Some 63 per cent of Irish bird species are in “serious trouble” compared to almost 50 per cent globally, according to Birdwatch Ireland and RSPB Northern Ireland. Yet there was no funding in yesterday’s 2023 Budget for nature preservation in a move branded as “shameful”. State of the birds The comments followed the release of […]
Tag: Skylark
French President Macron wants to allow trapping of 110,000+ wild birds
Terrible news for wild birds in France: President Emmanuel Macron has just re-authorised horrific bird trapping practices which only have their place in history books. BirdLife’s French Partner, LPO, reports. Unbelievable but true: French President Emmanuel Macron is endorsing bird poaching! The day after the World Conservation Union’s World Congress in Marseille, where he declared […]
Glue bird traps: Macron suspends use amid EU row
French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered hunters in southern France to stop the controversial practice of trapping birds on glue-covered twigs. The suspension follows a warning to France from the European Commission that it could face legal action at EU level if the practice continued. France is unusual in Europe for still tolerating the glue […]
Turtle dove flies towards extinction as numbers halve in UK
The turtle dove, Britain’s most endangered bird, continues to plummet towards extinction, its numbers having halved over five years, according to the latest data. The turtle dove’s 51% decline from 2013 to 2017 is the most drastic of a continuing slump for a quarter of farmland bird species. However, there are signs of recovery for […]
The North Cornwall Coast
A spring day out on a North Cornwall headland when the sun is shining and the birds are starting their breeding cycle, I really can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.
POLL: Do you agree with President Macron that hunting is good for nature?
Bird protection campaigners are to lodge an official complaint with the European Union accusing France of breaking rules on hunting and trapping and failing to protect endangered species. The Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO) is using the 40th anniversairy of the EU’s “bird directive”, which outlaws the “massive or non-selective” killing of birds […]
Still waiting
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 […]
Buntings and Larks – Jebal Hamrah
Whilst birding the Jebal Hamrah pivot irrigation fields recently with Phil Roberts, we came across a huge flock of Corn Buntings. The total seen was a minimum of one hundred birds and possibly many more. They were feeding in the grassy pivot fields but a couple of times all took to the air and landed […]