Thanks to Nature’s Home volunteer Ed for keeping the blog updated over the last few weeks or so while I’ve been away on Honeymoon. Ed is doing a great job helping me out with the huge volume of emails and letters that you are sending in - keep them coming please, but please bear with the team of myself and Roger and Ed (my amazing volunteers) as we try to keep up!
While the weather here has been causing problems for humans and wildlife alike, I’ve been enjoying the delights of Queensland, three weeks in New Zealand and then a few days in Hong Kong.
Although I was on the other side of the world as many of you geared up for Big Garden Birdwatch, the starlings, house sparrows, blackbirds and song thrushes that you will have been hoping would turn up on the weekend were a big part of my holiday.
New Zealand, where I spent three weeks, has a great number of endemic birds, the vast majority of which I was lucky enough to see thanks to my very patient wife. From kiwis and albatrosses to giant, flightless takahes, black stilts and blue ducks, we were very lucky to catch up with a huge number of birds, many of which are incredibly rare.
In the wrong place
New Zealand also has a large number of species that have been deliberately introduced to the islands by man. One of the guides I met on my trip told me that something like 142 species of non-native birds were introduced to New Zealand originally. Settlers from the west wanted to be reminded of home, so they took with them familiar birds such as robins and even nightingales. Unsurprisingly many of the birds were not able to survive in a country with a totally different climate and insect and tree diversity.
House sparrows were widespread in New Zealand (image by Ray Kennedy rspb-images.com)
Many did establish themselves though and as well as the species already mentioned, I also saw wild turkeys, Canada geese, common mynahs, yellowhammers, greenfinches, goldfinches, and many other species that really shouldn’t be there. House sparrows were very common in all areas, begging the question of why they are struggling in the UK. I hope our scientists will have a definitive answer soon so we can start to turn around the decline.
Gibson's (wandering) albatross off Kaikoura - where I enjoyed a pelagic trip to the edge of the continental shelf. I got lots of shots but haven't had time to sort them out yet, so here's one from the same place by Guy Shorrock (rspb-images.com)
Simon says
Simon Barnes tackles the subject of non-native species in his column in the current issue of Nature’s Home, so make sure you have a read and let us know what you think.
From my visit to NZ, I know that mammals have ravaged the avifauna of the islands and many species became extinct due to animals like possums, stoats and cats arriving. The conservation movement in New Zealand is fabulous and great work is being done to return native species to predator-free areas. Inspiring stuff.
Have your say
Thanks for all your feedback on issue two of Nature’s Home, Great to read that many of you liked it even more than issue one, so that’s a big relief for me and my team. It’s a bit like the difficult second album for musicians...
Thanks Robert.
You certainly can!
Ed is an absolute star, as is Roger - the other Nature's Home volunteer who helps out with answering the letters that come in from our fabulous readers. We get an amazing variety of letters and e-mails.
You just never know what's going to come into the inbox!
Can I say that Ed has been doing a great job on the blog in your absence. Its really excellent that your team respond to many of the emails and letters personally.