"Wild Isles" is a major new BBC wildlife natural history series co-produced by the RSPB and the WWF and presented by Sir David Attenborough.
"Wild Isles" aims to show the beauty and diversity of the UK's wildlife and landscapes.
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The 2023 Common Buzzard count is at last underway!
For the last 2 years, I have recorded Common Buzzard sightings from my flat. Sightings are increasing and last year I was almost convinced that there was a resident and possibly nesting pair in the area since I also frequently saw birds over my nearby local patch site around St. Nicholas Church.
This is the summary of my Common Buzzard sightings from my flat for the last 2 years ....
2021: 11 dates with those records involving 13 birds
2022: 26 dates with those records involving 38 birds
This morning at 8:55 a.m., I had my first Common Buzzard sighting since 8th October 2022 with a single bird flying over heading north hotly pursued by 2 Carrion Crows.
The 2023 count begins ....
February: 23rd (a single bird)
Here are some photos of a Common Buzzard taken at my local patch site around St. Nicholas Church in June 2022 ....
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The invasion of the sovereign state of Ukraine by Russia and the ensuing war is undeniably an immense human tragedy in terms of deaths, injuries and displaced refugees.
However, it is also proving to be very costly for nature ....
Toxic smoke, contaminated rivers, poisoned soil, trees reduced to charred stumps, nature reserves pocked with craters: the environmental toll from Russia’s war with Ukraine, which has been detailed in a new map, might once have been considered incalculable.
However, extensive investigations by Ukrainian scientists, conservationists, bureaucrats and lawyers are now under way to ensure this is the first conflict in which a full reckoning is made of environmental crimes so that the aggressor can be held to account for a compensation claim that currently stands at more than $50bn (£42bn).
The Environment Ministry has set up a hotline for citizens to report cases of Russian “ecocide”, which so far number 2,303, and issues weekly updates of the tally. The latest edition estimates that in the past year:
Ukraine has had to absorb or neutralise the impact of 320,104 explosive devices
Almost one-third of the country (174,000 sq km) remains potentially dangerous
Debris includes 230,000 tonnes of scrap metal from 3,000 destroyed Russian tanks and other military equipment
160 nature reserves, 16 wetlands and 2 biospheres are under threat of destruction
A “large” number of mines in the Black Sea threaten shipping and marine animals
600 species of animals and 880 species of plants are under threat of extinction
A third of Ukrainian land is uncultivated or unavailable for agriculture
Up to 40% of arable land is not available for cultivation
Altogether the losses from land, water and air pollution amounted to $51.4bn, estimated Oleksandr Stavniychuk, the Deputy Head of the Department of Environmental Control and Methodology, at a recent workshop in Kyiv.
The Guardian - The "silent victim": Ukraine counts war’s cost for nature
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This morning, I made the short trip to Coombe Wood which is part of the Langdon Hills Country Park.
Langdon Hills Country Park sits on a hilly ridge that extends from Dunton to Vange in Basildon. Its 400 acres have panoramic views over the Thames Estuary and across to London and the area includes ancient woodlands dating back to prehistoric times, flower-rich grassland meadows and areas of dense scrubland.
Coombe Wood is located south of Dry Street, east of Hall Wood and west of Westley Heights. Further to the north west is EWT Langdon which I have also visited, most recently on 17th January 2023.
Langdon Hills Country Park map
In order to catch my bus to Langdon Hills, I walked through my St. Nicholas Church local patch site. As on my visit yesterday, I spotted a Red Fox from the fence adjacent to Larkins Tyres overlooking the field, scrub and hedges in the north of the site. The diversity of bird song was again very noticeable.
Form the bus, I also saw c.20 Redwings busily feeding on the roundabout near Basildon Hospital.
I arrived at Coombe Wood at around 9:45 a.m. and spent just over 2 hours walking through this beautiful ancient woodland on a sunny morning.
My main target species for my visit was the elusive and increasingly scarce (in an Essex and UK context) Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. However, it is still recorded in a few Essex woodlands, especially in February and March when "drumming" and calling can be heard which sometimes enables good views high in the tree canopy before spring leaves emerge. Coombe Wood, the adjacent Hall Wood and other locations in Langdon Hills Country Park are all known sites for this tiny woodpecker species.
I did not have a 100% definitive record of a Lesser Spotted Woodpecker during my visit to Coombe Wood although I did hear a typical and persistent light tapping at one location plus what I believe was a brief call.
The general highlight of my visit was the abundance and diversity of birds plus the amount of bird song on an almost spring-like morning.
Specific highlights included the following: Common Buzzard (a pair flew right over me calling), Sparrowhawk (1), Ring-necked Parakeet (seemingly everywhere and very noisy with a maximum flock of 7), Nuthatch (2 seen and 2 others heard calling), Green Woodpecker (1 seen and another heard calling), Great Spotted Woodpecker (2 seen, 3 other males heard "drumming" and several others heard calling), Stock Dove (c.10), Goldcrest (6), Siskin (2), Coal Tit (1), Redwing (c.20 foraging at the edge of the wood)
Other species seen included the following: Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Robin, Wren, Dunnock, Song Thrush, Blackbird, Starling, Jay, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Magpie
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There is only 2 days left of clearance works. This week’s work are tree safety works.
Currently we are on week 2 of a very large project and will be on going through the year.
We will be clearing up the mess and the paths. We also have our cleansing team going in to remove rubbish, fly tipping and encampments as well.
We will work around the wildlife causing as little disturbance as possible. It does look destructive but in a years’ time there will be an improvement for wildlife and the community.
We would be very grateful for any wildlife records you have on the site for our interpretation panels and records.
Thank you for your concern and passion.
Josh Childs
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This morning I had a routine visit to my local patch site centred on St. Nicholas Church .... see here.
What I saw and experienced left me with a great deal of concern and anger and which prompted an immediate e-mail to Josh Childs, the the Parks and Countryside Biodiversity Officer for Basildon Council.
Hi Josh
I hope that you are well.
I contacted you back in July 2022 to just say “hello” following the article about your good self in the summer edition of “Basildon – Our Borough”.
I hope that you don’t mind me contacting you again regarding an issue that has caused me a great deal of concern and anger today. You seemed an obvious starting point given your role as the Parks and Countryside Biodiversity Officer for Basildon Council.
If you can investigate the following for me or point me in the direction of who I should contact, I would be very grateful. I would like to know who is responsible and I would like an explanation.
This morning, I had another walk around one of my local patch sites, namely the one adjacent to where I live and centred on St. Nicholas Church in Laindon.
I immediately noticed that a lot of the scrub, hedges and young trees have been cleared from the area that runs down from the church car park to St. Nicholas Lane.
I then saw active clearance of the same from the area the other side of Church Hill which again leads down from the church and the top of the hill to St. Nicholas Lane.
I then came across a huge area that has been cleared to the south of Laindon Park School and another area to the west of Czarina Rise that then runs parallel to St. Nicholas Lane. Along the footpath in this latter area, several trees have been marked in pink so doubtless they are going to be chopped down too.
As I write this, I can still hear chainsaws and a bulldozer from my flat!
This is a wanton destruction of a valuable wildlife habitat for no apparent reason as far as I can see. No health and safety risks. No blocked access. Nothing to warrant this.
Apart from the devastation of these areas as wildlife habitats, no effort at all has been made to properly clear them. There are trip hazards everywhere due to the volume of vegetation, twigs, branches, etc. plus a lot of plastic, bottles, tyres and all sorts of other rubbish. All that has just been left in place. The whole area is an appalling and unsightly mess.
I have watched and recorded wildlife around St. Nicholas Church for many years and particularly intensively since the first Covid-19 lockdown. I have recorded 60 species of birds, 7 species of mammal, 22 species of butterflies, 9 species of dragonfly/damselfly and 1 reptile species. It is a wildlife oasis in a heavily urbanised area, important in its own right and important for me as an area to enjoy the outdoors.
The habitat that has been destroyed will have previously provided breeding locations for many resident birds including Common Buzzards, Sparrowhawks, Green Woodpecker, Great Spotted Woodpecker and many more, breeding locations for summer visitors which will be back soon such as Blackcap, Chiffchaff and Common Whitethroat, refuges for winter visitors such as Redwing and breeding sites or refuges for mammals such as Red Fox, Badger, Reeves’ Muntjac and the smaller voles and mice.
During my time visiting this area, I have seen the loss of nesting Common Swifts and roosting Pipistrelles from the tower of St. Nicholas Church following the so-called restoration a few years ago. Within the last 2 years or so, I have failed to see any of the Badgers that I used to watch regularly around St. Nicholas Church following the so-called improvements to the perimeter of the car park. I have seen the massive clearance of scrub, hedges and young trees between the western boundary of the cemetery and Pound Lane for residential development.
Basildon Council and others obviously have the right, within the law, to do what they want on land owned by them and the area around St. Nicholas Church is unfortunately not designated as a Local Nature Reserve unlike Noak Bridge Nature Reserve that I also visit.
However, surely landowners need to understand that the natural environment needs an opportunity to restore and rewild itself rather than being destroyed so wantonly. This is so important given the worsening global climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis with the UK being one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. In other words, think global, act local. Basildon needs to make its contribution and a positive one unlike this destruction.
As an aside, I should in fairness note one small positive contribution …. the planting of tree saplings along a small stretch of St. Nicholas Lane and all protected by bio-degradable tree guards rather than the plastic ones. Hopefully, Basildon Council will also leave some of the verges around the Borough unmown this coming spring and summer as they did last year and which provided a valuable habitat for pollinating and other insects.
Here are some of the photos that I took at various locations this morning ….
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14rlJjgCwcnL-NfNMLXAEoDMrc_1Wtlxp?usp=sharing
My apologies for the rant that has initially been directed at you but hopefully you will understand my concern and anger at what has occurred and what is still going on today …. I can still hear chainsaws and a bulldozer!
As I have said, if you can investigate for me or point me in the direction of who I should contact to make my representations and register my complaint, I would be very grateful.
Many thanks.
Richard
I await a response with more than a passing interest!
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Date: 14th February 2023
Time: from 8:30 a.m.
Weather: dry, sunny, light wind, -1°C to 3°C
It was a beautiful morning for my visit, initially misty but then sunny but also cold with remnants of a ground frost.
However, it proved to be a visit that left me very angry for reasons that I have explained here.
With regard to wildlife, I did not add any species to my 2023 site list but I did see 1 or possibly 2 singing and calling male Goldcrests in the wooded area at the end of the access track from Larkins Tyres and calling male Greenfinch in the south west corner of the site.
In addition, I recorded my first singing male Blackbird of the year. In fact, bird song was very evident this morning with Song Thrushes, Robins, Dunnocks, Wrens, Great Tits and Blue Tits also heard.
I also heard an excitably calling Great Spotted Woodpecker in the wooded area at the end of the access track from Larkins Tyres (but surprisingly no “drumming” males) plus a calling Green Woodpecker from the area immediately north of the cemetery.
With regard to mammals, I saw a Red Fox at the end of my visit from the fence adjacent to Larkins Tyres overlooking the field, scrub and hedges in the north of the site. I also saw a single Grey Squirrel from this same location.
Species recorded during this visit were as follows (heard only records in italics):
Goldcrest
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Robin
Song Thrush
Blackbird
Dunnock
Wren
Greenfinch
Goldfinch
Green Woodpecker
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Jay
Magpie
Carrion Crow
Woodpigeon
Collared Dove
Red Fox
Reeves’ Muntjac
Here are a few photos from my visit:
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I have previously written about the eco-vandalism that is HS2.
SS15 wildlife watching: Commitments to HS2 and Sizewell C undermine Government promises on climate
SS15 wildlife watching: How to stop HS2
SS15 wildlife watching: There is no case for HS2 in 2021
It has now emerged that the company building HS2 has completely underestimated its impact on habitats and wildlife according to year-long research undertaken by the Wildlife Trusts.
HS2 Limited made a commitment to "no net loss of biodiversity" for replaceable habitats along Phase 1 and 2a of the route and a net gain for biodiversity along Phase 2b. However, calculations show that:
For Phase 1, there will be at least 17% less nature present after construction than there was before building started. HS2 Limited’s figures say there will only be a 2.6 % nature loss.
For Phase 2a, there will be at least 42% less nature present after construction than there was before building started. HS2 Limited’s figures say there will only be a 17.01% nature loss.
Wildlife Trusts - HS2: is it worse than you think? Sign the open letter
The report published by the Wildlife Trusts ....
Highlights major errors and concerns with the methodology and calculations HS2 Limited has used to determine the scheme’s design, the environmental impact calculations and their proposed habitat mitigation
Sets out the changes that the UK Government is advised to sanction so the truth about the impacts on nature can be confirmed
Makes the case for an immediate pause on Phase 1 construction and on the current Phase 2 legislative process whilst the issues above are rectified
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Today is Darwin Day.
Darwin Day is celebrated on 12th February each year and inspires people throughout the world to reflect and act on the principles of intellectual bravery, perpetual curiosity, scientific thinking and hunger for truth as embodied in Charles Darwin. It will be a day of celebration, activism, and international cooperation for the advancement of science, education and human well-being.
“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.” ― ― "On the Origin of Species"
Now is the time to embody the words of Charles Darwin and protect and restore our amazing biodiversity which is threatened by mass extinctions due primarily to human activity.
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Hutton Country Park is a site that I had never visited before but I was prompted to do so by the regular posts on Twitter by @BrentwoodBirder.
Hutton Country Park is located opposite the Hutton Industrial Estate and has been owned by Brentwood Borough Council since 1997. It is designated as a Local Nature Reserve and supports a vast array of native flora and fauna and is thus managed as an area of conservation value in what is otherwise an area of vast intensive arable land and urban expansion.
The site covers 36 hectares and contains a large area of natural grassland, an area of ancient woodland, ponds, wetland and the River Wid which forms the northerly border. The railway line from Southend to London dissects the site forming separate north and south sectors.
I spent an enjoyable 3 hours at Hutton Country Park on a sunny but very cold morning.
The highlight of my visit was a foraging flock of c.15 Lesser Redpolls, a further addition to my 2023 UK year list.
In addition, I saw a single Red Kite and heard a single calling Water Rail.
I also recorded the following species: Bullfinch (1 male), Greenfinch, Goldfinch, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long-tailed Tit, Wren, Robin, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Great Spotted Woodpecker (2 "drumming" males heard), Green Woodpecker (1 heard calling), Jay, Magpie, Jackdaw, Carrion Crow, Woodpigeon, Pheasant
Finally, I saw 2 Reeves' Muntjacs and a single Rabbit.
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