Anyone raising awareness or fundraising for animal and conservation charities will tell you that with predictable regularity, someone will always say "but what about people, aren't they more important than animals?". Of course we all have different opinions and when parting with our hard earned cash to any deserving cause, we make personal choices. This common question interests me though, because it suggests that in the minds of many, conserving nature and wildlife has absolutely no part to play in improving their lives and is of no benefit whatsoever to the human population. But nature, surely, is our life support system. Our fragile ecosystems (that we seem determined to continually challenge) provide all that is essential for human survival, the air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food that we eat. It would be very high-sounding to reply to such a valid concern in this way, so I don't, what I do like to talk about though are the undeniable benefits of living in an environment richer in nature. Many studies have proved conclusively that exposure to the natural world is important to good health and has a positive impact on our emotional and physical well-being. Nature relaxes and refreshes us, I'm sure many of us can recall a time when the need for a brisk walk "to blow the cobwebs away" has worked a treat and revived our mood and energy levels. We all have an intrinsic desire to experience nature in it's many forms, it's our ancestry at it's most primitive, but the pressures and distractions of modern day life means that, for many, less and less time is spent outdoors. That detachment from the natural world effects our health, but how can we convince people that spend up to a quarter of their waking hours indoors and in front of a screen that they are missing out? Which begs the question, if they are not taking any perceived pleasure or benefit from nature how will they be convinced that it is worth conserving?
A couple of days ago we were joined by Lauren and Alez from the CITiZAN project, which aims to create a network of volunteers to record and monitor our national archaeological sites. We were out in the harbour for just a couple of hours and in that short period of time we had some quite amazing experiences. It was 18th August, VJ day, hearing that unmistakable sound of merlin engines, we looked up to see a formation of 6 spitfires and 1 hurricane fly past. What a privilege.
Perhaps a once in a lifetime sight
We continued on and came across an osprey feeding on a post, the fish was extraordinarily large, I hope you can make it out from the photograph, apologies for the quality but we didn't want to move in any closer for fear of disturbing the bird. Obviously on it's long migration this majestic raptor had stopped off to rest and feed. I wonder where it came from and where it's heading too? What a treat.
The fish is almost as long as the bird, quite a catch!
A walk around North Binness island revealed another surprise in the form of a wasp spider, something I have never seen before. It's a large and colourful spider first recorded in the UK in the 1920's and slowly spreading around England. The females have a habit of eating the much smaller males, wrapping them in silk and starting to munch even before the mating is over - nice! It's not hard to see why they got their name with their beautiful yellow and black stripes. The web is orb shaped with a distinctive zig-zag pattern of silk running through the centre, though nobody really knows what this is for. We saw 2, in very close proximity to each other, but one was distinctly larger. A 2cm body, add 8 legs and you've got yourself quite an impressive arachnid!
Photo: Wez Smith
These were wonderful, unique experiences and we all went home feeling very lucky indeed. Had that 2 hours have been spent in the office or in front of the TV at home look what we would have missed. The summary of my day over a beer in the pub that evening with a few friends was greeted with groans of jealousy and yet it was just a brief moment spent in my local patch. It IS worth going outside, airing yourself off a bit, feeling the wind on your face, the sun warming your skin, or even the rain making it tingle. You never know what you might see, it doesn't even have to be nature, but it's real, it's tangible, it's unpredictable, it's totally unscripted and it's yours.
Just tell them that there are too many people and not enough birds and animals. It's the truth. I get fed up with people who think that the only species who doesn't have to justify its existence is our own - there's a purpose to everything, not just humans.
Our herring gulls are red listed birds. Think about that the next time you hear some flaming idiot calling for a cull of them.