I have thought on a couple of occasions recently what a beautiful bird the goldfinch is, and the fact that they are so commonplace these days means that they are perhaps under-appreciated. Not any more by me, after reading this depressing account
just been reading last weeks Wigan Observer where they carried a story about a robin catching fish ! wigan photographer Dave Taylor was on a trip to Castle Douglas in Scotland when he spotted a robin with a small fish in it's mouth he saw the robin return several times to a tank filled with small fish the robin jumped in caught a small fish shook it violently and flew off with it repeating the procedure several times, the photo's and story were passed to birdguides magazine and have been sold to a news agency.
Doc Brewster said
Wed Mar 9 9:53 AM, 2016
This post got me thinking about a 'recent'-ish event that I have chatted to many customers/birders about, that many didn't know had happened. The Parus major latin name for Great Tit is the only surviving 'old' latin name in the Tit family now as they have been reclassified away from all being Parus. From the current BTO list ( http://www.bto.org/about-birds/birdfacts/british-list ) the following are now correct:
Blue Tit is now Cyanistes caeruleus from Parus caeruleus
Crested Tit is now Lophophanes cristatus from Parus cristatus
Coal Tit is now Periparus ater from Parus ater
Willow Tit is now Poecile montana from Parus montanus
Marsh Tit is now Poecile palustris from Parus palustris
David Walsh said
Wed Mar 9 7:54 AM, 2016
It was nice to lift this morning's Independent from the mat and be greeted by half the front page taken up with an image of Parus minor, the Japanese cousin of our Parus major.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/birds-can-speak-in-phrases-and-warn-each-other-of-danger-study-shows-a6919876.html
-- Edited by David Walsh on Wednesday 9th of March 2016 07:56:59 AM
Keith Mills said
Mon Feb 8 12:17 PM, 2016
This morning's Daily Telegraph: The Metropolitan Police are considering the use of Eagles to bring down drones, now being used by criminal gangs. This includes drones used in the illegal drug trade. Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has been impressed with similar tactics used by officers in Holland. A Met spokesman has confirmed this interest.
Mike Chorley said
Tue Sep 22 7:12 PM, 2015
Given the inclusion of 230 plus SSSI's in the areas allocated for fracking licences, despite Governments 'promises' to the contrary, I doubt local planners will have much say anyway.
Dave Wilson said
Tue Sep 22 3:30 PM, 2015
Councils will listen, Craig, and sometimes accept advice, but the notion that "...local people decide where developments should and shouldn't go" is a blatant lie. "Mitigation" concessions, where developers pretend to be appeasing objectors, sometimes work, but more often than not, in my experience, they're half-hearted and doomed to fail. As for the Lodge Hill Nightingales, the proposal to "relocate" them near Shoeburyness, fourteen miles away across the Thames Estuary set a new record for daftness by complete dimwits. Even if a new site had been on Lodge Hill's doorstep, replacing a many centuries-old ecosystem by sticking a few saplings in the ground and probably scattering grass and flower seeds everywhere sums up the lack of nous among the real decision-makers.
Craig Higson said
Tue Sep 22 12:45 PM, 2015
Interesting quote in there in the last line of the article - mention of strict legislation around wildlife and the statement "Our planning reforms also mean councils and local people decide where developments should and shouldnt go.
Really? I think the escapade on the SSSI down Medway where the LA gave permission to build on Lodge Hill - home to a significant Nightingale population - despite advice and protests to the contrary demonstrates that the planning reforms do anything but.
David Walsh said
Mon Sep 21 10:14 PM, 2015
The Wigan Flashes got a mention in the following article in today's Independent, concerning the threat to Willow Tit habitats.
All the more reason to get those sightings submitted formally
Keith Mills said
Sun Jun 15 9:56 PM, 2014
Fascinating 2 page article in yesterday's Daily Telegraph (travel section June 14th.):
''To Berlin -strictly for birds'' Over the last decade Goshawks have apparently moved into Berlin in a big way with an estimated 90 breeding pairs spread across the city Plenty info. on flights and Birding Berlin tours and Berlin bird books!...
A nice quote ...''Few people would expect to watch a pair of them, from a café terrace in Berlin's arty Kreuzberg district''...... Sounds like my kind of birding. -- Edited by keith mills on Monday 16th of June 2014 08:22:14 PM
http://www.cntraveller.com/recommended/culture/urban-birding-london-birdwatching/
reading this it sounds like we'll be jostling for position with celebs in Horrocks Hide and doing vis mig on the moors in 2017
http://edition.independent.co.uk/editions/uk.co.independent.issue.150716/data/7134146/index.html
Shame they refer to them as "Seagulls".
In the same edition, a depressingly familiar article on extinctions.
http://edition.independent.co.uk/editions/uk.co.independent.issue.150716/data/7137516/index.html
http://edition.independent.co.uk/editions/uk.co.independent.issue.300616/data/7109756/index.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/organised-crime-finds-a-new-type-of-contraband-goldfinches-a7016676.html
This post got me thinking about a 'recent'-ish event that I have chatted to many customers/birders about, that many didn't know had happened. The Parus major latin name for Great Tit is the only surviving 'old' latin name in the Tit family now as they have been reclassified away from all being Parus. From the current BTO list ( http://www.bto.org/about-birds/birdfacts/british-list ) the following are now correct:
Blue Tit is now Cyanistes caeruleus from Parus caeruleus
Crested Tit is now Lophophanes cristatus from Parus cristatus
Coal Tit is now Periparus ater from Parus ater
Willow Tit is now Poecile montana from Parus montanus
Marsh Tit is now Poecile palustris from Parus palustris
-- Edited by David Walsh on Wednesday 9th of March 2016 07:56:59 AM
The Metropolitan Police are considering the use of Eagles to bring down drones, now being used by criminal gangs.
This includes drones used in the illegal drug trade.
Met chief Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has been impressed with similar tactics used by officers in Holland.
A Met spokesman has confirmed this interest.
Even if a new site had been on Lodge Hill's doorstep, replacing a many centuries-old ecosystem by sticking a few saplings in the ground and probably scattering grass and flower seeds everywhere sums up the lack of nous among the real decision-makers.
Really? I think the escapade on the SSSI down Medway where the LA gave permission to build on Lodge Hill - home to a significant Nightingale population - despite advice and protests to the contrary demonstrates that the planning reforms do anything but.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/willow-tit-under-threat-as-government-make-it-easier-for-developers-to-build-on-disused-mines-10510152.html
All the more reason to get those sightings submitted formally
''To Berlin -strictly for birds''
Over the last decade Goshawks have apparently moved into Berlin in a big way with an estimated 90 breeding
pairs spread across the city
Plenty info. on flights and Birding Berlin tours and Berlin bird books!...
A nice quote ...''Few people would expect to watch a pair of them, from a café terrace in Berlin's arty
Kreuzberg district''...... Sounds like my kind of birding.
-- Edited by keith mills on Monday 16th of June 2014 08:22:14 PM