Into the stratosphere! Winning auction bid for pair of extinct New Zealand birds was . . . £220,000!

Distinguished by bill shape and size - the female is on the right

BIDDING went through the roof when a cased pair of  extinct New Zealand huia came up for sale at an auction in Yorkshire.

The species is extinct  partly because of the activities of trappers who caught  birds such as  these to be stuffed and displayed in glass cases.

There are also  three hummingbirds within the display.

The last confirmed sighting of a huia is believed to have been  in 1907 although there is said to have been a credible glimpse in 1924.

At the saleroom of  auctioneers Tennants of Leyburn, the pre-sale estimate was that the birds - Lot 352 - would fetch between £15,000 and £25,000.

In the event, the price had reached an eye-watering £220,000 - with bids from around the world - before the hammer fell.

The identity of the successful bidder has not been revealed.

At the same sale, many of the other taxidermy achieved prices at the lower end of estimates or did not sell at all.

Fresh Government snub for campaign to make installation of swiftbricks mandatory in new housing developments

                    

Baroness Scott: I love my swifts, but . . . 

THE Government has snubbed a renewed plea for installation of swiftbricks in new housing developments to be made mandatory.

Instead, it says the appeal will be 'explored' - in other words, kicked into the long grass.

In the wake of a debate triggered by swift-supporting Conservative peer, Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park, the Government's spokesperson in the 'Lords,  Baroness Scott of Bybrook said: "Personally, I love my swifts, and I watch them every year. 

"I believe they are a joy to us all. 

"The Government really welcome the actions by developers that contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment. 

"We support - in appropriate circumstances - planning conditions or obligations being used to require that planning permission provides for works that will measurably increase biodiversity. 

"An example of this is the approach that Brighton and Hove City Council is taking to use conditions to promote nesting habitats for swifts."

Baroness Scott continued: "We think that further specific measures, such as swift bricks and boxes, should be explored but through national policy, not legislation. 

"We have announced a wider national planning policy review in which we have already committed to exploring the incorporation of nature into development through better planning for green infrastructure and nature-friendly buildings. 

"We are not able to support this amendment, but we look forward to working with my noble friend further as we explore this issue." 

                                         

Swiftbricks in a Barratt house on its Wigmore Park estate in New Waltham, near Grimsby

Only a replica but this 1870 'great auk' far exceeded pre-sale price estimates at specialist auction in Yorkshire

                                                                    

Probably recreated  from skins of guillemots and/or great northern divers, the replica great auk 

ONE of the talking points at a specialist taxidermy auction in Yorkshire today was a replica of a bird now long extinct.

At the Tennants saleroom in Leyburn, the re-creation of a great auk sold for £6,500 - way higher than the pre-sale estimate of  £1800-£2500.

Enclosed within an ebonised three-glass display case, measuring 58.5cm by 31.5cm by 71.5cm, the 'bird' is perched on a seashore rock, adorned with grit and sea shells, mounted above simulated sea water lapping against the rock.

There is an oil painted shoreline backdrop, featuring an anchored sailing ship and a six-oared rowing boat in motion amongst the waves.

A note in the catalogue states: "This cased example of a great auk was originally inspired by the most celebrated of  specimens - Bullock's, Papa Westray auk. 

"In 1812, William Bullock travelled to the Orkney Islands, specifically the island of Papa Westray to secure a great auk for his London museum. 

"Bullock pursued the  bird in a six-oared rowing boat, but the bird's speed was so great that the chase was ultimately abandoned.

"The following year, the auk was shot on rocks near Fowls' Crag, and was sent without haste to Bullock in London. 

"This legend has been recreated within an oil painting upon the back board to this case, depicting the row boat leaving the mother ship to pursue the prized quarry.

"In 1885 Symington Grieve wrote in his book The Great Auk or Garefowl: "Because great auk specimens were so hard to obtain (they were extinct by 1844) imitations were being produced using the skins of guillemots and great northern divers". 

"This specimen seems to have been reproduced in such a way, circa 1870."

The identity of the successful bidder has not been revealed.

Tory peer demands: Which 'idiot' is opposed to installation of swift bricks in new housing projects?

Lord Blencathra - 'no-brainer'

A CONSERVATIVE peer has hit out at the Government's apparent reluctance to make the installation of swift bricks in new housing developments a condition of planning permission.

In this week's debate in the House of Lords, former MP Lord Blencathra insisted: "Installing these bricks is an absolute no-brainer. They cost between £25 and £35.

"Last year, the big four housebuilders - just four of them, Barratt, Berkeley, Persimmon and Bellway - made profits of £2.749 billion. 

"I am sure they can afford a £25 brick for the 300,000 homes they might or might not manage to build next year." 

Continued Lord Blencathra. who is deputy chairman of Natural England: "I learned today - I hope, wrongly - that the Government may be opposed to this measure. 

"That, too, would be a no-brainer if they are. 

"I wonder where the opposition has come from. I hope they have not been lobbied by the Home Builders' Federation - the organisation which lied, lied and lied again about the Government blocking the building of 145,000 homes because of nutrient neutrality. 

"That was totally untrue. 

"Of course, housebuilders are sitting on more than one million planning applications and are land-banking until they can release them gradually and make maximum profits. 

"If that is legitimate, so be it, but let us not let them attack the Government for holding up housebuilding when it is not the Government doing it.

"I understand that, in the Commons, the Government said they could not mandate this nationally and it must be left to local voluntary discretion. 

"Housebuilding left to local voluntary discretion? 

"You cannot build a house anywhere in the country without the Government almost dictating the colour of the curtains.

"Look at the national regulations on every aspect of housebuilding: electrics; plumbing; the type of cement; the way the damp-proof course is laid; the tiles and insulation. 

"Nearly every mortal thing of importance in the house - the width of the doorways, the bannisters, the boilers you may install after 2030 - is dictated by central government, and rightly so. 

"I am not complaining about that, but I am complaining about the apparent hypocrisy if the Government I support is now saying: 'Oh, we can’t order every house to have a little brick installed because that is taking national government interference too far'. 

"If that is the case, I think that is nonsense.

"I know that some Government ministers have already installed these bricks. They have done it voluntarily, without guidance. 

"If it is good enough for some Ministers, quite rightly, to save swifts out of their own volition, then it should be quite right that the Government support a measure to impose this nationally.

"If it is the case that the Government is opposed to this, I would really like to know where that opposition came from.

"If it is true,  then some idiot - an adviser, spad or civil servant, but hopefully not a minister - has decided to oppose this. 

"In the first three years of this Government, under Michael Gove and George Eustice in environment, we made the biggest strides forward in environmental and nature protection that this country has ever seen, with the 25-year plan and the Environment Act. 

"Now we could lose that good reputation because of a trivial thing if we oppose installing a 25-quid brick in a house wall to save swifts."

Other peers also contributed to the September 6 evening debate including Lord Randall of Uxbridge whose contribution is below.

"The hour is late and, like the swifts, most of the Benches have migrated somewhere else, possibly to cavities unknown. 

"The people remaining in the Chamber probably do not need me to tell them about the marvels of swifts.

                                

Lord Randall - 'marvellous ideas'

"Whether it is dubbed or recorded, the sound of swifts overhead is always in dramas when it is summertime.

"I am sorry that we do not have more time today to discuss this issue and see where we are going, but I urge the Government to look at it. 

"I have had a briefing from house builders today with some marvellous ideas, so they are sort of onside. 

"This is something that we can really get behind because it would not cost the Government anything. 

"It would just show that this country and this Government is  nature-friendly, and I would welcome any comments from the Front Bench to that effect."

Another voice was that of  Baroness Bennett (Green Party) of Manor Castle Green.

"This is something that I have been talking about," she told colleagues. 

"I was on TalkTV, speaking with  Julia Hartley-Brewer about restoring biodiversity. 

"I happened to mention swift bricks in that discussion and the presenter said in response, “Isn’t that just a small thing? Don’t we have to do much more?”

"Of course that is true, but, if you are a swift then a swift brick is not a small thing. 

"The fact that you need somewhere to make your home and raise your young is a matter of life and death. 

"As the noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, said, there has been a 60 per cent decline in the population in the last 25 years. 

"These beautiful and utterly amazing creations of nature depend on having a place to rest and raise their young, and we are closing those spaces off.

"The noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith, also made an important point about human well-being - how much we all benefit from having swifts around and what a wonderful addition they are to our environment.

"Think about young people, such as the toddler who says, “What’s that?”, and has it explained so that they learn more. That is crucial.

"The state of our biodiversity is absolutely parlous. 

"We are one of the worst corners of this planet for nature. 

"As we heard passionately from the Benches opposite, surely the Government cannot oppose this - they cannot oppose what was said by MPs in the other place and is being said by so many petitioners.

"Please let us have some common sense here."

Next to speak was Lord Lucas (Con) who declared: "Swifts, by their nature, nest in holes in trees but took advantage of the advent of human buildings to transfer their allegiance in our direction. 

"Now in our towns, any tree with a hole in it is immediately felled as a danger to people and we are blocking up the places where swifts used to nest in buildings. 

"We need to do something about that - it is absolutely our obligation."                                           

Lord Lucas - 'symbolic act'

He continued: "Swift bricks seem to me an absolutely symbolic act. 

"We would be saying that we will start to make room for nature around us and in our habitations. 

"It would involve people in direct contact with nature, rather than nature being somewhere else where they do not have to go if they do not want to. 

"That makes this a really important symbolic advance.

"I like the proposal: it is just that you put in a swift brick. 

"There are no downsides, no penalties and no rules. You could fill it with cement a year later and no one is going to prosecute you. 

"I have got scaffolding on my house at the moment, so we are putting up some swift boxes because it is not suitable for swift bricks. 

"The best supplier I found said, “If you’re buying a swift box, why don’t you put a bat box on the back?”. 

"I looked up the regulations as to what would happen if a bat actually occupied that box, and it is ridiculous. 

"It would be tens of thousands of pounds off the value of the house, and all the regulations mean that you cannot do anything without bringing in a bat person if you have bats in a bat box. 

"I could not paint it or shift it; I could not paint around it; I could not make noise next to it. 

"The contrast between bat regulation and this proposal on swifts is stark. 

"I am not putting in a bat box - I am not bats - but I am putting in swift boxes.

Also enthusiastic was Baroness Hoey (Lab) who declared: "As the noble Lord, Lord Blencathra, said, it is common sense, and we begin to think why nobody thought of it before. 

"As a young child, I grew up loving birdwatching - watching swifts and all kinds of birds.

                     

Baroness Hoey - 'common sense'

"Knowing how much joy and pleasure that gave to me, my concern is that we could have a future generation growing up who would not see birds in the same way. 

"I say to the Minister and the Front Bench that sometimes you have to accept that you have made the wrong decision; this is an opportunity now to put that right."

Another contributor was Baroness Pinnock (Lib-Dem).

Said she: "I have an interest, as a member of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. 

"Having said that, noble Lords will be able to tell that I favour and love watching birds, and I visit the RSPB sites as often as I can because it is a joy. 

"Over the years, I have seen a decline. 

"Swifts are summer migrants, as everyone will know.                                        

Baroness Pinnock - RSPB member

"I always look forward to seeing swallows and house martins when I am out delivering for the May elections - that is when I see my first swallow or swift. 

"If it is a joy for me, it is a joy for many other people.

"Obviously I  support swift bricks -who would not? 

"I remember watching a Countryfile TV  programme about them on the BBC, and about an individual who made thousands of these swift bricks - perhaps they were swift boxes -because of his passion for that bird. 

"So let us hear what the Government have to say; it is over to them to make a decision.

"Another 'swiftie' is Baroness Taylor (Lab) of Stevenage who said: 

"We believe that specifically including swift bricks as a measure  to be incorporated in planning law, is justified because of the unique nature of these precious birds’ nesting habits. 

"They add to the biodiversity of urban areas, and I am particularly keen that we support that. 

"I grew up as a townie and the swifts and house martins were a real feature of my childhood growing up in a town. 

"Their decline has been very visible and sad to see.                                              

Baroness Taylor - 'precious' birds

"If there is anything we can do to either halt that decline or hopefully turn it around, we should certainly do so. 

"There is definitely a clear and present threat to these species. 

"We hope the Government will accept this relatively a small step which could make a world of difference to protecting our swift population.

"The noble Lord, Lord Goldsmith has our full support."

The Wryneck says: For such an experienced experienced politician, Lord Blencathra’s contribution to the swift bricks campaign is extraordinarily clumsy, not to say abusive. It is Government ministers who are holding up the project, not the Home Builders’ Federation some of whose members are known to be supportive - pro-actively so. He seeks to name and shame Barratt Homes, but this is a company that has long co-operated with the RSPB on the installation of nest cavity bricks. And, in any case, why seek to pick a fight with developers when, with more subtle coaxing, many more of them would probably come on board? Partnership is the way forward - not confrontation.

                                                

Swiftbricks in a new Barratt home - this one on the Wigmore Park estate in New Waltham, near Grimsby

Lord Goldsmith's urgent reminder to Government: 'Swifts eat mountainous volumes of mosquitoes'

                                          

In a speech in the House of Lords, Conservative back-bencher Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park this week urged the Government to introduce a measure that would make the installation of swift bricks mandatory in new housing developments. This what he said on Wednesday evening.

My Lords, I will be brief because this proposal is relatively simple and, in many respects, speaks for itself. 

Before I describe it, I will heap praise and thanks on a campaigner who is simply formidable. I am pleased that she is in the Gallery today, probably holding a swift box. 

Hannah Bourne-Taylor has single-handedly made what for many people appears to be a niche concern into a national campaign - not least by walking naked through London painted as a swift and causing quite a stir as noble Lords can imagine. 

She has turned this into a national cause. It is because of her that this campaign exists.

Back in 2002 the British Trust for Ornithology cited the loss of cavity nesting sites as the key factor in the decline of cavity-nesting urban birds. 

Since then, four species - house martins, starlings, swifts and house sparrows - have been added to the dreaded red list of species of particular concern that, crudely speaking, face extinction. 

Worst hit among them are house martins. 

When I was preparing my notes, I was going to say that there has been a 37 per cent decline, but I have since discovered that the figure is even worse at 50 per cent. 

Swifts, too, have suffered horrifically; their breeding population declined by 60 per cent between 1995 and 2020. That number continues to sink.

Despite broad agreement, not just in this place or the other place but across the whole country, that the UK requires urgent action or to introduce emergency measures to turn around these trends, the reality is that nothing of any real substance has yet been done. 

The problem, as noble Lords no doubt know well, is that sites for cavity-nesting creatures such as swifts have simply been lost. 

It is not because of evil or malign intent but because of repairs, house modernisation and even insulation - something of which we all in this House would like to see much more.

This simple proposal to include swift bricks in new builds is key.

It is not just about providing a supporting hand to a species in trouble; it is critical, indeed essential.

Modern new-build homes are simply not designed to accommodate nature. 

Swifts in particular rely completely on cavities, as noble Lords know. 

Without those, there are no safe or permanent nesting sites for them in Britain. 

Without man-made cavities in this sense, those birds have no future in this country. 

It is crazy, and something I learned only recently, that the simple swift brick is not even included in the biodiversity net gains metric.

The amendment that we are here to discuss today could not be much simpler. 

The swift brick is a zero-maintenance solution. 

It is just a brick in a wall that can be added to a building as any other brick could. 

Cheap

For a refurb or a new build, it is cheap; it costs £30 or thereabouts. 

We know that they work because, wherever they have been tried and installed, they have worked.

Surveys conducted on, for example, the Duchy estates, where swift bricks have been installed in numerous buildings, have resulted in a staggering 96 per cent occupancy rate. Even that number continues to grow.

Obviously, not all the bricks are used by swifts. I have heard that as one of the counterarguments - 'What about other creatures using these boxes?' -to which my answer is, 'So what?'.

Heaven forbid that a house sparrow might decide to use one of these swift boxes. Who would not be filled with joy at the prospect? 

It just seems to me to be such a non-argument as to almost not merit discussion.

I beseech colleagues to support a national policy to ensure installation of these magical, simple, cheap bricks in all new homes.

It will not only help counter the tragic loss of cavity-nesting birds but directly help the Government to meet what are, let us remember, legally binding targets to halt biodiversity loss by 2030. 

This measure has unanimous support -not all measures do—from ornithologists, all of whom agree and have gone to great lengths to explain that there is no downside.

By the way, swifts do not eat vegetation; they eat insects. 

They particularly enjoy mosquitoes and eat mountainous volumes of them, so there is yet another bonus to encouraging swifts in and around our homes. 

I am told that they also do not leave droppings; there is a reason for that, which I will not go into.

 Droppings

I am sure that the expert up in the Gallery will know, but they do not leave droppings underneath their nest boxes. 

They tidy up - I will tell noble Lords what they do; they eat them, I am afraid, probably to recycle the mineral content. 

I do not know why, but for whatever reason they remove them. They are very tidy, conscientious and thoughtful creatures.

Those developers I have heard from are all supportive. 

One major housebuilder, Thakeham, has actively appealed for an industry-wide commitment. 

Very recently the Irish Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss voted to include swift bricks in all new builds.

In the Netherlands, swift bricks are already installed as a mitigation measure.

There have been suggestions, and I understand where they have come from, that this should be a voluntary measure. 

I get that; no one wants excessive bureaucracy and mandates. 

But I am afraid we know that this has not worked. 

It is not through lack of caring: who does not want to see swifts flying in and around their homes and gardens? 

Who does not feel better, frankly, when they have greater proximity to nature?

                                         Urgency

National legislation is necessary because of the urgency of the situation. 

We have debated the issue over and over again; we understand that this country is in the midst of a biodiversity collapse. 

National legislation is necessary because nowhere near enough swift boxes have been installed, despite swift bricks being nationally promoted since 2019, including in guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework. 

That is not to diss the NPPF; it is a valuable piece of literature, but it has been largely ignored in the context of the issue we are discussing here today. 

A paltry 20,000 boxes have been installed at best -that is an optimistic assessment. 

District councillors and the vice-chair of the Association of Local Government Ecologists have all been clear that the current situation is not enough. 

We are simply not seeing take-up of these swift boxes. 

Of 455 local planning authorities in England, just nine have planning conditions around swift boxes, so the voluntary approach does not work.

We are asking here for something so small, so simple and so inexpensive, but something that will have a gigantic impact on these irreplaceable, iconic creatures. 

I really encourage the Government to think again about their opposition to a measure that is wildly popular and would do so much good for this country.

Parent woodpigeon tried in vain to distract and divert sparrowhawk by feigning injury

 

All quiet on the edge of a car park in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire  - or is it?

A FRANTIC woodpigeon today  feigned injury as it tried in vain to divert a sparrowhawk from eating one of its offspring.

The pigeon flapped its wings, as if wounded, hoping thereby to lure away the raptor.

But the sparrowhawk was not to be tempted. 

It disregarded the commotion and kept on plucking the feathers from its prey in readiness for a meaty meal.

After a minute or two, it flew off, the dead chick in its talons, leaving the parent distraught with anguish.

 

The woodpigeon bird on the left flaps its wings in frenzy, hoping to divert the sparrowhawk (right) 

But the sparrowhawk is not to be diverted

The parents pigeon realises all hope is gone and prepares to fly off

Flying flag for much-loved summer visitor - House of Lords set to debate compulsory swift bricks in new houses

                                

Lord Goldsmith - beating the drum for swifts

SWIFTS are back on the political agenda.

In a surprise move, Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park has tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that is currently going through parliament.

It calls for the following clause to be installed in the bill.

Swift bricks and boxes

(1) It is a condition in any grant of planning permission for new build developments greater than 5 metres in height, that there must be a minimum average of one swift brick or box per dwelling or unit.

(2) Where feasible, swift bricks integrated into walls must be installed in preference to external swift nest boxes, following best practice guidance.

(3) A planning authority may grant planning permission with exceptions or modifications to the condition specified in subsection (1) in exceptional circumstances, where possible following best practice guidance.

(4) Where a planning authority considers that there are exceptional circumstances under subsection (3), it must publish those exceptional circumstances.

(5) For the purpose of this section -

'Best practice guidance' means the British Standard BS 42021:2022;

'Swift brick' means an integral nest box integrated into the wall of a building suitable for the nesting of the common swift;

'Swift nest box' means an external nest box suitable for the nesting of the common swift.

The intervention by Lord Goldsmith - formerly a junior Environment minister - comes in the wake of a debate last month in which 12  MPs - across all parties - failed to persuade Communities Minister Dehenna Davison to introduce a similar  measure.

At the end of a Commons  debate on the subject,  she told parliamentary colleagues: "It is not something that is being considered by Government at the moment. 

"We would not want to add unnecessary additional complexity to a planning system that already faces a great deal of it."

However, this amendment provides hope. 

It should trigger a further debate, this time in the House of Lords, on the welfare of swifts - a rapidly declining species - with a good chance that it could be welcomed by peers.

A few local councils already have a stipulation that swift bricks must be incorporated into new housing developments, but it is believed that Barratts is the only large housebuilder that has adopted this practice as policy.

Lord Goldsmith - known as Zak Goldsmith  before his elevation to the peerage - has support for his amendment from two other Conservative peers, Lord Randall of Uxbridge, a former adviser on wildlife matters to Therese May when she was Prime Minister, and Baron Blencathra who is deputy chairman of Natural England.