FIRECREST TOURS : Guided Birdwatching & Wildlife Days

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...

The  British Birds  Bird Photograph of the Year 2013 winners were as follows: BIRD PHOTOGRAPH OF THE YEAR 2013  Peregrine Falcons  Falco peregrinus,  Norwich, Norfolk, June 2012. (Canon EOS 5D III, Canon 400 mm f4 + 1.4x converter; 1/1250, f8, ISO 320.)  Steven Jefferson Here’s Simon winding up to hand out the prizes… (pic by Peter Baughan)

Here is the RSPB's report on bird crime in 2012 which includes accounts of individual offences against bird legislation. The full PDF can be viewed full screen, with larger text or zoomed in  here .