A spate of baffling swan deaths is strongly suspected to be caused by a virulent new strain of avian flu sweeping across Britain. Dying swans were found spinning in circles and discharging blood from their nostrils on Ulverston canal, Cumbria. Swan rescuers have taken in more than 25 dying birds in Worcestershire and nine swans […]
About 60 greylag geese were shot and killed at the national training centre for England football teams from 2018 to 2019 to “preserve safety” because they were defecating on the pitches. The Football Association said the birds – which it shot after obtaining a licence to kill – also left large amounts of excrement in […]
It has been four months since I last published a blog. I have been out of action following further hip surgery. I am now bionic having had two new hips since July 2018!! I am making a good recovery and am now able to drive again. This has meant that at long last I have […]
Despite afternoon temperatures reaching +6C, overnight frosts and thick snow and ice means that there are very few signs of spring. Apart from a couple of scouts, finches and thrushes have yet to arrive and that is no surprise as there would be no food for them to find. It is still a long way […]
The government’s conservation watchdog has issued licences to destroy 170,000 wild birds, eggs and nests, including rare and declining species such as curlews and swifts, in the past five years. Natural England has given permission to kill birds of more than 70 species, or have their nests and eggs destroyed. These include peregrine falcons, barn […]
The New Year was spent in England with birding definitely not on the menu – I was on holiday. Back in Norway I started my 2017 birding with a much needed walking and public transport tour of Oslo yesterday where highlights were the Shag (which hadn’t been reported since 14 Nov although I don’t think […]
Species photographed on my local patch in Germany included: Red Kite, Black Kite, Black-necked Grebe, Greylag Geese, Long-tailed Tits nest building, two Long-tailed Tits completing their new nest, Coal Tit, Marsh Harrier, Peregrine Falcon and Goshawk. Black-necked Grebes
MORE than 700 greylag geese are to be shot in the Outer Hebrides and turned into burgers in a bid to stop the birds ravaging crofters’ crops. The three-year pilot project to manage the goose population of Lewis and Harris – approved by Scottish Natural Heritage – is activated today. The trial aims to reduce […]