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Welcome
… to your Autumn/Winter edition! And also, welcome to the thousands of Knot, arriving on UK shores. Jos Ashpole tells their story and looks at how, thanks to your support, the RSPB ensures that Knot have places to rest and feed during the colder months (p18).
You can also read about new legislation bringing hope for our birds of prey in the UK’s uplands (p25), and how your RSPB membership is helping endangered species and habitats beyond the UK (p72).
You’ll notice a change in the paper inside your magazine. We wanted to use paper which was produced in a sustainable way and which would also cut costs, allowing us to spend more of your membership fees on conservation. This matt paper is sourced from a company called Holmen, whose paper mill has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the world. Holmen also actively manages large areas of its Swedish forests for wildlife conservation.
Finally, how would you like to be involved in a future edition of The RSPB Magazine? We’re planning an ‘RSPB member takeover’ issue in 2025 and members will be able to get involved, help make decisions on features and share their own stories.
If you’d like to share your feedback on the new paper, or be part of the member takeover issue, please do get in touch by emailing rspbmagazine@rspb.org.uk or writing to us at the address on the left of this page.
Jamie Wyver Editor
Protecting habitats, saving species and helping to end the nature and climate emergency.
Nature is in crisis. Together we can save it.
Driven by Curiosity, Science and Discovery
Meet Verena Meraldi, Chief Scientist for HX Hurtigruten Expeditions. Verena heads up HX’s industry-leading Science & Education Program, bringing together researchers from all over the world in partnerships and collaborations. When you join an expedition with HX you’ll be part of something much bigger.
What does your role as Chief Scientist entail?
My role focuses on integrating science into our day-to-day operations across the HX fleet, through partnering with science institutions, hosting guest scientists on board and getting guests involved in citizen science projects. As we operate in remote, infrequently visited parts of the world, we take our responsibility seriously to open our ships up to researchers. This really is a win-win for everyone; vital data is collected allowing for evidence-based decision making and our guests are inspired through understanding the areas we sail.
What do you enjoy most about your role? Awakening the curious child in every guest by exposing them to new and unexpected things, making them hungry for knowledge and giving them a better understanding of the places they visit with us.
How does HX work with global scientific organisations when down in Antarctica? We collaborate with research institutions and they use our ships to collect data and/ or samples. We allocate 2 guests cabins on
every HX ship throughout the Antarctic season to host researchers. Some projects are purely observational and only require access to the ship and observation areas, while others require use of our zodiacs and drivers to collect the samples or get to the study areas.
How can HX guests get involved with the research?
Guests can actively participate in some projects by going out with the researchers and helping to deploy the instruments or do the sampling. Where permits prevent this, the guest scientists are invited to work on the collected samples and/or data in public areas so as many guests as possible can see and ask questions. In addition, we support several citizen science projects and conduct sessions where guests can take part and contribute research of their own.
What sort of activities can guests get involved with both onboard and ashore on an expedition with HX?
The traditional lecture is an obvious one, but we have also invested in state-of-the-art Science Centres that are fitted out laboratory
With sustainability at their core, HX Hurtigruten Expeditions work with the RSPB to bring members closer to wildlife and raise vital funds to help nature thrive. Scan the QR code to learn more about our partnership.
style with microscopes, samples, and museum-like collections for guests to see and touch. We run workshops using the equipment and on deck we offer things like discovery sessions and wildlife spotting. Off the ship, we run science boat sessions and during nature landings and small boat cruising, our Expedition Team interpret the wildlife, scenery and history to enhance guest understanding of the environment.
What makes Antarctica special?
Where do I start... it is an isolated pristine continent, home to some of the world’s most incredible wildlife. On an expedition with HX, our guests get to experience this magical world of abundant wildlife and ice. It’s captivating, all those that visit come away touched by its utter beauty. It’s an old cliché, seeing is believing, but in this case it really is. More to the point, who doesn’t love a penguin!
Beccy Speight
For our inspiring natural world...
Beccy Speight has been the RSPB’s Chief Executive since 2019 and has led the organisation through some of nature’s most urgent challenges.
@beccyRSPB
I think it’s fair to say that birds have always inspired people. From ancient cave paintings to Shakespeare’s lark, arising from sullen earth to sing hymns at heaven’s gate, they permeate our cultures around the globe and are infused into our music, writing and art (p31). My home reflects this – as does, I’m sure, many of yours. I have an oil painting of Swallows on Skye on one wall and a wooden sculpture of a Great Northern Diver atop a chest of drawers, a memento from a trip I took to Canada when I was 18.
Our encounters with birds are life affirming, creating memories that stay with us and give us a very real emotional connection to the natural world.
One of the first places I was taken when I became the RSPB’s Chief Executive was to our nature reserve at Snettisham in Norfolk. Each autumn, tens of thousands of Knot descend here after spending the summer in the high Arctic, fuelling up on the rich tidal mud of the Wash. When the geography and tides align, you can witness one of our most stunning avian spectacles – a swirling, mesmerising mass of sound and form – and a feeling that these birds are creating their very own transitory art (p18).
These open landscapes that lie on the
‘Our encounters with birds are life affirming, creating memories that stay with us and give us a very real emotional connection to the natural world’
English east coast – places like the Humber, The Wash, the Suffolk and Essex coast and the Thames Estuary – are globally important for migratory birds. Which is why we’re supporting the bid to have these East Coast Wetlands recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Such a designation would, of course, help with the future protection of these important places and the nature that lives there. But for our migratory birds, we must go further.
Migratory birds know no boundaries, especially not political ones, and cross numerous countries during their annual cycle. We step in to help when no one else can, and we always make sure that we help build the capacity of smaller, in-country partner organisations, so that we leave a longer-lasting legacy of conservation action. That is why we work globally with many of our BirdLife International partners along birds’ migratory routes from Iceland to South Africa, from Portugal to Kazakhstan, to ensure they have the places they need to help them complete their amazing journeys.
In practice, this involves concerted, co-operative international action involving every conservation skill – science and monitoring, site and species management on the ground, public education, campaigning and influencing government action, including through international agreements.
With the next meeting of the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity fast approaching, we need to see the new UK Government stepping up as an environmental leader on the global stage, delivering the commitment made to protect 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030 and participating more widely in efforts to protect global biodiversity.
It’s only by working together across cultures, politics and nationalities that the nature we all love and are inspired by will continue to do just that for all the future generations to come.
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Stanpit Marsh, Christchurch Harbour 5 Oct / 7 Dec
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This season
10 Wildlife challenge: have you spotted these three amazing birds of prey?
11 Designed by nature: meet the hoarders and feasters of the autumn season
12 Photography: Ben Andrew offers his top tips for new wildlife photographers
13 Nature notes: Nicola Chester on the benefits of reading nature literature
15 Tiny & wild: explore your own garden to meet the season’s heartiest minibeasts
Comment
05 Beccy Speight: inspired by nature
31 Nature in art: Chris Packham on how art inspires us to protect the natural world
71 David Lindo: the effects of hearing loss
78 Simon Barnes: birds can bring hope during the darkest days
Action for nature
38 Policy: new birds added to the Red List
39 People: thanking members like you
40 Places: the Flow Country has won UNESCO World Heritage status
Features
18 Wildlife: meet the thousands of Knot that stop off in UK wetlands during their nearworldwide migration tour
25 Bigger picture: why Red Grouse-related licensing is necessary in the uplands to help protect our birds of prey
48 Our places: winter at Titchwell Marsh is an explosion of wildlife – explore the amazing birds you could spot this season
72 Our work: learn about the RSPB’s worldwide conservation projects, from Sumatra to Kenya to Kazakhstan
82 Takeouts: three things to do after you’ve finished reading this issue
Together for nature
57 Your say: your letters and stories
60 Your photos: share your most amazing wildlife pictures with us
62 Your gardens: Megan and Mike keep a record of all their garden wildlife visitors
66 Your questions: the RSPB team answer your wildlife queries and solve species ID mysteries
On the cover
On page 18, Knot return to UK shores.
Photo: Dennis Jacobsen (Alamy Stock Photo)
Muirburn and birdcrime hurt upland wildlife
Hen Harrier
This season
What to see in nature | Great days out | Ways to help wildlife
Species Kingfisher
Once a fish is caught, the Kingfisher returns to its waterside perch where it will hit the prey against a branch or other hard surface. This kills the fish and ensures spines and fins aren’t sticking out, making it easier to swallow. A Kingfisher will gulp down a fish head first so the fins and scales won’t jam in their gullet. They regurgitate items they cannot digest. If you find pellets of fish scales and bones near a river, you may have found a Kingfisher’s preferred perch.
Kingfishers are an indicator of clean waterways and a healthy environment, so it’s a good sign when you see them. It’s thanks to members like you that we’re able to provide safe wetland homes and vital food sources for Kingfishers on many of our nature reserves. Find out how you can take your support to the next level with our Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature campaign at rspb.org.uk/ protect-and-defend
Words: Jamie Wyver. Photo: FLPA (Alamy Stock
Photo)
What’s on Get out there
Decompress on a guided mindfulness walk around Rhiwargor Waterfall at our Lake Vyrnwy nature reserve, 20 October, 10am-1pm. The At One with Water walk with Vibrant Vyrnwy is free and led by appropriately named mindfulness expert Catherine Waterfall – book by emailing vibrantvyrnwy@ rspb.org.uk Or, if you’re looking for some fun(gi) this autumn, visit RSPB Minsmere on 19 and 30 October for our Fabulous Fungi walks (£24.20 for members and £34.30 for non-members). Book at events.rspb.org.uk/minsmere Finally, head to RSPB Pagham Harbour for a variety of winter events, including a Binocular and Telescope Open Day and a guided walk focused on waders and wildfowl, 7 December, from £5. Visit events.rspb.org.uk/ paghamharbour to book.
Mammal of the moment Grey Seal
Larger than Harbour (or Common) Seals, Grey Seals sport a smattering of dark spots and blotches that are unique to each individual. Their long, aquiline noses match their scientific name, Halichoerus gryphus – literally, ‘hook-nosed sea pig’. The 120,000 Grey Seals around UK coasts make up 40% of the world’s population and a huge 95% of the European population. Pups, born between October and January, lounge on land until they’ve trebled in weight and lost their fluffy white coats. Mothers and pups are particularly vulnerable – mothers may even abandon pups if they feel threatened – so enjoy them from a distance, keep dogs away and pick up any rubbish if you spot it.
Wildlife challenge Birds of prey
Hovering, perching, soaring or swooping, birds of prey are an exciting find out in the field!
Easy to find Kestrel
Widespread in the UK, the Kestrel is an aerial expert. They can be seen hovering over grass verges, cliff tops and farmland, using their angular wings and long tails to steady themselves. Males have a grey head, while females are all brown. Both have speckled plumage.
Tricky to find Merlin
In winter, our smallest falcon is best seen in lowland areas such as saltmarshes and farmland. The male is blue-grey with a rusty chest, while the female is slightly larger and browner. Both males and females have dark streaks on their chests.
Lucky to find Hen Harrier
These breed in the uplands but mainly winter in open country in the lowlands. Slimmer than a Buzzard, the adult male is silver-grey with a white rump and black wingtips. The female is larger and dark brown with a white rump. In flight, their wings form a ‘v’ shape.
Words: Nicola Chester, Katie Nethercoat.
Photos: Phil Cutt, Paul Sawer, Pete Morris, Ray Kennedy (all rspb-images.com); Jerome Murray (Alamy Stock Photo)
Female
Female
Designed by nature Dominic Couzens
Hoarders and feasters
Autumn’s bountiful harvest of berries, nuts and seeds, abundant in our trees and hedgerows, means rich pickings for birds
First up are the hoarders. Jays are flamboyant members of the crow family, with jewel-like blue flashes on their wings. Far shyer than their all-black relatives, they are drawn into our gardens in autumn. The Jay is an eye-catching visitor with a discordant call, and apt to send feeder regulars flying as it sweeps in. These are birds on a mission, determined to find acorns wherever they may be, scouting parks and gardens for as many as they can find. From late September to early November, Jays collect acorns then hide them away to eat at a later date. Hiding places are many and varied, dug in the ground and buried under leaves, jammed between tree bark or hidden in holes in trees.
Smaller birds too will cache food to eat later. In the garden, keep an eye out for diminutive Coal Tits. Wary of bigger birds, they will steal away seeds from the feeders to eat at a more leisurely pace later. Another hoarder is the Nuthatch. These pretty tree dwellers hide food for winter, wedging acorns, hazelnuts and seeds into bark fissures for safekeeping. Unlike Jays, who hide their acorns far and wide, Nuthatches keep them within a smaller area. Highly protective of these stored supplies, they will feistily defend their patch, remaining territorial over autumn and winter.
Harvest time
A second strategy is to feast on the autumn harvest. The first berries start fruiting from late August – blackberries and Rowan berries are two early examples. By October, this swells to a banquet with Hawthorn, Blackthorn and more all bearing fruit, soon to be followed by Ivy and Mistletoe. These berries are packed with energy that helps birds through the winter. Birds will eat the easier to digest, ‘short shelf-life’ berries such as blackberries first. Those that stay fresher longer, or with a mild toxicity such as Ivy, are left until there’s less choice. Whether conscious or not, this is a clever strategy, ensuring the berry supply lasts as long as possible into the winter.
The sudden abundance naturally brings in a variety of birds. It’s not hard to see how the brightly coloured red,
orange and yellow berries act like neon advertising hoardings, alerting birds to the harvest as they fly overhead. It’s thought that black berries, such as Juniper and Ivy, may have an ultraviolet reflectance that is visible to some birds, although not to us.
A berry good plan
But, of course, berry bushes aren’t here solely to feed birds. The berries contain the seeds for the next generation and the birds are a means of effective dispersal. While most seeds are scattered after passing through a bird’s gut, one plant relies on its berries’ sheer stickiness. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows in the branches of trees. Its sticky seeds fix to the bills of the birds and are ‘planted’ when the birds wipe their bills clean on a branch.
It’s not just our resident birds that reap the harvest, with a wave of migration seeing newcomers fly in from colder countries in northern Europe. Here come the hordes of hungry birds on the hunt for food. Fieldfares and Redwings are our ‘winter thrushes’, which flock to the UK from Scandinavia in autumn and feast on berries during their stay. Another bird that may come for the berries in winter is the punky-looking Waxwing. These beautiful birds turn up only when the
berries in their northern homelands of Russia and Scandinavia run dry. In such a ‘Waxwing winter’ we can enjoy sporadic flocks popping up, gorging themselves until the berries run out. Autumn also sees the arrival of large numbers of familiar species including Blackbirds, Song Thrushes, Chaffinches and Robins. These are birds that breed in northern and colder parts of Europe but fly here for our relatively milder winter, joining our resident populations. Birds know no borders and are motivated by the need to find adequate food and shelter wherever it may be. The number of these so-called partial migrants varies year-onyear depending on the weather. So come the colder months, it may well be that ‘your’ regular garden Robin is not a longterm resident but a visitor from overseas.
This is an extract from Dominic’s new book, RSPB Birding Year, written in collaboration with Siân Duncan. Pick up your copy when you visit RSPBshop.co.uk
Dominic Couzens is a wildlife writer and tour leader living in Dorset. Visit birdwords.co.uk or @DominicCouzens
Jays are hoarders, storing as many acorns as they can find in holes, under leaves and inside trees’ bark or trunks.
Photography Ben Andrew
Top 5 tips for beginners
How to get your photography off to the best possible start
1. Think about light It’s one of the most important things in wildlife photography. A subject can be elevated when captured in amazing lighting conditions. Try to begin photographing at first or last light of day, and consider whether you want your subject to be front-lit, side-lit or back-lit – all can create interesting images. However, don’t be ruled by light; if there are no nice mornings or evenings on the horizon, you should still go out
and try to take photos. During summer, I actually prefer the soft light of an overcast day to harsh sunshine.
2. Get at eye level with your subject Getting down on eye level with whatever you’re photographing creates a sense of connection with the species that you just can’t get by looking down or up at it. Most subjects are smaller and lower than a person, so you’ll often need to get on ground level. You may end up laying down, so think about how you can do this comfortably – you might be in this position for a while!
3. Think about your background Often, getting down on eye level can produce a lovely, smooth, out-of-focus background,
leaving the subject sharp and isolated. I try to complement the species I’m photographing with the background and, if my subject allows, I’ll often move around it to find the best background. Ideally, the surrounding colour will suit the subject and there won’t be any distracting colours or shapes.
4. Include some habitat Not every photo needs to be a close-up, detailed portrait with an out of focus background. Sometimes your subject won’t allow that anyway! Don’t be afraid to include the habitat along with the species. Try pulling back and capturing the wider scene with the subject smaller in the frame. These habitat shots help provide context, and background elements like winding
Whooper Swan
Expand your skills
Try our photography workshops, such as the Nature Photography Safari held at RSPB Pulborough Brooks on 19 October. Book at rspb.org.uk /events
Ben Andrew is an award-winning wildlife photographer. @benandrewphotos
branches or an amazing sky can really add to your image.
5. Learn the behaviour of your subject
Even if you know everything about your camera and have all the right conditions on your side, you’ll still need a good working knowledge of natural history and the subject you’re trying to photograph. Research your subject, their behaviours and the habitats they live in and use this knowledge to increase your chances of getting shots you want. Just be careful not to disturb the birds that you’re photographing – remember, the welfare of the bird being photographed, as well as the birds in the surrounding area that you might inadvertently disturb, should always come first.
Reading about nature and its effects
As a lifelong reader, English literature scholar, secondary school librarian and writer, I’m unsurprisingly evangelical about books’ power to enrich our lives. Reading can be an escape, a comfort and a solace. It can be time-and-place travel, a challenge and an affirmation, as well as a source of knowledge, empathy and understanding. You might know this instinctively; you might also wonder why I’m writing about it here.
When it’s not possible to be outside – when our lives, work, situations or access to nature simply don’t allow it –reading about nature isn’t just the next best thing; it enhances and grows our experience of nature, and it’s good for us at the same time.
Statistics show that reading regularly can make us more relaxed, happier and kinder, with improved levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with difficulty. Read regularly and you can build better mental and emotional wellbeing as well as social and creative skills. We read as individuals, blending mental simulations with our own imaginations, memories and experiences, stimulating neural pathways and creating something new.
If much of the above sounds familiar, it may be because so many of those benefits are also experienced by spending time in nature.
Reading about nature brings the wild world beyond our situation right into our hands, heads and hearts (and ears, if we’re listening), wherever we are. I can be Windswept on Annie Worsley’s Scottish coastal croft while waiting for a doctor’s appointment, marvel and laugh at the extraordinary
unlikeliness of creatures Taking Flight with Lev Parikian or feel moved by Charles Foster’s extraordinary Cry of the Wild. I can connect 20 years of my own nature-watching with Kathleen Jamie’s books – I too watched birds “between the laundry and the fetching kids from school”, as she did in Findings. And I see how my “life’s arc [becomes] visible” against the backdrop of the wildlife and climate crisis, just like in Cairn. I can go back to the (relatively) rich floriferous meadows of my youth in Watership Down and get rabbit-eye level with once-common flowers, reminding myself that these plants were plentiful and can become so again. I can read Jessica J Lee’s beautiful Dispersals on how entwined our fortunes, migration and language are with plants, or Polly Atkin’s revelatory Some of Us Just Fall on wildness and illness.
The world comes to us in our staff canteens, on our sofas or propped up against our pillows at night. And we know more, feel more, connect more. Dreaming, plotting, mapping: in reading about nature, we share joy, despair and hope. We know we are not alone in the world and are often compelled to act, to save what we love – even if what we love was only witnessed in our minds’ eye. And by recreating or interpreting nature ourselves, through writing, drawing or diarising, we deepen that connection further still. The imagination is a powerful ally between us and nature.
Nicola Chester is a rural columnist, nature writer and award-winning author. nicolachester.wordpress. com or @nicolawriting
Nature notes Nicola Chester
Photos: Ben Andrew (all rspb-images.com); Andrea De Martin (Alamy Stock Photo)
This season
RSPBshop.co.uk
Give gifts that help our wildlife
Best of RSPB sustainable Christmas gift hamper (£40). Sometimes, RSPB projects and partnerships result in delicious produce! This classic hamper is full of treats with conservation stories to tell, such as our Gola Rainforest chocolate and RSPB Hope Farm rapeseed oil.
More ways to help nature
O RSPB Avocet watch (£30). Pay homage to the iconic bird on the RSPB logo with this illustrated timepiece. It comes in a beautiful gift box, too.
O RSPB Garden birds heavyweight scarf (£24). Keep a loved one warm this winter with a soft ochre scarf made from recycled polyester.
Out
now
Bookshelf
The Hedgehog Diaries
Sarah Sands, £10.99
Through the lens of her own experiences with loss and death, Sarah Sands explores the importance and tenacity of the Hedgehog and our growing alienation from the natural world.
Still Waters & Wild Waves
Angela Harding, £25
Full of striking seascapes and rolling rivers, this hardcover book not only includes the printmaker’s artwork but also her poetic thoughts, memories and scribbles.
RSPB Bird Tales
Dawn Casey, £22
Celebrating 25 of Britain’s most famous birds, this book contains illustrations, folk tales, stories and even crafts, all organised by month. It’s fascinating, easy to use and ideal for the whole family.
Shopping with the RSPB Shop helps keep our world wild. Profits go to conservation, and all products are as nature-friendly as possible. RSPBshop.co.uk
Botany
Weedy stubble fields
“If you want to see lots of farmland birds in winter, find a stubble field – the weedier (or greener) the better,” says Richard Winspear, the RSPB’s Agricultural Advice Manager. Though rare now, stubble fields – or fields of left-over stalks from already-harvested cereals – used to support huge populations of seed-eating farmland birds through the ‘hungry gap’ in late winter. These fields allowed arable plants to set seed among
spring crops, which later became sources of pollen and nectar for insects. However, advances in farming replaced spring crops – and the stubbles that preceded them – with autumngerminating crops. The best
Our people
Three questions
Chelsea Valentine, RSPB Youth Council member
How did you get involved with the RSPB Youth Council?
I became involved with the RSPB’s Youth Council because of a passion for wildlife and fighting the climate crisis. I wanted to find my place with a great charity and to find opportunities to make a difference.
Were you involved in the Restore Nature Now march? Yes! The Restore Nature Now march, held in London in June, urged government and policymakers to take action to combat biodiversity loss and restore natural habitats. Attending the march with the RSPB was a great experience. The atmosphere was charged with a sense of purpose and solidarity as thousands of people, including activists, conservationists and everyday people, came together for a common cause.
stubble fields have the least herbicide application. This is particularly apparent when a final ‘dessicant’ spray, applied to speed-up the harvesting process, is avoided as it creates a barer stubble prone to soil erosion and runoff. Farmers with greener stubble fields or strips next to hedgerows or scrub increase soil health and water quality and provide a warm winter sanctuary for spiders and insects, small mammals and our farmland birds.
Why is it important to get young people involved in environmental campaigns? As young people, we bring new and innovative ideas to the table, challenging the status quo and pushing for creative solutions to environmental problems. We’ve always known climate anxiety and want to build a better world for the children that come after us. We have an interest in ensuring a healthy and sustainable environment.
Words: Nicola Chester; Emma Horton. Photos: Steve Round (rspb-images.com); Chase G Mayers, Holger Krisp, Ana Ðurić, Stu’s Images (All Wiki Commons), Ross Piper
Yellowhammer
Tiny & wild Dr Ross Piper
Autumn Tiny Wildlife
This summer’s weather has been very inconsistent, to say the least. Summer certainly took a long time to get going, and lots of insects were conspicuous by their absence. Still, many small animals, not so dependent on fine, settled weather, are out there in abundance, several of which you can find well into late summer and even into autumn.
In your garden, look for the distinctive Devil’s Coach-horse, our largest rove beetle; its larvae gorge themselves on all sorts of prey, including slugs. As it’s been so wet, I expect these beetles will have a real bumper year. Likewise, if we have a decent spell of late, warm weather, keep your eyes peeled for Comma butterflies, which have two broods a year and have made a spectacular comeback from a precipitous decline in the 20th century. Red Admiral butterflies can be seen on the wing right into November if conditions allow, feeding on rotting fruit and what nectar sources remain. Ivy is one of the last nectar sources available. An ivy-clad fence, wall or tree in full late summer or autumn sun will be buzzing with all manner of insects. Look out for the Footballer Hoverfly, it’s snazzy thoracic markings redolent of a football strip, and the Ivy Bee, which continues to expand through the UK at pace. And should you find the Blister Beetle that parasitises this bee, I’ll happily buy you a drink!
Dr Ross Piper is an entomologist, zoologist and explorer. Visit rosspiper.net or @DrRossPiper
Remember!
Don’t eat the fungi you find. Many species are poisonous.
Woodlice are terrestrial crustaceans, although they’re typically restricted to cool, moist habitats.
In the UK, we have 30 species of woodlouse, five of which you might find in an average garden.
Identification
Fungi
See which of these fantastic fungi you can spot in the wild this autumn
Common Bird’s Nest
Young fruitbodies have a velvety, protective yellow skin, which breaks to reveal egg-like packets of white spores sat within the fruitbody ‘nest’. Despite being tiny, this can contain up to 20 ‘eggs’.
Green Elf Cup
The tiny cup can measure up to 1cm wide and is bright blue-green with a wavy margin, pale underside and short, dark, tapering stem. Spores are white and produced on the inner-cup.
Magpie Inkcap
The cap starts egg-shaped and white. It later opens, forming a long bell. As the cap breaks open, a dark background results in black and white marks. Later, the cap liquifies into an ink of spores.
Dead Man’s Fingers
Looks like swollen black fingers reaching from under the ground, 3-10cm tall. Young fruitbodies are grey-brown. The hard black surface is formed of tiny flasks from which the spores are ejected.
Females have a brood pouch, in which the young hatch. Even after hatching, the young stay near their mother for several months.
Common Pill Woodlouse. Woodlice shed their exoskeleton in two halves.
Water
worlds
Floodplains of rivers
Wide, flat floodplains lie either side of a river. They can temporarily store water during big flood events, releasing it more slowly later on. This reduces the peak of the flood, which can help reduce flooding downstream. These floods also deposit nutrient-rich sediment on the floodplain. The winding meanders form as the river cuts into and erodes the floodplain on the outer side of its meander, while the slower flow on its inner side allows sediment to accumulate.
Floodplains are protective – they act as carbon sinks and as a store and sponge for excess water, lessening the chances and impact of flooding in built-up areas downstream.
As we face the climate and ecological crisis, the importance of healthy floodplains is even more paramount. They can support a high diversity of wildlife and therefore need to be protected.
Many UK floodplains (at least 42%) are no longer functioning or ‘connected’ to their river due to river engineering (ie straightening) and land drainage.
The Lammas Lands floodplain meadows of the Upper Thames in Godalming, Surrey, include nearly 32 hectares of flower-rich meadows. There are an increasing number of projects to reunite rivers with their floodplains, including Swindale Beck in the Lake District (see p42).
Great days out
3 nature reserves to explore this season
You’ll find a wealth of events and activities for all the family to enjoy
This dramatic landscape is a top winter spot for watching owls, such as this Short-eared Owl, and Tree Sparrows.
Perth and Kinross RSPB Loch Leven Pink-footed Geese, Whooper Swans, Red Squirrels and, of course, the view are the highlights of the winter season.
Great for winter geese – and this year’s visitors can also book a place on one of the reserve’s
Flocks of Knot can be found on every continent, save Antarctica, and many rely on UK coastal wetlands as essential stop-off points and wintering areas. Joscelyne Ashpole discovers more about these intrepid visitors...
As a pink glow washes across the vast sky, nature springs to life in spectacular style. Thousands upon thousands of birds take to the air. They swirl and swoosh across the dawn. It’s impossible to pick out individuals; instead, ever-changing, sinuous shapes consisting of thousands of birds fill the air. It’s overwhelming and breathtaking to see so much life in one glance.
This is RSPB Snettisham on the Norfolk coast one chilly morning in autumn. A high tide has forced these mesmerising flocks to take flight from the safety of the mudflats. There’s a whole host of waders here, but the most numerous species is the Knot, Calidris canutus, also known as Red Knot. These birds have travelled from the Arctic to make the most of the food-rich sediments that our coastal wetlands, safe havens along the Knot’s annual migration routes, provide.
Arctic voyagers
A little larger than a Blackbird, Knot are rather stocky, medium-sized waders. In the UK, you’re most likely to come across them in their winter plumage, which is a silvery grey. Their breeding plumage, however, gives them the ‘red’ in their alternative name – in spring, their bellies, chests, throats and faces turn an orange-red, while the top of the head and back become a mosaic of grey, brown and orange.
“Their breeding plumage is a perfect match for the Arctic tundra when they’re nesting on the ground. The mottled colours match the stones, mosses and tundra plants perfectly,” explains Dr Guy Anderson, the RSPB’s Migrants Recovery Programme Manager.
Weighing around 140g and living an average of eight years, these birds are famed long-distance voyagers. They breed right around the Arctic, with different populations taking different routes south to avoid the harsh winter. Their migrations span most of the globe, with populations wintering in Europe, Africa, South Asia, Australasia and the Americas.
Two populations of Knot visit the UK, as Guy explains: “The islandica sub-species breeds in
Previous: Thousands of Knot rise into the sky at RSPB Snettisham
1. In winter, Knot are ruled by the tides, feasting at low tide and roosting at high
2. A first-year Knot
3. Spectators watch and photograph waders at RSPB Snettisham
4. Some Knot will stop-off at Icelandic shores on their way to the UK
‘The UK is critical for the survival of the islandica population’
northern Greenland and Arctic Canada, stopping off in Iceland on the way south to winter around North Sea and British Isles coasts. The UK is critical for the survival of the islandica population. We’re also visited by birds of the canutus sub-species, which breed in the far north of Siberia. These birds stop off in western Europe – including the UK – in summer and early autumn to fuel up before continuing south into mainland Europe, with most birds wintering in west Africa or as far as South Africa.”
The great moult
As soon as their chicks have fledged, adult Knot leave the Arctic on a mission to find safe, food-rich sites further south. And that’s where the UK’s coastal wetlands come in, acting as vital ‘service stations’. Why the urgency? It comes down to feathers. “Most birds need to replace all their feathers at least once a year, including their main flight feathers,” explains Guy. “Adult Knot migrate south in July and August, settling in safe habitats where they can replace these worn feathers. They also shed their summer body plumage for a muted winter look.”
Many other waterbirds also use our coastal wetlands for a costume change. “If you’re out at an estuary in late summer, look at the strandline. You’re likely to find moulted feathers everywhere.”
Safety in numbers
Growing a complete new set of feathers requires a lot of energy, so the birds need places with reliable food sources. Knot eat small snails, worms and bivalve molluscs, such as the cockles and clams found in coastal sediments. “Because moulting involves the sequential loss and replacement of flight feathers, flying ability is temporarily reduced. To counter this, Knot look out for big, open expanses of coastal wetland where they can flock together in big groups and keep an eye out for danger,” says Guy.
Adult birds that have bred in Canada and Greenland moult on coastal wetlands here in the UK as well as elsewhere in Europe, particularly the Wadden Sea. They then spend the winter with us or disperse to other European coasts. Birds from Siberia carry out their moult in Africa but use European coastal wetlands to refuel before they continue south. The youngsters arrive slightly after the adults. They don’t undertake a big moult like their parents; their flight feathers are still fairly new and in good condition.
Feed, roost, repeat
The Knot’s plan is simple, says Guy – “feed, roost, repeat”. In autumn and winter, they operate on a 12-hour cycle driven by the tides. “Outside of the breeding season, these birds are governed by the moon and not the sun,” says Guy. “Day or night, when the tide is low, they’re feeding on the mudflats. When the tide is high, they find a safe place to roost. Their name reflects this dependency on the tide – canutus refers to King Canute (or Knut) who was famously governed by the tide.”
What happens on their wintering grounds carries
Photo: Jules Cox, David Osborn, David Tipling (rspb-images.com); Nick Williams
Visit a reserve
See Knot and other waders
Take in a wader spectacle – at certain sites, at the right time of year and with the right conditions (eg at or around extreme high tides), look out for Knot and other waders taking flight. Here are just a few reserves where you might be lucky enough to see them. If you’re out visiting coastal wetlands at any time of year, please do check and abide by any local or seasonal access restrictions, and help us set good examples for others by not getting too close to birds and keeping dogs under control.
For more information and wader-related events, visit rspb.org.uk/reserves
1. Lough Foyle
2. Point of Ayr
3. Snettisham
4. Nigg Bay (later in winter)
5. Wallasea Island
6. Frampton Marsh & Freiston Shore
through to other parts of their life cycle. As Guy puts it, “The influence of our coastal wetlands extends far beyond their boundaries.” Take food, for example. In the last month or so before they migrate in the spring, the birds feed up, storing energy for the flight and for use upon their return to the Arctic.
Protecting precious spaces
Guy says the birds that visit us face many challenges. “Loss of important coastal wetlands as a result of development poses a particularly severe threat –these birds cannot afford to lose the habitats that act as their lifelines along their migratory routes.”
There’s climate change, too. “These special habitats are also threatened by climate change, which causes sea level rise and increased erosion,” says Guy. “And we know that temperatures are changing very rapidly on their Arctic breeding grounds, which could lead to changes in vegetation and food supply.”
Clearly, ensuring that these birds have safe habitats to return to during their migration is essential. Here in the UK, your support means we can look after key coastal RSPB nature reserves that Knot and other migratory waterbirds need, whether they’re just passing through or spending the winter with us. For instance, at RSPB Wallasea Island we’ve created new intertidal habitat which now supports large numbers of wintering Knot.
Milo Sumner, RSPB’s England East Coast Wetlands Programme Manager, describes some of the work that’s going into protecting England’s
internationally important coastal wetlands: “The wetlands along England’s east coast are some of the very best sites for migratory birds, and the RSPB has the privilege of looking after many of them.
“But wildlife in these globally important places for nature is also being squeezed into smaller and smaller spaces. So, we’re working to make sure these essential ‘service stations’ for migratory birds remain food and wildlife-rich.” These wetlands are also essential for storing carbon.
The RSPB is working to make sure these valuable habitats aren’t lost to sea-level rise and other challenges posed by climate change.
Excitingly, a stretch of coastline from the Humber to the Thames estuaries was added to the UNESCO Tentative list of World Heritage Sites in 2023. The RSPB and partners are now working towards official inscription and recognition of the global importance of these wetlands.
Our shared nature
Every single stop that migratory birds take is important. Damage one link and the chain is broken. That’s why we’re working with BirdLife partner organisations along the East Atlantic flyway – a bird superhighway from the Arctic to southern Africa – and further afield to share experiences and knowledge on how best to help migratory birds.
The RSPB’s Flyway Conservation Programme works with partners on this route, from Fuglavernd (BirdLife Iceland) to BirdLife South Africa. We’re discussing habitat management, protecting key sites for migratory birds and undertaking restoration.
We’re also learning from and sharing experiences with other flyways. Nicola Crockford, Principal Policy Officer at the RSPB, has helped forge strong links with partners to protect key coastal wetlands in China and South Korea on the Yellow Sea (the East Asian Australasian equivalent of the North Sea).
“We’re sharing our world-leading expertise on coastal wetland management and restoration,” she says, “while our partners are sharing their experience of the rigorous process for getting these special places inscribed on the World Heritage List.”
Together for nature
Head to the coast from late summer through winter to spot Knot. Locations such as The Wash, Dee and Morecambe Bay estuaries are good places to look for large gatherings of Knot, but you can also find them in smaller numbers in other coastal areas such as the Solway Estuary or Strangford Lough. Together, we’re ensuring that Knot and other migratory birds can rely on these habitats as refuges on their journeys.
Joscelyne Ashpole, an RSPB Species Recovery Officer, works with the RSPB’s Global Species Recovery team, supporting projects to help threatened species in the UK and overseas.
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Pauline sets sail again with TURMERIC+
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Collateral damage
Methods used for managing grouse moors affect other parts of the natural world –Aran Burton investigates why this needs to be regulated...
Photo: Nature Picture Library (Alamy Stock Photo)
Fog hangs heavily across the moor as we huddle together on a cold January day. We’re at the Forest of Bowland, nestled in deepest Lancashire. Gazing through our binoculars, my colleagues and I are hoping to catch sight of one of my favourite birds of prey, but we’re finding it hard. Suddenly, through the fog, a female Peregrine calls to her mate, circling only metres away from us. We watch in awe as she swoops and dives in search of an easy meal, her distinctive cries ringing out across the windswept northern landscape. Then, as quickly as she appeared, she’s gone, back into the fog once again with her distant call echoing across the moor.
Peregrines were once hard to find, reaching a low point in the 1960s due to the impact of persecution and pesticides. Legislation helped their numbers recover, however, and they’re no longer at significant risk, even though they continue to be illegally killed. Peregrines are not the focus of our story, but they are a good example of how changes in legislation can reverse the fortunes of threatened birds.
Uplands – the largely open and unenclosed land that lies above the limits of cultivation – are amazing places, home to some of our rarest and most threatened bird species, many of which were formerly more widespread in these landscapes. As we continue the tour, up a bone-shaking gravel track, we spot another upland species poking its head out of the shrubs – a Red Grouse, which is where our story really begins.
For peat’s sake
Management for Red Grouse, a species found in English and Scottish uplands, is associated with the illegal killing of birds of prey in some areas. Grouse shooting is legal, but has some shocking – and often illegal – practices associated with it. These tactics harm not Red Grouse, but other upland species – and the environment as a whole. Some of our most
Previous: Red Grouse numbers are boosted by gamekeepers – but the methods used take a toll on the environment
1. The Dark Peak moorlands, where some of the worst crimes against raptors have been committed
2. Burning, or muirburn, dries out peat, releasing the stored carbon into the atmosphere
3. Shooters in North Yorkshire
4. Birds of prey such as Hen Harriers, which eat Red Grouse, have been illegally killed to keep Red Grouse plentiful for hunters
‘Raptors should be abundant here, but they are nowhere to be found’
beloved and threatened species, including Golden Eagle, Hen Harrier and Peregrine, are routinely being shot, trapped or poisoned in areas linked to driven grouse shooting. These birds are killed because they prey on Red Grouse, and gamekeepers want to keep Red Grouse numbers high so there are more available to be shot for sport.
Another threat to these ecosystems is burning (called muirburn in Scotland), or the practice of setting fire to patches of moorland vegetation. Burning is chiefly used to encourage young heather growth; young heather is the preferred food for Red Grouse, and more young heather means more Red Grouse in the area to shoot. Burning and artificial drainage both dry out the landscape, allowing heather to prosper. But this increase in heather comes at a steep price. Burning often occurs on peatland, and peat is vital in the fight against climate change.
RSPB Senior Policy Officer Pat Thompson, who campaigns for better legislation to protect peatlands, says: “There is no such habitat as heather moorland; it often comprises a variety of habitats, such as heaths and bogs. Using fire to remove the surface vegetation exposes the underlying peat, causing the peat to dry out and release carbon into the atmosphere. We know fires are still occurring across protected sites, even though we have regulations in place prohibiting burning on peat in these areas.”
A third problem is the use of medicated grit to boost Red Grouse survival and productivity. Red Grouse and many other species swallow grit naturally to help break up their food, so gamekeepers leave trays or heaps of grit laced with medication –anti-worming drugs – across entire moors to keep Red Grouse healthy and plentiful. However, what’s good for Red Grouse might not be good for other species exposed to the medication; the effects on other wildlife are still not fully understood.
The Dark Peak
Elsewhere, in the Peak District, Mark Thomas, the RSPB’s UK Head of Investigations, looks concerned as he surveys the landscape. “This is what we call a black hole,” he says. “We’re standing in part of the Peak District known as the Dark Peak, where some of the most shocking incidents of illegal bird of prey killing in recent times have taken place. As a direct result of persecution, in some upland areas of the UK, population numbers of some raptor species are being supressed to well below their natural levels.
Mark expands, “The Dark Peak is the frontline. Persecution begins in the Peak District and extends through the northern uplands into Scotland. It’s a national issue. There have been scores and scores of incidents here, particularly in association with land managed for grouse shooting. Two-thirds of all the people convicted of raptor persecution have been gamekeepers.”
All bird species have been protected from killing since 1954, with further protections as part of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which still forms the basis for protecting and conserving birds of prey. Decades of data published in the RSPB’s annual
Photos: Steve Bramall, David Forster, Blickwinkel, Wayne Hutchenson (Alamy Stock Photo)
Take action
How to support birds of prey
As shown in the RSPB’s annual Birdcrime report, despite legal protection, birds of prey are being deliberately killed in significant numbers across the UK. RSPB Investigations have shone a light on the illegal persecution of our protected birds of prey across the UK by documenting these crimes, initiating and supporting police investigations and assisting in getting these cases to court.
Through this work, it’s possible to evidence the scale of these crimes, their conservation impact and the crucial need for legislative change to effectively end the illegal killing of our magnificent birds of prey.
This year’s Birdcrime report will be published in October. To access it and previous years’ reports, visit rspb.org.uk/birdcrime
RSPB Investigations
RSPB Investigations is the only team in the UK dedicated to detecting, exposing and recording these types of wildlife crimes and plays a vital role in tackling bird of prey persecution across the UK.
Report
If you notice a dead or injured bird of prey in suspicious circumstances, visit rspb.org.uk/report-birdcrimes for more information.
If you have information about anyone killing birds of prey, please email crime@rspb.org.uk or speak to RSPB Investigations directly by calling the RSPB’s confidential Raptor Crime Hotline on 0300 999 0101.
Birdcrime report has revealed a significant association between bird of prey persecution and land managed for gamebird shooting. Between 2009 and 2023, of all individuals convicted at court of bird of prey persecution-related offences, three quarters were connected to the gamebird shooting industry.
Since 2009, more than 1,300 birds of prey have been deliberately persecuted in the UK, but this is likely the tip of the iceberg, as many of these incidents occur in vast, remote and often inaccessible upland areas, where crimes like these can go unseen and unreported.
A new shot
But while bad practice continues to pose a risk to birds of prey, some sporting estates are adopting a more nature-friendly approach. The Rottal Estate in Angus Glens, Scotland, is leading the way on more sustainable land management.
Dee Ward, Chair of Scottish Land and Estates, says: “Here at Rottal, we are trying to create a balanced habitat where we manage the tops of the hills for Red Grouse and other moorland birds. It’s all about being sustainable and delivering biodiversity.”
Land management at the Rottal Estate no longer includes the use of medicated grit, but the estate does still carry out muirburn. They believe it creates the diversity of habitat to suit multiple moorland species, such as Curlew, Lapwing, Golden Plover and, of course, Red Grouse.
“There is definitely a change in attitudes, and [shoot visitors] very much want to be sustainable,” says Dee. “This is the right balance to strive for and I think the new grouse licensing will drive change that will deliver a more sustainable, biodiverse future for the uplands.”
In 2017, Scottish Natural Heritage (now known as NatureScot) published an independent report on the fate of satellite-tagged Golden Eagles which showed 41 had been found dead or disappeared under suspicious circumstances. This led the Scottish Government to commission a review, chaired by Professor Alan Werritty, which recommended the licensing of grouse shooting. After years of campaigning by the RSPB and others, the Scottish Parliament overwhelmingly passed the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Act earlier this year. The Act includes tighter regulations, greater investigative powers and stricter consequences, which will hopefully act as a deterrent and put a stop to raptor persecution.
Scotland is leading the way, and it’s crucial that Westminster follow their example and ensure similar legislation is introduced in England.
Aran Burton is the RSPB Uplands Communications Manager. He’s an advocate for grouse shoot licensing and sustainable management of the uplands. Visit rspb.org.uk/uplands
A shot Short-eared Owl, recovered from Broomhead Moor within the Peak District National Park, by South Yorkshire Police and the RSPB Investigations Team
Photo: RSPB Investigations.
Illustration: Mike Langman
Short-eared Owl
Cream Marble
Pink Flambe
Pink Violet
Skydiver Marl Celestial Blue Navy Dark Charcoal Black
Natural treasures
Chris Packham explores the power and beauty of art, and how it inspires us to protect the precious wildlife around us
Words: Chris Packham
You may think it’s a pretty shallow approach to base affection on aesthetics alone, but like many birders I’m not afraid to pronounce my love for the simple beauty of birds. To champion an appreciation for the cocked-tailed jitteriness of a Wren scolding in a tangle of burnished bracken, or the rapacious focus of a falling falcon bending gravity in pursuit of prey – why not? They are stunning. We have a strong cultural and social relationship with our birdlife, and as much as birds fascinate us, and their current plights concern us, I honestly think the root of our obsession undoubtedly lies in our appreciation of their beauty.
But our familiarity with birds evolves from a practised and wickedly critical eye. Subconsciously, we make intense studies of avian structure; we see birds as a complex of shapes, forms and colours, each unique, often in poses which portray their moods. And those of us who love birds know birds, whether they’re rarities or frequent guests at the bird table –and this makes any avian artist’s job an extremely difficult one.
We bird enthusiasts cruelly focus on any slip of an artist’s hand, and thus we are harsh critics of nature in art. Of course, there are many brilliant illustrators, but there are so few bird artists who summon the courage to reinterpret our greatest natural resource with enough fortitude to produce groundbreaking art from it – you know, the ‘Van Gogh’ type of art.
Challenging the status quo
But then, we all know that Vincent was a resounding ‘failure’ in his own lifetime in terms of commercial success, even John Constable sold very few paintings – 20 in England, a few more in France. The Impressionist movement struggled, too, with the uber-traditional Académie Française rejecting their submissions and the public laughing at their canvases. Ditto the cubists, the surrealists and the
Previous: Sculptor Geoffrey Dashwood and one of his bronze creations
1. Geoffrey Dashwood’s Avocet sculpture is being auctioned off to raise funds for the RSPB. See details on page 34
2. Springwatch mural by ATM at RSPB Arne
post-war pop artists. But Andy Warhol’s work now commands millions and is up there with Monet, Picasso and good old Vincent, all controversial then, all treasured now. There aren’t many ‘famous’ wildlife artists, though – at least, not among these higher echelons. So why is that?
Maybe that’s because they have rarely been controversial. There are beautiful illustrators and capable artists, but they don’t really challenge traditions with their work in terms of its style or subjects. For example, surrealist painters used wildlife in their compositions, but wildlife artists rarely paint in a surrealist style.
More recently Damien Hirst has used sharks, butterflies and flies in his pieces, but has anyone ‘wildlifey’ been producing anything as challenging and confrontational? For the most part, no, but a few street artists are using natural subjects. One such street artist is ATM, who joined us at RSPB Arne for Springwatch and painted a beautiful mural outside the RSPB nature reserve café. His striking, giant, lifelike work normally appears in more urban settings where wildlife is harder to meet and where it transforms the level of wildlife awareness in communities that might rarely go to a nature reserve or visit an art gallery.
Sculpting spectacles
The tragedy is that, for all their remarkable skills, wildlife artists so rarely enthuse the art establishment nowadays. They just can’t seem to bridge that divide and break into mainstream art. Geoffrey Dashwood is an exception – his exquisite, life-sized bronze sculptures of birds in pared-down form, often with innovative patinas, are cherished by galleries and collectors worldwide. Impressively, these sculptures also retain all their ornithological credibility and appeal for those who love birds and bird art.
Using bronze, a solid, hard metal – so unlike the soft fabrics of life – he has sculpted a diverse flock over the last forty-five years. Most recently, he created this Avocet (right), the emblem of the RSPB. The Avocet is a triumph of modern conservation, and for me the ‘Audrey Hepburn’ of birds – neat and elegant beyond compare. When a flock swirls on a clear blue day, they’re a dizzying spectacle. It’s natural Op Art, a Bridget Riley kaleidoscope in the sky.
Flight is obviously a key aspect to the allure of birdlife – they’re durable, flexible, repairable, strong and extraordinarily lightweight. In fact, they’re as different to metal as any fabric could be. So surely crafting an Avocet, which in real life weighs about 250 grams (the same as a pack of vegan butter), in bronze would be a disastrous and intrinsically risky endeavour, wouldn’t it?
‘We see birds as a complex of shapes, forms and colours, each unique’
And yet, Dashwood has pulled it off, in part because his technique is reductive. All but a few surface details are cast off to leave a simplicity which purifies and emphatically strengthens each work. With confident authority, he employs an economical style that produces all the tension, the sensuality, the absolute charm of living birds. His sculptures surpass capturing the character of a species – they poignantly
Photo: Lesley Gorman
Webinar
Connecting Birds, Art and the RSPB
Join writers Nicola Chester and Laurence Rose and folk singer
Sam Lee at our Birds, Art and the RSPB webinar on
27 November at 12 noon.
Find out more at rspb.org.uk/ webinar-register
present the precise moods of individuals. They’re poised to spring at any moment with the same effortless freedom as real birds. Look at the lifting leg of the Avocet in Dashwood’s sculpture... this exemplifies his ability to infuse cold metal with life, to allow us to predict this bird’s next movement.
I’m so pleased that Geoffrey has kindly donated this sculpture to the RSPB to auction. The money raised will go towards important conservation work to help protect our wildlife.
The art of appreciation
When I was young, I loved the cover art of BIRDS magazine (now The RSPB Magazine). When it landed on the mat, I would study the works of Robert Gillmor, Charles Tunnicliffe and Lars Jonsson. My favourite ever was a wonderful painting by Bruce Pearson of a diving Little Grebe viewed from beneath the surface, all big feet and a necklace of silvery bubbles. I went to a charity’s fundraising auction where it was selling its collection of wildlife art, but I sadly couldn’t afford the Pearson.
More recently, I was pleased to join Jim and Nancy Moir at RSPB Leighton Moss for their Sky TV series Painting Birds. I like Jim’s bird paintings too;
like Geoffrey’s work, they’re all about the mood of the bird, how it’s feeling and how we feel about it. His sometimes outrageous avian characters are full of super-nature. They sing out loud colours and feature brash displays of behaviour. And sometimes they’re funny – there’s never enough humour in art!
Anyway, at Leighton Moss, after enjoying brilliant views of Bearded Tits, we set up our easels and I made a mess of a landscape. But it was good, because for me, appreciating the art of nature is the perfect way to fuse a deeper appreciation of its perfection with an increasing need to protect and preserve it. Art treasures may hang on gallery walls but they will never be worth as much as our natural treasures, especially those many masterpieces which hang in the sky.
1. Blackbird, painted by Jim Moir
2. Redundant shipping buoy at RSPB Frampton
Marsh repurposed into wildife art by Nathan Murdoch
Get
Chris Packham is a wildlife TV presenter, conservationist and RSPB Vice President. He presented The Really Wild Show until 1995 and has presented The Watches since 2009.
Art to Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature
Geoffrey Dashwood is kindly donating his stunning Avocet sculpture to raise money for the RSPB’s Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature campaign. You can bid to win the sculpture and have a piece of special art in your own home. All money raised through this sealed-bid auction helps breathe new life into our world by funding practical and effective projects to bring back rich and varied birdlife across our land and seas.
The auction closing date is Friday 15 November
Enter the auction at rspb.org.uk/avocet-auction or scan the code above.
Illustration: Jim Moir;
Photos: RSPB, Claire Freeburn, Megan McCubbin
Peter Harrison, MBE, widely recognised as one of the world’s leading experts in seabirds, will be on board to guide and deliver lectures to passengers.
Join our seabirding voyage from 24-31 January 2025 to one of the most remote parts of the planet...
Following a successful seabirding trip to Marion Island in 2022, BirdLife South Africa will once again be sailing deep into the Southern Ocean onboard the luxury MSC Musica cruise ship. This 7-night voyage, departing from Durban, South Africa, is a bucket list trip, so make sure you’re on board!
Highlights On this voyage we will see Wandering, Sooty, Light-mantled, Grey-headed and Indian Yellow-nosed albatrosses, Salvin’s and Fairy prions, various petrels from massive giant petrels to the small Common Diving Petrel, as well as the possibility of King, Eastern (Southern) Rockhopper and Macaroni penguins.
For more information, visit birdlife.org.za/flock or email clare.neall@birdlife.org.za
Thinus van Staden
Gaynor Donovan
BIRDS OF THE SCOTTISH ISLES
An in-depth exploration of the remote islands of Scotland aboard the Ocean Nova – 8th to 17th May 2025
This unique expedition will appeal to those who prefer their islands deserted but with abundant bird and wildlife. If you have always had a hankering to visit some of the remotest and most inaccessible islands in Scotland, this is the ideal opportunity visiting as it does the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and the majestic Hebrides. Join us aboard the 84-passenger Ocean Nova as we sail from the port of Aberdeen to the islands on the edge, visiting both inhabited and uninhabited islands and places of great natural beauty, rich in wildlife and mystical history, many with a long history dating back to the Iron Age.
Few cruise ships offer the chance to explore the islands off the northern coast of Scotland and our unique expedition combines visits to the remote, uninhabited outpost of St Kilda with the inhabited islands of North Ronaldsay and Fair Isle as well as the ‘Bird Island’ of Foula. We will also see the Isle of Noss, one of the most important seabird colonies in Scotland, along with two of the largest gannetries in the world at Stac Lee and Boreray. Such a trip would be almost impossible to arrange independently and requires a small ship with the expeditionary qualities of the Ocean Nova.
OCEAN NOVA accommodates 84 passengers in comfortable cabins which feature sea-view and private facilities. In the dining room you are treated to delicious meals in between Zodiac landings and excursions and in the panorama lounge you can enjoy a drink with a breathtaking view of the surrounding landscape. This is where the onboard specialists entertain and educate you with lectures. There is also a library with panoramic views and a good selection of books. On board there is a satellite phone, gym and medical doctor. We have chartered the vessel for this sailing and the atmosphere on board is informal with time on board often spent out on deck keeping watch for wildlife.
THE ITINERARY IN BRIEF
Day 1 Aberdeen, Scotland. Embark the Ocean Nova this afternoon. Transfers will be provided from Aberdeen International Airport and Railway -Ì>Ì >Ì>wÝi`Ì i°
Day 2 Fair Isle, Shetland Islands. After a morning at sea we will anchor off remote Fair Isle. Located midway between the Shetland and Orkney Islands, the tiny population of sixty or so islanders always extend us a warm welcome. Enjoy a walk across Ì i à > `Ãi>ÀV } ÕÌÌ i«Õvw à «iÃ]«iÀ >«Ã visit the community hall for a cup of tea or maybe purchase some of the famous knitwear.
Day 3 Sumburgh Head & Lerwick. From our anchorage at Grutness it is a short drive to Sumburgh Head, the southernmost point of the Shetland mainland. Here the steep cliffs are home to colonies v«Õvw Ã]vÕ >ÀÃ]}Õ i ÌÃ> `Ã >}ÃÜ Ì i>V species occupying different areas of the cliffs. Also see the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse, the oldest in Shetland having been constructed in 1821. Over lunch we sail to Lerwick for a free afternoon to explore this historic port and this evening we will be entertained by local musicians.
Day 4 Isle of Noss & Unst. Departing Lerwick at wÀÃÌ } ÌÜiÜ Ã> >À Õ ` ÃÃi>`] i vÌ i most important seabird colonies in Scotland. Here the towering 180 metre sea cliffs will be full of nesting gannets, guillemots and fulmars and we may also see skuas in the skies above. We continue our exploration of Shetland on the northern island of Unst, Britain’s most northerly inhabited island and at the Heritage Centre we will learn about the islanders’ struggles over the centuries and of the industries that have prospered. We also visit Saxa Vord with views over Hermaness National Nature
Reserve and Muckle Flugga stacks, and home to Ì ÕÃ> `Ã v}> iÌÃ> `«Õvw Ã>ÃÜi >ÃÀ>Ài arctic-alpine plants.
Day 5 Foula & Papa Stour. This morning we visit Foula, one of Britain’s most remote inhabited à > `ð ëÀ }] Õ >½ÃÜ `y ÜiÀëÀ Û `i> glorious burst of colour. Translated as “Bird Island” from Old Norse the island is a designated as a Special Protection Area for birds and is home to the world’s largest colony of Great skuas, known V> Þ>ÃL Ý iÃ]Ü V V «iÌiwiÀVi ÞÜ Ì Arctic skuas for breeding territories. Kittiwakes and Arctic terns return annually to nest whilst the cliffs Ìii Ü Ì «Õvw Ã]à >}Ã> `vÕ >Àð"ÛiÀ Õ V we will sail the short distance to Papa Stour where we will use our Zodiacs to explore the stunning cliff scenery, sea stacks, arches, blowholes and coastal caves which are home to Arctic skua and large numbers of Arctic terns.
Day 6 North Ronaldsay & Papa Westray, Orkney Islands. Arriving in the Orkney Islands we will visit the bird observatory on North Ronaldsay. Here the range of wetland habitats support the wildfowl and wader species whilst the rugged coastline provides nesting sites for seabird colonies. Whilst walking on the island we will keep an eye out for ringed plovers, sanderlings and dunlins which gather on the heath. Over lunch we sail the short distance to Papa Westray where there will be the opportunity for a number of island walks. In the north of the island is the North Hill Reserve, home to Arctic terns and skuas and also the extremely rare Scottish primrose. In the early evening we will meet at the Papay pub for a well-deserved pre-dinner drink.
Day 7 Stromness. From our berth in Stromness we will drive past the rugged sea cliffs of Marwick Head, >`ià } >Ìi`- Ìi v-«iV wV ÌiÀiÃÌv À ÌÃLÀii` } seabirds, especially kittiwakes and guillemots. Continue to the wild and windswept beauty of Birsay Moors where a dramatic sweep of moorland and blanket bog fringed by grassland and wetland is home to some of Orkney’s iconic residents including hen harriers, short eared owls and Arctic skuas whilst we can listen for the distinctive call of the redthroated divers. There will also be an opportunity to explore the Neolithic Heartland of Orkney; an area designated as a World Heritage Site.
Day 8 St Kilda & Stac Lee, Outer Hebrides. Mid-morning we cruise past two of the largest
gannetries in the world at Stac Lee and Boreray. These impressive stacs rise 170 metres from the sea and are home to up to 60,000 breeding pairs of northern gannet. Afterwards we sail the short distance to St Kilda, a remarkable uninhabited archipelago some 50 miles beyond the Outer Hebrides. Dominated by the highest cliffs and sea stacks in Britain, Hirta, St Kilda’s main island was occupied on and off for at least 2,000 years, with the last 36 Gaelic speaking inhabitants evacuated at their own request in 1930. Immediately after the evacuation, the island was bought by the Marquess of Bute to protect the à > `½ÃÌ ÕÃ> `à vÃi>L À`à V Õ` }«Õvw > ` fulmars, and in 1957 it was bequeathed to the National Trust for Scotland. St Kilda is one of the few UNESCO World Heritage Sites with dual status ÀiyiVÌ } Ìà >ÌÕÀ> > `VÕ ÌÕÀ> à } wV> Vi°ƂvÌiÀ landing by Zodiac our expedition staff will lead several guided walks on the island.
Day 9 Iona & Lunga, Inner Hebrides. This morning we land on Iona. For more than 1,000 years the island of Iona has been a place of deep spiritual à } wV> Vi°/ i à > ` Ã> à > >Ûi v ÀL À` vi including the elusive corncrake which reside in the >Þwi `Ã> `>Ài `i Ì wi`LÞ>` ÃÌ VÌ ÛiÀ>ë } call. Enjoy time to explore the Abbey before joining our naturalists on a birding walk. We continue to Lunga, the largest of the Treshnish Isles. There is «À wVL À` vi Ì i à > ` V Õ` }ÃÌ À «iÌÀi Ã] «Õvw Ã] ÌÌ Ü> iÃ> ` > Ýà i>ÀÜ>ÌiÀð
Day 10 Oban. Disembark this morning. Transfers will be provided to Glasgow International Airport > `
i ÌÀ> ,> Ü>Þ-Ì>Ì >Ì>wÝi`Ì i°
PRICES & INCLUSIONS
Prices per person based on double occupancy start from £4495 for a Category 1 cabin.
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
Nine nights aboard the Ocean Nova on a full board basis • House wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner • Noble Caledonia expedition team • Shore excursions • Gratuities • Transfers • Port taxes.
NB. Ports and itinerary are subject to change. Travel insurance is not included in the price. Zodiacs will be used during this expedition. Our current booking conditions apply to all reservations.
Action for nature
How your support is helping wildlife
Red alert for seabirds
Five seabird species – Arctic Tern, Leach’s Storm Petrel, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull and Great Skua – have been added to the UK’s Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern since the last comprehensive assessment in 2015. In most cases, the report reflects recent declines in UK populations. These species join Red-listed seabirds including Puffin, Kittiwake and Roseate Tern.
The UK is internationally important for breeding seabirds, yet our colonies face many threats including climate change and, particularly for species such as Puffin and Kittiwake, the depletion of key prey such as sandeel by overfishing and climate change. The recent outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), which has been ravaging the UK’s
wild bird population since July 2021, also had a devastating impact – it’s probably the main cause of the worrying decline in Great Skua numbers.
The RSPB continues to protect seabird colonies around the UK by effectively managing protected areas and tackling predation, particularly by eradicating introduced predators on islands. We’ve long campaigned, too, for an end to industrial sandeel fishing, and were delighted when sandeel trawlers were banned from fishing in English and Scottish North Sea waters in April. At the time of writing, we’re awaiting the outcome of a challenge to that ban by the European Union – but we’ll keep battling to save our wonderful seabirds in every way we can.
Great Skua
Species
Join the fight against a deadly parasite
Your assistance is needed to help scientists understand how the disease Trichomonosis, which has affected UK populations of birds including Greenfinches and Chaffinches, is spread in gardens.
This disease, caused by a protozoan parasite, forms lesions in the gullet, making swallowing food or water difficult. An infected bird often appears ‘fluffed up’, lethargic and reluctant to fly; it may also have food stuck around its bill. The parasite may be spread via regurgitated food and fresh saliva, both directly – for example, by a parent feeding its young – and indirectly, by consuming contaminated food or water. That’s why it’s important to clean and disinfect feeders and water baths regularly.
The new study involving RSPB scientists aims to understand how the parasite is transmitted. If you see two or more dead birds or sick individuals displaying these symptoms in your garden, please do this: before cleaning feeders and baths, please report the incident via gardenwildlifehealth.org – the website also provides tips for preventing and controlling disease outbreaks. A project team member will then contact you to take more details and provide information about how to join the study. Thank you!
People
Members have a real impact
When you became an RSPB member, you did something amazing for nature. The more RSPB members, the more funding we have available to save wildlife and wild places. Join us on all our channels for Member’s Thank You Week, held 30 September to 6 October.
“As you read through this magazine, remember you are such an important part of these stories,” says Vicki O’Hare, the RSPB’s Head of Membership. “Your support has a real impact.”
We successfully campaigned for the Wildlife Management and Muirburn Bill in Scotland (p25). Corncrakes call on Northern Ireland’s Rathlin Island (pictured) once more (p42). And in Tristan da Cunha, the Wilkins’ Bunting now stands a better chance of recovering (p72) – all because of members like you!
One thing that all RSPB members have in common is that you’re part of something bigger. By joining together, you’re having a huge impact. Thank you
Words: Paul Bloomfield. Photos: Paul Sawer, Ed Marshall/Wild Images (rspb-images.com);
Giedrius Stakaukas
(Alamy
Stock
Photo)
Adult Greenfinch showing symptoms of Trichomonosis, Suffolk
Places
World Heritage success for Flow Country
One of the UK’s most precious habitats has received global recognition for its biological diversity. The Flow Country –the world’s largest swathe of blanket bog, spanning some 4,000km2 in northern Scotland – has been recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site! This precious expanse of Sphagnum mosses is home to wildlife including Golden Plovers, Greenshanks, Hen Harriers, Black-
throated Divers, Water Voles and Otters and stores more carbon than all the UK’s forests. At its heart is the RSPB Forsinard Flows nature reserve – so we’re delighted that the Flow Country will join the Great Barrier Reef and the Galápagos Islands on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The recognition of the site, and the increased public awareness, also ensures the Flow Country’s protection.
RSPB Scannable membership cards
Car parking is now even easier at 10 of our reserves, thanks to upgraded machines that can scan the QR code on your membership card and quickly issue a free ticket.
The RSPB nature reserves with newly installed machines are: Lochwinnoch, Snettisham, The Lodge, Loch Leven, Marshside, Fairburn Ings, St. Aidan’s, Ham Wall, Middleton Lakes and Freiston Shore.
For more information on why we’re making this change, please review our FAQs on the membership page: rspb. org.uk/scannable-membership
RSPB Privacy Policy
Please note that the RSPB’s Privacy Policy has been updated. To find out more, please visit: rspb.org.uk/help/ privacy-policy
Policy
Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature
The UK’s wonderful birds face growing threats – more than 30 million have been lost since the 1960s. The RSPB’s new Protect Our Birds, Defend Our Nature campaign aims to raise funds for our work safeguarding these species. Please donate, and encourage friends and family to support us – you can find out more about this campaign at rspb.org.uk/protect-and-defend
superior thermal properties WNQ\[[WN\»UQKZWÆMMKM¼UISM[ this Fife Country shirt as warm as toast. Light and less J]TSa\PIVIR]UXMZQ\_WV¼\ _MQOPaW]LW_V1\[_QKSQVO XZWXMZ\QM[\ISMUWQ[\]ZMI_Ia NZWUaW]ZJWLaIVLPMTXSMMX aW]LZa;WN\IOIQV[\aW]Z[SQV yet comfortable over a t-shirt. In IY]QKSLZaMI[aKIZMNIJZQKQ\ Q[XZIK\QKIT\WW_Q\PI J]\\WV NZWV\bQXXMLJZMI[\XWKSM\ K]NNILR][\MZIVLTWVO[PQZ\\IQT \WSMMX\PMLZIN\W]\8MZNMK\ as an overshirt. All this and FREE Delivery. Order today and keep warm in our best [MTTQVOÆMMKM[PQZ\
Beluga
Burnt Henna
Species Volunteers dig for Rathlin’s Corncrakes
Fifteen years after the Giving Corncrake a Home project launched, this Red-listed bird – which faced extinction in Northern Ireland – is now celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the return of the Corncrake as a breeding species on Rathlin Island, thanks in large part to the efforts of dedicated RSPB volunteers.
Last winter, 39 volunteers spent 343 hours on the mainland digging up nettle rhizomes, or roots, which were then washed and transplanted on Rathlin by wardens Liam and Sean McFaul, creating an additional 230m2 of cover for the returning Corncrakes.
Following this effort, and thanks to support from various communities, farmers and other landowners, the ‘crex crex’ calls of three male Corncrakes were heard on Rathlin this year. The project is still ongoing – to join in, email corncrakeni@rspb.org.uk
Places
Natural History Museum discount
Readers enjoy a 20% discount on annual membership at the Natural History Museum until 5 January 2025. Scan the code here to find out more, or visit https://bit.ly/nhm20 Terms and conditions apply.
Places
Wild Haweswater wins top award
A pioneering project in the Lake District – a partnership between the RSPB and landowner United Utilities – has won the prestigious Ashden Award for Natural Climate Solutions, which was announced in June. This recognises landscape
restoration work including the re-wiggling of Swindale Beck, establishing Mardale Mountain Meadow, re-wetting peat bogs and planting tens of thousands of trees. Find out more about the project at wildhaweswater.co.uk
Scan for more
Declining puffin numbers may be linked to smaller prey
The RSPB’s Annabel Rushton accepts the Ashden Award
Species Smaller prey –a Puffin problem
In regions where Puffin numbers are declining, adults collect more, but smaller, prey items for their chicks than those in successful colonies, according to a new study by RSPB conservation scientists. This study used data from crowd-sourced photographs taken by ‘citizen scientists’. In 2017, we invited visitors to become the ‘Puffarazzi’ and submit photos of Puffins carrying food for chicks. Altogether, 602 people submitted 1,402 photos, yielding usable images of 1,198 individual birds carrying 11,150 prey items at 27 colonies across the UK. Analysis by volunteers showed that the diet of Puffin chicks in regions where severe declines have occurred, notably Shetland, were characterised by a lower prey biomass, higher numbers of fish per load and a high proportion of small, transparent sandeels.
Species
Dartmoor ponies graze The Lodge
Rare heathland habitat at RSPB The Lodge Nature Reserve is benefiting from a special kind of natural nurturing – from Dartmoor ponies. Five of these hardy conservation grazers, on loan at the reserve from their owner for the fourth year, will spend a few months munching Brambles and Silver Birch, trampling Bracken and dropping manure.
This contributes to the long-term heathland restoration project launched in 2005, and improves the habitat for bird species such as Woodlark, Nightjar and Dartford Warbler. Heathland, which is rarer than rainforest and one of the UK’s most threatened habitats, is also a haven for endangered Natterjack Toads, Common Lizards and more.
Volunteer army at Coquet Island
Forty wonderful new volunteers have started work at one of our most remote nature reserves: Coquet Island, off the Northumberland coast. They’ve been busy cutting the grass, installing nest boxes and setting up hides to enable research and benefit the four species of breeding tern, including the UK’s only colony of breeding Roseate Terns.
Policy
Restore Nature Now
On 22 June 2024, something truly amazing happened. Over 60,000 people, representing over 400 organisations, marched through London to demand that those in power Restore Nature Now. Thank you to the thousands of RSPB members who attended on the day. To learn more about the march, visit rspb.org. uk/restore-nature-now-march
Words: Paul Bloomfield. Photos: Kay Roxby, Zuma Press (Alamy Stock Photo), Peter Bradley, JeIaine Gann
Species
Success for beachnesting birds
Thanks to the amazing efforts of staff and more than 120 volunteers, who have given over 4,000 hours of their time, the Beach Nesting Birds and Plovers in Peril projects in Norfolk continue to see impressive results. These two projects are helping to restore numbers of Red-listed Ringed Plovers. In east Norfolk, at least 24 chicks have fledged, which is an increase of 700% from 2020.
On The Wash, the Plovers in Peril project continues its success with 26 chicks fledged so far this season, with fingers crossed for the few remaining chicks which should hopefully fledge by late August – that’s a 333% increase since 2021.
Species Correction
Last issue we said that the total UK Bottlenose Dolphin population is fewer than 300. However, there are actually around 700 Bottlenose Dolphins across eastand west-coast Scotland, south-west England and coastal Wales.
Species
Managing reedbeds for birds – and roofs
If you’re looking for a sustainable source of high-quality thatch for your roof, we can help! Since 2005, we’ve managed part of the Tay Reedbeds, which stretch between Perth and Dundee. Working with landowners, we create a mosaic of reed ages and structure to benefit species such as Bearded Tit, Marsh
Harrier and elusive Water Rail. The site has a long heritage of reed-cutting, and the RSPB continues with that tradition. Once cleaned and bundled, reeds can be delivered across the UK and Ireland, with thatch sales helping fund our conservation work. For details, contact Vicky Turnbull at lochleven@rspb.org.uk
People
Your wild words
We’re looking forward to discovering the winners of the 2024 Wainwright Prize, which recognises the best writing on nature and conservation.
Inspired to put pen to paper yourself? Here are three tips from Benedict Macdonald, who won the 2020 Conservation category for his book Rebirding: Restoring Britain’s Wildlife (Pelagic Publishing):
1) Spend time in the field. Really immerse yourself in your subject matter. For Rebirding, I spent a lot of time in the UK landscape before heading to northern
and eastern Europe.
2) Write accessibly, but research intensively. Your writing needs to be easily understood when you’re communicating complex scientific ideas. You need high-quality, credible science to back up your writing. Include references.
3) Paint pictures in the readers’ minds. I find people who love nature are often visual learners, so you need to bring the concepts you’re describing to life. What would a restored landscape look like?
Turn to page 13 for Nicola Chester’s column on the joys of ‘nature reading’.
Bearded Tit, Tay Reedbeds Words: Paul Bloomfield. Photos: Andy Hay,
Bottlenose Dolphin
Your legacy is nature’s future
At the RSPB we know our connection to nature is irreplaceable. We must nurture and protect it, because without it we are lost.
That’s why we’re working tirelessly to tackle the biggest threats facing our world, so one day we can truly thrive together.
A gift in your Will to the RSPB is one of the most powerful ways you can support this mission for generations to come.
Request your RSPB Gifts in Wills guide at rspb.org.uk/legacy or call one of our Legacy Advisers on 01767 669700
From the Treasurer
Robert Cubbage
I am pleased to report on the annual accounts for 2023-24, a year that contained some really excellent news. After decades of campaigning, we received a decision by the UK and Scottish Governments to close sandeel fisheries in the North Sea and Scottish waters to protect our seabirds. Additionally, a report confirmed that 1 million Turtle Doves are saved each year thanks to the hunting bans in Europe, not to mention that the Saving our Wild Isles films are continuing to inspire audiences. With your support, we continue to strive to protect nature. Therefore, I am happy to present the headlines from our accounts below.
Income increased by £5.2 million to a record £169.9 million and total expenditure rose by £3.2 million to £168.0 million. Together with a £2.9 million rise in investments, this led to net income of £4.7 million for the year. Total financial reserves fell by £6.8 million, reflecting net income of £4.7 million and a £11.6 million actuarial loss in respect of the defined benefit pension scheme liability due to changes in the wider economic environment. Free financial reserves decreased, as planned, by £7.3 million to £42.0 million and represents 13 weeks’ total expenditure cover. This is three weeks lower than last year but within the eight to 16-week policy set by Council.
Given the continued economic impacts from high inflation and interest rates, we are remaining cautious and are monitoring both revenue and costs to ensure we remain financially sustainable in the future.
As always, the foundations of our financial strength are the support and commitment of our members and supporters, which has been stronger than ever across the financial year. The ongoing challenges of the nature and climate emergency have never been clearer and with your support we will continue to drive the delivery of our strategy to meet that challenge both in the UK and internationally.
Report by the Trustees on the summarised financial statements
These summarised financial statements are extracted from the full statutory trustees’ annual report and financial statements, which were approved by the trustees and signed on their behalf. The full financial statements, on which the auditors Crowe UK LLP gave an unqualified audit report in August 2024, are available on our website within our annual report: rspb.org.uk/ annualreport
The auditors have confirmed to the trustees that, in their opinion, the summarised financial statements are consistent with the full financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2024. These summarised financial statements may not contain sufficient information to gain a complete understanding of the financial affairs of the charity. The full statutory trustees’ report, financial statements and auditors’ report may be obtained from the website. Signed on behalf of the trustees Chair, RSPB Council
Wild days out Titchwell Ma
In winter, this tranquil wetland habitat brims with wildlife, making it a prime spot for birding in the colder seasons – Jamie Wyver explores the birds and landscapes of this marshy paradise
Visitor guide RSPB Titchwell Marsh, Norfolk
Getting there
The nearest train station to Titchwell is King’s Lynn. From here you can catch the bus, which stops at the reserve, or catch a taxi. Titchwell has a car park (see below) and there are bicycle racks available.
Entry
Free entry for RSPB members, 16 to 24-yearolds, under-fives and carers. For nonmembers, entrance is £7 for adults, £3.50 for children, £5 for students (with valid NUS card).
Seasonal highlights
As dusk descends, over 50 majestic Marsh Harriers soar through the air above you, preparing to roost. Slowly, they drop down to join the Little Egrets and Cormorants.
Then, spend your night communing with nocturnal nature – Titchwell is a designated dark sky location. Keep your eyes to the skies!
This season’s star species
Brambling • Marsh Harrier • Curlew • Little Egret
Accessibility
Parking: 115 car parking spaces, including eight Blue Badge spaces.
Wheelchairs: The reserve is mostly flat, with boardwalks, rolled sand and gravel surfaces. Dogs: Assistance dogs are welcome in all parts of the reserve. Dogs on leads are welcome on the public West Bank Path.
Scan for
Marsh
Long-tailed Duck! A distant light speck transforms into a dazzling beauty bobbing among the waves off the north Norfolk coast. It’s a male in full breeding finery – smart black and white with a flamingo-pink marking on the bill and extravagant tail feathers. I’m captivated as it rises and falls on the surf. It’s New Year’s Day on the dunes at RSPB Titchwell Marsh and I’m in birding paradise.
Titchwell is an excellent nature reserve to visit at any time of year but, for me, that excellence outdoes itself in the winter months. You arrive in a wooded area, which at first can seem quiet. But look around. There might be Redwings feasting on the berries beside the car park. A friendly Robin or two approaches to investigate. Even in the depths of winter, this is such a sheltered spot that I’ve even seen a Chiffchaff moving deftly through the ivy in search of insects.
A Tawny Owl and a Yellow-browed Warbler spent some time here last October, so it’s well worth pausing and looking up into the branches, too.
you’ll now be out in the big, wide-open space of Titchwell’s huge reedbed. Look to the right and you may see a Kingfisher perched beside one of the channels, or an egret – Little or Great White –stalking through the water.
Keep an eye on the sky for Marsh Harriers as you head towards the sea. They absolutely thrive here; five young Marsh Harriers fledged on site in 2024. However, winter is the time to see really high numbers of these magnificent reedbed raptors, with up to 40 or 50 individuals roosting amongst the reeds each night.
They’re not the only reedbed specialists here. Listen for the ‘pinging’ of Bearded Tits and you may catch a glimpse of a small flock flitting over the reeds. A real highlight, though it can require patience, is a sighting of a Bittern. The site team, through a careful cycle of reed cutting and clearance, make sure that these birds have access to plenty of pools and channels where they can catch fish. And often those areas are carefully positioned where we can get great views from the paths. A new system of pipes, installed this year, means the team also have a lot more control over water heights on the reserve, which can help boost the amount of food for birds like Bitterns where and when it’s most needed.
Previous: A view of the majestic RSPB Titchwell Marsh nature reserve
1. Male Long-tailed Duck in flight
2. A mixed wader flock flies in the fading light of the Titchwell sunset
3. The Parrinder Hide overlooks the Freshwater Marsh, also known as Freshmarsh
4. A Sanderling takes a stroll in its silvery winter plumage
5. A camouflaged Woodcock
6. Curlews, which are plentiful at the brackish Volunteer Marsh on the reserve, take flight in the snow
As you’re tempted forward by the distant calls of waders and seabirds, it’s time to truly begin your Titchwell adventure. There’ll be a warm welcome in the first small building you reach, the Welcome Hub. Here you can find out what’s around, with the aid of maps, pictures and the friendly team. It’s incredibly handy if you’re new to the reserve. Beyond is the shop and Titchwell’s refurbished café, serving everything from breakfast baps to light meals, plus homemade cakes and Bird & Wild bird-friendly coffee.
A wildlife garden with ponds and natural planting awaits behind the shop. In winter, you might be lucky enough to spot occasional Bramblings hanging out with their Chaffinch cousins. High in the alder and willow trees at the back, where the West Bank path begins, Siskins and Redpolls perform their acrobatics in the treetops, snacking on seeds.
Across the reeds
If, like me, you have a poor sense of direction, the West Bank path is the perfect nature-watching experience. You can’t get lost. This is an elevated straight line all the way to the coast, and there’s so much to see on the way. Emerging from woodland,
‘You arrive in a wooded area, which at first can seem quiet. But look around’
If you hear an unusual squealing noise, it’s unlikely to be a lost pig wandering around in the marsh (though it has to be said that Titchwell is full of surprises – I once saw a man taking his pet rabbit for a walk here). No, the swine-like sound will be coming from Water Rails, those shy relatives of Coots and Moorhens. They skulk out of sight but often emerge when conditions are icy, cautiously feeding on the ground or hurtling for cover in the vegetation.
Freshwater Marsh
The first big pool of water you’ll see on the right is Freshwater Marsh, or Freshmarsh. This is the last area of freshwater you’ll see as you approach the coast. In the Island Hide, you’re down at water-level and can get some fantastic, often close-up views of waders, ducks, swans and geese. Last winter these included Golden Plovers, Ruffs and Spotted Redshanks as well as Pintails and Whooper Swans.
Further down the path, the larger Parrinder Hide offers views of Freshmarsh to the south, and the developing saltmarsh at Volunteer Marsh to the north. I’ve often seen Spoonbills while looking over Freshmarsh; their numbers peaked at 73 in September 2023, a record for the site.
Volunteer Marsh is good for Curlews and I’ve almost always seen a Grey Plover here – a hugely underrated wader, I think, with its delicately mottled feathers contrasting with its big dark eyes.
At the Tidal Marsh, the final water body on your right, you can look down on waders probing the mud. It always amazes me how close Black-tailed Godwits and Redshanks will forage below the path as you look down – no binoculars needed! However, you will want some form of optics after you’ve climbed through the dunes to the beach to pick through waders on the shoreline and, if you’re lucky, as I’ve
‘The beauty of the place is, you don’t know what’s going to be here’
Above: A Bittern walks on the ice in Titchwell’s reedbed. The site team has carefully cut and cleared the reeds here to make sure these birds have plenty of pools and channels in which to catch fish
been a few times, you’ll spot seaducks, divers and grebes out on the sea. My highlight was that Long-tailed Duck, but I’ve also seen an Eider, Goldeneye and Velvet Scoter riding the waves.
Fen and East Trails
After some refreshment in the café, it’s time to explore the Fen Trail and East Trail. Follow the path behind the shop as it winds through the small woodland and make for the Fen Hide. Smaller birds feed in the bushes here, including finches, tits, winter thrushes and, if you’re lucky, Yellow-browed Warblers. And if you stay until dusk and stand on the Meadow Trail boardwalk, you might see up to 20 Woodcocks fly out to feed right overhead.
From the screen overlooking Patsy’s Pool, I’ve seen Gadwalls and Pochards. I once encountered a hungry Barn Owl hunting close to the path, unbothered by human visitors. It must have been unable to feed the day before, when Storm Doris would have made hunting conditions impossible. In the winter months, the east trail is closed to prevent disturbance to roosting Marsh Harriers and Little Egrets.
Titchwell treasure
Thanks to the Titchwell team and other helpful birders here, I’ve seen many ‘firsts’ (for me) on the reserve, often through someone else’s telescope. Some of these spectacular sightings included sparrow-sized Little Stints and the Pectoral Sandpiper, which gets its name from the pattern on its breast.
“Titchwell is popular with people at all levels of bird expertise,” says Senior Site Manager Hayley Roan. “You can have a fantastic day out here as a beginner or a seasoned birder.”
I think there are several reasons for this. One is
the sheer number of birds: 221 species in total were recorded here in 2023, including 33 waders. Another is the variety of habitats on the reserve, moving from fairly easy-to-navigate wildlife garden to intermediate wetlands and then to the slightly more advanced sea watching. And there’s also Titchwell’s bird ID workshop sessions, which can help you get up to speed on identifying waders.
But you don’t have to be into ticking bird lists to fully appreciate this magical nature haven. Just experiencing the open skies, the sheltered corners, the sea air and, of course, the café, can boost the spirits on a wintry day.
Titchwell through time
Drained for farmland, Titchwell Marsh was once used for growing root crops and raising cattle for beef. During the Second World War it hosted a tank firing range; you can still see some of the structures, as well as a concrete road constructed for this purpose. The remains of two rusting tanks, used for target practice, are usually visible on the beach.
The great storm surge of 1953 broke through coastal sea defences and flooded the site. Abandoned, Titchwell started to become a haven for birds including, in the early 1970s, Montagu’s Harriers. The RSPB paid a local birdwatcher to watch the harriers’ nest and guard it from egg collectors, and then decided to purchase the land in 1973. Since then, Titchwell has been transformed over the decades thanks to the hard work of staff and volunteers, with sea defences and saltmarsh shielding freshwater areas, islands constructed and vegetation levels carefully maintained.
Avocets first nested here in 1984, but unfortunately their nest was raided by egg collectors. From the following year, Avocet nests were well protected and watched by the reserve team, and numbers of the birds began to grow. Forty years later, the colony is doing well and 43 chicks fledged this past summer.
Titchwell celebrated its 50th birthday last year. I was lucky enough to interview longstanding volunteer Ray, who’s been here since the beginning, for a celebratory video.
“The beauty of the place is, you don’t know what’s going to be here,” he says. He’s already proven his point by recording 1,800 species of wildlife at Titchwell, including around 300 birds.
North Norfolk is packed with top birdwatching spots. I’d recommend a long weekend here to just soak up the wealth of birdlife. Whether you know the names of everything you’re looking at or not doesn’t always matter. Just being here is a tonic.
Supporter Communications
Manager Jamie Wyver began working at the RSPB in 2014, after completing a Master’s in Conservation Science at Imperial College London.
Photo: Lance Fisher
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PASSAGE TO THE SEYCHELLES
Island Hopping through Tanzania & the beautiful Seychelles aboard the MS Island Sky – 16th to 31st January 2026
The Seychelles offers the visitor a tropical beauty that is difficult, if not impossible to match anywhere else in the world. Spread out over a vast area of the Indian Ocean, they offer everything from quiet sophistication and enchanting scenery to wild and uninhabited nature reserves, where the very remoteness of the islands has protected them from the worst excesses of mankind. We know the region well having operated vessels there for almost thirty years and if ever there was a region perfect for expedition cruising it is here.
Setting sail from Tanzania, we have a full day to explore atmospheric Zanzibar before we spend time discovering Latham Island, an important seabird breeding site with spectacular reefs, and the historic sites of Kilwa Kisiwani. Continuing to the Seychelles, our journey will include all aspects of this extraordinary island nation from the lesser known and rarely visited Outer Seychelles where we visit the Aldabra Islands, the world’s largest coral atoll and a World Heritage Site to the developed Inner Seychelles with staggeringly beautiful islands such as Aride and Praslin. For many the highlight of the voyage will be our time spent exploring the Aldabra Island Group, the breeding ground of the giant tortoise and in addition to seeing some of these endearing creatures we should also encounter dolphins and turtles as well as countless birds including the flightless rail. Obviously, such beauty and serenity are best enjoyed with a small number of travelling companions and the MS Island Sky is an ideal vessel. With a maximum of just over 100 passengers she offers all the comforts of a larger vessel but with the added luxury of a small number of fellow, like-minded travellers and an expert expedition team who will add much to your enjoyment. With our fleet of Zodiacs we can reach the unreachable, landing on remote beaches, walking through verdant rainforest and getting close to some unique flora and fauna.
MS ISLAND SKY is one of the finest small ships in the world. With a maximum passenger capacity of only 118, the all-suite vessel has the benefit of unusually large accommodation, public areas and spacious outside decks. All suites feature a sitting area and some have a private balcony. The spacious and finely decorated public rooms include a lounge, elegant bar, library and a single seating dining room Outside there is a rear sun deck, a bar and comfortable deck furniture. The atmosphere on board is akin to a private yacht or country hotel A little music in the lounge or bar after dinner, talks from the onboard speakers and of course good food all contribute to making any voyage aboard the MS Island Sky a memorable experience.
INDIAN OCEAN
Aldabra Island Group
SEYCHELLES
Zanzibar
Farquhar Group
Amirante Islands
La Digue
1
Day 2 Dar es Salaam Arrive and transfer to the MS Island Sky.
Day 3 Zanzibar. On a morning walking tour, soak up the timeless atmosphere of Stone Town including Livingstone House, Sultan’s Palace and the Old Fort. The afternoon is free to relax and explore independently or join a tour of a spice farm to experience the various fruits and spices cultivated on the island. Alternatively, travel to Jozani Forest which sustains a variety of wildlife and birds, including the rare red colobus monkey, indigenous to the island.
Day 4 Latham Island. Also known as Fungu Kizimkazi, this uninhabited coral island measures just 7.5 acres but is an important breeding ground for many bird species and one of the most important areas in the Indian Ocean for masked booby, brown noddy, sooty tern and greater crested tern. Weather permitting, we will use our Zodiacs to cruise the island to view these colonies and also offer the chance to snorkel on the fringing reef.
Day 5 Kilwa Kisiwani. This morning we anchor off Kilwa Kisiwani, a site of exceptional historical interest, where the atmospheric ruins represent a wide sweep of East African coastal history, from the heights of the Swahili and Shirazi trading civilisation to the darker days of slavery and the uprisings against German rule Once one of Africa’s wealthiest towns, Kilwa Kisiwani is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains the world’s most extensive and best-preserved Swahili ruins This afternoon we hope to find a local beach to offer the chance to swim, snorkel or take a stroll
Day 6 At Sea Spend a leisurely day on board as we continue our journey through the Indian Ocean.
Days 7 to 9 Aldabra Islands, Seychelles. Arriving in the Outer Seychelles we have two and a half days to enjoy the Aldabra group of islands and our itinerary will be in the hands of our Expedition Leader and Captain who will monitor the local conditions to ensure we maximise our time here. Whilst our itinerary is flexible, we hope to call at the island of Assumption where rare birds and green turtles are in abundance. Our time here will be spent beachcombing, on nature
walks or snorkelling. We also hope to reach Cosmoledo where a huge ring of twelve islands circle a lagoon. This is an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area with all three species of booby found in the Seychelles including the last breeding site for the brown booby. Also spot sooty terns and great frigate birds. In addition, we will plan time on Aldabra, the island referred to by Sir Julian Huxley as “one of nature’s treasures and should belong to the whole world”. Aldabra is unique and every time we call we find something new of interest. Our exploration will be guided by the tides and sightings have been made of the extremely rare white throated rail and the atoll is also home to the world’s second largest colony of frigate birds and to the largest crab, the coconut crab. Whilst exploring by Zodiac it is difficult to know in which direction to look. The clear blue seas abound with life, the skies are alive with varied birdlife and ashore giant land tortoises forage as they have done for millions of years.
Day 10 Farquhar Group This morning we anchor off Farquhar where we will use our Zodiacs to explore the sparkling lagoon of this remote atoll. Hawksbill and green sea turtles come to the atoll to nest and several of the Farquhar Group’s islands are Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas. The island is a haven providing us with a delightful morning of bird watching or snorkelling before we sail this afternoon
Day 11 Alphonse Islands. There are three islands in the Alphonse group and as we approach the islands over lunch you will understand why they are regarded by many to be the most beautiful of the 115 islands in the Seychelles archipelago. Our plan is to land on the tiny and idyllic island of Bijoutier. Rarely visited, it is a safe haven for a variety of seabirds.
Day 12 Amirante Islands. This morning we arrive at the 28 islands in the Amirante Group which were discovered by Vasco de Gama in 1501 and are
considered to be some of the most pristine and untouched islands in the world If conditions permit we will visit the huge sand spit on African Banks and join nature walks with our naturalists, beachcombing and spotting seabirds In addition we hope to offer Zodiacs cruises in the lagoon of one of the atolls and also the opportunity for swimming and snorkelling
Days 13 & 14 Inner Seychelles. Our final two days are spent in the Inner Seychelles islands where we hope to visit Aride, one of the finest and most important seabird islands in the Indian Ocean. Over one million seabirds breed on the island including tropical shearwater, lesser noddy, frigatebirds and roseate tern and also five species unique to the Seychelles such as the Seychelles warbler and Seychelles magpie robin. The island is largely covered in native woodland including the endemic Wright’s gardenia. We plan to land on Curieuse, an important nesting site for hawksbill turtles and boasts endemic vine and mangroves which we explore on an island walk. Meanwhile on La Digue, maybe visit the forested nature reserve and the L’Union Estate, a superbly restored 19th century colonial house, or swim from one of the beaches.
Day 15 Mahe to London or Manchester. Disembark and transfer to the airport for our scheduled flight
Day 16 London or Manchester. Arrive this morning.
PRICES & INCLUSIONS
Special offer prices per person based on double occupancy start from £9995 for a Standard Suite
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
Economy class scheduled air travel • 13 nights aboard the MS Island Sky on a full board basis
• House wine, beer & soft drinks with lunch and dinner • Shore excursions • Noble Caledonia expedition team • Gratuities • Transfers
• Airport & port taxes
NB Ports and itinerary are subject to change Travel insurance and Tanzania visa are not included in the price All special offers are subject to availability. Our current booking conditions apply to all reservations Zodiacs will be used most days.
Day
London or Manchester to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Fly by scheduled indirect flight.
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YOUR STORIES
Have you got a nature-inspired story to tell? Send your letters to rspbmagazine@ rspb.org.uk
Your stories
‘Working with nature, not against it’
I’ve always loved being a professional gardener, but I discovered my passion for permaculture – aka working with nature, not against it – after I got fed up with mowing my three-acre plot in Surrey. Come June and July, the thistles and the dock were all taller than me. I thought, “What am I going to do here?” And then I stopped and noticed that the land was not overgrown, but alive with nature. I saw 20 Goldfinches doing loopthe-loops and landing in the meadow. I listened to the deafening birdsong. There were dragonflies and butterflies flying around and nettles filled with Peacock Butterfly caterpillars. This is when I realised that working with the nature on your land can bring so many benefits. I started to feel conflicted between my own passion for regenerative permaculture and my day job keeping my clients’ gardens immaculate. So, three years ago, I bought a 10-acre croft in North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. My vision for the croft is to
have a beautiful, permaculture-inspired patch with rotational agriculture, greens and vegetables and a nice greenhouse underground, all done in a way that works with nature. The environment here is rough and ready. When it’s lovely, it’s lovely, but a lot of the time the wind is harsh. If I grow trees, though, I can have the garden I want, and they’ll be great homes for migrating birds.
Seeing a person of colour like myself being outside in nature, talking about plants and looking at the bees, is refreshing. I feel like I can inspire not just people of colour, but people all around the world to do the things that I’m doing. If I had nature during my childhood in London, it could have gotten me out of my darker times. I have a son named Cedar. He’s my right-hand man, and it’s important to me that he’s well-rooted in nature. My dream is for Cedar to carry on this lovely croft. Hopefully he’ll pass it down to his kids and grandkids and keep up the tradition. Alexander Thompson-Byer
Words: Alexander Thompson-Byer.
Photo: Rachel Palmer
Your say
Star letter
Encouraging a churchyard’s wildlife
Our local church in south-west London has been exploring ways to nurture wildlife in the churchyard. We have considered wildflower meadows among the gravestones as well as bird boxes, but our most recent initiative has been to inspire the congregation by launching a new annual bird survey inspired by the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. Our churchyard birdwatch in spring recorded, mainly from birdsong, a number of species, including Great Spotted Woodpecker, Nuthatch and Wren. In June, we also took part in the Caring for God’s Acre Churches’ Count on Nature Week, which was a national event. The public was encouraged to visit our churchyard and record sightings of birds, flora and fauna on the iNaturalist App. We also included a walk through the churchyard, led by a member of our clergy who is a committed and experienced naturalist. I am delighted to report that this event was a considerable success. We’d thoroughly recommend this type of project to churches as there are so many benefits for wildlife, and people too!
Robert Porter
Tawny owlet delight
Most years, we spend our annual holiday in the same caravan park in the Langdale Valley in the Lake District. We have seen all kinds of wildlife wandering or flying through the wooded site over the last 30 years or so. But last year was special. Keeping us awake all night but delighting us with their non-stop calls were three Tawny owlets. Their sounds continued through the days, too, just outside our caravan! They knew we were watching them, but they didn’t seem to mind. We were sad to leave them at the end of the week.
Sophie Galbraith
In defence of gulls I love seagulls, so it makes me sad that the British Trust for
Ornithology told us on Radio 4 recently that our classic seaside seagull, the Herring Gull, has declined so much that it’s now Red Listed. One of the guests on the programme said that stealing our chips is “indefensible”. That seems a little harsh. Cheeky, roguish gulls can annoy us, but they make us laugh, too. Their food supplies have dwindled; they’re having a tough time. They bring a welcome touch of the wild to our cities but are increasingly unwelcome, facing nets, spikes and other horrors to prevent them perching or, perish the thought, breeding. Where would a Cornish fishing village be without the cries of seagulls echoing round the harbour? Or Sailing By on Radio 4 without the background gulls? So let’s treasure
them, live alongside them and give three cheers for the great British seagull… while guarding our chips!
Louise Wisniewski
Home improvement
Three years ago, I purchased an RSPB bird box with a built-in camera. We’ve been fortunate to have Blue Tits take up residence every year since, and I’ve learned a lot about their nesting habits by observing their antics, such as industriously covering the base with about an inch of nesting material over a week, only to remove it all and start again. This year, before they started to collect nesting material, I watched them vigorously pecking away at the inside of the entrance. I didn’t give it much thought until I spotted
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Above: Great Spotted Woodpeckers made an appearance at Robert Porter’s annual bird survey in his local churchyard
their home improvement. On the camera footage, I could clearly see a pair of perfectly symmetrical shoulders cut out of the inside side of the bottom of the once-circular entrance hole. My only guess is that it allows them to exit the nest box from the side without scraping their wings on the wooden edges. Has this or similar been seen before, or do I have a particularly fussy pair of Blue Tits this year?
Ian Sharp
Ed: We often hear about Blue Tits tapping at boxes. This is typically to test the sturdiness of the box before nesting. They do this on trees, too. As it’s near the entrance, this is territorial; they’re claiming the box as their own. They’ll only enter the box frontwards.
The sound of birdsong
My wife, who is in her 80s, has had a cochlear implant put in, and for the first time in over 60 years has heard a Robin sing. It was a truly wonderful moment. Our many thanks go to the wonderful, dedicated doctors and nurses at St Thomas Hospital who performed this miracle, enabling her to hear these beautiful birds in our garden. She now asks me, “What is that?” whenever we’re tending the various plants in our garden.
Charles Mehegan
Disappearing Tree Sparrows
For many years, we’ve had a colony of Tree Sparrows nesting in our garden. In late February, between six to eight pairs have noisily returned to begin their territorial claim on the many tree nest boxes. Two years ago, the colony didn’t return. Other local colonies also suffered this disappearance. I have read accounts in old bird books of colonies of Tree Sparrows mysteriously disappearing and then miraculously returning several years later. The reasons for this remain a mystery. However, this year, on several occasions in early spring, we observed a single Tree Sparrow tentatively calling from the top of a tree, as if trying to establish its territory. Its abrupt call was then seemingly answered by more Tree Sparrows calling from the surrounding bushes. This prompted the single bird to
instantly fly away. Thinking that the sparrows had finally returned, we watched closely for the remaining colony to reveal itself; however, we were amazed to see not Tree Sparrows emerging from the bushes, but Great Tits! It was as if they were impersonating the sparrows’ abrupt alarm call. I’m aware that Great Tits have an impressive vocal repertoire, but could this ability somehow be responsible for dissuading the Tree Sparrows from their traditional territories? Ironically, this summer, we have seen record numbers of Great Tit broods emerging from the same nest boxes that were once used by the Tree Sparrows.
Mark Thomas
Ed: Tree Sparrows do indeed have a habit of forming strong colonies in one location for five, 10 or more years, then moving on for no obvious reason. I’ve not heard any evidence that Great Tits might be outcompeting Tree Sparrows.
Nuthatch home
It was interesting to read the How to Site a Nuthatch Box story on page 68 of the Spring/Summer magazine. Some Nuthatches can be resourceful; a pair of Nuthatches built their nest in the crack of the climbing boulder at our outdoor centre. The three-metre-high boulder itself is made from concrete, and the Nuthatch filled the crack with mud. Climbing was delayed until they fledged and left. I hope they return next year!
Wynford Price
Hats off
Here’s my entry for the ‘daft hat’ competition. On 4 and 5 June, my son Tim and I spent two days on Skomer, having a splendid time photographing Puffins. While watching Puffins coming into their nest burrows at The Wick, carrying beaks full of sandeels, I felt something land on my head. My instant thought was that it might be an Arctic Tern, as they sometimes appear on the Farne Islands, but then I immediately realised that couldn’t be the case. Nearby birders shouted, pointed and called out, “It’s a Puffin!” Luckily, Tim was near and quick enough to take a shot. Wardens
and others on the island said they had never seen that happen before!
Bob Russon
Birder beginnings
Thank you for all the hard work you do. For the last few years, I’ve been subscribing to you for my friend’s son, George, aged six and a half. He is really into nature and loves his magazines and looks forward to doing the activities. Now his brother is two and a half and able to understand things, George shows him the pictures and what’s in the magazine. I’m so glad that they both have a love of nature. Julie Flood
Below (top): Bob Russon’s claim to fame – the only person to have a Puffin land on his head on Skomer
Below (bottom): Julie Flood’s friend’s son George reads his copy of Wild Times to his younger brother
Send your wildlife photos to The RSPB Magazine. See page 3 for details
Star photo Goldcrest
I managed to catch this little fellow mid-song on my local patch in Derbyshire. He was full of it, impressing the ladies like a little Tom Jones!
Ian Wilson
RSPB Shop bundle worth £250!
Our star amateur photo wins £250 to spend on anything at the RSPB Shop! From wildlife garden ideas to homewares, books and even chocolate, everything is produced in the most sustainable and nature-friendly way possible, and proceeds go directly towards wildlife conservation. So treat yourself or a loved one, safe in the knowledge that you’re supporting both wildlife and sustainable, ethical businesses.
1. Fulmars by Collette Saxon
2. Tree Sparrow by Rose Habberley
3. Kestrel by James Brook
4. Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers by Trevor Ridgers
5. Bullfinch by Victoria Bostock
6. Cetti’s Warbler by Lissette Massini
Cultivated plants that are good for pollinators, such as these Hemerocallis (daylilies), jostle with natives such as Common Hogweed.
Your Gardening for wildlife? Share your achievements with adrian.thomas@rspb.org.uk
Wildlife observations and recordings
Adrian Thomas visits a verdant Norfolk garden where a couple seek to discover and identify all the wildlife they attract
“It’s organised chaos!” Megan Crewe says as she and her husband, Mike, show me the half-acre garden they’ve been creating since moving to north-east Norfolk in 2017. “That’s our basic ethos. We want flower borders because they attract pollinators, but we also want wilder areas.”
When the couple arrived, the bulk of the garden was just mown grass with a Whitebeam tree in the middle. Since then, they’ve created meadows, dug a large pond, built log piles, planted hedges and added a diverse array of plants, all targeted at wildlife.
They also record all the wildlife they
find here. Both Mike and Megan have an enquiring mind and an eye for spotting the ‘small stuff’, from fungi to furrow bees. The pair also seek to name their finds and understand more about them.
Mike and Megan tally up the number of species that visit their garden, and the numbers are impressive. So far, for example, they’ve seen 22 species of butterflies, 29 of bee, 63 birds and a whopping 411 types of moths. Their latest total stands at 1,223.
It means that every part of the garden has a story to tell of a particular plant, fungus or animal.
Take the pond, for example. It hosts
hordes of Smooth Newts and Common Frogs and Toads, and is the main reason that 18 species of dragonfly and damselfly have visited. One of these guests was the rare Green-eyed Hawker dragonfly, attracted by its favoured plant, Water-soldier.
All the pond plants are native, even curious residents such as Bladderwort. Indeed, there are native plants throughout the garden.
“But it doesn’t all have to be native plants to deliver success,” Mike says. “Our Deutzia shrub, for example, originally from eastern Asia, is a magnet for bees in June.”
Meadow areas were created by scarifying the original lawn, adding some plug plants and letting other plants colonise naturally.
Taking the time to notice nature can result in all sorts of fascinating discoveries.
Once the couple turned the lawn into a meadow, it became an ever-evolving delight. Field Voles arrived. Then, bumblebees moved into the voles’ nests. Later, Badgers dug out the bees’ nests.
We head into the ‘secret garden’ where Mike and Megan sit and where Goldfinches come down to nip the tips of Common Cudweed flowers. Megan shows me a patch of Wormwood, and on it a population of Artemesia Aphids.
“It’s lovely to see what’s out here. It makes us slow down and look,” she says.
Despite all their efforts, Megan and Mike say that even their garden is showing signs of the nature crisis.
“Sometimes we look and think ‘Where are the hoverflies? Where are the beetles?’” Mike says. “We try not to panic, but it is getting ever harder for wildlife. That’s why every little positive change we make feels so important.”
Megan and Mike’s Top Gardening Tips
1
“If you want to make an established garden more ‘wild’, don’t be intimidated. Just do what works for you, and then go for it. For example, we’ve found out that it doesn’t work to have a mini-meadow right up against a flower border, so we mow paths in between.”
2 Megan loves inviting people into the garden as they’re walking past to inspire them. “When we explain what we’re trying to do, people think it is amazing.”
3
”Don’t view unplanned plants as weeds – they may have an important role for wildlife, or might just be fascinating in their own right!”
1. Megan is usually found with camera in hand and at insect-eye level, always on the look-out for a curious find
2. Black Horehound is an attractive native wildflower and an excellent nectar source for many bee species
3. This curious plant is Yarrow Broomrape, a nationally rare plant that grows in Megan and Mike’s back lawn
4. Water-soldier is a dramatic -looking pond plant, sinking in winter and then rising to the surface in summer
How to:
Photograph garden wildlife
The advent of digital photography has made it that much easier to take photos, and then review and share them instantly. The much-improved lenses available also make it possible for everyday people to take incredible shots of garden wildlife, including ones of tiny creatures.
Mobile phones are often fine for ‘record shots’, but Megan uses a bridge camera – a medium-sized camera with a powerful zoom – to capture even clearer
Spotlight on Bush-crickets
This Speckled Bush-cricket in Mike and Megan’s garden is colour-matched to the geranium leaves it lives upon.
Most leafy gardens in the southern half of the UK are likely to support at least one species of bush-cricket. Megan and Mike have recorded four of the 13 British species.
Bush-crickets (and their cousins, the much-rarer crickets) can easily be distinguished from grasshoppers thanks to their incredibly long antennae. Most members of the family have long back legs, which are used for jumping.
This photo is of a male; females have a sickle shaped ‘blade’ on their rear ends for egg laying.
images. “It is one of my most important gardening tools. If I can get a good photo, I can generally find out what the creature is,” she explains.
Whether you use an SLR camera (the big ones with interchangeable lenses), a bridge camera, a compact or a phone, the most useful features for taking photos of garden wildlife are the zoom and, ideally, a macro function, which allows you to get very close to a subject.
What to grow Hardy geraniums
This is a large group of mainly herbaceous perennial flowers (which means they come up each year, but the top growth dies back in autumn).
The simple, open flowers, mainly in pinks, lilacs and blues, are very popular with a wide range of pollinating insects.
Their English names are crane’sbill and stork’s-bill, named after the pointed seedpods that catapult seeds from the plants. Geranos is the Greek for crane.
Don’t confuse them with windowbox-favourites pelargoniums, sometimes called geraniums –they’re a different group of plants.
Speckled Bush-cricket
Many hardy geraniums do best in sunny positions, but some, such as Geranium phaeum and Geranium macrorrhizum, both from mainland Europe, do well in shade.
There are dozens of cultivars to choose from, including the very popular ‘Rozanne’. But why not try the beautiful native Meadow Crane’sbill Geranium pratense, in minimeadows, or the intensely coloured Bloody Crane’s-bill Geranium sanguineum, which, thanks to its habit of growing low on dunes, cliffs and limestone areas, will do well at the front of a border.
Cut back hard after the first flush of flowers to prompt geraniums to begin a second flowering.
They tend to suffer little damage from slugs, snails or Rabbits.
Identifying wildlife
So, how do you go about trying to identify all the plants and creatures in your garden?
“When I find something, I take a photo if I can,” Megan says. “Then I can go and look it up. There are some brilliant resources online. For example, there are 600 species of aphid in the UK, and a website to help you identify them. Who knew?”
There are also many apps these days that can automatically generate an identification. “They’re great,” says Megan. “But always treat what they come up with as a suggestion to go and research further.
“Importantly, I also put all our records on i-Record to help build the national database. That’s where there
are experts who will help verify your identifications for you.”
Thanks to online resources, Megan and Mike have identified creatures in their garden that are new for their area, including a rare harvestman –Dicranopalpus caudatus – which was a first for East Anglia.
“Identification can be hard at first,” Megan advises. “But stick with it.”
Here are some of Megan’s favourite sites: bwars.com (bees, wasps, ants) britishbugs.org.uk leafmines.co.uk (moths) coleoptera.org.uk (beetles) ukbeetles.co.uk (beetles)
And check out Megan’s blog: halfacreproject.blogspot.com
Your letters: Are back lanes the hedgerows of a town?
Last year we moved to a northern industrial town and swapped our large garden for a much smaller one that was largely decking, lawn and laurel bushes. We thought we would recreate our wildlife-friendly garden, albeit on a much smaller scale. So far, we’ve created two borders and filled those, as well as pots and baskets, with nectar-rich and colourful plants. The bees found the garden very quickly, which puzzled me. We live in a horticultural desert of tiny back yards and miniscule front gardens largely composed of artificial grass, gravel or paving stones.
There are, however, quite wide cobbled back lanes separating the terraced houses. Could these be the route by which the bees reached our flowers? I went to check and found over 40 different plants, a mix of garden escapees and wasteland natives and, yes, a lot of insects. One of the back lanes is a riot of colour with lavender, Chives and more. These back lanes are like the hedgerows of the town, providing a way for animals to move safely between garden habitats. Graham Stephenson, Darlington
Grassroots
Our Nature on Your Doorstep web pages are full of advice and inspiration for how to make your garden, balcony or community spaces better for wildlife.
You can also join our Facebook group, sharing ideas with people across the country. Start your journey here: rspb.org.uk/ natureonyourdoorstep
Don’t forget to buy your RSPB roses from Harkness Roses, which are good for pollinators and help raise money for our conservation work with every sale. Go to roses.co.uk/rspb
Wool Carder Bee
Your questions
Questions answered by India James and Molly Brown, RSPB Wildlife team Ask us about wildlife at YourQuestions@rspb.org.uk
Is Usutu virus affecting Blackbirds in the UK?
Finley Grant
Yes – Usutu virus (USUV) was first discovered in the UK in Blackbirds in Greater London during summer 2020 and appears to have spread across south-east England. Some bird species are considered more susceptible to USUV, and Blackbirds are particularly vulnerable. The virus is associated with the population declines in mainland Europe seen in recent decades. Transmission occurs through bites by virus-carrying mosquitos. Symptoms may include lethargy, weakness, incoordination, seizures and death.
Although mainly found in birds, in rare cases USUV can affect humans, although current evidence suggests that risks are low and infection mostly asymptomatic. In general, standard hygiene precautions are advised, such as avoiding direct contact with sick or dead wild birds. Please report any sick or dead garden birds to our partners at Garden Wildlife Health at gardenwildlifehealth.org
The British Trust for Ornithology is also running a survey to understand the potential impact of USUV on UK Blackbird populations – visit bto.org/ourscience/projects/blackbirds-gardens
Which is which?
Dunlin vs Knot
Both of these small sandpipers are lovely waders to spot. However, when Knot and Dunlin are in their juvenile and non-breeding plumage, the two species can be very difficult to tell apart. Both will flock in large numbers around our coast and are some of the most common waders to see during winter months. Identifying key features such as leg colour, beak length and shape, body size and certain plumage markings is key to telling these two apart when they’re in their winter plumage.
Is it normal for Mute Swans to be seen alone?
Emily Stephenson
This can be sad to see but the swan should be perfectly able to take care of itself and find its way in its own time. While Mute Swans typically mate for life, if they lose their mate, they may move on to a new water source and find a new mate or fly off and rejoin a flock.
During the autumn and winter, we get more reports of Mute Swans being seen on their own. Often these are juveniles from previous years which have been pushed out by their parents to become independent. It’s normal to see them on their own until they join a flock.
Dunlin
• Small body, similar in size to a Starling; smaller than a Knot
• A slightly downcurved and relatively long bill, no strong features in the face, with softer gradients between markings
• Black legs
• More subtle white wingbars when in flight
Knot
• Larger body, similar in size to a Blackbird; chunkier and stumpier than a Dunlin
• A shorter and straighter bill, grey head with white eye-stripe and dark feathers between eye and bill
• Dull green legs
• Dark outer wings with a pale inner wing
Photos: David Tipling, Mike Lane (rspb-images.com); James Hodgson (Alamy Stock
Photo);
Illustrations: Mike Langman (rspb-images.com),
Why are there so many Grey Seals on the beach during autumn?
Charlie Hart
Although the breeding season has come to an end for some, autumn is still a busy time for Grey Seals! Females will gather on the shore, each giving birth to a single pup – the result of last year’s mating. The pup will be covered in a thick, creamy-white coat to help keep it warm until it begins to fatten up on its mother’s rich milk. After approximately three weeks, they will begin to lose their juvenile coats and their mothers will abandon them, as those mothers will be looking to mate again. During autumn and the early winter months, our coastline is usually a busy place with mothers, pups and territorial males looking for mates. Therefore, it’s best to minimise any disturbance to them.
How to…
Choose a good place for a Tawny Owl nestbox
As Tawny Owls are primarily woodland birds, their nestboxes are best fixed to trees in a woodland or in large gardens. Tawny Owls need good visibility from the nest and a clear flight path, and the entrance should face away from the prevailing wind. Site the nestbox somewhere secluded and away from disturbance – for instance, a garden with small children may not be appropriate. Tawny Owls are sensitive to disturbance when incubating and can be very protective parents, so it can be dangerous if they or their young are approached.
What is this fungus I’ve seen in Sherwood Forest?
Freya Jones
This is White Saddle, a common fungus found throughout British and Irish woodlands that can often be seen beside footpaths during autumn months. Often capped with two or three main undulations with a few smaller curled edges, the White Saddle is cream in colour and supported by a stem with many ornate ridges. The upper side of the cap is smooth, while the underside is slightly downy. It usually stands at 8-10cm tall with a cap 3-8cm in diameter; however, the sizes do vary greatly.
Next time you’re out walking in the woods, particularly beech or oak woodlands, keep an eye out for a White Saddle along the path. Look but don’t touch though; it’s not recommended to eat this fungus.
Photos: Nick Upton
Freya Jones
White Saddle
A father’s devotion leads to incredible patented pillow –one day all pillows will be made this way
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Georgia
A er purchasing dozens of di erent types and nding none that worked, Alex, a renowned furniture and domestic product designer, decided to engineer his own.
UNIQUE BREAKTHROUGH
He made a breakthrough when he realised that all pillows spread out and atten down as the weight of the head rests on them. is attening progresses through the night, leaving the head and neck poorly supported – and sleep interrupted. is is why many people nd themselves half awake and ‘pillow-punching’ in the middle of the night, desperately trying to get comfortable.
EXTRA COMFORT AND SUPPORT
e innovative model that Alex designed has internal ties that hold the lling in place, and pull the pillow in and up to cradle the head and neck. is provides extra comfort and support that lasts through the night and ensures that you get the most bene t from an undisturbed sleep.
I can honestly say that your pillow has made the world of difference… and fully endorse your pillow as being quite unique in its ability to maintain support throughout the night. Dr Deane Halfpenny Harley Street Consultant and Spinal Pain Specialist
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Made in the UK, the Gx Pillow comes in a choice of two levels of support: Medium-so , which most people seem to prefer, or Medium- rm for those who like a little more resistance. Alex’s desperate desire to help his daughter Georgia has led to a pillow that has also transformed the lives of thousands of people. So if you have spent a lifetime looking for the perfect pillow, your search may well be over!
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David Lindo
Listening to nature: hear me out
Lindo is The Urban Birder and founder of The Urban Birder World, theurbanbirder world.com
I have been generally appreciating the natural world ever since I was a little boy. Growing up in urban north-west London and being into nature wasn’t the done thing in those days. I was certainly a bit of an oddity, but I revelled in watching the wildlife that lived in my neighbourhood. This was despite the ribbing that I received from other kids, and despite being told that I needed to go to the countryside to be around nature. It was my release, my sanctuary.
However, I also had a problem. As a toddler, I contracted a bad case of mumps –so bad that it left me profoundly deaf in my left ear, as my aural nerve was irreparably damaged. In effect, since then, I’ve lived my entire life listening to the world through one ear. That ear, my right ear, has developed to do the work of one and a half ears. Its sharpened abilities allowed me to live a near-normal life – outwardly, at least. I could hear most things in daily life and could enjoy music. More importantly for me, I could hear the sounds of the birds that I so loved.
There was a flipside to my deafness, though. If you spoke to me on my left side in a low tone without me realising, I wouldn’t hear you. Put me in a crowded environment and I would fall silent, actively avoiding talking for fear of not being able to follow conversations. Listening to music through headphones was problematic because I couldn’t appreciate stereo surround sound. I heard music in mono.
Meanwhile, out in the field and particularly in woods, although I could hear
‘One of the first signs of hearing loss is not being able to hear the birds’
the birds I often could not exactly pinpoint where they were calling from. After much coaxing, very recently I finally tried wearing hearing aids to see if they could help me. Previously, I had thought that I was beyond help. I just got on with it. I had held a stigma towards hearing aids. They were for old people, no?
Hearing loss and enjoying nature are two things that would not seem to go together well. We all take hearing and seeing nature almost for granted. After all, that’s what nature’s about. It’s to be heard and seen. But many of us suffer from hearing loss, and the stats speak for themselves. One in three of us have hearing loss – often without even realising. Eighteen million adults have hearing loss or tinnitus; indeed, it’s estimated that a further three million of us are unaware that we have a hearing issue. Although hearing loss is often associated with people over the age of 50, it also affects people who are much younger – it could be caused by many factors, from disease, as was the case for me, to constant exposure to loud noise.
And one of the first signs of hearing loss is not being able to hear the birds. When it starts, you might just think that there are fewer birds around. Then, when you get older, birds with calls at the higher end of the sound spectrum, such as Goldcrests, become inaudible.
Wearing hearing aids – or ear binoculars, as I now call them – has opened up a whole new and unexpected world for me. I now hear all the birds louder and clearer. Plus, I’ve become much better at pinpointing where sound is coming from. They’ve enhanced my life. They’ve made me realise that, if you have bad eyes, you’d rush to the optician, and that our ears are just as important. Therefore, my message is simple: get your ears checked. Live your life to the fullest and hear as much of nature as you can when you’re out. There is no stigma attached to looking after your ears. Love your ears!
David
Around the world
Jamie Wyver outlines some of our vital international conservation work, including projects in Kenya, Kazakhstan, Sumatra and beyond...
Words: Jamie Wyver. Photo: Jeeraphun Juntree
(Alamy Stock Photo)
It’s dawn in Harapan, Indonesia, and an ape-like whooping carries through the mist: a Helmeted Hornbill is claiming its patch of the rainforest. On the windy plains of Kazakhstan, a Saiga Antelope stirs in her sleep beside her mother. And scuttling along a Black Cabbage Tree branch in the cloud forest of St Helena, a Spiky Yellow Woodlouse seeks decaying plants to nibble on.
There’s a connection between us, these incredible animals and the places they call home – you. Your support helps us save rare wildlife across the planet. We work on the East Atlantic flyway (a migratory bird superhighway that passes through the UK) from Iceland to South Africa; in 10 of the UK Overseas territories (UKOTs); in the marine environment where seabirds are most at risk from bycatch; and in places where we can make a difference by setting a global example. We work in over 25 countries, and we always work with and through an in-country partner.
As the UK partner of BirdLife International, we’re part of a global family of conservationists driving change. Take our involvement in the Conference of Parties (COP) meetings; at Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) COP15 in 2022, 195 countries committed to a global plan for nature’s recovery. CBD COP16 will occur in Cali, Colombia, this autumn. The RSPB will be there with BirdLife to ensure those promises are kept. While countries prepare their plans to halt and reverse the loss of nature by 2030 at COP16, the RSPB is already helping to lead the way on the ground.
Kenya’s native trees
Fewer than 200 Taita Apalis remain on Earth, and they’re only found in the remnant cloud forest of Kenya’s Taita Hills, along with another rare endemic bird, the Taita Thrush. Here, almost all the native forest was felled and replaced with non-native tree species grown for timber. Thus, much of the unique wildlife that relied on the cloud forest was lost.
People also depend on the cloud forests for fresh water. Cloud forests are so-named for their persistent canopy-level clouds; moisture gathers on the leaves of the trees, which have evolved to condense mist. This moisture slowly makes its way to the ground
Previous: Helmeted Hornbills, which live in the Harapan Rainforest, Sumatra
1. Diana’s Ridge on St Helena, part of the cloud forest we’re working to preserve on the island
2. The RSPB and BirdLife International attended COP15 in 2022, where 195 countries committed to a global plan for nature’s recovery
3. A Taita Apalis from the Taita Hills in Kenya. The RSPB is planting native trees in this cloud forest
4. A Spiky Yellow Woodlouse, an endemic species on St Helena
5. Nightingale Island, where we’re working to protect Wilkins’ Buntings
‘Your support means we’re able to save rare wildlife across the planet’
and downhill, providing water to local communities. Without this slow release of water, droughts – which are increasingly common due to climate change –make life here extremely difficult.
We work with BirdLife Partner Nature Kenya and other organisations to replace non-native timber plantations with native trees and restore these forests to their former glory. To further increase tree cover across the Taita Hills, local farmers are supported to grow profitable crops like avocados and macadamias. With more suitable habitat available in the future, the Taita Apalis population will have a better chance of stabilising and increasing.
Working in the clouds
The UKOT of St Helena is a volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. Here, we’re leading a project to restore the UK’s only remaining natural cloud forest, which supports hundreds of endemic plants and animals, including the Spiky Yellow Woodlouse. But deforestation and invasive plants have decimated these special mountainous forests.
As in the Taita Hills, the cloud forests are vital for water security for human populations. The moisturecapturing process in the trees simply doesn’t work as effectively with the imported species. So, the forest must be replanted with its native trees. The RSPB works with several on-island partners to restore the cloud forest for wildlife and for water security.
Restoring the forest here is tough work. The cloud forest team must climb and work on steep terrain and be prepared for sudden weather changes. If it becomes too wet, they need to leave the peaks. But it will all be worth the effort to save St Helena’s unique wildlife.
A lunchbox full of wasps
Nightingale Island is part of the remote Tristan da Cunha, another UKOT island group in the centre of the South Atlantic. Here, Wilkins’ Buntings specialise on the fruits of the native Phylica tree, but accidentally introduced scale insects have been contributing to the loss of large swathes of Phylica forest. The Wilkins’ Buntings were already Critically Endangered and restricted to the island; it seemed like these birds could be facing imminent extinction.
Alongside the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department and scientific research organisations, we searched for a way to control the damaging scale insects without pesticides. Eventually, we found a parasitoid wasp that would only parasitise these insects. It took a few attempts to establish the wasps, though, with the pandemic complicating the process.
“The final attempt to successfully transport the wasps involved me being handed a lunchbox full of wasps at Platform 9¾ at London Kings Cross station,” says Project Manager David Kinchin-Smith. “These lived in my fridge under carefully controlled conditions until they could be flown to Cape Town, before travelling by boat to Tristan da Cunha.”
The Darwin Plus and John Ellerman Foundationfunded project ended this year, with Phylica trees showing signs of recovery thanks to the wasps and an
Photos: Ed Thorpe (rspb-images.com); Chris Howarth (Alamy Stock Photo); Colby Thomas, Pete Steward
You can make a difference Shop sustainably
lab and can be matched to a library of known species’ DNA. This works for most species, but not the Western Chimpanzees. Their DNA is too similar to ours, a reminder of our close link to our wild cousins.
The Ice Age antelope
Saiga Antelope play a critical role in the ecosystem of the Kazakh Steppe. Herds of these shaggy animals, thousands strong when migrating, roam across the vast grassy plains where they nibble the plants short and spread nutrients and seeds in their droppings. They are ecosystem engineers, helping to provide habitat for many species, and are an important food source for wolves and Steppe Eagles.
Our delicious Gola chocolate, along with the smooth Bird & Wild Coffee we sell, actually benefits tropical forest conservation. Sustainably grown coffee and cocoa beans work for local communities and wildlife. Gola Rainforest Chocolate is made from shade-grown cocoa beans from areas surrounding Sierra Leone’s Gola Rainforest National Park, where the RSPB has been working for over 30 years. It’s grown on sustainable, ethical and environmentally conscious farms by communities living around the Park. Bird & Wild coffee is also grown under rainforest canopies, ensuring there’s a haven for birds and other wildlife. Visit shopping.rspb.org.uk/food-drink International projects Our work
estimated 60-90 pairs of Wilkins’ Buntings remaining. The RSPB and the Tristan da Cunha Conservation Department will continue monitoring the Wilkins’ Bunting population in the future.
The Forest of Hope Hutan Harapan, or ‘Forest of Hope’, is one of the few remaining lowland forests on the island of Sumatra, home to Critically Endangered species such as the Sumatran Elephant and Helmeted Hornbill.
Harapan has many challenges – it’s isolated from other rainforests and at risk from encroachment, illegal logging and poaching. A company, PT REKI, has been set up by the RSPB, BirdLife International and the country BirdLife Partner, Burung Indonesia. PT REKI hires forest rangers, including local people and the indigenous Batin Sembilan people, as community wardens. They also help provide alternative livelihoods to steer people away from growing oil palm.
In an RSPB interview in February 2024, Yunani of the Batin Sembilan community said, “If PT REKI is gone, this forest will be taken by encroachers, turned into oil palm plantations – all finished.”
We work with the Franklinia Foundation to restore the forest with slow-growing Dipterocarps trees. Other trees are being grown to support agroforestry. We’re hoping this model, an ecosystem restoration concession, can continue to be replicated across Indonesia.
High-tech territory
In the Gola Rainforest National Park in Sierra Leone, we’re deploying new technology to help build a picture of the animals that live here. Audio recorder units capture the sounds of the forest, and the sound files can then be analysed using AI-driven software to identify individual species’ calls and songs. The recorders were purchased with support from Foundation Prince Albert II de Monaco.
We’re also using eDNA (environmental DNA) to discover which animals are present, supported by funding from Basel Zoo. This involves taking water samples from streams and rivers, where animals leave traces of their DNA. The samples are analysed in a
6. Mallo Samah on his cocoa farm just outside the Gola Rainforest
7. Aquatic Warbler, a species that breeds in Poland
8. A herd of Saiga Antelope on the Kazakh Steppe
9. A West African Chimpanzee, one of the few animals that can’t be detected using eDNA
Saiga have been grazing the grassland here since the Ice Age, but illegal poaching pushed them to the brink. To address this, the RSPB teamed up with the Government of Kazakhstan, the Association for the Conservation of Biodiversity of Kazakhstan (ACBK, the Kazakh BirdLife Partner) and others as part of the Altyn Dala (or ‘Golden Steppe’) Conservation Initiative. Thanks to anti-poaching schemes, improved habitat and awareness, the population has bounced back incredibly strongly. This year’s aerial survey revealed a total number of over 2.8 million Saiga in Kazakhstan – 95% of the global population.
Conservation during conflict
“We are truly grateful to the RSPB for our existence,” says Izabela Wilczyńska-Gadi, Director of OTOP, the Polish BirdLife Partner. The RSPB and BirdLife helped create the national organisation that is now OTOP. OTOP follows the RSPB’s models of fundraising, membership, buying and managing nature reserves, volunteering and staff recruitment.
Around 97% of the European Union population of Aquatic Warblers breed in Poland, and OTOP has just started a new EU LIFE project, which spans five countries, to improve the prospects of this bird.
OTOP is now able to aid the Ukrainian BirdLife Partner, USPB. When war broke out in 2022, many USPB staff fled to Poland. The RSPB allowed OTOP to use our financial support flexibly, which meant the charity was able to keep its former office building outside Warsaw where BirdLife Partner staff refugees from both Ukraine and Belarus could continue working. OTOP is also helping equip these staff with skills that will help them when they’re able to return home.
The RSPB and BirdLife International will soon be at CBD COP16. There, they can draw on our experiences of conservation work around the globe as well as in the UK, showing that, thanks toyou, the RSPB is a world leader in saving wildlife.
Scan for more
Listen in Gola soundscape
Listen to the sounds of the Gola rainforest at rspb.org.uk/ gola-soundscape or scan the QR code here.
Simon Barnes
Hope is a thing with feathers
Simon Barnes is a bird and wildlife writer and author.
It happens most years, always on a day when hope seems to be running out of the world like water draining from a bath. And with hope goes the sunlight, trickling away at an express pace in the middle of every afternoon. Winter, it seems, has taken away everything worth having.
It’s taken the light. It’s taken the leaves from the trees. It’s taken the flowers. It’s taken the butterflies. It’s taken the birdsong. It’s taken the Swifts and the Swallows and the martins. It’s taken the Cuckoos and the warblers. And all the joy.
And then I hear them. A sound somewhere between a yap and a yodel, and I can hear it a thousand times in the course of a single second. If I’m indoors, I run out. If I’m outside, I wrench my neck and stare upwards, but before I do so I let out a tremendous bellow, partly to tell my family and partly because, at moments like that, you simply have to cheer.
“PINKFEET!”
And there they are. The sky has become a Chinese scroll, written with the most exquisite pen-work. But these are living messages, shifting their shape even as
‘When they fly overhead they seem to be telling me, “Cheer up! Snap out of it! Winter is not so bad after all.” Like every other season, winter is the season of life’
I watch, and calling hard, urgent instructions to keep the formation tight and take a proper turn at the front. And on they go, out of sight, soon to parachute down to their roosting grounds on the marshes of the River Yare, where they will spend a restless night. These are Pink-footed Geese, and they come to visit us every year because – never mind what I think – they reckon our winters are lovely. Certainly they are kinder than those in Iceland or Greenland, where these geese spend the rest of the year. And when they fly overhead they seem to be telling me, “Cheer up! Snap out of it! Winter is not so bad after all.” Like every other season, winter is the season of life.
We live on an island, so naturally we have lots of coast. The warming Gulf Stream washes by. It doesn’t always feel like it, but our winters are mild. That’s why so many species that breed further north drop down to enjoy our balmy winters. As they do so, they bring to all bird-aware humans some annual joy, shot through with relief.
Redwings and Fieldfares arrive in gardens and parks. Bramblings come and forage. Sometimes you can find Waxwings; they have a notorious taste for supermarket car parks, where they feast on cotoneaster berries. Whooper Swans and Bewick’s Swans come in from the Arctic.
I once spent a winter in a house on a Suffolk beach. I wrote a book there, staring at the sea every time I was lost for a word. Almost every time I did so there was a flight of Brent Geese, small, neat and dark and low to the water. Getting any work done at all was a triumph of the will.
But it’s those Pinkfeet that get to me deepest of all. The best place to see them is the RSPB reserve at Snettisham on the Wash – at dawn and dusk they commute between feeding grounds and roosting grounds, and you often see them in tens of thousands. Birds always bring hope in the spring; in winter, they can rescue us from despair.
Port Isaac Cottage for 6 in bygone fishing hamlet on N coast. Washer-dryer, dishwasher, PC + wireless broadband, full CH. Gardens. Pets welcome. £350 (winter) – £1070 pw. Tel: 01208 880106
Creekside Cottages® Cornwall Picturesque waters-edge self catering cottages sleeping 2 - 8. Peaceful & comfortable ideal for birdwatchers. Just come & relax. Dogs welcome, available all year. www.creeksidecottages.co.uk 01326 375972
Stay 15mins walk from RSPB Marazion Marsh at our historic coaching inn with 11 super-comfy ensuite rooms & award-winning restaurant. Sea-view rooms available, just metres from the tidal island of St Michael’s Mount. 01736 710334. marazionhotel.co.uk
Nr Penzance 2 remote cottages on Penwith moors. Slps 2-4. Available all year. See for miles across fields & heathland down to the sea. Nr Marazion Marsh & Hayle Estuary. Tel: 01736 363677. www.dingdongcottages.co.uk
Cawsand Coastal sea views, AONB, wild garden, abundant woodland, bird life, relaxing space, 2 dbls. April–Oct Sat to Sat. 07900 994231. makerevents@hotmail.com for info.
Lake District, Ravenglass. Enchanting coastal cottage, sleeps 3, panoramic sea/estuary views. Near Drigg, Duddon, St Bees, Hawk & Owl Centre, Eskdale, Wasdale, Scafell. www.rosycot.co.uk 01946 723413
Next to Leighton Moss, Lancs/Cumbria border & Gait Barrow AONB. B&B overlooks Haweswater Lake. Challan Hall. 01524 701054
Otters, owls, dipper, kingfisher Separate annexe, slps 2, near river with 34 acres. On Devon/Cornwall border 01566 784196. www.coombemillshippen.co.uk
Exmoor, nr Dulverton. Very comfy cottage in tranquil secret setting, fine views, direct access ancient woodland nature reserve (SSSI), moor & river. Ideal location for birdwatching and walking. Sleeps 2-4. Tel/fax: 01225 464 232. www.mounseyend.co.uk
Glorious North Devon. Only 9 cosy caravans on peaceful farm. Wonderful walks in woods & meadows. Easy reach sea, moors & lovely days out. £125-£395pw. Discount couples. Nice pets welcome. 01769 540366 www.snapdown.co.uk
Holsworthy. Bird-friendly farm. Cabin, sleeps up to 6, Wi-Fi, wood burner. On Ruby Way national cycle route, nr. DWT reserves, Dartmoor and N. Cornwall coast. 01409 253570
NORTH DORSET AONB
Luxury Self Catering within Dark Skies Area www.relaxdorset.co.uk 07833 287813
Nr. Weymouth. Comfortable VE4+ cottage slps 4. Nr Jurassic coast & bird reserves. 01305 760120. www.stonebank-chickerell.co.uk
Slimbridge Tudor Arms. Real ale & good food pub with rooms. Close to WWT. enquiries@thetudorarms.co.uk Tel: 01453 890 306. www.thetudorarms.co.uk
Hereford. Farmhouse B&B on banks of River Wye. 01432 870223 for brochure or www.sinkgreenfarm.co.uk
Pied/spotted flycatchers, wood warbler, redstart all in residence around this unique holiday home on the edge of ancient oak woodlands on the Herefordshire/Shropshire border. Remote silence perfect for birdsong. Sleeps up to 5 people in a 2-bedroom, lovingly-crafted, oak timber-frame building with underfloor heating, wood-burning stove, camp fire outside. Dark skies ideal for stargazing. Outdoor bath faces panoramic views towards Ludlow. Close to many English Heritage/ National Trust sites. John: 07989 975295. www.cruckbarn.co.uk
Nr Dungeness/Rye, B&B, All Ensuite, RSPB 3 night or more 10% discount. 01797 362381. www.broadacrehotel.co.uk
Nr Dungeness/Rye, 5 C17th house, slps up to 10. 2 lge sitting rms w/wood-burners, grand dining rm, 2 kitchens w/mod-cons, 3 bthrms. Wi-Fi. 10% discount on 3 nights or more. Selinalevinson72uk@yahoo.com
DUNGENESS: comfortable cottage ideal for RSPB. 2 en suite double bedrooms. Openplan kitchen/dining, large lounge, wood fire, Wi-Fi. Sightings of rare birds. RSPB site next door. www.wiwurri-dungeness.co.uk or annpatriciamcferran@gmail.com
Period cottage, N Norfolk 1 mile coast. Sleeps 2+2. Quiet village, large garden, private parking, Wi-Fi. 07850 989531. www.churchcottagelangham.co.uk
Cromer. Coach House Studio. Delightful. Sleeps 2. Private courtyard. Large reception. Ideal for exploring N Norfolk, both east & west. Dogs welcome. www.coachhouse.studio
Norfolk coast. Brancaster. Comfortable house slps 10. Reasonable. 07768 333373
WEYBOURNE Two self-catering holiday lets (sleep 4/5 and 6/7) within private nature reserve. Beach 250m. Bird list 251 species! Tel: 01263 588131 www.denmarkhousenorfolk.co.uk
Snettisham. ‘Merchant House’. 4 bed house with garden & parking. Sleeps 2-6. Dog friendly. 1 mile from RSPB Snettisham and Ken Hill Wood. 01480 264266. www.holidayhomenorfolk.co.uk
One bed holiday annexe. North Norfolk coastal village. Spotless, quality. Quiet location near NT woods and amenities. 15 mins Cley. Video available. Rlownsworth@gmail.com
Holme next the Sea. Comfortable bungalow near beach, sleeps up to 6. Convenient for Wild Ken Hill, RSPB at Titchwell & Snettisham, and 2 long distance paths. Dogs accepted. davidtuthill28@hotmail.com
Between Blakeney & Cley. S-C annexe slps 2. Garden area, birdsong and parking. Also B&B suite. 01263 740 840
Sedgeford, Perfect for bird-watchers & walkers. Luxury B&B, 2 ensuite dble bedrooms in peaceful location near Titchwell and Wild Ken Hill. Tel 07799 414191. www.norfolkhaybarn.co.uk
Luxury Bed and Breakfast accommodation between Norfolk Broads & Coast. Access to private farmland with Cranes and Marsh Harriers. 01692 598243 www.dairybarns.co.uk
SHERINGHAM: Comfortable, convenient, flint fishermen’s cottage, close to beach, shops and amenities. WiFi. Sleeps 2-5. 01223 834476. sue.hunting@ntlworld.com
Wells-next-the-Sea ‘The Snug’, a cosy hideaway for 2. Also 1 double room B&B 01328 710594. www.thesnuginwells.co.uk
Hunstanton.Sleeps 2/3, 2 bed annexe. En-suite bathroom. Walking distance beach, fields, town. Ideally situated for Titchwell 5.8 miles, Wild Ken Hill 4.8 miles. Small patio and parking. Joannabostrom@hotmail.co.uk 07432 563331 www.seahenge.co.uk
Lindisfarne Reserve Cosy farm cottages 4. 1/2m shore or mainland slps 5. The Lookout, s/c studio slps 2. 01668 213533. www.fenham-le-moor.co.uk
Close to Wenlock Edge 4 self-catering coach house; ideal for 2; walks from the door; tranquility and views. Phone 01584 841649 or www.ferndaleflat.co.uk
Meare. Licensed 4 B&B close to the Moors & Wetland bird reserves. 01458 860449 www.mearemanor.co.uk
Characterful cottages in
Exmoor National Park, 1 & 2 bed, set above Exe Valley, close to moors, sea, Wimbleball & Clatworthy reservoirs. Short breaks. weatherhamfarm.co.uk
jo@weatherhamfarm.co.uk 01398 310178
Shapwick. Take advantage of our location, staying in one of our unique luxury cottages. Easy access to Avalon Marshes, RSPB’s Ham Wall & other reserves. 07513 438623. info@wheelwrightscottages.com
Claverham by Kenn Moor. Red Apple Lodge & 5CL
crvn & mtrhme site at Orchard Bank. 30 mins to Severn Estuary or Somerset Levels, home to outstanding sites. A little further to Slimbridge, Axminster & Wye Valley. Only 15 mins to Chew Valley and Blagdon Lakes. Secluded, comfy cabin for 2 w/log burner & 5 lrg hrd-stdng sites w/elec. 07492 544499. stevedowney@ymail.com
Chilton Polden Lovely 3 bed S/C cottage; sleeps 6 with log burner, private garden and parking. Close to Ham Wall, Greylake, Shapwick & Westhay. www.rosarycottage.co.uk 01293 431175
B&B in Westleton, close to RSPB Minsmere Barn Cottage is in a quiet position in this pretty village, the 3 bedroom well equipped cottage is also available for self catering holidays during most months of the year. Sue Brett, 01728 648700 or 07970 968342 or www.westletonbandb.co.uk
Poplar Hall Nr. Minsmere & Southwold. Delightful self catering cottages in 1.5 acre gardens of 16th cent. house. “Attracts birds and wildlife every day!” Tel: 01502 578549 poplarhallsouthwold.com 10% winter discount
Cosy cottage for 2 in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Near centre of town and river. Great walks and birding nearby. www.curlewcottagewoodbridgesuffolk.co.uk
Argyll House Bed & Breakfast, Westleton near Minsmere, open all year on the stunning Suffolk Coast. www.argyllhousebnb.co.uk tel 01728 649054 or 07794 873099
Close to Minsmere. Superior 4 Gold Award barn conversions. Both sleep 2. Perfect location for exploring Suffolk Heritage Coast and Heathlands. Weekly/short breaks. 01728 668459. holidaysatprioryfarm.co.uk
Snape. Rose Tree Cottage. Short walk to Snape Maltings; Minsmere 7m; 2 bedroom, sleeps 4, excellent facilities, private garden. www.snape-cottage.com 07957 212118
A short walk to Minsmere or enjoy wildlife from garden. Peaceful cosy cottages in Westleton & Eastbridge. Slp 4; log fires, lge gdns, dogs welcome. 07941 530559. www.suffolkcottages.info
SIBTON WHITE HORSE INN 01728 660337
Rural, peaceful setting 15 minutes from Minsmere. Relaxed, informal, friendly (with no younger children). 5 well appointed rooms with gold comforts. Suffolk dining pub of the year on 7 occasions. 2 AA Rosettes. Family owned and managed for 18 years. www.sibtonwhitehorseinn.co.uk
South of Chichester 01243 641661 honeysucklelodge.co.uk
detached 2 bedroom cottage, ensuite & wet room. Footpath to Medmerry RSPB Reserve. Full central heating.
nature. Stunning cottage in a wild Yorkshire Dales location surrounded by mountain views.
Yorkshire Wolds & coast, RSPB Bempton Stylish 4&5character cottages. Sleeps 2&4. Dog friendly. Short breaks. 01377 255639 www.churchfarmgarton.co.uk
Quiet cottage in Cairngorms near Loch Garten Sleeps 4. High up. Mountain views. Bird/wildlife. £290-£620. Tel Peter on 07747 417121. www.upperfinlarigcottages.co.uk
Isle of Mull. Central east coast, peaceful location, Whigmaleeries s/c for 2 plus B&B. www.garmonymull.co.uk Tel 01680 812316
Near Jedburgh. Modern guesthouse in peaceful setting beside Jed Water. Wide variety of birds on doorstep. Pets welcome by arrangement. Own riding stables. AA 01835 863279. www.ferniehirstmill.co.uk
Nethybridge. High standard s/c cottage. Open all year, red squirrels and crests in the garden. Tel: 01479 821803 or email salmonpools@googlemail.com
Cottage overlooking Loch Ruthven
The Grain Store is a luxury holiday cottage, fully renovated in 2021, set in an elevated position overlooking RSPB Loch Ruthven. Famous for the Slavonian grebe, the reserve is home to many other amazing wildlife including red kite, buzzard, osprey and red deer. To book visit Cottages.com ref: UK 32354
Wester Ross, wonderful views. Modernised traditional house on 5 acre croft. Divers, eagles etc seen nearby www.kongeorn.com
ORCADIAN
All inclusive tailor-made wildlife holidays for small groups.
Dave Slater, Professional Birding guide in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. Tours and trips to suit all pockets, from day trips to all-inclusive holidays. Comfortable tour vehicle for up to four people. Call 07955336955 for details. www.birdingecosse.co.uk
(Powys)
Isle of Mull Luxury 4 S/C just for adults. Abundance of birds & wildlife.
01688 317713 www.hideawaylodges.co.uk
Finsbay Cottages
self-catering timber lodges on the Isle of Harris overlooking Loch Finsbay. Ideal for holidays, fishing and birdwatching www.finsbaycottages.co.uk
BIRD COTTAGE sleeps 4. Fantastic birdlife, views & walking. Peace & quiet. Close to Kite centre & Elan Valley. Tel John 01483 200079. www.birdcottagewales.co.uk
Dyfi Valley nr RSPB Ynys-Hir (Springwatch) & Dyfi Osprey project. S/c cottage, sleeps 5. Tel: 01654 702952. www.glangwyneddcottage.co.uk
LUXURY COTTAGES Sleep 2–4 bordering Cors Caron NNR. Over 140 recorded bird species. www.cruglasfarmcottages.co.uk
Cottage for two with own nature reserve in quiet valley next to RSPB reserve, Elan Valley. A very special place for wildlife and birdwatchers. 01597 811169. www.wildlifecottagewales.co.uk
Y Felinheli/Menai Straits. Close to Anglesey & Snowdonia. Modern cottage, garden, sleeps 2. WTB 07910 095991. trefeddyg.cymru
Llyn Peninsula near Abersoch
Close to Wales Coast path. Static caravan off beaten track. Peaceful location, birds, walking, golf. Beach 5 mins. Dogs welcome. 07811 186969. margery.griffin@gmail.com
Abereiddy, Pembrokeshire. Beach, cliffs, coastpath 1/2 m. Traditional stone cottages on farm in peregrine territory, CH, one with log stove, 2 or 4 bedrooms, might suit 3-generation parties. Pets welcome. Brochure 01348 831482
Argyll & Bute
Dumfries & Galloway Borders
Highland – Mainland
Highland – Islands
Orkney
West Wales (continued)
Troedyrhiw Holiday Cottages
www.troedyrhiw.com 01239 811564
Cleddau Estuary. Isolated cott on shore, slps 4-8, with boat. brickyard-cottage.co or 01638 742344
Cardigan Bay. Spacious 1 bed in 4 acre Forest Garden nr Teifi Marshes. Sleeps 2/4. Dogs & parking. Fab birdlife. 07971 359843. lynnedevey9@gmail.com
Off grid, isolated, large converted barn, mid Wales. Sleeps 4. Ynys-Hir, & Dyfi Osprey nearby. Wild walking & swimming. No children/smokers/pets www.aimwild.co.uk Tel 07761985732
ROSEMOOR COUNTRY COTTAGES
PEMBROKESHIRE COAST NATIONAL PARK
Ourwarm and comfortable red sandstone cottages provide a spacious home from home,including biomass fuelled central heating, in lovely countryside two miles from the sea at Little Haven, with Skomer nearby. On your doorstep you’ll find the Rosemoor Nature Reserve,withits 5 acre lake,home to otter,wildfowland kingfisher.Peregrine Falcons breed withinview ofourgardens. JohnM.and Jacqui Janssen, Rosemoor, Walwyn’s Castle, Haverfordwest Tel:01437 781326 rosemoor@walwynscastle.com www.rosemoor.com (withlots ofphotographs)
West Wales (continued)
Holiday cottages in Llanon between St Davids & Fishguard Pembs. Slps 2 or 4. Quiet location, lovely coastal walks. Close to RSPB Ramsey Island, Skomer. Details & prices: srsb.shaldonhouse@gmail.com
Spain
Fabulous Apartment Southern Spain
Views to Gib & Morocco. bushchat.co.uk for details & bird list. 07802 924940
CLUBS & GROUPS
Gay Birders Club. LGBT group. 60+ events annually, UK & abroad. www.gbc-online.org.uk
PUBLICATIONS
50 YEARS OF THE WOODLAND TRUST
Unearthing the roots of Britain’s woodland conservation movement. FROM LITTLE ACORNS…
“…tells the powerful tale of how it all began.” www.fromlittleacornsbook.co.uk
WILDLIFE HOLIDAYS
Based Nr Southwold, wildlife watching days out in Suffolk/Norfolk Collection from local accommodation, let us do the driving, while you watch. Choice of days out, individualised experience. Private hide hire in SSSI woodland, fantastic photo opportunities. Please see our website for details and booking. www.wildlifewingsandwheels.uk
For free brochure and friendly impartial advice
WILDLIFE HOLIDAYS
FIELD CENTRE
• The internationally-acclaimed, award-winning Field Centre for the Highlands of Scotland
• All inclusive wildlife holidays with no single supplement
• Brilliant bird watching
• Comfortable accommodation and exceptional food
• Pine marten, red squirrel, beaver and wildcat hides, nature trails and a loch
From charming country cottages to spectacular coastal retreats, we have something for everyone in our collection of beautiful, self-catering holiday homes.
Our expert local teams are always on hand to help plan your perfect getaway – so why not escape to one of our properties today?
Takeouts
Three things to take away from this issue – and do
1 Support birds of prey
Despite clear laws to protect them, birds of prey are being persecuted across the UK with a significant proportion of these crimes happening on or near land managed for gamebird shooting. The RSPB Investigations team play a crucial role in tackling these crimes and produce an annual report of bird of prey persecution, shining a light on the issue and how we can tackle it.
The next Birdcrime report will be published this autumn. To read this and previous Birdcrime reports follow the link: rspb.org.uk/birdcrime
3 Celebrate nature in art
Chris Packham explores the power and beauty of art, and how it can inspire us to protect the precious wildlife around us (p31).
Renowned sculptor Geoffrey Dashwood creates stunning birds in bronze and he is generously donating his Avocet sculpture for a sealed-bid auction. Money raised will fund the RSPB’s important conservation projects. You can bid in the auction to win the sculpture and have a piece of special art in your own home. Visit rspb.org.uk/avocet-auction to enter for your chance to win. The auction closing date is Friday 15 November
2 Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature
The RSPB’s new Protect our Birds, Defend our Nature campaign aims to raise funds for our work safeguarding the UK’s birds that are under threat. Our birds and the habitats they rely on face great challenges, but together we can save them. Please donate, and encourage friends and family to support us –find out more at: rspb.org.uk/ protect-and-defend
Photos: Peter Orr Photography (Getty Images); Jack Perks (rspb-images.com)
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