers Helm Wildlife Guides (part of Bloomsbury Publishing): 

"Finland is one of the great European birding destinations. 

"The tundra is the breeding grounds for many of Europe's waders, while the Siberian taiga reaches its westernmost extent here, making Finland home to many forest species that are scarce or absent elsewhere. 

"Renowned for owls, with a remarkable 10 breeding species, Finland boasts an array of birding delights including Red-flanked Bluetail, Siberian Jay and Capercaillie.

"With photography by world-class photographer Markus Varesvuo and text by Mikko Oivukka, Birds of Finland is the perfect identification guide to 300 species regularly seen in the country. 

"Concise text for each species includes details on identification, songs and calls, behaviour, distribution and habitat, with photographs carefully selected to aid identification. 

"The book also provides a valuable guide to the best birdwatching sites.

"Portable yet authoritative, Birds of Finland is an essential companion for travellers and wildlife enthusiasts visiting this beautiful, bird-rich country in northern Europe."

The book is currently available in paperback from the publishers at the discounted price of £13.29.

Fifth spy thriller published by long-serving BBC defence correspondent and enthusiastic birder Frank Gardner

 

This summer has seen the publication by Penguin Random House of  Ballistic, the fifth spy-thriller by keen birder and BBC defence correspondent Frank Gardner. The author is president of the BTO.
 

 
 

                                                                

RSPB recruiting for licensed bird ringer to assist project which seeks ways of boosting population of Willow Tits

                                                

The RSPB is recruiting for a  licensed bird ringer on a two-month contract (October and November, 2026) to assist in an ongoing research  project into the viability of the Willow Tit (pictured) in the Midlands and northern England. The society is exploring how best to aid the species' recovery after years of population decline. The closing date for applications is September 9, and more details of the post are available from Paul Bellamy (paul.bellamy@rspb.org.uk).

Which is Britain's cutest and cuddliest bird? Author will make case for the Puffin in forthcoming book

                                           

An October 15 publication date has been set for this celebration  by Stephen Moss of one of Britain’s most beloved birds: the charming and comical yet mysterious Puffin. It follows  the lifecycle of the bird throughout a calendar year - from egg and nestling to juvenile Puffling, to the adult bird’s courtship, breeding and feeding habits. The Somerset-based author also explores the species' place in popular and literary culture. The book will be published at £14.99 in hardback - not by Puffin Books (!) but by parent company Penguin Random House.

It stinks! Celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson not best pleased with five-acre rewilding experiment

                                                                

Whitethroat - lover of  bramble patches

NEWBIE birder, broadcaster and TV farmer Jeremy Clarkson has had second thoughts about the benefits of rewilding.

Clarkson had  been so keen to encourage Corn Buntings, Yellowhammers and other species on his farm in the Cotswolds that he decided to leave some of the land to its own devices.

But, as he reports, in his latest column for The Sun newspaper, he has not been best pleased by the results.

He writes: "Initially I was a fan of rewilding and, ten years ago, decided to leave a patch of my farm completely alone.

"I did what Chris Packham and his Guardian mates want and put nature in the driving seat.

"And what I've ended up with is an impenetrable five-acre tangle of brambles which smells terrible because of all the rotting dead wildlife in there."

                                       

The Wryneck says: Here's hoping that the columnist does not give up on his bramble patch. Maybe, it temporarily smells unpleasant, but it doubtless provides excellent feeding, breeding and nesting habitat for songbirds such as Whitethroats. Who knows, in future summers, it may, if retained, even attract Nightingales.   

How much will these superb original studies of wildfowl make at auction next week? Surely more than £200

 

A group of six original gouache illustrations by Carol Ogilvie are set to go under the hammer at a sale to be held by auction house Dominic Winter at its premises in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, on Wednesday of next week (September 2). Some of the studies  will be familiar to many birders because they have appeared in  books such as Ducks of Britain and Europe and Wild Geese, both published by Poyser. The modest pre-sale estimate is that the six paintings will sell for a total of between £100  and £200.  

                                         

                                                                                                           

                                                                          

                                                                         

Happy birthday to super-popular actress Alison Steadman - longtime champion of birds and wildlife

                                          

Alison Steadman - important to enthuse children

IT'S many happy returns of the day to actress and birdwatcher Alison Steadman.

Although the comedy actress grew up in Liverpool, she  has lived in Highgate, North London,  for several years.

In her leisure time, she loves walking in the capital's green spaces.

 “My love of birds and nature started when I was young." she says. "We had a small garden which was my dad's pride and joy.

"He grew rhubarb, and I remember looking under the leaves and finding caterpillars - I didn’t know the names of them but I loved them.

"I don’t really see caterpillars in the garden anymore and I find that quite worrying."

After finding fame with the 1970s TV plays Nuts in May and Abigail’s Party, Alison began presenting nature programmes in the 1980s. 

“I did a show for children," she says. "One week it was about ants, and there was a boy of 11 who talked about how they lived and how they were better organised than us! 

"I loved doing that programme. My agent didn’t think I’d want it but I ended up having an absolute ball."

Subsequently, her  enthusiasm for wildlife saw  her travel around the Shetlands for an ITV documentary. 

“We had a great guide called Brydon Thomason who showed us  Puffins - they are the most wonderful creatures, I love the fact that they mate for life! 

"It was fascinating to learn about how their bright beaks are used for courtship.”

One of 24 on RSPB's list of bird-loving "celebrities and enthusiasts, Alison is also an ambassador for the London Wildlife Trust.

She insists: "It's really important to encourage people to look in the garden and turn over a stone or a leaf and see what’s there. 

"With the internet, you can look stuff up immediately so you know what you’ve found.

"And, if you can get children interested in nature, it stays with them for the rest of their lives."

She continues: "When my son was five, he brought a friend home for tea and there was a huge bumblebee at the window. 

"His friend wanted to kill it with a newspaper. I said ‘no’ and he looked at me like I was mad. 

"It was what he had been taught to do by his dad - children need to be taught that every creature is important and is not just something to be stamped on."

Alison is keen to ensure as much of London remains natural as possible.

"These big housing developments can be really unfriendly to nature and we need to do more to keep our green spaces,"  she maintains.

It seems like harmless fun but do paddleboarders pose a threat to Kingfishers and other wildlife?

 

The report in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph

ARE paddleboarders threatening the welfare of Kingfishers and the other wildlife that dwells  on  Britain's rivers ?

The issue is raised in today's edition of The Daily Telegraph newspaper which casts a spotlight on what is claimed to have been happening on a stretch of the River Stour in Suffolk.

In Helen Brown's report, a livestock farmer alleges that Kingfishers are being "chased away" by the surge  in paddleboard traffic.

He also maintains that numbers of otters, water voles and grass snakes are being "decimated".

The journalist goes on to describe an incident where another resident witnessed "a gang of youths on paddleboards hurling bottles at a terrified moorhen with her chicks in tow".

Other problems are said to include a "rising tide of litter", drones being flown from boards and loud music from speakers attached to the front of some boards. 

Worse is if motors are fitted to the back of boards, effectively turning them into jet skis.

There is also said to be an issue in sensitive coastal areas where seals are agitated by the proximity of passing boarders and kayakers. 

                                            

Wildlife under threat say residents

In peril from boarders - Kingfishers don't like disturbance

What am I offered for this pair of 8x32 Leitz binoculars? Hammer expected to fall at between £80 and £120

                       

A vintage  pair of 8x32 Leitz binoculars is up for grabs at a sale of scientific and musical instruments, plus cameras, at Tennants auction house in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on Wednesday of next week. The pre-sale estimate is that the binoculars, which come with a leather case, will fetch between £80 and £120. Leitz, founded by Ernest Leitz, is a forerunner of  what is now a more familiar brand, Leica (= LEItzCAmeras).

Soldier-ornithologist George Montagu would have been thrilled at breeding success of raptor named in his honour

                                                             

Male Montagu's Harrier - this bird photographed at an unknown location by Hari K Patibanda (image: Wikimedia Commons)

NO one would have greater appreciated the current hoopla about Britain's rarest breeding raptor, the Montagu's Harrier, than George Montagu, the man who first confirmed  it as a species separate from the similar-looking but heavier Hen Harrier. 

Coincidentally, Montagu  was born in 1753 at  Lackham in Wiltshire - the county where this year's successful breeding male was hatched at a protected site in 2016. 

A soldier who rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, Montagu dedicated all his free time to the study of nature, especially birds.

The bird whose plumage he differentiated from the Hen Harrier was shot on August 10, 1803, and found to have the remains of a Skylark in its stomach.

He named it the Ash-coloured Harrier, and it was only later  that it was named in his honour.

Three years earlier, Montagu had discovered Britain's first known Cirl Buntings feeding in winter among a flock of Yellowhammers and Chaffinches. The following spring, he found them breeding near Kingsbridge in Devon.

According to his biographers, Barbara and Richard Mearns, Montagu was also involved with the first British records of the Cattle Egret, Little Gull Roseate Tern  and Gull-billed Tern. 

He also established that  the so-called "Greenwich Sandpiper" was the Ruff in winter plumage and the "Ash-coloured Sandpiper" was the same bird as the Knot.

Montagu predicted the demise of the Great Bustard as a breeding species in Britain when he wrote: "Young ones are frequently taken by shepherds' dogs before they are capable of flight, and their eggs are eagerly sought after for the purpose of hatching under hens . . .and the consequence will be a total extinction in a few years"

Montagu died, aged 62 after a tragic mishap.

While  alterations were being carried out at Knowle House in Kingsbridge, he stepped on a rusty nail protruding from an old piece of timber.

A few days later, on June 20, 1815, he died of tetanus.

                                        

The only known portrait of the pioneering ornithologist, George Montagu

Bygone birding: Dartford Warblers were formerly to be found on the commons of South London

 

Below is an extract from John Cotton's note on the distribution of the Dartford Warbler in his 1835 volume, The Resident Song Birds of Great Britain:

This is one of the least known among the British warblers. 

It is rather larger than the common Wren but much longer by reason of its tail which is one half its length nearly. 

It is called the Dartford Warbler from having been first discovered in England near that place.

Mr. Sweet says it is  "one of the rarest of the British species of this tribe", but mentioned by Montagu as not uncommon about Kingsbridge, Devon, and in the neighbourhood of Truro in Cornwall.

It is also occasionally met with on Bexley Heath, near Dartford, Kent; also on Blackheath and on Wandsworth and Wimbledon Commons where it is said to breed in the furze-bushes.

It feeds on grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, caterpillars, ants and various other insects.

The habits of this bird are very little known.

Dr. Latham informs us several were shot, in the winter of 1783, on a common near Wandsworth in Surrey from which circumstance that author very justly observes that if it is found here only as a winter migrant

In the month of September, 1796 (says Montagu) we observed many of these birds about Falmouth in Cornwall, frequenting the furzy hills

He recalled: "We killed several from that time to  December 24 when a sudden fall of snow covered the ground for some time, driving them from that area."

It has been found, however, to breed in this country, Montagu having discovered a nest on July 17  on a large furze common. 

It was placed among the dead branches of the thickest furze, about two feet from the ground, slightly fastened between the main stems, not in the fork.

The nest is composed of dry vegetable stalks, particularly goose-grass, mixed with the tender dead branches of furze, not sufficiently hardened to be come prickly.

These are put together in a very loose manner and intermixed very sparingly with wool. 

This thin flimsy structure much resembles the nest of the Whitethroat. 

The eggs are also somewhat similar to those of the Whitethroat, but rather less, weighing only twenty-two grammes.

Like the eggs of that species, they possess a slight tinge of green and are fully speckled all over with olivaceous brown and cinerous on a greenish whiteground.   

                                     

 Wimbledon Common - former home to Dartford Warblers (photo: Doyle of London/ Wikimedia)

            

Female Dartford Warbler (photo: Vcebollada/ Wikimedia)

Early identification guide - in three volumes - expected to fetch up to £800 at auction next month

                                  

This study  of an Avocet - in slightly exaggerated pose - is one of the illustrations included in a very early identification guide: George Graves's three-volume British Ornithology: Being The History with a Coloured Representation of Every Known Species of British Birds. At that time, the tally  was a modest 144.  The three books are expected to fetch between £500 and £800 when they go under the hammer as a single Lot  at the Dominic Winter auction at Cirencester in Gloucestershire on September 2.

What did for Britain’s first Long-tailed Shrike - was it a hungry cat or was it the cold and exhaustion?

                                         

Long-tailed Shrike - this bird photographed in Sumatra, Indonesia (image: JJ Harrison via Wikimedia)

THIS summer’s  sightings of Long-tailed Shrike - firstly at  Crail in Fife, then at  Eastleach Martin, near Gloucestershire - have sparked recollections of the first British record of the species.

This was the bird that showed briefly on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides in late-October and early-November 2000.

It was  first spotted as "a bird with a long tail" on October 27 by a police sergeant, Jon Brain, who alerted a more experienced birder, Andrew Stevenson, who caught up with it as it was perched on a fence outside the local Ben Mhor stores in Benbecula.

His tentative identification was confirmed by experts from the RSPB and the Scottish Wildlife Trust who put out the word to the outside world.

Cue:  a speedy  influx of 200+ twitchers, some arriving on by private flight (at least seven flights were chartered) and some by fishing boat or by the regular Caledonian  MacBrayne ferry from Uig to Loch Addy.

Once it had been discovered, there was disappointment that the bird mostly skulked out of view within a willow bush, providing few clear views.

But this slight sense of deflation was nothing compared to the mission-unaccomplished desolation of one group who had to turn back to Uig after their boat encountered engine trouble en route through the Little Minch.

Alas, beyond the Saturday of that weekend the Kazakhstan  visitant was no longer seen prompting speculation in the Aberdeen Press and Journal newspaper that what it dubbed "the long distance flier" had become an exotic dinner for a lucky island cat.

The more realistic appraisal from the man who found the bird, Sgt Brain, was that the bird was no more likely to have fallen victim to a feline than any other bird

His reckoning was that, on the basis of its "wet and bedraggled" appearance it had succumbed to the cold.

He was quoted in the November 9 edition of the Stornoway Gazette and West Coast Advertiser as saying it looked a "bit dischuffed".

But back to the recent arrivals. 

Given the high  August temperatures in much of Britain, cold weather is unlikely to have proved a challenge for them.

The Fife bird only stayed briefly, but its Gloucestershire bird has lingered. 

It is possible that the "two" are, in fact, the same bird, but the general view seems to be that they are separate.

                                 

Was vagrant  bird 'exotic dinner' for lucky cat? How the Aberdeen Press and Journal reported the shrike's visit 

Two-hour twitch: Coombe Hill Nature Reserve, near Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

                                              

Date: August 9, 2026

Time: 9.30am - 11.30am

Weather: Sunny and very warm

Target species (which went unseen): Green Sandpiper

Star species seen: Red Kite

Other species recorded included: 

* Heron 

* Mallard

* Moorhen

* Buzzard

* Blackbird

* Chiffchaff

* Whitethroat

* Great Spotted Woodpecker

* Blue Tit 

* Long-tailed Tit

* Great Tit

* Greenfinch

* Jackdaw 

* Carrion Crow

* Woodpigeon

* Robin

* Swallow

* Housemartin

Also: Clouded Yellow butterfly, Grey Squirrel

Study in pink and black. High price expected for bird painting at forthcoming Aussie auction

This striking  oil-on-canvas study entitled  Shoalhaven Riverbank with Black Swan and Cockatoo is expected to fetch between 120,000 and 150,000 Australian dollars (£63,000 - £78,000) when it goes under the hammer next Monday August 24 at a sale to be held by Bonham's at their saleroom in Sydney. Measuring 153cm x 122cm, it was painted in 1988 by Arthur Boyd who died, aged 79, in 1999.

Apartment overlooking wader-rich Humber Estuary would be just right for birder (with a deep pocket)

 

This is the "Eagle's Nest" - an observatory feature of a three-bedroom luxury penthouse apartment with views across the wader-rich Humber Estuary to the lighthouse Spurn Point. The property in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire,  includes its own sauna. It would be great for the family of any birder with a special interest in shorebirds because these abound, particularly between August and March. Offers in excess of £440,000 are being sought by the agents, BMH (Bettles, Miles and Holland), for the leasehold which is understood to expire on January 1, 2126.  

                                                                

The penthouse is at the summit of  Eastshore on Cleethorpes seafront

                                                    

At times, there are so many flying Bar-tailed Godwit, Knot and Oystercatchers  that the view across to Spurn lighthouse is temporaily  almost obscured