FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

Four of the UK's bird species, including  Puffin  and  Turtle Dove , have today [Thursday 29 October 2015] been added to the list of birds considered to be facing the risk of global extinction. The latest annual revision of birds on the  IUCN Red List , which has been announced by BirdLife International on behalf of the IUCN, doubles the number of UK bird species considered to be facing the risk of extinction to eight. The IUCN Red List assesses the threat of extinction for each bird species. Those with no immediate threat of extinction are listed as Least Concern. Those species considered to be facing a threat of global extinction are listed in three levels of descending threat: Critically Endangered; Endangered; and Vulnerable. Shockingly, a further 14 UK species are considered to be Near Threatened, meaning that any further deterioration in their status could see them added to the Red List too. Turtle Dove  has declined massively in Britain ( Photo...

The week at a glance (21st - 27th of October) Chestnut Bunting  on Papa Westray Chimney Swift  briefly in Co Cork Blyth's Pipit  still on Scilly Another  White's Thrush  on Shetland Apparent  Short-toed Treecreeper  in East Sussex Few people paid much attention to a report of a  Yellowhammer  on Papa Westray, Orkney, last Monday until a poor-quality photo emerged late on the Tuesday evening, suggesting it might be something altogether rarer. It was not until 24 hours later, late on Wednesday evening, that further images emerged and served to confirm suspicions — the bird, with its rich chestnut hue on the upperparts, face and in particular tertial fringes, was surely a  Chestnut Bunting ! With no sign of the bird since it was briefly seen on the Tuesday, the automatic assumption was that it had gone — a potential first for Britain seemingly slipped through the net and rendered untwitchable. It was therefore somethi...

       Paperback /  325 Pages /  Pelagic Publishing (2012) /  ISBN 978-1907807299 /  RRP £12.99 Review #1 by Mike Everett for British Birds Quite early in chapter one, reading about Mark Avery’s time as a deer researcher on Rum, I came across the bizarre statement that ‘our base… looked across Mull to Skye and the Cuillins…’ and wondered whether this boded well for the rest of the book. I need not have worried; it must have been an editorial mistake. This is a marvellous account of one man’s work for bird conservation, reflecting Mark’s impressive birding and academic background as well as his sharp intellect, his sure grasp of strategy and his huge commitment to his vocation. His well-known sense of humour is there too, as is that enviable facility at communication which made him such a great asset to the RSPB.

It's unbelievable to think that, just a couple of decades ago,  Yellow-legged Gull  ( Larus michahellis ) was, for many, an irrelevant yellow-legged 'form' of our familiar  Herring Gull  encountered only while on holiday in the Mediterranean. Following its elevation to full specific status and the popularity of gull-watching dramatically increasing throughout the 2000s, the prominence of Yellow-legged Gull as a British bird has risen greatly to where it is today. Yellow-legged Gull is a regular non-breeding visitor across the bulk of England, with notable exceptions being the far north and northwest — Yorkshire is about as far north as the species is regularly seen, and it is particularly rare on the west coast north of Cheshire. It is rather scarce and localised in its appearance in Wales, while it remains a genuinely rare species in Scotland. Its strongholds in England are across the Midlands, East Anglia and the South-East, where it may appear in considerable ...

BirdWatch Ireland has warmly welcomed the recent announcement by Minister for Agriculture, Marine and Food Simon Coveney that farmers undertaking actions to conserve critically-threatened farmland birds will get priority access to substantial funding within Ireland's new Rural Development Programme. If properly implemented, this offers hope of halting declines and restoring bird populations in parts of their range. Ireland's biodiversity is facing very severe threats, as evidenced by declining populations of many farmland birds and losses in extent and quality of many semi-natural habitats in the mosaic of Ireland's farmed landscapes. There has been extensive research in the UK, in particular, which has related farmland bird declines to changes in agricultural practices since the 1970s. Specific causes for these changes included a variety of farming practices, including increased use of pesticides and fertilisers, increased mechanisation and losses of hedgerow extent an...

Following the recent revelation in a review of systematic pesticides that neonicotinoids are  causing significant damage to invertebrate species and their populations  a new study, published in the science journal Nature  has revealed that the pesticides are also having a significant negative impact on bird species. Researchers in The Netherlands measured the effect of widespread use of a popular neonicotinoid, imidacloprid, discovering that when the chemical was highly concentrated in surface water supplies, local bird populations showed a significant decline. Birds most affected in the sites sampled included  Starling ,  Tree Sparrow  and  Swallow . These declines were able to be tied in with the introduction of imidacloprid in the country in the mid-1990s, even when allowing for the effects of changing agricultural methods such as the intensification of farming. Tree Sparrow  reproductivity relies on the abundance of insect life, on wh...

Updated 3rd Edition, by Lee G R Evans --> When Lee Evans'  Ultimate Site Guide to Scarcer British Birds  was published in 1996 it became an instant classic. For the first time in one place, British birders could discover how and where to see over 100 rarer and more difficult-to-find species. These are the birds that can make birding such an exciting and rewarding activity: there is nothing quite like the thrill of tracking down and observing elusive and attractive species such as Hawfinch, Spotted Crake and Honey Buzzard. Now BirdGuides has re-published Lee Evans' original guide in a fully revised, updated and extended edition. The information has been carefully reviewed for accuracy and also remembering the need to protect vulnerable breeders. The species accounts have been further enhanced with more than 60 new vignettes from illustrator Ray Scally. For each of the 142 species covered this book tells you all you need to know, including: where to look - ...

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