Twenty years ago, before I moved to Somerset, a flock of Bewick’s swans would spend the winter months on the moor near my home. Elsewhere on the levels, flocks of several hundred could be found. Yet in the years since I have lived here, I have seen these elegant birds just a handful of times. […]
Tag: Stephen Moss
Birdwatch: little grebes reach for their muted winter wardrobe
From the depths of the reedbed comes a sound like a whinnying horse. This is no aquatic equestrian, however, but our smallest waterbird: the aptly named little grebe. Their small size and habit of skulking around the edge of ponds and lakes means these birds are easy to miss. That’s especially true here on the […]
Birdwatch: colonies hit by avian flu on Farne Islands sound warning
Britain’s seabird colonies are, in the words of the veteran conservationist Roy Dennis, “our Serengeti”. Few other places on the planet make such an assault on the senses: the sight, sound and smell of tens of thousands of birds, gathered together each summer to breed. Of all our seabird sites, none is more special than […]
Migration of bee-eaters to the UK shows that climate change is impacting wildlife
It is certain to please British birders to learn that a group of European bee-eaters has appeared in Norfolk and appears to be settling down to breed. However, the presence of these colorful birds has also raised some worries. Why? Because it is an undeniable indication that wildlife is being seriously impacted by the climate […]
Birdwatch: Moorhen
Of all Britain’s birds, few are as common and widespread, and yet so often taken for granted, as the moorhen. This humble little waterbird goes quietly about its business, eking out a life on the smallest ponds, streams and ditches, while the wider world passes it by. Not for moorhens the vast migrations of wild […]
Birdwatch: Snow bunting
“When the snowbird sings for the first time, we know that winter is finally coming to an end.” For the people of the Alaskan village of Kaktovik, a small community of native Inupiat people on the edge of the Arctic Ocean, the return of the snow bunting is a key event in the annual calendar. […]