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Blog post: Perfect partners in a GREAT British Day Out

Blogger: Adam Murray, Communications Officer

What makes the perfect partner? Now do not fret I am not going to get all gushy about how great my wife is, my better half, the wind beneath my wings, the Ying to my Yang. This month on our blog we have been looking at partnerships and it got me thinking about this question of the perfect partner.

Some of the answers came to me on a blustery weekend walk with my Little Chief & my wife, Abi. I don’t know about you but our family day revolves around food and what better way to talk about partnerships than food related interludes and what (in the words of my Dad) “eats well together”.

We started off early with a Sausage Bap & Cup of Tea at RSPB Titchwell Marsh. Here we spotted many usual suspects and made our way to the beach where the Little Chief took his first sustained steps and found every razor clam shell and pebble totally fascinating.

After finally toddling our way back via my handy work at the Parrinder hide we drove along the coast to Holkham. Here we began the peaceful forest walk to Wells-Next-the-Sea which we had been meaning to do for ages. This is when the blustery weather turned into soggy drizzle, the sort of rain that doesn’t seem to wet until later you realise you are wet through to your pants. We were lucky enough though to see evidence of one our favourite beasties.

Finally we got to our destination and filled up on the Great British tradition of Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas. With the 3 mile walk back past the old dunes in the rain we knew that we were well deserving of a little bit of sweetness so topped up our reserves with locally produced Mint & Choc Chip Ice-cream.

There is nothing more satisfying than a big stomp in the great outdoors with your loved ones. Even when we were wet through to the bone, a cheeky smile from my little one, an encouraging word in my ear from my wife, and a touch of Dad-humour from me, got us through to the end of the day. Now that in my eyes is a perfect partnership – team work.

Therefore, in answer to my original question, I think the way Kate describes a great partnership here
is spot on; “The trick is involving someone who does have the highest level of expertise. Nature is in real trouble and if we are going to save it then we all need to work together. The more we do this, pooling expertise and resources, the more we’ll achieve”.

So whether you are a Great British food combo, a family team or conservation partnership, all are better as a whole rather than as individuals. Here at the RSPB in the East we look forward to working with more partners and seeing what extra things we can “bring to the party”, only this way can we meet our goals of saving nature by 2020
.

Photo Credit: Titchwell at Sunset by Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)

Photo Credit: Thames Estuary Furturescape by Eleanor Bentall (rspb-images.com)

P.S. For those curious about how we finished off our culinary daily delights we ended with that other perfect British partnership of Chicken Tikka Masala & Peshwari Naan
Blog post: Skydancing Schools: Part 2

What a busy couple of weeks I’ve had! Bouncing here there and everywhere, colouring-in and cutting out, painting, gluing, sticking and crafting... and that was just the prep work! Part of the fun of working with primary schools has to be that you get to be a kid again yourself. I sometimes have to remind myself that yes, playing with puppets, story-telling, make-believing, dressing-up and all those messy, sticky arts and crafts do actually count as “work”! Honestly, it’s a tough life.

Of course, despite the appearance of frivolity, at the core of all the fun and games we are still delivering some key educational messages: hen harriers are beautiful, amazing birds; the moorland landscape is a unique and special place; hen harriers are an integral part of that landscape and while moorland has many uses, we all have a responsibility to look after it for people and for wildlife.

Just last week, I visited a school in North Tynedale which we had previously engaged with in 2008, the last time that hen harriers nested successfully in the local area. The school still had their “adoption” certificate hanging on the wall from when the children named all the chicks and followed their progress from hatching to fledging. Four years later, one boy, who had been in the Reception class at the time and had now reached the grand old age of eight and one quarter, was enthusiastically telling me almost everything there is to know about hen harriers, without so much as a prompt! The information had obviously stuck.

Now this boy clearly had a particular interest in birds and wildlife, and it’s fair to say that every child we work with won’t grow up to be the next David Attenborough. But whether they grow up to be teachers, gamekeepers, business owners, conservationists or even IT consultants, as long as they carry with them the knowledge that hen harriers are a beautiful and integral part of our upland heritage, deserving and in need of our protection, then perhaps we’ll have a future for these birds after all.
Blog post: Keats, nightingales and a 5000 home development! It's all in a day's work for Conservation Officer Sophie Flax.

“That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.”

Ode to a nightingale
John Keats (1795-1821)

There’s no bird that carries the song of summer quite like the nightingale.

Nightingales have been arriving back in their UK breeding grounds over the last couple of weeks, to our collective delight!

Small plain brown birds, sitting only slightly larger than a robin, with a broad tail, nightingales are not much to look at. However, hearing their rich, mellifluous song ring out from an unassuming thicket or a patch of dense scrub, it is easy to see why the nightingale has been the poet’s bird of choice for centuries.

The nightingale song is incredibly powerful. They are the masters of the dawn chorus, and sing during the night too, giving them their name. They are, however, notoriously difficult to spot.

And with nightingale numbers falling by a massive 60% in the last 15 years, it is getting even more difficult to spot a nightingale.

Their decline has been attributed to a number of things, habitat loss, changes in habitat quality, deer grazing, and impacts experienced by nightingale on their migration route and in sub-Saharan Africa where they spend the winter months. Nightingales are ground-nesting birds, so as well as the direct loss of habitat, nightingale populations can be impacted by recreational activity and cat predation in their breeding grounds.

Breeding nightingales are now mostly limited to south of the Severn-Wash line and east from Dorset to Kent, the highest densities found in the south east: Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent and Sussex.

You may have heard about Chattenden Woods SSSI in North Kent, where the woods and surrounding scrub supports more than 1% of the UK population of nightingale. The nightingales there are threatened by an urban development of 5,000 homes.

We have been stepping up for nature, working to ensure this population is protected. Many of you have also stepped up, writing to Medway Council voicing your concerns about the potential impacts of this development on the nightingales.

If you've never heard a nightingale sing - or even if want to enjoy it again - some RSPB reserves which are particularly good for nightingales include: Pulborough Brooks in West Sussex, and Blean Woods, Northwood Hill & Cliff Pools which are all in Kent.

Photo: Nightingale, by John Bridges (rspb-images.com)
Blog post: Winds of change?

The debate about windfarms is heating up again.   Earlier this year, 100 Tory MPs wrote to David Cameron
calling for a cut in subsidies to onshore wind farms and last week Donald Trump appeared in front a Scottish Parliamentary Committee complaining that wind farms (not golf courses on SSSIs) will destroy Scotland.

LIke the rain, this is a public policy debate that will just not go away.

I remember soon after my arrival at the RSPB in 2004 that two representatives of the renewable industry were (jokingly?) overheard issuing death threats to my predecessor given his and the RSPB's views about windfarms. We had the temerity to oppose windfarms which would cause damage to wildlife.

Three years ago, we received a similar backlash when we published a report
which outlined ways in which the planning system could evolve to enable more wind farms to be built in ways that did not harm to wildlife.

In the intervening years, many colleagues have been caught in the cross-fire attacked by those who want us to oppose developments which pose no problems to wildlife and those who do not want us to oppose developments that do.

This can be wearing, but I rarely hear a complaint from staff working tirelessly on the frontline (often in the communities) of these developments.  And here's a little secret - we have lost members from both sides of the argument.

But, despite this pain, we will continue to do what we think is right both to protect wildlife and to tackle climate change.

Our policy is clear.

We think that climate change is the greatest threat to wildlife and that unless we take action to cut greenhouse gas emissions quickly, a third of land-based species will be committed to extinction.

We have supported successive governments' targets to reduce these emissions in line with the science. We have argued that this demands a revolution in the way that we use and generate energy. This means a massive reduction in the amout of energy we use and a significant increase in the amount of renewable energy.

But we want this energy revolution to take place in harmony with the nature environment which means that we want to ensure renewable developments do not cause needless harm to wildlife.

This policy has guided our input to debates about bioenergy, barrages and of course windfarms and is informed by the emerging science about the impacts of renewable energy on wildlife. This includes research published recently
which showed that moorland breeding waders are displaced by wind farm construction and that the real threat for some species is not from the turning blades of the turbine itself, but from the construction work which happens before they are even switched on.   The study did not focus on birds of prey or migrating swans and geese, where collision with turbine blades is more often a damaging impact of wind farm development.

The policy has also guided our commitment to reduce our own carbon footprint. We have, for nearly a decade, sought to reduce our emissions from business travel and from our estate. I am proud at what we have achieved and am delighted to have been able to announce ten days ago our intention to build a wind turbine at our Headquarters
.

We’ve always supported taking power from the wind, waves, the tides, the ground, and anything else that can justifiably be labelled as a renewable energy source that doesn’t damage the environment.

But we know there are some proposals out there – like the Lewis windfarm or the 2008 proposal for a barrage from Cardiff to Weston across the river Severn – that don’t meet sensible environmental standards. Based on the available science, we believe they'd harm the environment and are not essential in the fight against climate change - there are more environmentally benign solutions. And for this reason, we’ll continue to oppose them robustly, and other developments like them.

The statistics tell a story - from 2006-2010, we commented on 1288 wind farm applications and upheld objections to about 55 (4.3%).

If any renewable energy proposal threatens sensitive wildlife through its operation or construction, we’ll oppose it. But if it won’t have an adverse impact on the wildlife around it then – just as we always have – we won’t stand in its way. Indeed we should be encouraging it to go ahead.

Why? Because we can't afford to. I don’t mean financially – although opposing stupid windfarms proposed for inappropriate locations can be very expensive and time-consuming – but because the planet cannot afford to.

For the foreseeable future, we need wind energy to combat climate change. If we are going to wean our planet off fossil-fuel based energy production before we reach the point when climate change can’t be stopped, we need dramatic action. We need to find a constructive way through the obstacles that are currently preventing this. If we don’t act now, we’re effectively condemning thousands of species of animals and plants to extinction. And threatening the lives of millions of people.

We’re passionate about the natural world around us. If something threatens that environment, whether it’s climate change or an inappropriately sited windfarm application, we’re duty bound to challenge it.

I recognise the emotion tied up with wind turbines - some love them, some hate them. And this fuels propoganda on both sides. I argue that the climate crisis demands a serious debate based on evidence and not rhetoric or half-truths.

We will contiune to do what we can to make sure that we get the wind energy we need, in the right places, and in time to tackle the climate crisis. We will continue to work with the Government, planners, developers and other NGOs, to secure this outcome, and the future of the wildlife on our planet.

What's your view of wind farms? Love them? Hate them? Love them in the right place?

It would be great to hear your views.

Blog post: It rained and it rained and it rained and then...

...three house martins flew past my upstairs window. Am going outside...

Blog post: What a difference a day makes

Sitting out on the fells in Bowland these last few weeks has been a strange experience. By now, in all the years that staff and volunteers monitoring hen harriers on the United Utilities estate can remember, we would have been able to head up onto the fell knowing we would be able to watch harriers. Indeed we would already have nests established by now. This year that is not the case. Despite the best efforts of Mick and our volunteers, sightings have been very few and far between.

I had already started to formulate this blog before I went out on the hill today but just after mid-day I realised I would be able to change what I was going to write - for the better!

We new that 74843 had been back in Bowland since last weekend (more about her adventures later) but today Mick watched her displaying on part of the estate whilst I caught sight of a second female elsewhere ... hurrah! Has this bit of warmer weather drawn them back in? Are we just experiencing an anomaly of a year with birds just being much later than usual?

So it's eyes to the skies folks ... if you see any birds anywhere please let us know and hopefully I can bring you some more positive news over the next week, it's a male we really want to see now!

Blog post: Buying guide

We've just launched a new feature on our website - Buying Guides
.

If you're having trouble deciding how to choose the right pair of binoculars, which food or feeders would be right for you, or where to site a nestbox - these, and many other questions will be answered in our buying guides. It's packed with useful stuff.

We hope you find the information useful. As usual any feedback is welcome. Is there something else you'd like more information about? Let us know, we're always looking for great suggestions, and our customers often have some of the best. You are, after all, the people who use the online shop, so you know what's helpful.

Use the Contact Us
form to get in touch.

Blog post: Bulgarian LIFE - tales from an infrequent traveller

[Continuing our reports from Bulgaria, Pamela Braham tells us about the work that happens behind the scenes to keep fieldworkers on the ground and birds in the air...]

Two things that don't usually happen to me frequently are flying (I like my feet firmly on the ground) and travelling abroad for work - however, this is exactly how my week started when I set off to Sofia with my colleague Adrian Oates last Monday! Much as I am disinclined to look out the window when about to land, I simply couldn't take my eyes off the breathtaking view as we approached the runway of Sofia airport. The spectacular view of the snow-capped Mt. Vitosha, the beauty of the glistening Lake Iskar in the distance and the surrounding colourful patchwork of countryside was amazing and kept my eyes wide open after a 4am start. I was also pleased to note that we had left the British rain behind and the sun shone brightly!

After being met by Dora (our very own LIFE+ Project Officer) and Maria (one of the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds' (BSPB) four EU Life+ Financial Administrators), we drove straight to BSPB's Headquarters located in a residential area on the outskirts of the city, sharing a block of flats with local people, and with little gardens and playgrounds at the back of the office. HQ and the nearby Life+ office both have a lot of character and we received a very warm welcome when we arrived.

BSPB coordinates four EU LIFE+ projects in which the RSPB is a partner, with various other organisations including the BirdLife Partners from Hungary and Greece. The successful grant awards are a testament to BSPB's determination and energy for seizing grant opportunities. All projects when added together carry an amazing total grant value of approximately 9 million Euros.

The oldest started in January 2009, the 'Conservation of imperial eagle and saker falcon in key Natura 2000 sites in Bulgaria', to reduce the impact of direct persecution and other threats on these species and to prevent further loss of nest sites and enhance their habitats. The second project started in January the following year, 'Ensuring conservation of priority bird species and coastal habitat at the Bourgas Natura 2000 wetland sites', with the intention of strengthening the strategic planning framework to secure long-term conservation of the Natura 2000 priority bird species (pygmy cormorant, ferruginous duck, white-headed duck, Dalmatian pelican and great bittern) and sustainable management of their habitats.

The latest two projects 'Conservation of the wintering population of the Globally Threatened red-breasted goose in Bulgaria' and 'Urgent measures to secure survival of the Egyptian vulture in Bulgaria and Greece' started in Sept 2010 and October 2011 respectively. The project titles speak for themselves, but all involve a tremendous amount of committment, passion, a multitude of actions on behalf of all those involved ,and a high level of coordination by BSPB to ensure everything complies with the EU Common Provisions, the "rule book" for LIFE+ projects.

A cheeky looking red-breasted goose

And so to the reason that Adrian and I are here. We work in International's finance section and have been invited by BSPB to gain an insight into and review their overall organisation finance procedures and practices as well as undertake a proactive audit of the financial administration and records on all four LIFE+ projects. The hope is to share best practice, look for consistency of methodologies of financial practice across the projects, and emulate some of the questions an EU auditor may ask to test their record keeping systems.

Yesterday, we reviewed the Imperial eagle/Saker falcon project and the Egyptian Vulture project - among the various files and paperwork, it was a delight and inspiration to work with our enthusiastic, highly efficient and thorough BSPB colleagues. At the end of the day, we were shown video footage of Egyptian vultures on a nest and had a quick glimpse of an egg. The Project Manager explained that he receives photo snapshots of the area in case of disturbance, so as to monitor potential poachers, sent directly to his mobile - incredible technology!

Well more at the end of the week, as there's only so much you can say to make Finance sound interesting!

Blog post: Amazing gannet film

My colleage Michelle who works in the RSPB Design team was clearly being tickled by something pretty special this morning when I arrived at work. Naturally, my journalistic nature meant that I went to have a nosey to see what was going on!

This fantastic film of a gannet - just wait until it dives underwater - was taken with the aid of a camera attached to the bird. It's part of the FAME seabird tracking project which you may well have read about in our feature in the Summer 2012 issue of Birds (page 56). I thought you'd enjoy it too based on all the comments I've received so far about our feature.

Enjoy.

You can see the film here

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