European judges have ordered France to outlaw the hunting of songbirds using glue sticks, a practice described by campaigners as barbaric and a threat to endangered species. French hunters argued the method was traditional and justified exemption from an EU ban introduced in 1979. Until recently, the French government had successfully sought an opt-out that […]
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 […]
Within a day of arriving on the Mediterranean island of Malta on their southbound migration last August, three of 18 white storks were shot and killed by poachers. Less than two weeks later, just one of the birds was left alive. By Aug. 29, 19 days since the flock arrived, all of the birds had […]
What would you do if you encountered scores of distressed storks covered in ice lying in a snow-covered field? In Bulgaria, people have been taking them home. A cold snap in the north-east of the country has stranded hundreds of the migrating birds this week, covering their wings in ice and grounding them. “I found […]
The Fieldfare popped in this morning for one more breakfast before taking to the skies allowing the resident Blackbirds and Song Thrush back in the garden to feed. The wintering male Blackcap was joined briefly by another male and female but like the Fieldfare he defended his garden well and they quickly left without as […]
With the recent cold blast the Fieldfares have decided they like the menu on offer in my garden to the point where they have taken over. The resident Blackbird and Song Thrush are chased off as the Fieldfare defends his new short term territory whilst he ignores all the other birds. The male Blackcap has […]
We parked up at Lakenheath this morning at 6am and took the long walk out to Joist Fen. On arrival there was another guy listening and looking for DB’S Marsh Warbler which we heard as we approached and saw straight away sitting up belting out it’s full repertoire which seemed to include a little Nightingale […]
This first half of April has been fantastic, like mid-summer come early, after an early morning breeding bird survey where the highlights were a couple of Song Thrush and a Willow Warbler I spent a couple of hours at Pennington Marsh. Spring really is here and there wereBlackcap singing from the scrub, fair numbers of […]