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Blog post: Optics demos at The Lodge

The Lodge shop is having an optics demo on Saturday 18th February from 10 am to 4 pm.
Come along for free advice and to try out our great range of binoculars and scopes.
For more info call 01767 680541.

Optics demos take place at The Lodge shop on the first Thursday of every month from March to December 10 am to 3 pm.
Blog post: Did you go BIG with your bird watch this weekend?

Blogger: Erica Howe, Communications Officer

With a few days of January left all I can say is it has been a funny old month! I’ve seen people out and about wearing flip flops, I’ve even seen folk out in the city with shorts on. I’ve seen people eating their lunch outside and I’ve been out on my bike with only a few light layers on. Hardly typical behaviour for January. Then again, looking out my window it has started to snow.

Here at the RSPB, we’ve also had a few ‘odd’ wildlife reports throughout the month. Frog spawn has been discovered and ladybirds have become more active because of the mild weather. I think it’s safe to say that this weather is turning everything topsy-turvy.

Perhaps, and even more surreal, this weekend was the RSPB’s Big Garden Bird Watch - The world’s biggest garden bird survey! A weekend where historically we’ve battled snow, gales and torrential rain to sit and watch the birds coming in to find respite in our gardens. Seeking comfort from feeders packed full of goodness and nestboxes left for shelter from the elements.

This weekend was exceptional to say the least. With temperatures up to 8 degrees, fog and rain on its way, we’re in for an interesting time of surveying!

Big Garden Bird Watch is a fantastic thing to take part in; you grab a cuppa, a sandwich and take a relaxing hour to watch your garden wildlife with your family. With so many pairs of eyes watching and recording their garden birds on the same weekend, we gather a lot of data – in fact, a huge amount! By analyzing all your counts and comparing results across all years, we can find out how our garden birds are faring. Your counts inform our important conservation work since it helps us to identify what species most need our help. We can then prioritize our research work and identify measures to help the species, which are shown to be struggling. So, it might have seemed like a relaxing, enjoyable way to spend an hour this weekend but it’s also fundamental to the conservation work taking place across the UK. Your small step really does make a huge difference.

The data from past Big Garden Bird Watches have helped us to understand that once common birds like house sparrow and starling have declined greatly in the last 25 years. Song thrush too is a well known and much loved garden bird, but it's certainly not as familiar as it once was. It is amazing to think that Big Garden Bird Watch and similar surveys have shown the UK populations of house sparrow have declined by over 60% and starlings by 78%! In time, we hope that declining species will recover and we and future generations will be able to continue to enjoy their company in our gardens.

So let us know how your Big Garden Bird Watch went and send us your photos on our RSPBintheEast Twitter or Facebook pages – the best ones get a FREE bird feeder.

Article in Saturday 28 January Eastern Daily Press

Photo: Dunnock by Ray Kennedy (rspb-images.com)
Blog post: So what is it we do in International Species Recovery?

Our world is a pretty dodgy place for a large number of species – pressures from climate change, development, pollution, invasive species…I could go on. Sometimes it all seems bad news, but the RSPB and BirdLife Partners are working tirelessly to bring positive changes for some of the worst cases – not quite modern day action heroes (we don't wear the tights and capes), but not afraid to run head-first into a challenge.

The International Species Recovery team was set up in summer 2011 to take the lead on species outside of the UK, working closely with our national colleagues, who have years of experience on recovery programmes, and our Partner Development Officers. Given the huge number of threatened birds (1253 last time I checked on the BirdLife Data Zone
), how on earth did we decide which ones to concentrate on? With limited resources, we can't (unfortunately) do it all.

We brought together the best brains across the RSPB and BirdLife to look at a "short" list of 366 species, comprised of all Critically Endangered species globally (the 190 most threatened), all Endangered species in RSPB focal countries (where we already had programmes), all threatened species on the UK Overseas Territories, Data Deficient species that may be threatened (we just don't know), and globally threatened species that the RSPB was already working on. Phew!

After two days of deliberation, head-scratching and argument, looking at a variety of factors such as current threat, likelihood of extinction if we don't do anything, a country's political stability, funding and collaboration opportunities etc, we ended up with a list of 32 species and 4 groups. Individual species include the spoon-billed sandpiper
, Uluguru bush-shrike and Liben lark, while the groups cover Gyps vultures
, Henderson Island
, Albatross
and Gough/Tristan da Cunha
. You'll hear more about all of these projects and progress here and in related blogs (and if you have any specific requests, let me know).

And it's not only birds. Many of our country programmes work on plants, mammals, reptiles etc, and over the next few years we will be taking on other taxa. I'm sure there will be more head-scratching to decide priorities there!

More soon, Ian
Blog post: The nature of business

Recent talk about ‘responsible capitalism’ has tended to focus on issues of equity and social justice. Yet business also has a responsibility to the environment.

This week, I want to explore where business can step up to do more for nature.

Many multinationals, and some large domestic businesses, have global reach. They connect people with nature in many different ways – through their supply chains and products in particular. Their brands shape popular values and some of them reach billions of people every day. Companies influence governments, both in relation to particular decisions and legislation and policy. They emit a high proportion of greenhouse gases, consume resources and control or influence how large areas of land are managed.

It's easy to assume that 'advocacy' and 'influencing decision-makers' starts and ends with politicians and government departments. But big businesses have an equally large influence our lives - and probably an even greater influence on the environment. So focusing your influencing efforts on the policy sphere means that you are only doing (at best) 50% of the job.

If we want to achieve long-term success, we cannot simply rely on governments to do the right thing. We need companies to align with our conservation goals, and not only those of shareholders.

The RSPB works with private companies all the time: we advise thousands of family farms
about nature friendly farming every year; we have helped reshape the way that water companies
manage their estates for water and for wildlife; we influence hundreds of development decisions
; we continue to enter into a number of partnerships to support conservation management
(especially on our nature reserves); and we do benefit from corporate sponsorship such as the much enjoyed Black Grouse whisky
.

But we can and should do more. We want business to reduce the environmental impact of their operations and advocate change within their own sector. Practicing and preaching sustainability should be key features of any responsible business.

And irresponsible businesses that seek to weaken environmental regulations should be exposed as self-serving and not acting in the public interest. I hope that, in the run up to important decisions about planning reform and the Habitats Regulations, UK Government ministers remember that fact.

What role do you think that businesses have in saving the planet? And what do you think the RSPB should do about it?

It would be great to hear your views.

Blog post: Big Garden Birdwatch Cambridge style

I was happy with the morning’s work.

Despite the mist, the five kids and I were relatively happy with our nine species: blue tit (3), chaffinch (2), collared dove (2), robin (1), dunnock (1), house sparrow (1), carrion crow (1), woodpigeon (2) and blackbird (1).

We were a little short on previous years. There may have been more (species, not kids), but we had to cope with various distractions. A lego version of Camelot’s court and a brace of Mums proved too much for some. But for our small suburban garden it was OK.

Just one of the kids (not mine) saw it through. At five, she is mainly interested in dinosaurs so I explained the evolutionary link. She indulged me until I quoted Robert Bakker “when you see the geese honking overhead, say - the dinosaurs are migrating, it must be spring!”. And then she was gone.

Here’s hoping that another 600,000 or so folk saw it through and had a great weekend.

Blog post: S�o Tom� - positive changes afoot

[Posted on behalf of Norbert Schaffer, Head of International Policy and Species Recovery - and apologies for the delay, corrupted file stopped play!]

What a contrast between the rain, heat, mud and sweat we experienced in the habitat of the dwarf olive ibis and the white-collared, air conditioned, almost antiseptic atmosphere in the office of Carlos Vila Nova, the Minister of Public Works and Natural Resources of São Tomé and Principé. But it is exactly here in this office, where the battle for the conservation of the nature of the islands will be fought and where the future of the ibis and a raft of other species will largely be decided. And we are hopeful about this future!

In the past, clearly mistakes were made and key ibis habitat destroyed, turned into oil palm plantations. The reason for this was not a lack of economic alternatives or disregard for the value of wildlife - destruction was caused simply by not knowing about the importance of specific areas for birds and other wildlife. This has to change and it will now change. We were promised by all relevant people, from Minister Vila Nova to the Dutch manager of the Belgian-French palm oil multinational Agripalma active in São Tomé, that should there be a conflict between wildlife and land use changes, wildlife will win. It is now the responsibility of organisations like ABS, our partner in São Tomé and Principé, to identify the most important places for wildlife on both islands. We promised to assist them in this – and we will keep our promise.

But before it is back to desks and e-mails, working through an impressive to-do-list from this trip, we will test the capability of laundry machines, washing away the mud – but certainly not the memories - of an absolutely fantastic country!

Norbert

Blog post: Something for the weekend?

The weather is terrible, the economy is in a mess, which means we all need something to bring cheer this weekend.

Here's my top tip: why not make yourself a cup of tea, sit down and count the birds in your garden for an hour.

If you want to be really indulgent, you could do this while listening to Sir David Attenborough's Desert Island Discs
on Sunday. What could be better - watching wildlife while listening to a national treasure?

Yes, it's Bi g Garden Birdwatch
weekend.

For my sins, I hope to be herding five kids (not all mine I hasten to add) to join in the fun. And I really do need those long-tailed tits (like the one below courtesy of Jogn Bridge and RSPB-images.com) to turn up in the garden at the right time.

Last January a record 609,000 people took part. We're hoping to top that this year. So, go on, take part. It will cheer you up! I promise.

And do let me (and the rest of the RSPB) know what you found...

Blog post: Winter ploughs on

Our local red kites have been fairly active again in the new year, and the mild weather has allowed them to continue with one of their favourite food sources; worms! Many farmers are ploughing up stubble fields in preparation for spring crops and the local kites and buzzards (along with quite a few common gulls) take great delight in feasting on the uncovered worms. In the autumn and winter, invertebrates make up most of the diet for young kites (and buzzards too). Sometimes when I'm out watching the kites I feel like a fraud calling myself a raptor worker as it seems that red kites are just overgrown song thrushes!

It has been good though to catch up with so many of the 2011 chicks who are now completely independent and moving around Aberdeenshire and beyond. For the first time ever one of our Aebrdeen-born birds has been see on the Black Isle with other kites. It is a young female who was reared near Peterculter on the outskirts of Aberdeen. Hopefully she'll come back to Aberdeen safe and sound!

Blog post: Co-accused, RSPB on trial !

Have you ever been accused of something you haven’t done? When I say accused I mean directly, in front of others, repeatedly being told you’re unscrupulous and a liar in the strongest possible terms?

Imagine if the truth is the very opposite and that the only defence the aggressor has is to attack you and your credibility. Finally, imagine if it’s in your job description to expect it.

For the past 14 days, myself and three RSPB Investigations colleagues have been in this exact situation. Bertie Woodcock, the defence QC has dished it out without any recourse or single shred of proof, but why?

Because his gamekeeper client, Glenn Brown, was filmed in an undercover RSPB operation illegally operating a hawk trap baited with live pigeons in the Derwent Valley, Derbyshire. The same valley where the raptor population has suffered a catastrophic collapse since 2006, with only four goshawk nests being successful from the last 20 attempts.

If you believe the defence, with MI5-like credentials RSPB officers elaborately set the operation up, obtained one of Brown’s pigeons, put it in one of his cage traps, planted a dead sparrowhawk nearby, filmed the keeper apparently checking an empty trap. Then we convinced Derbyshire Police to raid the premises, after placing a ‘marked’ pigeon in the keeper’s pigeon loft awaiting its certain detection.

The simpler truth is far too inconvenient to some. Yet another gamekeeper persecuting raptors, in this case presumably to reduce grouse predation on a moor where the tennant showcases his commercial heather restoration.

Thankfully not so for Judge Goulbourn overseeing the first conviction (see her full judgement here

) or Judge Watson who presided over the appeal.

So why does this happen? It’s because RSPB Investigations working with the Police and the Crown Prosecution Service is the only dedicated team able to pull off these complex gamekeeper- related investigations and convictions, making us an obvious target.

When attempting to protect your name runs up a legal bill of tens of thousands of pounds, it’s the biggest back-handed compliment to the RSPB and our supporters possible. Gamekeepers continue to be the fall guys, some being sacked, while the criminal elements in the shooting industry, who orchestrate these crimes, keep out of the limelight. Of over 100 gamekeepers convicted of raptor persecution offences since 1990 not one of their employers has had to face charges in a court room.

In Scotland, through the recently-introduced vicarious liability clause there may be a time when we see keepers and landowners in the dock together. We don’t have it in England yet but if you think we should then you can add your support here

So what next? We move on, we take the experience from this case and invest it along with our costs in the next operation, maybe in the Peak District again or elsewhere. After all, we have the element of surprise. Having filmed Brown's trap for an entire week at less than 30 feet we can do it, to save nature, watch this space!

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