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Key bird species along rivers shows worrying decline

Neil Blood

Neil Blood

Senior Member
This is all a bit depressing - for working link see post #3

Of particular concern to river anglers, is the extract: 'More unexpected perhaps, is that Grey Wagtail has moved from the Amber list to the Red list. Alongside declines in Common Sandpiper and Dipper, this raises wider concerns about species associated with upland streams and rivers'.

Personally and regarding the Dipper and Grey Wagtail declines, I'd be inclined to think it was more related to available food and water quality, rather than predation or other factors?
 
Neil

Link you gave is not correct and not working I'm afraid. I looked to see what might be the page you linked to but there are lots and couldn't be sure which was the one.

One of these I'd reckon?

https://www.bto.org/search/node/birds%202016
 
Interesting, cheers.
It's rare I see one of my favourite lapwings these days, used to see/hear them often.
 
Not only Birds..
UK BUTTERFLIES WORST HIT IN 2016 WITH 70% OF SPECIES IN DECLINE, STUDY FINDS.
I think it is common sense that if everyone is out destroying their critical and essential habitat, then you will destroy the species and see the decline before your eyes. When you chop down the trees and massacre the vegetation, flower and natural water meadows and fields etc, they not only destroy the adults, they also destroy the laid eggs and young (caterpillars etc), to which a decline will be seen in the next year class and onwards...which could then knock on through the food chain re birds etc.

BIRDS, BUTTERFLIES AND INSECTS -
Again and again…Not that all the trees have been chopped down by the Environment Agency and Environment Agency Contractors, Councils, River and Navigation Trusts, Landowners and Farmers, and the rivers polluted by Water and Sewage Companies and Riverbank trees, reeds, weed growth and vegetation destroyed by the Environment Agency, and Farmers using intensive farming methods and pesticides on the land, and so on.
Click on the Link to see the full story.
https://www.theguardian.com/environ...016-with-70-of-species-in-decline-study-finds
 
It's all so plain to see, there's been a huge, massive decline in winged insects. What obviously makes it so apparent to me is that, say 20 years ago, I would go on a journey in my car, perhaps a hundred miles or so, in the summer. Now, before I made my return journey, I would have to get some water and a nylon scourer, just to get all of the insect bodies off of my windscreen. Now I can travel a round 230 mile trip, without a thought of having to clear my screen of insect bodies.
This in turn has had an impact on the numbers of swifts, swallows and martins frequenting our shores. There just ain't enough winged insects to support the populations of years gone by. My holiday to Montenegro last spring showed me that the populations of these birds are as strong as they always have been. There were thousands of these birds, where ever I travelled in that country.
 
Disturbing stuff .Of late , the bird I have noticed by it's absence is the Yellowhammer . Other species seem to flourished , in the 1970's a Kingfisher was a very rare sight , now I see one or two virtually every time I am on the bank , long tailed tits are another bird that are a common sight now but rare in the fairly recent past .Rhys is right about the lapwings , there used to be hundreds following the plough, now I hardly ever see them in numbers .
 
Chris Guy said:
It's all so plain to see, there's been a huge, massive decline in winged insects. What obviously makes it so apparent to me is that, say 20 years ago, I would go on a journey in my car, perhaps a hundred miles or so, in the summer. Now, before I made my return journey, I would have to get some water and a nylon scourer, just to get all of the insect bodies off of my windscreen. Now I can travel a round 230 mile trip, without a thought of having to clear my screen of insect bodies.
This in turn has had an impact on the numbers of swifts, swallows and martins frequenting our shores. There just ain't enough winged insects to support the populations of years gone by. My holiday to Montenegro last spring showed me that the populations of these birds are as strong as they always have been. There were thousands of these birds, where ever I travelled in that country.
Click to expand...

Spot on, I always remember going on holiday as a kid and my dads car would be plastered in all manner of insects, but no more :(

Problem on the whole is that no one gives a #%$ about the state of the UK wildlife; the vast majority are more interested in when iPhone 8 is out or does Kim Kardashian's trumper look any bigger this week :mad::mad:
 
It's not all doom and gloom..... have been out on the Avon today attempting to build walkways, but was forever being distracted by a Marsh Harrier swooping over the reed beds on the opposite bank.
https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin/forum/members/picture.php?albumid=490&pictureid=5888
Plenty of Lapwings in the valley, ... my favourite place is sitting with a pint in the garden of the New Queens pub overlooking the water meadows near the Avon Causeway watching them this time of year.
 
Dave Taylor said:
It's not all doom and gloom..... have been out on the Avon today attempting to build walkways, but was forever being distracted by a Marsh Harrier swooping over the reed beds on the opposite bank.
https://barbel.co.uk/site/vbulletin/forum/members/picture.php?albumid=490&pictureid=5888
Plenty of Lapwings in the valley, ... my favourite place is sitting with a pint in the garden of the New Queens pub overlooking the water meadows near the Avon Causeway watching them this time of year.
Click to expand...

Your spoilt in that valley for waders Dave, several seasons back I had a couple of days at Bisterne in the last week of the season - there were displaying lapwings everywhere. Great to watch - just as well my rod tip wasn't doing much.
 
You're right Joe,... it's a twitchers paradise,... I do indeed feel fortunate.
I missed many a bite last season through peering through binoculars at the multitude of birdlife that enjoys the Avon valley
Some of the highlights last August were watching a Crane giving me a fly past at Sopley and also a pair of Hobbies catching dragon flies oblivious to my presence in May.
 
I can't say that I've noticed a decline in dippers or wagtails on my two local rivers. However, through an acquaintance, I'm aware that most of the main Yorkshire Dales rivers are rather lacking in invertebrate life. That's not good news for the fish or birds that depend on them.
 
As on the Hampshire Avon, you would expect a recovery of birds, fish, insects and wildlife populations after 50+ years of continuous river and land habitat destruction by the EA/NRA, farmers etc. which led to the declines. Today, and for the past 6 years, the Environment Agency and Natural England have become a bit more sympathetic in this protected SSSI/SAC area than they were in the past. However, they can change with the wind with orders from above, so be on the lookout in the coming months. Sometimes, they come back. It seems that the EA and NE etc. are 'not' so sympathetic in other regions around the country and continue with the habitat destruction as a daily job. Just don't drop your guard...
 
It's bad news but it's one of them isn't it. Certain creatures go and get replaced by new creatures. Been happening since the beginning of time but as others have said while man keeps destroying their habitats it doesn't help them. One of the things I like most about fishing the rivers is the beauty of the surroundings while your sat there blanking. Always nice seeing animals you don't see in your towns and cities
 
The reasons for the mass decline in farmland birds and waders are well known, loss of habitat and available sources of food (seeds and insects) due to changes in farming practices which have progressively intensified since the WW2. It's not just arable farmland - the intensification of pastoral areas has been no less damaging. In fact these days your likely to find more biodiversity in a crop of winter wheat than a field of intensive rye-grass which is often likened to 'green concrete'.

Thanks to the some excellent science and research by the likes of the RSPB and GWCT, and the efforts of some farmers, we also know how easy it is is to reverse many of these declines and that doing so doesn't have to result in less food production or impact upon profitability. In fact there is some evidence that suggests that 'ecological-intensification' of certain parts of the farm can actually improve overall farm yields, win-win so to speak.

Exemplar and well known examples of this include the GWCT's Allerton Project and the RSPB's Hope Farm, although there are also many farmers across the country also stepping up and doing their bit, but sadly not enough are doing so.

Quite a bit of progress was made around 10-15 years ago, but the current Government only pays lip service to conservation and the current agri-environment scheme launched in 2015, known as 'Countryside Stewardship' is bewilderingly bureaucratic and generally considered unfit for purpose. Given that the current Government has consistently opposed any meaningful changes designed to 'green' the EU CAP, it is hard to see things improving anytime soon, particularly in light of Brexit.

Still on the plus side, the UK leaving the EU will allow them to 'green' the CAP in a meaningful way without the UK Government putting the kibosh on anything that threatens the narrow interests of big ag-chem companies and big agri-business. Brexit really was a dream come true for the Europe's environmentalists and smaller family farms. But you have to be deeply altruistic to take any satisfaction from that..

Re decline in butterfly's - habitat loss, but also these increasingly wet and muggy summers really don't help. Two weeks of wet summer weather can be catastrophic for many species.

https://www.gwct.org.uk/allerton/

https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/conservation/conservation-and-sustainability/farming/hopefarm/
 
I suppose it works the other way as well...in droughts...

"Sadly it’s not the cold and wet that’s the biggest threat to our butterflies. “A summer drought is probably the worst of all weather conditions for butterflies,” says Fox. That is because it kills the plants that caterpillars need to eat and impacting the next generation.
An example is the famous butterfly summer of 1976. Those who are old enough will remember the extreme heatwave and severe drought of that year – it caused the populations of many species to crash the following year, some of which have never recovered.
Sadly it’s not the cold and wet that’s the biggest threat to our butterflies. “A summer drought is probably the worst of all weather conditions for butterflies,” says Fox. That is because it kills the plants that caterpillars need to eat and impacting the next generation.
An example is the famous butterfly summer of 1976. Those who are old enough will remember the extreme heatwave and severe drought of that year – it caused the populations of many species to crash the following year, some of which have never recovered."
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160713-how-butterflies-and-birds-cope-with-unpredictable-weather
 
Good point Ray, I hadn't considered that. 2006 was the last droughty summer wasn't it? But I gather that was nothing compared to 76 - a lot of folks still talk about it. I was just a twinkle in my fathers eye them!
 
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