Am I overreacting?

As far as I am aware there is only certain times of year that trees and stuff can be felled and I am sure this is not one of them.

I do not know what to do being your mother in law is a problem.  Mine always asks me if it is safe etc to do things like this before she attempts anything....

Is she doing it or a contractor

Most reputable contractors would probably check the trees hedge first as it would more than likely the cpntractor who could face prosecution for disturbing nesting birds

I guess youre off the mother in laws christmas card list now

My mother in law is a massive problem indeed.. ever since I told her she should at least do SOMETHING to stop her cat killing birds, things haven't been the same between us!

I don't actually know who's doing it, I'd imagine she is getting a professional as she can't do it herself and she has enough money.. but then again she just got her brother to do the big tree in the last garden with the pigeon chicks in it ://

Oh dear !!!

how upsetting for you,

Have a read through this it might help you,

it is illegal to destroy a nest,

www.rspb.org.uk/.../the_law.aspx

Here is another link for you that might help

www.rspb.org.uk/.../index.aspx

It breaks my heart everytime I hear about things like this. My neighbours on either side are exactly the same - last June they reduced the height of their conifer from 12ft to 5ft in one day. It's now just dead wood. There was at least one active nest that they found and let their young child kick about. The trouble is, because of the type of people that they are, I felt powerless to stop them for fear of retaliation.

Perhaps you will have more luck with your mother in law if you show her the link above. Tell her that she only has to wait until the end of the breeding season, and then she can cut the trees down to a more manageable height. Perhaps try to persuade her to leave some hedges there, or replant with trees she does like.

If all else fails, get tough and tell her you will report her to the local wildlife enforcement officer for disturbing an active nest site! Good luck with this one. X

Fieldfare said:

Now this same line of trees houses absolutely tonnes of pheasants, tree sparrows and thrushes

Articuno,  If the conifers are in her garden, she has a right to chop them down and they wouldn't have any tree orders on them.  It is an offence to 'intentionally' destroy a nest.  You would have to show she knows there are nests in there.  Unfortunately the description you give above wouldn't give that evidence.  The trees won't have tonnes of pheasants nesting in them, they are unlikely to have thrushes nesting and are you sure there are tree sparrows which are a more open country bird.  To provide that evidence you would have to be able to say things like ' I have seen a blackbird taking nesting material / food into these trees on a regular basis over the past.....' 

Unknown said:

Now this same line of trees houses absolutely tonnes of pheasants, tree sparrows and thrushes

You would have to show she knows there are nests in there.  Unfortunately the description you give above wouldn't give that evidence.  The trees won't have tonnes of pheasants nesting in them, they are unlikely to have thrushes nesting and are you sure there are tree sparrows which are a more open country bird.

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Bob, I think you have completely misunderstood my post. I never said there were pheasants nesting in there nor did I say there was anything nesting there at all. I don't actually know if there were any nests in there or whether she bothered to check - what I DO know for a fact and what my post actually said was that there are birds "housing" in those trees, and yes that does include 10+ pheasants (or did.....) and tree sparrows, you can't tell by the photo but this house is actually located within open countryside and farmland.

There are both house and tree sparrows here but I've seen a massive drop in their numbers since the first set of trees went and the cat was introduced.

I have seen all these birds myself and all of them shelter in those trees during the day and night - nests or not, it's a disaster to lose such a shelter.

It doesn't actually matter now as they've all gone but I am still outraged by this.. they intend to replace the trees with a bloody wall!

Thanks for all your advice here though my mother in law doesn't ever budge when it comes to these type of things.

I love Columbidae.

Maybe you could post a picture from the window with the hedge gone?