Words & Pictures

Bigby update

Thanks to the influx of summer migrants, my Bigby list has grown by leaps and bounds over the past ten days: it now stands at 107 species.

My list was also boosted by recent visits to two cracking nature reserves: Leighton Moss and Potteric Carr.

Leighton Moss must be the easiest RSPB reserve to reach by public transport. The entrance is just a short walk from Silverdale railway station and there's now a bus (dubbed the Bittern Bus, no less) which links the reserve with nearby villages.

Although it's closer to home and in an urban setting, Potteric Carr is a little trickier to access by public transport. The no. 72 bus from Doncaster Interchange stops nearby (outside B&Q on Woodfield Way) but you have to negotiate your way across a couple of busy roads to reach the reserve. The no. 75 bus to the Lakeside Shopping Centre is more frequent than the no. 72. From Lakeside, it's a less than pleasant walk of about 500m along White Rose Way to Potteric Carr - it's shame the council didn't include pedestrian access when they built this road!

Meet the new urban predator

The latest newsletter of the Sorby Natural History Society includes a rather disturbing article about a mink that recently raided a local garden pond. In a very short space of time, it killed most of the owner's prize fish, plus a number of hibernating frogs.

What makes this story particularly alarming is the location of the garden - less than a mile from the centre of Sheffield. Although mink have been established in the British countryside for about 50 years, it is unusual to hear of them in urban settings. They have been spotted along several of Sheffield's rivers, including the Don, but I'm not aware of any other garden sightings.

According to the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust:

"American mink were originally introduced for fur farming in the 1920s, with a peak of around 700 mink farms in the UK in the 1960s. Increasingly stringent legislation gradually saw the end of the mink farming business, but the damage had already been done. Mink were first confirmed breeding in the wild in 1957, with a combination of escapes and deliberate releases during the 1960s and 70s increasing their numbers such that mink have now spread throughout the country. Estimates suggest that the mink population in Britain may now number as many as 110,000 animals."

As its population expands, it seems likely that the opportunist mink will exploit new habitats and food sources... so keep an eye on your garden pond!

Bigby List

My Bigby list can now be viewed here.

I will try and liven it up with some photos as the year progresses.

Bigby

I've just signed up to take part in The Big Green Big Year birding challenge:

The Big Green Big Year is a BGBY is a Bigby

This is a low-key, friendly bit of birding rivalry that is not especially original but which seems appropriate in these days of carbon emissions and climate change. If you have ever felt even a tiny bit guilty about driving or flying to see a good bird (or several) why not join us in a year of carbon-neutral birding?

There are no prizes other than the glory - but we can have fun and keep fit - and there are almost no rules.

The Big Green Big Year has the acronym BGBY and is therefore pronounced Bigby* ... and it is simply a Big Year in which you only count those species seen within walking or cycling distance of your home. As simple as that, no dashing off to the far corners of the planet burning fossil fuels as you go.

There are two principal categories:

The Walking Bigby - During which you list all species seen in 2008 which have been reached on foot from home. If you were traveling by any other means when seen then the bird won’t count for your Bigby.

The Self-Propelled Bigby - This will allow you to extend your range a bit and include birds reached by either walking, on bicycle or by canoe. Walking Bigby birds can be included.

... and we have added a late entrant category for those who would like to try it:

The Public Transport Bigby - This one has been added by public request ... so long as you travel to your walking/cycling/canoeing site by bus or by rail (but absolutely not by taxi, friend's car or plane) and return in a similar fashion then you are doing a Public Transport Bigby. Walking Bigby and Self-propelled Bigby birds can be included.

As I don't own/use a car, I have registered for The Public Transport Bigby. I will keep you informed of my progress!

Transatlantic Stinkers

Pepé Le Pew may have hailed from La Belle France, but the striped skunk is definitely a North American species. It therefore came as a bit of a surprise to read in our local paper that one had been found in Chapeltown, about 10km north of central Sheffield. Full story here.

Apparently this is the third skunk to have been found in the UK this year. Could this be the beginning of an invasion? Is the skunk about to join those highly successful American colonists, the grey squirrel and the mink? If so, what might be the ecological consequences?

Time will tell... but I think the other two species have a bit of a head start.

I was puzzled as to how these little stinkers might have found their way across the Atlantic. A quick web search revealed that, strange as it may seem, some people believe they make perfect pets.

Let's hope they don't become the latest chav accessory, in which case Blighty could soon be overrun!

What a waste

According to WRAP, 33% of all the food bought in the UK is thrown away untouched.

Whilst this is a shameful statistic, it is not entirely clear how much more food is thrown away unsold by supermarkets and other retailers.

This seems to be another case of the government blaming consumers, whilst not wanting to rock the economic boat.

Meanwhile, the WI hopes to revive the noble art of cooking with leftovers.

Fentastic!

In March 2006 I attended a presentation about The Great Fen Project, a habitat restoration scheme which aims to create a 3,700 hectare wetland between Huntingdon and Peterborough. I was particularly impressed by the ambitious scale of the project, which is unprecedented in lowland England.

Yesterday the Heritage Lottery Fund announced that is awarding £8.9million to The Great Fen Project. This is the largest grant it has ever given to a natural heritage project in England.

Stephen Fry, President of the Great Fen Campaign, said:

“I am so thrilled at this news. The Heritage Lottery Fund has recognised the enormous value of the Great Fen Project and its unique, pioneering approach to this precious, delicate and beautiful landscape.”

De-cluttering the Countryside

Yesterday I posted this picture of the Rivelin Valley on Flickr:

Ms Moll commented that this would be a much more attractive scene without the overhead wires and various other items of visual clutter. Bobasonic volunteered to have a go at de-cluttering the picture in Photoshop and here is the result:

Pretty impressive - especially as it only took him 30 minutes! Here's a list of the changes he made:

• telegraph poles and shadows removed
• overhead cables removed
• TV aerial removed
• Sky TV dish removed
• grit bin removed
• plastic garden chairs + table removed
• lamp posts removed
• skip removed
• fly tipping removed
• washing dryer removed
• pub's external cables removed
• dumpster removed
• Christmas lights removed
• floodlights removed
• blue waterbut removed
• cars removed
• new pub front made from road/wall parts!
• new pub 2nd door made from scratch from pub parts!
• pub signs on pole by car park remade due to cable going in front of it.
• horse fed some polo mints!

The CPRE is backing the Streetscape and Highways Design Bill as part of an ongoing campaign to de-clutter the countryside.

"We are campaigning to urge local highway authorities to avoid urbanising the countryside through excessive use of road signs, markings and poorly designed street furniture."

Whilst some people say that rural economics should take precedence over aesthetics, I believe that the CPRE's campaign is valid and worthwhile. According to DEFRA:

"Countryside recreation and tourism is now a larger industry than agriculture in terms of numbers employed and turnover."

It can therefore be argued that the appearance of the countryside is critically important to the rural economy.

The Myth of the Open Road

An empty road snaking through a wild, rugged landscape is a frequently used image in car adverts.

Sutherland has many miles of spectacular roads, which I'm sure have featured in many car ads. The section of the A894 between Skiag Bridge and Unapool seemed to be particularly familiar.

Of course, for the vast majority of drivers, the open road is a complete fantasy. They are fated to spend their time crawling along congested city streets and featureless motorways.

In search of tranquillity

For the second week of our holiday we rented a cottage by Loch Culag, about a mile south of Lochinver on a quiet back road. It was an exceptionally tranquil spot. Much of the time, all you could hear were natural sounds: birdsong, the wind in the trees, the gentle patter of rain... and the bleating of lambs (which, I have to admit, started to get on my nerves after a while!).

I find that the older I get, the more I value tranquillity. The trouble is that it's a dwindling resource in our stress-packed world.

Much as I love walking in the Peak District National Park, it can be difficult to get away from the sound of people and traffic. Compared to Sutherland, it is as crowded as a shopping mall! We were amazed at how few other walkers we met, even on the most popular routes. Mountain bikers were conspicuously absent too.

Apart from a couple ear-splitting sorties by low-flying military jets, we hardly noticed any aircraft over Sutherland. In contrast, the skies over the Peak District are some of the most congested in Europe.

Now that the National Park is ringed by busy international airports (Manchester, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford, Robin Hood, etc), it is continuously criss-crossed by airliners. A few years ago I heard that a local landscape photographer had given up working in the Peak District because of the ever-present contrails.

There's also a lot of low-level air traffic over the Peak District, which can be very intrusive. It's a particular problem in the Upper Derwent Valley where there's often a succession of helicopters and light aircraft following the route of the Dambusters training runs.

In the first week of our holiday we spent time at another blissfully tranquil spot: Lochan Mor on the Rothiemurchus estate, near Aviemore. It's one of my favourite locations on Speyside and holds very special memories.

However, the tranquillity of Rothiemurchus will be shattered later this month when the estate plays host to The Outsider festival. According to the publicity spiel:

"The Outsider is all about celebrating the good things we enjoy from the land and showing respect for our environment. So naturally we’re encouraging people to be as green and environmentally aware as possible."

Take it from me, there is nothing environmentally aware about thousands of people congregating in a field to listen to rock music.