An emergency plan is being drawn up to save the capercaillie, one of the UK’s most elusive and threatened woodland birds, after its numbers plunged. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the latest population survey found its estimated population had fallen from roughly 1,114 in 2015/16 to about 542 birds last winter, […]
Tag: Capercaillie
Extinction clock ticking for the capercaillie with less than 500 in the wild, warn experts
Capercaillie numbers have been falling for decades and despite repeated attempts to boost the population it can now only be found in the Highlands. Experts from the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) said that when surveys started in 1991, capercaillie numbered approximately 2,200 birds, spread from Argyll and Perthshire to the south and west […]
According to a new Scottish government bill, hunters will no longer be permitted to deploy packs of dogs to flush out wild animals unless they have a license
According to a new Scottish government bill, hunters will no longer be permitted to deploy packs of dogs to flush out wild creatures unless they have a license. The Protection of Wild Mammals (Scotland) Act 2002, which made fox hunting illegal, will be replaced by the Hunting with Dogs Bill. Ministers stated that it will […]
Best of the 400
So I have finally crossed the line and made the personal milestone of 400 birds seen in Britain and this has got me thinking back on a few of them and which ones I enjoyed most. Now you’d think it would be easy just by picking the rarest but it’s not that simple. One may […]
On the trail of wolves in Belarus
Dawn in the Naliboki forest: mist over the marshes and bats skittering in birch trees. Above the clearing, stars are fading into a pale sky. We’re in deepest God-knows-where in one of Europe’s largest wild forests. Zoologist Vadim Sidorovich crouches in the half-light studying the track; I’m barely breathing, so intense is the silence. A […]
Pine Martens Could Save the UK’s Red Squirrel Population
The reintroduction of pine martens in Scotland has been controversial, but data from a new study revealsa potential bonus: These cat-sized predators could help the beleaguered red squirrel to bounce back. The study, which appears this month in the journal “Proceedings of the Royal Society B,” suggests that while pine martens prey on red squirrels, […]
Tjäder
En ny natt gav mig mycket att minnas, hönor som flyger fram o åter samt stående på backen, vid ett tillfälle satte de sig i ett träd bakom mitt gömsle (naturligtvis) och plötsligt var där 6 tuppar och ändå var ”min” tupp som jag bevakar och motade bort granntuppen så han inte kom åt hönorna, […]
How hunters have become key to saving Bulgaria’s capercaillie
Surprising clatter cuts through the silence in the snowy forest shortly before sunrise. The powerful clicking sounds like a dropping Ping-Pong ball before culminating in a loud pop resembling the opening of a champagne bottle. This sound is heard clearly and far. Propped on a thick pine tree branch, with a peacock-fanned tale, relaxed wings […]