WORK UNDERWAY ON CREATION OF NEW 'MITIGATION' HABITAT FOR WETLAND BIRDS

 

The site earmarked for feeding and roosting waders and wildfowl (photo: North East Lincolnshire Council)

WORK has started on creation of a dedicated 50-acre wetland habitat for wading birds and wildfowl. 

Located on the Humber Bank, just outside Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire, it will be named Novartis Ings in gratitude to Swiss multinational chemical and pharmaceuticals Group Novartis which is vacating the adjacent factory at the end of this year after a 70-year presence.

Says the company's Grimsby chief, Ian Johnson: "Novartis is delighted to leave a lasting legacy towards this important project for the environment.  

"We are enjoying watching the field transform into a wetland habitat, and the project will ensure our contribution and connection is remembered."

The site will not be a nature reserve open to the public but what is known as a "mitigation site", created to compensate for nearby bird habitat likely to be lost to industrial development.  

To be managed by North East Lincolnshire Council, it will complement another mitigation site, the 100-acre Cress Marsh, Stallingborough, created in 2018. 

Comments NELC leader Cllr Philip Jackson: " I am delighted that this second mitigation site is progressing, and would like to thank Novartis for the land."

The contract is being carried out by  Skegness-based JE Spence and Sons, who created the first Humber mitigation site, and overseen by Roger Wardle, an  expert in wetland design. His other Lincolnshire credits include Middlemarsh, near Burgh-le-Marsh. 

Because of its location right alongside the estuary, it is hoped that Novartis Ings will attract hundreds of godwits, avocets, curlews, redshanks plovers, teal, wigeon and other species including occasional rarities.

                                  

Avocets - one of the species Novartis Ings is expected to attract 

BYGONE BIRDING: SUMMER MIGRANTS HITCHED RIDE ON BORDEAUX-TO-LIVERPOOL FERRY

 

From the Bradford Telegraph, May 5, 1900

Mr H. Booth gave an account of a trip to Bordeaux during Eastertide.

In sailing from Liverpool, the voyage was very rough, and few birds except seabirds were seen. 

During the return passage, however, large numbers of summer migrants were seen, probably some of which were on their way to our coasts. 

No fewer than 18 species, some in considerable numbers, alighted on the vessel.

They included whinchat, yellow wagtail, grey-headed wagtail (this is not a British species), red-backed shrike, pied wagtail, tree pipit, whitethroat, willow wren, blackcap, swallow, sand martin, greenfinch etc.

A specimen of the whinchat, which had been killed on board by a kitten, was exhibited.

HOPES THAT NEXT-GENERATION RODENTICIDES WILL REDUCE SECONDARY POISONING RISK TO RAPTORS

                                                     

Andy Ransom - 'responsibilities to biodiversity' 

THE next generation of rodenticides will "move away from chemical-based solutions" according to Andy Ransom, the boss of UK pest control company Rentokil-Initial.

The observation came from the chief executive in response to a shareholder's question about growing concerns among naturalists that a wide range of raptors, both diurnal and nocturnal, are perishing  after eating mice, rats and other rodents that have ingested poison.

Because of commercial confidentiality, Mr Ransom declined to reveal any further information about potential new chemical-free products, nor when they might be introduced to the market.

Speaking at today's company AGM in Crawley, West Sussex, he acknowledged that some pest control firms and farmers used rodenticides in "less controlled ways" but insisisted that Rentokil operatives were trained to take the company's responsibilities to biodioversity very seriously.

"The purpose of our products is protect people and enhance their lives where they are threatened by rats or mice," he declared. "But we are founder-members of the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use and do our utmost to to reduce the likelihood of secondary poisoning of our beautiful birds of prey and other wildlife."  

DITCH-LOVING YELLOW WAGTAILS STILL THOUGHT TO BE THRIVING IN LINCOLNSHIRE COUNTRYSIDE

Find me a ditch! Yellow wagtail pauses temporarily in a ploughed field

THE Yellow Wagtail emerged as one of the star species in an informative and entertaining presentation on Lincolnshire's birds, past, present (and future).

Across Britain, many farmland specialists have been in steady decline over the past 75 years, but, in this county, the "yellowbelly" has been holding its own.

Lincolnshire is currently believed to accommodate almost one in five of Britain's breeding pairs.

In an illustrated talk, co-delivered with county recorder Phil Hyde, Lincolnshire Bird Club chairman Phil Espin commended  Motacilla Flava for its ability to find insects in the sort of arable habitats where many other species have struggled .

He attributed this to its partiality to the ditches and dykes that  are a feature of many parts of Lincolnshire's rural landscape and which provide an important source for its prey.

Other (unsung) avian heroes of the county include Grey Partridge which, though in decline, is still reckoned to represent 12 per cent of the British breeding population - the same percentage as  the ever-cheerful Reed Bunting.

Also performing remarkably well  is the Sedge Warbler whose county population (8 per cent of the British total)  may actually be on the increase.

On the other side of the coin, the sad loss to Lincolnshire of the Whinchat, Hawfinch and Redstart over the past 30 years has been well documented.

In most parts of the county, breeding Corncrake, Turtle Dove, Spotted Flycatcher, Willow Tit and even Cuckoo are now but distant memories. 

And, in retrospect, was not the Europe-wide culling, almost to the point of extirpation, of the Ruddy Duck, both  heartless and inappropriate? This drastic measure was, according to Phil Espin, by edict of a EU directive to prevent it from cross-breeding in Spain with the rare White-headed Duck.

Whether any of the above four species will ever return to breed in our county seems doubtful, but, notwithstanding, there was a prevailingly upbeat note to the talk given by the two Phils.

The Common Crane has recently returned to breed at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's reserve at Willow Tree Fen, near Spalding, while the installation of nesting platforms at its  Frampton Marsh reserve, near Boston, is an indication of the RSPB's determination to achieve similar succes with Spoonbills.

What else might we get back in the county? A lot of research and habitat creation (plus safeguarding measures) would be necessary, but Phil Espin reckons Stone Curlew and even Great Bustard are possibilities.

Phil Hyde paid tribute to ornithologists of yesteryear such as the Rev Francis Blathwayt, Caton Haigh and John Cordeaux, plus contributors over many years to the Transactions journal of  the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union whose combined chronicling of the birdlife of Lincolnshire had paved the way for the  invaluable species-recording activities carried out by many  subsequent commentators including, over the past 40-plus years, members of the Lincolnshire Bird Club. 

Phil Hyde  went on to highlight some of the rare species that, over many years, have provided a  showreel of magic memories for those birders who, through luck or fieldcraft (or both), have struck gold in Lincolnshire.

These include the likes of Pallas Sandgrouse, Lanceolated Warbler, White-billed Diver, Northern Waterthrush, White-throated Sparrow,  American Buff-bellied Pipit, Pacific Swift and Bobolink, not  forgetting the Rufous Scrub-tailed Bush Robin which, in 1963, turned up at Butlins holiday camp at Ingoldmells, near Skegness.

Happily such ornithological surprises are by no means confined to the past.

Just prior to the first Covid-enforced lockdown in 2020, the campus of Grimsby Institute was graced by the three-week presence of a Black-throated Thush which seemed relatively unperturbed by the to-ing and fro-ing of students and their lecturers, plus the admiring attentions of numerous birders who had came from all parts of the UK and even a few from further afield.

Even more recent has been the long-staying presence of another Asian species, a White-tailed Lapwing with an evident  penchant for RSPB reserves - firstly the one one just over the county border at Blacktoft Sands in Yorkshire and subsequently the one at at Frampton Marsh.

What could be the next rare bird to make its Lincolnshire debut and lift the List above the 405-mark  where it stands at present?

Melodious Warbler and Surf Scoter are reckoned to be among the front-runners, but, Phil Hyde reckons some of the speculative money should go on  a rank outsider - the Spectacled Eider.

However, for these three species and for other 'exotics', patience is the watchword. 

* The talk by Phil Espin and Phil Hyde was held prior to the annual meeting of the Lincolnshire Bird Club at the Golf Hotel in Woodhall Spa on March 22. It was partly based on the book Birds of Lincolnshire (published last year) of which they are co-authors with John Clarkson and the late Colin Casey. 

                                    

The book, published last year, that was partly authored by the two speakers

                                              

LET THEM EAT RATS! NATURAL ENGLAND'S 'DIVERSIONARY' STRATEGY FOR HEN HARRIERS

Male hen harrier - this bird was detected on the Isle of Man which is not in the licence area

NATURAL England has unveiled its 'diversionary feeding' strategy for reducing grouse chick predation by hen harriers.

It identifies the following as foods that can be provided on suitable 'feeding perches', for instance on moorland shooting estates:

* Poultry chicks

* White rats (preferably weaner rats or young rats)

* Quail

In an advice sheet to landowners and gamekeepers, it states: "You can buy these frozen. 

"Defrost the food the night before use, and prepare (for example cut open) the prey items away from the nest site to minimise disturbance.

"A one day-old poultry chick weighs 40g. A small rat weighs 160g.

"You can also use locally available food, such as rabbit and venison, cut into chunks."

NE insists:

* There must be enough food available for the duration of diversionary feeding.

* Animals killed with lead ammunition must be killed with a single shot to the head (with the head discarded), to avoid any risk of lead poisoning.

* Rodents that have, or may have, been poisoned, or found dead, must not be used to avoid the risk of secondary poisoning

* You must not give the birds live prey.

However, diversionary feeding will only be permitted by licence which neeeds to be approved by NE.

It applies only to moorland estates in the following counties:

* Derbyshire

* North Yorkshire

* South Yorkshire

* West Yorkshire

* County Durham

* Lancashire

* Cumbria

* Northumberland

The advice sheet continues: 

"Diversionary feeding must only continue for a maximum of 60 days from hatching. 

"Do not feed beyond this time because it could cause the young to stay close to the nest for longer than normal."

On perching points, it states:

"These must not be closer to the nest than 20m.

"Standard 5 foot x 4 inch square fence posts are suitable with a 12 inch long cross-piece nailed on top.

" You must construct these off-site, to minimise disturbance. 

"You should ‘bar in’ the posts by inserting a metal bar into the ground or hammer posts into the ground. 

"The installed perch must be stable, and the top of the perch should be approximately 4 feet above the ground. 

"Perches must not be placed in sensitive areas. These sensitive areas are wet, and characterised by a high cover of species such as bog mosses, low growing sedges and rushes, taller sedges and cotton grasses.

"If other nesting birds are present:

* Quickly move away from any ground-nesting birds that take flight, appear agitated or call noisily on your approach.

* Establish suitable buffer zones  around these nests and find an alternative perch site.

"You may install up to two feeding perches for each hen harrier nest to provide space for enough food for a full brood."

NE says: "The purpose of the licence is the conservation of hen harriers. 

"It is intended to increase acceptance that hen harriers and grouse can co-exist."

Photo: Courtesy Isle of Man Government

BOOK REVIEW: THE ROLE OF BIRDS IN WORLD WAR TWO - HOW ORNITHOLOGY HELPED TO WIN THE WAR

Did studying birds really help us to win the 1939-45 war?

It seems a fanciful thought, but author Nicholas Milton makes an excellent proposition for it in a new book, his second, which has just been published.

He looks favourably, for instance, on the theory that R.J. Mitchell's design of the Spitfire fighter aircraft was inspired by his observations of the wings of gulls and gannets and their effortless mode of flight.

Milton also recounts entertainingly - and in considerable  depth - the role of homing pigeons in delivering crucial messages, sometimes from servicemen in life-threateningly dangerous situations.

The book's title is The Role of Birds in World War Two - How Ornithology Helped to Win The War.

It includes a fascinating early chapter in which he assesses the morale-raising significance of certain popular wartime songs, particularly those with the lyrics  There'll Be Bluebirds Over The White Cliffs of Dover and A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.

In truth, the author does not have sufficient material to stay on message for the whole book, so he supplements his narrative with accounts of prominent wartime ornithologists.

The contributions of some, such as Peter Scott and photographer Eric Hosking, have lived on long after their lives ended, but he 'rescues' the ornithological legacies of many others whose work has largely been forgotten.

Into the latter category falls Viscount Alanbrooke whose brilliant strategic input proved famously invaluable to Winston Churchill throughout the war.

At times  of extreme mental stress, Alanbrooke ensured he retained his mental equilibrium by studying and cine-filming birds such as hobbies, hawfinches and marsh tits whenever the opportunity arose.

As he described birdwatching  in his diary: "It was like rubbing Aladdin's lamp - I was transported to a fairyland and returned infinitely refreshed and recreated."  

A word, too, for the book's excellent illustrations and the superb jacket design by Paul Wilkinson.

The Role of Birds in World War Two is published at £25 by Pen and Sword and is available wherever books are sold.

Jim Wright

FIVE-MINUTE TWITCH: LAZAAT HOTEL, COTTINGHAM, EAST YORKSHIRE

                                                                 

 Location: Lazaat Hotel, Cottingham, East Yorkshire

Date: April 21, 2022

Weather Sunny and warm

Target species: Firecrest

Star species: Blackcap (singing)

Other species recorded: Chiffchaff, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Carrion  Crow, Rook, Chaffinch, Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Robin, Wren, Blackbird.