Autumn Watch Webcasting

I have started webcasting for Autumn Watch here is the link to the site www.bbc.co.uk./autumnwatch/webcams/ the live cam is on now, and I will be live again Tuesday from about 1300hrs, then Wednesday from 1600hrs until 2100hrs, and lastly we are doing an early morning stint from 0700hrs on Thursdays.

Sign in to the message boards and make comments and join in the fun of watching wildlife live.

Today went really well, lots of birds, and Grey Squirrels. Took one picture with the camera

Testing Canon EOS 7D

I took the plunge. Goodbye my fabulous eos 30D you have served well been everywhere and taken most things. Welcome eos 7D, here's a test picture of Otus I took today in cloudy conditions.

Second picture is a Blue Tit in the garden, this taken during the height of the wind and rain storms so the light was awful. I used 2000 ISO, which on the 30D would have been very grainy, I'm very pleased with this result, now I can't wait for the sun to shine again.

From Monday to Thursday at various times I should be doing some live webcasting for Autumn Watch, the exact times I don't know yet but will update the blog and twitter when I do.
I will take the camera with me and publish on the blog anything of interest.
BFN

Update News

First of the wintering Redwings are now here, also this week whilst walking through a local woodland I watched in awe as I found a Goshawk (female) plucking at a wood pigeon on the path, it was a momentary observation as the Goss saw me then took off, but what a great sight (don't even ask where the camera was :( They are now breeding locally which is great news I'm keeping in close touch with one private landowner who really does like them, and doing well at protecting them. .

Tuesday night I did my first real wild talk which went down really well, this talk is a bit controversial and asks the question what is real wild? Also goes into how we manage nature reserves, the question is asked is it for wildlife or people? Climate change and the real cost on wildlife rears its head, and also discussed is the predation issue which leads very well into how we all seem to have lost our connectivity with the natural world, it was only supposed to be 45 minutes long, but I went on for an hour and half, but no one complained. My, lay off the Bramble Bush speech, also seemed to hit the spot especially when backed up with a species list that Bramble can contain. I met a really interesting man after the talk who has written a book about climate change and agreed with my stance on the issue, in fact if you are that person please get in touch as I do want to buy a copy of your book.

Indeed someone else after the talk did say I should write a book about the talk. Yea like I have the time.

This weekend is a busy one, starting Friday night is the Hawk and Owl Trust annual members conference, this year its in Somerset at Shapwick. I'm chairing the sessions and Friday night sees the first speaker and what a great start we have this year with Jemima Parry-Jones talking about Vulture decline, will be good to see Mima again. Saturday morning is more lectures then in the afternoon walks around the reserves on the levels, such as our own Shapwick Moor, and Natural Eng lands Shapwick Heath and the RSPB's magnificent Ham Wall. In the afternoon I have to slop off to Dillington House to join up with the Somerset Wildlife Trust this because its the Wildlife Trusts AGM and I'm one of its Trustees. I will be back with Hawk and Owl Trust by 1800hrs to welcome everyone back and to also welcome Fred Domeloff from Cotliegh Brewery.

Fred will be bringing with him the new Long-eared Owl Beer and I will do the first tasting (just to make sure its OK) After which is the members social evening.

Sunday is the local members groups round up, or what they have done in the last year, followed by Hawk and Owl Trust AGM.

Sunday night back home and bed.

Hornets the last word

OK unless they all start doing Shakespeare in the garden, this is the last Hornet item I'm doing this season. Its all proved very popular with lots of e mails still to answer and lots of confusion because the UK press have put out a big splash about the invasion in France by the Asian Giant Hornet. Because of this lots of harmless European and recently back from the brink Hornets are being squashed, smashed and nests destroyed. The best bit from this came from the British Museum who's very balanced approach was that there are in fact no reports of Giant Hornets in the UK, indeed they state that they probably won't be able to live here because of the wet and cold weather. If you do see what you think is a Giant Hornet, then just use the Google search box and write in Giant Hornet you will get lots of pictures and videos, then do the same for European Hornet and then compare the two. Interesting that in Germany the European Hornet has been protected for sometime with hefty fines given if they are destroyed, well good one you Germany, and yet again it seems we in the UK lag far behind with our wildlife education and legislation.

Full protection for the European Hornet in the UK. Where's Bug Life in all this? Comment please!

Owl surveys and re-hab monitoring next.

BFN

A New Beer For The Conservation of The Long eared Owl

Here it is and I do know its been a wait for all those volunteers that helped with the last 2 Long-eared Owl surveys. The latest news from Fred Domellof Director of Cotleigh Brewery is that Long eared Owl Beer will join the likes of Barn Owl bitter (named by me) Tawny and Snowy Owl ale. There is talk of a possible PR launch day with yours truly doing a tasting :) being accompanied by Otus the captive bred Long-eared Owl (hooo's tee total) Otus also features here on the pump clip label, picture taken by me.

I have been working with Cotleigh Brewery since the 80s, so before I became full time Hawk and Owl Trust Conservation Officer. Its a great partnership and an interesting way of highlighting the conservation effort in much wider circles. Imagine this, you are in a pub and some berk suddenly gets up and starts talking about Owl conservation. Actually its proved very popular and led to many farmers and other landowners creating great wildlife habitat that we may have never reached. Cotleigh Brewery brew real ales and they are very good indeed, don't take it from me try it for yourself the Brewery website is http://www.cotleighbrewery.com/ and you can now purchase Barn Owl Bitter in the bottle which includes my phone number on the bottle, from the likes of Asda and Tesco's. Fred also told me today that if you are Hawk and Owl Trust member and going to the members weekend from the 15th to the 17th of October then he will be delivering the first batch of Long-eared Owl Beer for the Saturday social evening and Fred himself will do a quick introduction, with once again yours truly doing the first tasting :)

There is more very exciting news to come on Long-eared Owls but this is a great start from Cotleigh Brewery thanks to Fred and gang in Wiveliscombe this is the brewery's 30th and this is also the Hawk and Owl Trust's 40th, if you are a member of the Hawk and Owl Trust and need more information on the members weekend conference go to http://www.hawkandowl.org/

If the boys from Sweden are reading this, then you should be proud, as Fred is from your country, now how about Owl beers in Sweden? You have 10 species, come on boys!

Lastly here is a copy of Fred's tasting notes.

LONG EARED OWL PREMIUM ALE - DARK COPPER COLOUR
ABV 4.9 %
A rich and bright darker copper coloured ale. Full flavoured with a rich floral aroma from first gold hops. Smooth on the palate with a long lasting bitter sweet finish.

Ingredients: Pale, Crystal and Chocolate Malt; Goldings, Fuggles, Northern Brewery and First Gold hops.

Wow what an Autumn!

Its been an amazing Autumn so far, seems its not rained for weeks, and with daytime temperatures sometimes up around July temperatures, its meant that its been great for the late rush of Insects. We have had one noted frost.

Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers, Blackcaps have been flocking through the local Woods, with good numbers at Portbury as well, this as they move south towards Africa. Sadly though here at Portbury they have cut back what seems to be a huge amount of vegetation meaning that all the rough grass with the exception of the ditch edges is now gone. Its a bad time to cut grass as there is no time left for the grass to recover and therefore hold any preyable population of Short-tailed Voles for the Barn Owls. Also gone is most of the seed head plants, which prior to the cut I had counted a mixed flock of Finches numbering as an estimate over 200 birds including Goldfinch and Linnets, well they will have to find somewhere else now. No I'm not talking about farmland I'm talking about a nature reserve!

Chiffchaff and shadow at Paula's Farm

Meanwhile I have started bird surveying on the Hawk and Owl Trust nature reserve called Shapwick Moor, with great thanks to Eve Tigwell (BTO rep Somerset) and Dr. John Edwards Hawk and Owl Trust Trustee for their help with this process. As I have only just started there's nothing much to report back on yet, however I was walking down the side of one hedge when a Brown Hare appeared right in front of me. I carefully crouched down using the background of sprawling Willow tree to shield myself and took about 150 pictures, and here's one.

What was really good was that the Hare had not noticed me, and fed for a while on the green grass, then returned back into the cover of an un cut and rough grassy margin were upon it simply disappeared. Here's yet another declining UK animal that needs a much more untidy landscape, the proof of that was in the observation.

I have been monitoring the 2nd Tawny Owl release, which so far has gone really well, here are 2 pictures from last Saturday nights monitoring session when I found this one actually hunting on a grass verge within 100 metres of the release aviary. I should state now before I get e mails from perfectionist photographers that these pictures were taken with the ISO cranked up to 3200 on eos 30D hence the grain (it was virtually dark). However for me they more than works of art, they are my proof that Owls I have put out are hunting and therefore self supporting. First picture is the Owl looking into the verge clearly hunting typical Tawny owl fashion, this Owl is now so reliable a film crew could film it (hint). By pellet returns its taking Wood Mouse and Brown Rat.

Same Owl, however it hears the click from the shutter of the camera going off, and turns to look.

Meanwhile back on Mendip Wheaters have also been in good number on one farm (thanks again Paula) we had I reckon some 20 individuals suddenly come to ground just before sunset, picture below is one of them taking during the red phase of sunset, a bold youngster which was really close, and made me fire off another 150 pictures.

And lastly I could not leave this Autumn blog without a look at the sunsets, some of them have been the best for along time, here's a picture from Mendip on last Saturday night, a scene that makes you feel good to be alive.

Here is the Vid of the Hornets of the HOPS

New video to come, Hornets very active, filming now!

Thanks to Gaina for the idea to use video as a way of gaining better insight to what the Hornets are doing with the Hops plant. The first part its optical zoom, then it goes to digital zoom. The camera used is a Canon PowerShot SX200 this is a stills camera with built in video, so don't expect broadcast quality. Watch for the Ant part way through, who walks by the Hornet who in tun appears to lift its leg to let the Ant go by.

Keep the support for Hornets coming! Footage taken 26.09.09 at 1000hrs, dull here in North Somerset at the moment, though mild not cold, so fair amount of Hornet activity in the garden.

They Have Returned 24 Sept 09

Many of you will remember that last year I followed and blogged about a nest of Hornets in my local woods. Well despite many searches for Hornets and nests this summer by both Dave Newton and myself both drew a blank, it seemed that 09 was not going to be a good year for them. As I walked through my drive to my house just today, I had that funny feeling I was being watched. I turned my eyes to my left looking now straight into a shrub that I had planted for the insects, and there was a familiar and very welcome set of large eyes looking back at me.
The Hornets have come to me!A group of between 10/20 Hornets were coming and going into this bushy plant in my garden, which in fact is a variety of Hops, here is a picture of the plant.

I thought quite wrongly, that they were catching the many small insects which were all around the plant, however this was a completely wrong analysis. I watched closely as a small Bee was ignored by three of the Hornets which were all crawling over the same branch. Other insects were treated as though they were not really there. The only exception occurred after about 15 minutes of observation, this was when a lone Common Wasp landed on a leaf below the main Hops branch. This was not tolerated, as 0ne of the Hornet's, which made the Wasp look minute, caught it very quickly and snapped it in half with its jaws, but then returned to the job it was doing before, and so it did not fly off with the body of the Wasp. This observation helped me to understand what was really happening, and so it seems to me that this was a particular group of female workers assigned to a specific job. In fact they were collecting something from the shrub and then flying off towards a nest? Maybe the camera reveals what they are all up to. Poor picture, I know, but you can make out that the Hornet is stripping the outer layers of the branch from the Hops plant, after which it collects it in its jaws then fly off. This must be for re lining or construction material for the nest, however I do wonder if the Hops plant has some other special properties? (Anyone know, let me know please) O.K, anyone who thinks they are brewing beer can leave now.

Just as last year, I never once worried about how close I got to the Hornets, indeed on several occasions I actually stuck my whole face into the bush to watch what they were up to, and not once did they behave in a threatening manner, even though my ear was touch on at least one occasion. Health and Safety Caution Note: Don't do as I do.

I feel so privileged to be able to get so close, and hopefully to understand a little more about this wonderful insect, which throughout my youth was non existent in my area. Now hopefully it will become more common. I was told recently we should kill them on sight as the sting is so nasty. No doubt the sting is very nasty, yet I have been very close to individual Hornets and even sat at the entrance of a nest as you will recall from the blogs of 08. I have been thoroughly analysed by the nest guards, and I have been buzzed just today by female workers, I sense no real aggression from them. Actually today it felt like I was being inspected, but it seems their assigned duty far out way any aggressive tendency's they may have. Their own conclusion appears to be that, I'm no threat, or maybe they don't want the hassle? I find them placid but no doubt if you re intention towards them is not respect then thier atttude towards you might be different.

Tolerating species whether they bite, sting, kill other animals is I feel, very much apart of being closer to the nature that surrounds us. If we become closer to it, then just maybe we are understanding a little bit about even ourselves.

If you are Hops expert, or even more up on Hornets than me, then please leave a comment. What do they use Hops bark for? Also any support to stop people killing Hornets unnecessarily. Mary Colwell if you are reading this, then how about a Radio programme on European Hornets The facts not the fiction. There's a good title

BBC Radio 4 Severn Estuary Programme in the Nature series

Many thanks to all those that have sent comments about the programme last night.
What is heartening is that 2 different people mentioned they would never call Herring Gull pest again, as I have always said today's pest species can easily be tomorrows scarcity, and how many species is that happening with at the moment, and yes I do mean here in the U.K.
So sorry to hear from those of you who missed the programme, well for a short period at least you can listen again to the programme at this website http://feeds.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mkbys so no excuses now.
For production questions please go and talk to Mary Colwell at her own blog site http://marycolwell.blogspot.com/
Mary is a top Radio and TV producer as you can see by all the awards she has won, I just do the talking.
Thanks again and keep the comments coming.

The White KIte

Mid Air Feast

BBC Radio 4 2100hrs 16th Sept (Severn Estaury on the Nature series)

This is the transmission date and time for the Severn Estuary programme in the series called "Nature". As always if anyone has any comments I'm very keen to get any feedback. The programme was produced by Mary Colwell

Canon XHA1S For Sale

This wonderful camcorder the quality of which you can be seen if you go to you tube and just write the model name into the search bar. This is a reluctant for sale, reason for sale is simply lack of time to use it. I will be putting the camcorder out for general sale in the next few days, however if anyone is interested let me know, it is hardly used.

Purchased May 2009, here is a link to Canons specs on the camera http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Camcorders/High_Definition_HD/XH_A1s/index.asp

Airbus airday Broughton

A request from Airbus to participate in the family air day at Broughton near Chester, and a great chance to talk with thousands of people about nature conservation, bio diversity and climate change. This was too good to miss. It was also great to be able help Airbus push their brilliant photographic competition aimed at young people and linking up with the U.N biodiversity green wave project http://greenwave.cbd.int/ Beau the barn Owl came with me, yes to an air base and she loved it! Of course she is well known at RNAS Yeovilton as we both perform beat the military pilot as she puts her skills and those of her colleagues against the best pilots in the world and the public gets to vote on whether the birds or pilots are best. Of course Beau and her friends always win the public vote, but there again you can't beat nature, only closely mimic it.

So as guest of Airbus Beau (the Barn Owl) and I were taken into the factory area, were we saw the A380 wings stored. I'm sure at one point Beau said something like "call that a wing" just then one of the organisers explained something that was really fascinating and that was, here was a real Barn Owl looking down the wing of an A380 and this wing was modeled on an Owls wing this to reduce noise and so also gaining greater efficiency. Now that was a big wow! If you have never looked down one of these wings then they are enormous! I was told that at the end that joins on to the plane, it is so big that 2 full grown men stood on top of each other could walk around inside.

Whilst in the factory area I was introduced to Joel Sartore National Geographic Photographer (oh my god) Thinks I. "Am I not ready for this". I'm sure you would have all loved to have been flies on the wall watching this one. There was I with a Barn Owl in one hand and a Canon EOS 30D round my neck telling everyone "hey, yea I can take pictures with this" Then they bring out the KING of photo journalism, and oh no not just the KING, but the KING with a Camera round his neck, and his is so big and shiny, so much so that my poor old Canon EOS 30D just whimpered away into the background like a limp floppy camera. Seriously folks, Joel was every bit the pro you would expect and said the 30D was great in its day. (Canon, if you are reading this then please HELP!) You all must go and see Joel's pictures, regular viewers or readers of Nat Geo will be very familiar with his work. Joel's very important message which he delivered during the Airbus day was full of his own personal experience whilst on assignment for Nat Geo. The message is all the more stronger when someone sees at first hand species declining, or species on the brink, and the pure affect of climate change on wildlife and people. I suppose this is much the same as myself but with me its only on a UK scale. After meeting Joel and having a really good chat about life, the Earth and how not to use a camera, the good people of Airbus dumped me big time into the deep end as I had to go up unprepared and give a 5 minute talk in front of a huge crowd of people.

OK I did it, I desperately wanted to give out the message about the UK, about what people can do here. About species that were, and or could go on the brink, and no not in Africa, or India or even South America, but here in the UK. I really think the Airbus UN competition is a great way to get younger people involved and thinking on a bio-diversity scale, and if any of those attending are now looking at this blog, then remember that wildlife conservation can indeed start in your garden, and if you have not got one of those, than how about the bio diversity of window box, even the now amber listed (25% decline) Common Kestrel can nest in them, in other words anything is possible, but for goodness sake everyone do something.

During the afternoon Beau and I retreated back to the open day and met the public flocking in for the air display. In between talking to hundreds of people about nature conservation in the UK and the brilliant work of the Hawk and Owl Trust http://www.hawkandowl.org/ I did see something of the planes, though we spent most of time inside on the Hawk and Owl Trust Stand.Below is the Airbus Beluga, which I did not see fly as I was on the HOT stall. In the morning however I did see it load new wings into its belly. This plane always reminds me of what a pregnant plane ought to look like.

Then there was the huge but very quiet Airbus A380, as the A380 arrived over the run way it just seemed to fly so slowly and effortlessly, and yes just like an owl. View below is a full view flying over the runway, with the next picture zoomed onto the front a few seconds later.

Also flying today was the rarest bird in the world, and a plane I remember from my youth, the silhouette below is a shape that brings back so many memories, not just the shape but also the sound.

I would be playing as a small boy in my parents garden in Portishead and from the top of the garden I could see across towards what looked like three small mounds in the extreme distance, this was the hangers of the runway at Filton airport, from this direction would come this V shaped monster of a plane. When it flew low over the house (or so it seemed) it would suddenly point its nose into the air and thrust up into the sky over my garden, making me run for cover, the ground shake and send Dogs howling and hiding for months. This was of course the magnificent Vulcan Bomber, which at this time of my life was testing what would become the Concorde engines, so seeing this magnificent bird again really did bring back a lot of memories.

As it passed low over the Broughton runway it did suddenly tip its nose up and thrusted up, and that familiar crackling of pure real power could be heard and even a slight shake of the ground as well, not just my hair stood up when that happened but around 20 000 other peoples hair was raising as well.

If you are interested in the Vulcan Bomber, and the only one flying please go and help these wonderful people at this website http://www.vulcantothesky.org/

Here is one more picture of the Vulcan, sorry they are only taken with EOS 30D, maybe its time upgrade.

Thanks to everyone at Airbus for making this a great day, full of good messages great people as well, thanks also to the people of Broughton for making a Somerset lad very welcome.

Hopefully see everyone next September in Filton. Aviation and nature conservation, you see folks were there is the will, then the way will be found.

BFN

Getting ready for Little Owl release

Everything is now ready for this years gang of 5 young Little Owls to be released.

As you will see from the pictures below this year we have a newly constructed portable aviary. Which as it's name suggest can be transported anywhere, meaning of course, that once a good release site is found we just wheel in the portable aviary put the birds in, let them acclimatise to their new surroundings then off they go. Everything is, from pre to post release, monitored. That means, habitat, searches for predator competition, and full post release monitoring.

Portable release aviary in situ for earlier release of Tawny owls, hack board still in use

Of course moving the aviary causes a few problems as its base is a very large caravan chassis

However farmers are a great people to work with, and always want to help Owls. So as you can see above the farmer where the Little Owls are to be released, obliges by towing the aviary to the pre-selected Owl release location.

Now I had warned the kids, that if they were noisy and troublesome they would end up trapped in the aviary only to be fit for Little Owl food, and I always keep my promises. See below!!!!!

Once the aviary was settled into its final position, I drove back to the holding aviary, and gave the gang of 5 a last check over before boxing them up, and taking them over to the farm to be placed into the portable aviary

They settled remarkably quickly, into the release aviary, with their commanding views across what will become in the months to come new wild hunting territories for them.

This all happened 2 weeks ago, and now of course the week commencing 24th August sees the big count down for the door of the aviary to be opened and release into the wild. This year I'm hoping to bring a full video diary of the release with the usual back up of photographs etc. Of course if you are a Hawk and Owl Trust member and have helped with monitoring a release before then you are about to get an e mail. If you want to join the Hawk and Owl Trust and help out then let me know by e mail.

Special thanks must go to Paula (HOT volunteer) ((Sorry Paula HOT stands for Hawk and Owl Trust, nothing else, honest)) and her family for all the help so far with this release, and a big thanks to Animal Affairs for their help with funding and Jemima-Parry Jones for allowing the Little Owls bar one to come west..

Meanwhile some of you have been asking about how the Tawny's did, well here's the latest picture of one of the young Tawny's released 4 weeks ago, as you can see he/she is having the day off from distribution and enjoying a sleep.

BFN and hopefully the first of the videos will come out by next weekend. Its me crossing fingers not any of you..and please who ever you re god is, pray to them for good weather next week?

Super Owl loose in Cardiff-With a grip of steel

All Eagle Owls should go to this link to see what they can really do.
All they need to do is wear a big "S" on their fronts and pull on some underpants over their tails.
What is really worrying is in the comment section were by it is discussed that a Eagle Owl cull is already happening. I have heard of this before, I just hope its not true!

I should state here and now that this bird is obviously of captive origin, but even so to come out with myth like this does no favours for this Owl or indeed every other flying predator at all. I can only imagine how loud the laughter is coming out of the rest of Europe, at the way we in the UK think of predators.

Have a look everyone http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/08/15/lock-up-your-cats-and-dogs-there-s-a-killer-on-the-pr-owl-91466-24446011/

Its funny yet sad, as Alar Broberg from Sweden stated the other day.

Farmers To The Rescue

A very apt farm visit this week, especially after the announcement that the CLA/NFU backed voluntary scheme is the now the one favoured by Minister Hilary Benn to be the replacement for the old Set-A-Side scheme. The farm is in deepest brightest Somerset and is 1000 acre mostly arable farm run by Henry Lang and his brother. Both share a huge passion for farming and for wildlife which really shines through.
Along side the cash crop of the large arable fields are wide margins of rough rank wild grasslands, this is part of DEFRA's higher level stewardship scheme. Walking along these margins I stop Henry and gasped at the massive number of Butterflies flying up in front of me, the scene was more reminiscent of central Europe and certainly not England. Bee's of various species were also on good show, and with just Bee's and Butterflies this would have been good enough for me as proof of the value of these margins, but it got better.

A bird singing caught my ear, and not one but more and more joined in from the hedgerow along side the margin. The song sounded like the bird was saying "a little bit of bread and no cheese" Many country folk would recognise this song as the song of the Yellowhammer, which has declined so much in the UK that now it is afforded a red list status on the BCC list (Bird Of Conservation Concern). Henry has erected 8 barn Owl boxes throughout his farm, and it was these boxes that I was here to check. The take up of these boxes by barn Owl would be totally reliant on the bio-diversity quality of Henry's grassland margins as this is would be the only areas were the Owls could catch their primary food source the Short-tailed Vole.

Of the 8 boxes checked, 5 of them had barn Owls in them, with 3 of those having actual active nests. The other 3 boxes were, 2 = empty and the other 1 had an active Stock Doves nest.

Above is a picture of Henry with an 8 week old barn Owlet, just after I had rung/banded it, ring number GC74933, this first nest had 3 Owlets around the same age. The second active nest had three young also, yet much younger than the first as these were around 3 weeks with the youngest too young to have ring placed on it. Picture below is of a by now a very proud Henry with the 2 that were old enough to ring.

The third active nest had both parents in the boxes and the female was incubating 4 eggs (so far).

So of the three nests that were active then at the first the young were nearly ready to fledge, then the second nest was a month behind the first, leaving the last nest with eggs probably a month or even more behind the second, what a strange season, climate change?

The boxes that Henry had provided were real top quality, but not just the workmanship also his careful thought of where to put them, this must be highlighted. In the picture above is one the Owlets branched, yet very safe in this old English Oak. The box was placed in the crown of the tree with the owlets having safe access to the whole tree without the risk of falling to the ground and being eaten by Foxes. A massive well done should be said to Henry and to everyone that's involved with this farm, as it shows what can be done for whole bio-diversity by number and species, and that this type of farming really should be used as an example of the care towards wildlife that farmers really do show. I would far rather my tax went on schemes like this than buying duck ponds or cleaning moats for our MP's.

Thanks Henry for a great day, and what a brilliant take up of your barn Owls boxes and showing me how farming and wildlife really can go together.

Mendip Island Steep Holm BBC Radio 4

Steep Holm north side facing Wales

Working once again with producer Mary Cowell from BBC Radio 4, this time on a programme about the Severn Estuary. I didn’t imagine my tasks would include a choppy boat ride and a day marooned on a wind-swept island! This was, however, where I found myself last Saturday. Steep Holm is just 5 miles off the coast of Weston-super-Mare, but feels far more remote, and is very Mendip-esque. Indeed, this tiny island was only separated from Mendip by the last ice age.
Now owned by the Kenneth Alsop Memorial Trust, Steep Holm covers around 48 acres (depending on tides) and measures 260ft at its highest point. Absence of mammalian predators it affords it’s wildlife ultimate protection; making this island a fantastic place for seabirds to nest. In particular Gulls seem to enjoy it here, and three species make up the bulk of the Gullery; the Herring Gull, Greater Black-backed Gull and Lesser Black-backed Gull.

Great Black-backed Gull

Our guide for this trip, and the person I had to interview was the chairman of the Kenneth Alsop Memorial Trust, Tony Parson. It was fascinating to share some of his encyclopedic knowledge of both the human and natural history of this unique island, which I have gazed at across theBristolChannel for many years, but never visited.
For the few mammals that made it to Steep Holm (aided by humans) the isolation has been both a blessing and a curse. Both rabbits and hedgehogs were common here, but both have now been wiped out either by harsh weather or disease. One mammal that is still doing well, though, is Britain’s smallest deer, the Muntjac. These shy little animals (just 50cm at the shoulder) are everywhere, although you do have to be pretty lucky to spot one!

Herring Gull now Red Listed

Walking around the island during the summer months can be a little daunting and is definitely not for those with ornithophobia! The Lesser Black-backed Gulls in particular fiercely defend their nests by dive-bombing anyone that gets too close. The most common species is the Herring Gull; that epitome of Sea Gulls; bold and noisy, and not averse to steeling an ice-cream or chip straight from an unsuspecting tourists hand! The largest of the Gulls on Steep Holm is the Greater Black-backed, which is substantially bigger than the Herring Gull and quite capable of catching large sea birds and mammals such as Rabbits. Only eight pairs of these giant Gulls are currently breeding on Steep Holm, but even the familiar and once very common Herring Gull has seen huge decline in recent years, and is now Red Listed on the Birds of Conservation Concern List (BCC). The only predators any of these Gulls need worry about are Peregrine Falcons and of course other Gulls which might take the odd chick or weak adult. In fact, the gulls themselves often have to travel great distances to find food; searching out ploughed fields and rubbish tips and other areas where people leave waste such as beaches, playing fields and picnic areas.
Anyone looking for a truly different day out should definitely visit Steep Holm, to sample its special wildlife and learn about its fascinating human history. Boat trips go from Weston-super-Mare, and all the information you need can be found at http://www.steepholm.org/ or by calling 01934 522125. Of course, you will need to be able to clamber in and out of boats. Enjoy this forgotten corner of Mendip Hills, everyone that looked and ignored must visit.

Lesser Black-backed Gull

I have no TX date yet for this programme on BBC Radio 4 but it will feature as part of the new series of Nature.

YACWAG Sucess

Well done once again to everyone involved with the Yatton and Congresbury Wildlife Action Group aka YACWAG. I was carrying out the annual monitoring of their boxes, Barn Owl and Kestrels. The management of the reserves is taken straight out of the Chris Sperring manuscript of how it should be done, indeed my early 90s work at Portbury was part of the inspiration for their success now. And boy what success, as we walked across the fields towards the boxes,
Butterflies of differing species such as Large and Small Skipper, Ringlet, Meadow Browns and of course my favourite the Marbled White were all at times in such large numbers its was quite breadth taking. The bird species list is endless check out their website to see for yourself.
The first Barn Owl box had an amazing five Barn Owlets, interestingly these were younger than the second nest which only had three, this has been a pattern this year in that if the Owls bred early the number of young is low, those that started later have more owlets. If you remember its exactly what I was saying earlier in the spring. It means we had suppressed grass growth leading to later breeding in the Short-tailed Vole which is their main prey item across these open grassland areas. But what to me was good was that one small reserve had 2 pairs of Kestrels both of which had young on the wing. This species has shown some quite big declines in the U.K, but here at least not only was the young production good but also from 2 pairs in very close proximity to each other. The Short tailed Voles here are having a bumper year. Now I have heard other's state that "this is a bad year for Voles" yet so far all my own Vole study plot areas show really good Vole numbers as did YACWAG's Kestrel and Barn Owl results. Just goes to prove you can't have a national up and down of Voles it does not happen. YACWAG is a very small local based independent wildlife charity. Yet what it does is up on a scale as great as any of the national NGO's, it buys up bits of local land and turns it into a wildlife paradise, it also proves that these tiny islands in the area, can produce maximum bio-diversity. YACWAG involves its local members of the public, they in turn make a major difference for the environment that surrounds them. Its all so simple yet what I have seen it makes such a huge impact for little fuss or money.
My regards to everyone involved with YACWAG and thanks for a great day out on the reserves, and for making such great habitat for real bio-diversity and not just a select few on a priority list, well done folks your the best!

All this reminds me of another organisation of doers, small yet very effective. The Hawk and Owl Trust springs to mind!

YACWAG volunteers including Trever Riddle and leader Tony Moulin
Count the Owls!

Close up of a YACWAG Babe

Three Older babes from the second nest of YACWAG

Kestrel recently fledged from the box

Ringlet Butterfly on YACWAG reserve

A Response On The Death Of Oscar The Eagle Owl from Sweden

Ornithologist Alar Broberg who studies the Eagle Owl in Sweden sent this message today after reading the blog entry about "Oscar" Bristol's Eagle Owl death.
Just to remind everyone, its thought that Oscar was injured and died after attacks from Gulls and Crows, so here is Alar's response to that.

I had a few sec free time, so I checked your blog –spot.
The only occasion I can imagine that an EO is killed by gulls and crows if it’s in a very bad health status. Sick or very poor luck with catching food. I have never heard about this happening, the only ones that kills EO is another EO or perhaps an Eagle.

Alar goes on to tell us about his Eagle Owl successes so far this year in Sweden

So far it’s pretty good year , and we had one day “all time high ringing in the archipelago”. Usually that area has about 5 chicks, and the previous was last year), last Monday I rung 12 ( 7 clutches).

Eagle Owlet in Sweden Picture by Alar Borberg

My Thanks to Alar for taking the time to respond to this.
Sadly the body of Oscar has been disposed of, obviously an autopsy to find any underlying reason why he died would have been good. And so after reading Alar's response it does make me wonder whether he may have been poisoned, this comment from me is really jumping to a conclusion and only based on the fact that Oscar was catching Rats in the City, therefore I would assume Rats in the City are targeted for poisoning. Stands to reason if this happened his health would have deteriorated to a point were by the Gulls and Crows may have picked on him.
At the end of the day we will never really know and without the evidence from his body then we only have rumour and unsubstantiated evidence.

Thanks to the many of you that have e mailed regarding Oscar the Eagle Owl.