TRINIDAD NIGHTMARE FOR WILDLIFE TRUST CHAIRMAN

THE chairman of Lincolnshire Wildife Trust has  revealed  how a stomach bug almost cost him his life on an exotic  bird photography holiday overseas.

At an RSPB group meeting  in Cleethorpes, Geoff Trinder described how he suddenly collapsed and cracked open the back of his head after the bug struck.

He was rushed to a Trinidad hospital where doctors and nurses were horrified not just by the extent of the head wound but also by the downward spiral of his blood pressure.

But, now fully recovered, neither Geoff nor his wife, Chris, were put off by the mishap. Back in January, they flew out to India for a similar wildlife photography holiday - one of 45 since he retired from his job as an art teacher.

An audience of about 50 in the Corpus Christi hall on Grimsby Road  enjoyed a fascinating illustrated talk on some of the wildlife of this remarkable country.

Although Geoff acknowledged that it is generally more rewarding and less expensive to seek out birds on your own initiative, they decided to engage guides for the obvious reasons that local experts would know  what species to look out for and where to find them.

Among the scores of birds  the couple saw were: Snake eagle, brown hawk owl, Siberian rubythroat, bluethroat,  copper barbet, white-eared bulbul, rufous treepie,  spot-billed duck and various shrikes and plovers.

But the highlight was a 40-minute encounter with a family of magnificent tigers which came within feet of the open-top vehicle in which they were passengers.

"It  blew me away,"enthused Geoff. "To see one of the big cats so close-up in the wild was magical - probably one of the most memorable experiences of my life."

Geoff is not a fan of towns or cities, but he and Chris made a point of visiting the Taj Mahal which he described as "probably the most beautiful building" he had ever seen.

On the downside, the couple were horrified to be told that any unaccompanied woman who went out in Mumbai after dark "would be raped".

The urban traffic was so congested, noisy and dangerous as to be described by Geoff as "unnerving and ridiculous".

Particularly disturbing was to see some individuals  resting their heads on the road, as if it were a pillow, as vehicles zoomed past just inches away.

Although he did not find India as poverty-stricken as when he visited Madagascar on a previous holiday, there were other disturbing sights - including that of pigs roaming urban streets to forage on garbage and women washing their clothes in filthy river water.

Because of hygiene concerns, the couple decided against eating any meats, salads or cold vegetables, sticking with cooked vegetables throughout.

They also took with them plentiful supplies of anti-bacterial gel  to disinfect their hands, especially after coming into contact with coins or notes - hard currency being notorious for spreading bugs.

Geoff said he regarded it as important not to b e a slave to his camera on the holiday

 "It doesn't make sense to spend all your time looking at that little rectangle at the back of it ,"he observed. "Sometimes you have to put it to one side and enjoy the fuller picture."

When he was taking pictures, he sometimes rested the long lens on a beanbag on the roof of the vehicle so as to keep the camera stable if he was not using a tripod.

The couple have been to Africa no fewer than 12  times, but would they go to India again?

"Probably not," said Geoff. "Our next visit will be to Romania."

* Pictures below courtesy of Wikipedia Commons and the following photographers:

:Siberian rubythroat: JJ Harrison

:Rufous treepie: Munish Jauhar

:Coppersmith barbet:Jay Dalal5

  

Siberian rubythroat

Rufous treepie

Coppersmith barbet

SPRINGWATCH BOSSES BROKE BILL ODDIE'S HEART

AFTER a bust-up with other members of the team, ornithologist and entertainer Bill Oddie was dropped as presenter of the TV shows, Springwatch and Autumnwatch, in favour of Chris Packham, a parting of the way that still causes him anguish.

Although he says he has "never been able to work out" why the Beeb dispensed with his services, he acknowledges that he had become difficult to work with - largely because of a mental condition, bipolar disorder, which subsequently twice resulted in his being admitted to a private clinic for his own safety.

Now fully recovered, the 71-year-old has published his latest book, Unplucked  - an entertaining insight into some of his wildlife-watching experiences around the world.

One particularly memorable occasion came in Portugal when he saw the following  exotic species perched  on the same length of power line - bee-eater. woodchat shrike, southern grey shrike, hoopoe, roller, red-rumped-swallow and azure-winged magpie - plus a little  owl on the wooden pylon holding up the wire.

His description of the moment: "Electric!"

Another time,  he and two birding colleagues were delayed at the airport in Ethiopian capital, Addis Abbaba, because widespread  civil unrest was disrupting aircraft flights into and out of the country.

The trio decided to fill in the time by birdwatching just outside the confines of the airport - but were intercepted  by armed guards and ordered back into the building at  gunpoint.

Determined not  to miss out,  they decided to use the men's WC as an impromptu bird observatory, spotting many rare species - including white-collared pigeon, brown-rumped seedeater and wattled ibis  -  through an open window near the ceiling.

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Not that the experience was particularly comfortable for Oddie who, as is well known,  is of short stature.

He recalls the occasion well. "I had no choice but to stand on the rim of the lidless toilet, steadying myself by grabbing the cistern and risking pulling it off the wall.

"On several occasions, when I lost balance, I grasped at the chain which saved me from slipping down the pan but, of course, kept flushing."

Oddie does still occasionally make cameo appearances on TV shows and was invited to be a contestant on I'm A Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!

He says he declined because the prospect  of "chewing live grubs and grasshoppers or crunching through barrels of cockroaches" was not his  idea of animal welfare

"I find the idea of any living thing being sacrificed for laughs on a TV show - what's the word - distasteful."

There was also an invitation to be a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, to which he gave more serious consideration  until he was dissuaded by his wife and three daughters, one of whom is a dance teacher and who warned him the hard work could kill him as he was not particularly fit.

Bowing to their advice, he states: "Imagine me in a sky blue silk trouser suit with a neckline plunging to the waist revealing a belly that could compete with a Christmas pudding . . . actually I wouldn’t imagine that if you want to sleep tonight!"

Unplucked is published by Bloomsbury at £14.99.

WHY ARE BLACK BIRDWATCHERS A RARE SPECIES IN BRITAIN?

WHY are there so few black or ethnic birders in this country (and probably the rest of Europe)?

The query cropped up in one of the talks at last month's British Bird Watching Fair at Rutland Water.

During  a question-and-answer  with birder, author  and broadcaster, David Lindo, who is himself of Jamaican  descent, a fellow (from Southampton)  who was also of West Indian descent, was blunt.

"How can we get more people like us interested in birds and birding?"he asked. "Why aren't more coming out from the ghetto?"

The questioner  went  on to make the point that, in Africa, many of the safari park guides and rangers are black. They speak authoritatively on wildlife and conservation issues.

His comment was borne out by many of the trade stands in the marquees at the fair. They were variously being manned by Africans, Asians and West Indians, all keen to publicise and promote holidays in their respective countries.

David Lindo reflected for  few moments but was unable to come up with an explanation except to confirm that black birders were few and far between.

Until he was well into adulthood, he himself mostly kept quiet about his interest even though it stretched back to early childhood - largely because he feared he  would be singling himself out for derision.

"And you couldn't get a girlfriend for love nor money," he recalled. "You couldn't let on about your interest until she was  hooked!"

In his fascinating book, The Urban Birder, Lindo  says more about the subject.

When his parents generation arrived from the West Indies in the 50s and 60s,  most came from rural backgrounds and had "strong relationships with their  native flora and fauna".

But once they arrived in Britain's cities, "their survival priorities immediately kicked in".

Lindo writes: "I feel that, in those days, newly-arrived immigrants were convinced that if they ended up in a quaint country village they would have been gasped at, racially abused and chased out of town by Alf Garnett-type locals.

"Forget about a stroll in the countryside to take in the chorus of yellowhammers and skylarks - having a house party or chilling with mates were the only downtime  options."

When his own interest in birds in slipped out at his school, he says he was "especially ridiculed by some of my black brethren who felt I had let the side down".

He continues: "Some of the more threatening boys accused me of being a coconut - black on the outside and white on the inside.

"That really hurt - this early experience left me wary of exposing my interest to other black people well into adulthood."

Nowadays, however, it is a different story - he flies the flag for birds and birding to whomever he meets, whatever their race, colour or creed.

In his talk at the birdwatching fair, he claimed  too much discussion about wildlife tended to involve "conservationists talking to conservationists".

He said: "Many, if not most, inner city people see the countryside as boring -  I aim to bring the countryside into the city. I try to be a conduit betwen the experts and non-experts.

"Lots of townspeople are completely unaware of the wealth of birdlife around them until you point  it out to them - then they often become fascinated."

Lindo's own favourite bird is the ring ousel, and, to this day, he still recalls with excitement seeing his first one on his local patch, Wormwood Scrubs, near the prison of the same name.

"I've seen many since because the site is on their migration path,"he said. "But that first one blew my mind!"

One bird that Lindo tends to dislike is the ring-necked parakeet  which has colonised many parts of London and the South-east.

When he was giving a talk once at the prison, an inmate asked him what he thought should be done about the parakeets now that they had become so plentiful.

To laughter from his audience, he replied: "Send them all back!"

***

STAYING with Lindo at the birdwatching fair, he also took a swipe at developers who have long eyed the Scrubs, which is currently designated a park, as a potentially valuable area of  real estate.

Describing the threat to his patch, he likened developers to mosquitoes.

"However many you swat, many more come back,"he declared. "They want to metropolitanise the area."

Lindo was particularly critical of London's mayor, Boris Johnson, who is encouraging these
aspirations .

"He's humungus,"he continued. "He keeps changing his position - you can never pin him down."

The session was hosted by another high-profile birder and author, Stephen Moss, who Lindoonce approached for advice about branding himself as an urban birder.

Back came the reply: "Don't bother - Bill Oddie's got the market sewn up!"

BUTCHER BIRD MAKES ITS LARDER IN CLEETHORPES

Diminutive - but both fierce and intelligent

A RED-backed shrike which spent the whole of August Bank Holiday (and longer) in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, attracted plenty of interest.

Its chosen habitat was an area of scrubland, thought to be owned by ports company ABP, on the coastal side of Blundell Park - home of Grimsby Town FC.

Judging by its plumage coloration, it was probably an adult female or a juvenile.

The bird was first detected by John Nelson who has a history of coming up with gems - including great grey shrike and white-spotted bluethroat - on this particular patch which he knows well.

Subsequently, the sighting was posted on the website of  Lincolnshire Bird Club by a member, Dave Bradbeer.

Although smaller than a starling, few  birds have as fearsome a reputation as the red-backed shrike.

Also dubbed  the "butcher bird", it sometimes impales its prey - usually insects such as grasshoppers but sometimes small birds or rodents - on a  thorn known as a "larder".

So it was with this particular bird.

As perching points, it mostly seemed to favour hawthorn, buddleia, mountain ash saplings or one of the security fence concrete stanchions on the edge of the neighbouring  factory - but never the buckthorn which is widespread on the site.

 Then, at 11.20am on September 2, the shrike  was spotted in flight with what appeared to be a large insect in its bill. Moments later, it temporarily settled low down in the bush of a wild rose before flying off.

Subsequent inspection of the bush revealed a bumble bee impaled, back first, on a thorn.

The incident was a reminder of  the intelligence of the species - not only its save-it-for-later feeding behaviour but also its capacity to remember the location of its larder.

Soon after 5pm the same day, the thorn "larder" was again inspected - the bee’s corpse had gone.

***

Only one or two pairs of red-backed shrikes are thought to nest in the UK, and the Cleethorpes bird will probably have blown over from the continent on its migration to tropical or southern Africa.

 But writings of yesteryear reveal them once to have been so plentiful that they were quite regularly trapped, kept in cages as  pets and sometimes shown at bird exhibitions.

Writing in 1909, ornithologist and  trapper Sumner Birchley  describes them as "generally common" in southern and midland counties, especially  Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Berkshire.

He wrote: "In a rough hedge surrounding a large meadow, I knew of no less than five nests.

"I had many a good catch, but not before, in most cases, having had  taste of their formidable bills, often fetching blood, so great was their pinching power."

Mostly Birchley  would use a net to trap the shrikes, but on one occasion he resorted to using sticky lime on a twig from which, after perching, one  luckless catch  was unable to break free.

He continued:"The result was marvellous for he was caught in an instant, but I am sorry to say he lost his tale  in the melee."

As well as being illegal, such conduct now would be regarded as barbaric  and unethical. Even the though of it is enough to bring a shudder to the spine.

But times were different then. It is just possible that Mr Birchley even thought he was doing the shrike a favour in providing it with food and board  - albeit the accommodation being  a tiny cage in a shed in his garden. 

* Photo, above, of red-backed shrike by Pierre Dalous via Wikipedia)

Reached via railway crossings at  Fuller Street or Suggitts Lane, the scrubland  is close to Blundell Park whose floodlights are seen in the  background

Another view of the site - this time with a factory backdrop

The wild rose bush where the shrike made its larder

The impaled bumble bee - it was probably consumed later on the day it was caught

PRECARIOUS FUTURE FOR LINCOLNSHIRE'S NIGHTINGALES

Nightingale - a short-lived species

NIGHTINGALE expert Graham Hopwood was in good form when he gave a talk on this iconic bird to a meeting of the Grimsby and Cleethorpes  branch of the RSPB.

He started his presentation by suggesting  that the 60 or so attendees at the Corpus Christi church hall on Grimsby Road might like to  close their eyes during  the recording he played of a bird in full voice.

He apologised that the volume - via a laptop computer -  was not louder, joking that he should have brought with him a ghetto blaster!

 Midway between the size of blackbirds and robins (to which they are related), nightingales are summer visitors from Ghana and other parts of West Africa, reaching England in April.

Males singfrom the time of their arrival until mid-June.

Alas, not only has their specialied  habitat of really dense woodland scrub almost disappeared in Lincolnshire but the south of the county is  at the northern edge of their breeding range (though it is conceivable this may expand through climate change).

According to Graham, the nightingale  population of England (it is not found or heard in Scotland or Wales)  has declined by as much as 90 per cent since 1960, making it a very rare bird, particularly  outside certain favoured parts of South Suffolk, Kent and Surrey. 

The 1980 Lincolnshire Bird Report, records some 100 singing males in Lincolnshire, but, by 2012, that figure had plummeted to 34 at most.

There is now only a single place in Lincolnshire where three or four pairs nest -  Whisby Nature Reserve, on the outskirts of Lincoln, where Graham is assistant warden, employed by the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Since taking up the appointment 11 years ago, he has been diligently tracking the specific territories of Whisby's singing nightingales, monitoring their numbers and doing everything possible to oversee the creation of ideal nesting habitat - notably by replacing sycamore trees with thickets of really dense blackthorn and hawthorn interspersed with wild rose, bramble and nettles.

 Despite his best efforts, there is no guarantee that the reserve's nightingales have a long-term future. The population may not be sufficiently large to sustain itself, and the gene pool is unlikely to be enriched because there is no other known breeding presence of the species within 40 miles.

The nightingale is also a relatively short-lived bird - the average lifespan being no more than three years.

 Graham revealed that one of his biggest bugbears at Whisby was  the irresponsible behaviour  of a surprisingly large number of dog owners who disregard notices asking them to keep their pets on leads.

 "I like dogs,"he said. "But the attitude of some of their owners makes my blood boil.

"I plead with dog owners but many take not the slightest bit of notice. They say their dogs would never harm wildlife.

"The fact is that an out-of-control dog - spaniels tends to be the worst - can prompt a hen nightingale to leave her nest. And a vacated nest is one whose eggs are liable to fall victim to a predator."

In theory, nightingale friendly-habitat could be created in other Lincolnshire nature reserves or country parks, but such an initiative  would probably be futile - there are simply too few nightingales, and the disturbance they would face  would be colossal.

Happily, the species is common in Mediterranean Europe where the birds are generally more conspicuous and less demanding in their habitat requirements than their English counterparts.

Bizarrely, those nightingales that come to our shores seem to take on the characteristics of English people - they become retiring, reserved  and less extrovert than their Mediterranean counterparts!  

Photo: Carlos Delgadio, via Wikipedia

RELIEF AS WINDFARM PLAN IS WITHDRAWN

A CHANGE in Government policy appears to have scuppered plans for a wind farm of up to six turbines to be developed at a sensitive birdlife site off the A52 road between Skegness and Wainfleet.

Truro-based REG Windpower Ltd had pinned its hopes on securing the  backing of East Lindsey District Council for its controversial proposal on land adjacent to Coddingtons Yard off Croft Bank.

But the firm has decided to pull the plug on the project - at least for the time being - following the announcement that henceforth Whitehall is to pay greater heed than in the past  to local objections.

Subsidies are also due to be reduced for wind farm ventures.

A terse note to East Lindsey councillors - submitted in advance of the planning meeting last Thursday, when the application was due to be discussed - stated: “This application has now been withdrawn in the light of recent changes to onshore wind planning in England.”

The withdrawal will delight not just the scores of local objectors  but also  groups such as Natural England, The RSPB and the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust which had variously expressed misgivings about the potential impact on bats and birds.

The site is favoured, particularly in winter, by uncommon species of wild swans, geese, ducks and waders. Marsh harriers also frequent the area.

There had been a worry that the wind farm would have both undermined attempts to encourage a breeding return for lapwings and posed a collision hazard for nighttime migrants, including geese.

The link to the RSPB’s comments on the proposal is: 
http://publicaccess.e-lindsey.gov.uk/online-applications/files/155698B1FD377F801324B3FFB3ACDDD8/pdf/S_039_01184_12-RSPCA_COMMENTS-3856141.pdf

BIRDS OF THE SNOWY NORTH

CLEETHORPES played host to the “premiere” of an illustrated talk - on “birds of the snow” - by one of Britain’s top birders.

At a RSPB meeting at Corpus Christi community centre, Graham Catley, a consultant ornithologist and wildlife photographer, recounted his winter travels - some of them spiced with more than a hint of danger - in remote parts of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Canada.

He brought back with him not just special memories but superb photographs of such species as nutcracker, pine grosbeak, Arctic redpoll, Siberian tit and black-capped chickadee and his personal favourite, the snowy owl.

Sometimes temperatures were as low as minus 28 degrees, and on one occasion, after waiting in snow too long for one particular rarity, he was disconcerted to find himself totally numb from the knees down.

“I think I overdid it by at least an hour on that occasion,” he said wryly. “But you don’t get good bird photographs unless you’re prepared to suffer!

“It brought it home to me that British winterwear  is not  adequate in those sorts of conditions - you need specialist gear for Arctic-type weather.”

When he found the nearest café, Graham made ordering food and drink the second priority - the first was to pull off boots and socks and de-freeze in front of a radiator.

On one excursion, he and his two companions decided to take a road trip to a top birding habitat some 600 miles north of Helsinki.

At times, they drove as far as 65 miles without seeing another car - just reindeer!

Graham Catley - superb photographs

 “Even with car heater on, our breath froze on the inside of the windscreen,”he recalled.

But it was all worth for his stunning portfolio of photographs which sometimes had his Cleethorpes audience literally gasping with delight.

Modestly, Graham attributed the shots not to his own skill and patience but to the purity of the northern light.

Unfortunately, he missed out on seeing a hazel hen (though he saw a dead specimen on one road), but at various locations, he caught up with such beauties as northern shrike, Siberian jay, pygmy owl, azure tit and the increasingly rare Steller’s eider whose numbers have mysteriously plummeted by 85 per cent over the past 35 years.

Graham said he was endless impressed by how Nordic log cabins remained warm thanks to their triple-glazing and reindeer-skin covered seats and to being erected on stilts.

“Even with a small electric convector heater, a temperature of 20 deg was maintained,”he said. “In this country, we’ve got a lot to learn about insulation from the Scandinavians.”

During question time, a member suggested that some of Graham’s photographs would make excellent Christmas cards - a comment endorsed by RSPB Grimsby branch branch group leader, Terry Whalin, who insisted: “I am sure there would be a market.”

Graham’s photographs  can be viewed on his blog: http://pewit.blogspot.co.uk/