Waxwings - I actually went out looking for them in east Northants yesterday and failed completely despite many recent local records. Did see lots of rowan berries, industrial estates and redwings though! Will I ever see a waxwing this winter?
Farmland birds - a short blog of a week ago has attracted a large number of comments - mostly from a so-called 'Essex peasant' otherwise known as Essex farmer and NFU mouthpiece Guy Smith. The comments are mostly longer than the original blog! Guy has problems with Hope Farm, the Farmland Bird Index, and most things that the RSPB does. Makes for an interesting read if you are interested in that type of thing.
Dancing - now is the time to download Bird is the word to try to get it to be the Christmas Number 1.
Last date to order from the RSPB before Christmas - 15 December.
A love of the natural world demonstrates that a person is a cultured inhabitant of planet Earth.
Having not been on your blog Mark for a few days I was was quite taken aback by the comments on the earlier blog you refer to here. I am not a farmer, I'm not a scientist I am in fact, a member of the public that does care, passionately about the countryside and maybe surprisingly, there are more members of the public that do care than some people think. I'm not particularly qualified to comment on the accuracy or otherwise of the statistics but I also resent my intelligence being insulted by some of the claims being made and that if a farmer says it's so then it must be so.
1. Using the term 'Agricultural Intensification' is disinformation - surely it's changes in agricultural practice that have had a huge effect - changes from Spring to Winter sowing, continual drenching of our countryside with pesticides and herbicides, Conversion of hay meadows to monotone pasture etc etc. None of this is necessarily intensification per se. And yes I accept that we can't go back 100 years but we can do more!! Where are the NFU's proposals, suggestions for at least halting bird declines? Nothing on their web site..
2. I've been watching, recording, taking part in bird and wildlife surveys for 30 years and I know a lot of farmers some who are passionate and knowledgeable and some who couldn't tell a Whitethroat from a Great Tit so there is no 'them and us' on the ground - I suspect it would suit a lot of people if that was the case.
3. Additionally I can see with my own eye's what's happened to our farmland birds over that period and how depressing it is that it's just getting worse for a large number of species. My own notes tell me so.
4. I have a real problem with people who have vested interests in making profit from the land or killing things for fun taking the moral high ground and claiming 'it's not as bad as they say' (they largely being the RSPB), as if a conservation charity should simply keep it's nose out - presumably so should the rest of the population.
5. How outrageous to be criticized and mocked for changing the name of a farm?! One of my best farming friends has just changed the name of their farm to make it more synonymous with the wildlife they are nurturing there. Presumably they had better watch out in case it offends NFU police?!
6. The bottom line is that those who make the most money out of the countryside will generally have the most to protect - it's a commercial environment after all - and I use the word 'environment' loosely here!
Essex Peasant, whilst trying not to get in the middle of 2 heavy weight protagonists, I don't fully understand the reference to an index of 50 birds. It is not the RSPB's place to impose a specific index on others and I don't think they have the right. The FBI was used by the Government but is no longer a PSA. Can I suggest that the NFU put pressure on the Government to replace that Index with a further one of 50 species or whatever number is considered appropriate.
The Cotswold Water park sightings website
My Flicker page
keep forgetting to mention ( too many distractions) - had waxwings on the farm two weeks ago, they blew in with the cold.
Had ten bean geese on the rape yesterday. Them and the Waxwings takes this years farm species count up to 117.
Paysan savant
One of my favourite Laurel and Hardy skecthes is where for some reason the pair end up throwing water at each other but half way through, Oliver stops and says "This is ridiculous, we're behaving like a couple of children". Stan says "Well you started it" and Olly replies "no I didn't" and promptly starts the fight again.
Either way, call me a bit precious but I have taken farmer groups to RSPB Grange farm and I did donate a barn owl box and I have never said or written a bad word about Grange Farm ( apart from the name change - as above) so I don't know why Mark suggests the contrary, maybe he could explain.
Meanwhile, we can indeed monitor the positivity and negativity from either party.
Mark, Sorry but I slightly agree with Stackyard Green on this one.
Regarding waxwing try my approach of yesterday morning. Got the weetabix out, sat at the table and one appeared on a neighbours rowan tree and then flew off. I must admit the weetabix got left as I then tried to find any nearby berries but without further success.