The safety tens of thousands of swans and geese in the UK could be improved by new research into collisions with power lines, which started this week with the installation of more than 150 special bird diverters in Lancashire.

Flying collisions are the most commonly recorded cause of death for swans, whose size means they have poor manoeuvrability in flight. Bird diverters are special attachments to the lines that help make them stand out to birds in flight. For the first time, a partnership between Electricity North West, Lancaster University and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) is studying the efficiency of different types of diverter, alongside agricultural, weather and landscape factors that affect birds' flights. The study area around WWT Martin Mere in Lancashire is the winter home of 30,000 Pink-footed Geese and 2,500 Whooper Swans and has been identified as a sensitive area for collisions.
Dr Eileen Rees, Head of UK Waterbird Conservation for WWT, said: "Tens of thousands of migratory geese and swans make the UK's wetlands their winter homes. Collisions with power lines are a major cause of death for them, so WWT is delighted to be working with Electricity North West to make Lancashire, and the UK as a whole, a safer place for them. Through this innovative partnership we aim to gather evidence for solutions that work in our modern landscape. As well as reducing the risk to swans and geese, the results of the study should help electricity suppliers throughout the UK provide their service with fewer unnecessary interruptions."

Steve Cox, future network manager for Electricity North West, added: "We hope that the diverters and our subsequent research will go on to help birds and electricity customers across the UK. By working closely with WWT Martin Mere we discovered this was a sensitive section of the network as it was located in a known flight path and we are delighted to be able to help protect these wonderful birds. By limiting the chances of any collisions, the special diverters will also reduce any possible impact on customer power supplies."

Dr Ian Hartley, a Senior Lecturer at the Lancaster Environment Centre at Lancaster University and a behavioural ecology expert, commented: "This is a great opportunity and we are very pleased to be working with new partners on a project of such high calibre which is going to have a large impact on the area around where the geese and swans winter. One of our Master's students will work on the project for a year and our input will be to add knowledge on the analysis and geographic information systems aspects."

Throughout this winter, the study will closely observe the flight behaviour of geese and swans in and around WWT Martin Mere Wetland Centre. It will determine the importance of features such as tree lines, the choice of crops and the wind direction on the birds' choice of flight line and height.

For more information about Electricity North West please visit www.enwl.co.uk, and for further information about WWT see www.wwt.org.uk.

The RSPB is issuing its first objections to fracking proposals over concerns that the controversial drilling technique will harm wildlife and the climate.
The charity has lodged a letter of objection with Lancashire County Council to a proposal by Cuadrilla at Singleton near Blackpool (Lancashire). The drilling site is close to an internationally important protected area for Pink-footed Geese and Whooper Swans, and could cause disturbance to the birds. The RSPB is also officially objecting to the contentious plans to explore for oil and gas at Balcombe (Sussex) on the grounds that no Environmental Impact Assessment has been carried out, and because increasing oil and gas use will scupper our chances of meeting climate targets.

 Harry Huyton, RSPB head of climate and energy policy, said: "Balcombe has hit
the headlines as the battleground in the debate over fracking. The public there
are rightly concerned about the impact this new technology will have on their
countryside. These are not just nimbys worried about house prices — there is a
very real public disquiet about fracking. We have looked closely at the rules in
place to police drilling for shale gas and oil, and they are simply not robust
enough to ensure that our water, our landscapes and our wildlife are safe."

 "Cuadrilla boss and former energy secretary Lord Howell claims that when he
made his much-publicised howler about fracking the 'desolate northeast', he
actually meant the northwest. Singleton in Lancashire is right in the heart of
the northwest and is on the doorstep of an area which is home to thousands of
geese and swans who will arrive from as far away as Siberia to roost and feed
next month and stay for the winter. There may not be as many local residents as
in Sussex, but this area is protected by European law because it is so valuable
for wildlife and Cuadrilla has done nothing to investigate what damage their
activities could do to it."

The RSPB has called on Lancashire County Council to ensure Cuadrilla has
carried out a full Environmental Impact Assessment before it goes ahead with any
work. The charity has also joined with other wildlife and environment groups to
call on the Government to rethink its shale gas policies.

 Mr Huyton added: "Government figures show that in the north of England there
is potential for 5,000 sites and a total of up to 100,000 wells. The idea that
these will not have an impact on the countryside is very difficult to believe.
Fracking is technology largely untested in the UK and we really have no idea
what the impact will be on our wildlife. We do know, however, that concentrating
our resources on extracting fossil fuel from the ground instead of investing in
renewable energy threatens to undermine our commitment to avoiding dangerous
levels of climate change."

Today i went to londons wetland centre and saw sooooooooo many birds!!!!! lots were very exotic - i hadnt heard of any of the ones in that section but i did see some normal birds but google the ones you dont know cuz they r awesome!!!!!! take a look:

bufflehead
hooded merganser 
smew
moorhen
coot
coscoroba duck (soz if thats spelt wrong!)
muscovy duck
black bellied whistling duck
fulvous whistling duck
south american comb duck
cape teal
brent goose
eider
pintail
tuffted duck 
black swan
radjah shelduck
plumed whistling duck
heron
swallow
dunnock
cormorant 
mute swan
bewick swan
barnical goose
white fronted goose
red breasted goose



quite a few huh?
oh and otters<3


as if Mondays birdwatching wasnt enough, i went back to the wetland centre again to see more. the following are either birds i didnt see on Monday but did today, OR, they are birds i did see on Monday but forgot to write down:

coot
jackdaw
tufted duck+chicks
woodpigion
goldeneye
red crested pochard
little greebe
white headed ducks
ferruginous duck
grey heron
common tern
lapwing
common pochard
black headed gull
great crested greebe 
ringed teal
coscoroba swan
collard dove
layslan duck
hawaiian goose
reed warbler!
sedge warbler!
mallard 
swallow
(we werent sure but:) green sandpiper?
magpie 


as you can see, the wetland centre never fails to please and i hope to be going again soon.

P.S: There was another bird we saw that we couldnt identify. It was duck sized - infact it was a duck - and it was entirely brown apart from a white chest. i couldnt see its beak but does anyone have any ideas as to what it might be? 

thanks.
spoonbill

A critically endangered duck is being rescued from extinction by British and Malagasy conservationists with the help of a pair of socks. The Madagascar Pochard was thought to be extinct until 2006, when a pocket of just 22 survivors was discovered at a single remote lake in northern Madagascar. The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust and the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust have taken birds into captivity, where they have twice bred successfully, so that the world total now numbers around 80 ducks.

The pair of socks is serving as a best friend to this particular duckling, who hatched on its own without siblings. WWT's Head of Species Recovery Peter Cranswick explains, "Normally, ducklings come in broods. As first-time breeders, however, hatching success can initially be low, and this little fellow has no family around him. In some cases, being raised alone can lead to behavioural problems in later life. So a pair of socks gets him used to cuddling up to something his own size for companionship while he's still very small. This will help him to bond and interact normally with other ducks, once he's old enough to be introduced to birds from other broods. Eventually, birds from the captive breeding programme will be released into the wild to establish a new population. Working with local communities to solve the issues which were driving this duck to extinction is essential to give this unique bird a real chance of survival."

Ducks from different broods are being paired up carefully to maintain genetic diversity, given the small number of birds that make up the entire population.

Durrell Conservation Biologist Glyn Young said, "This latest batch of healthy ducklings provides us with another step forward in saving the pochard from extinction. Genetic management allows us to make the best use of a limited number of wild birds and to ensure the maximum health of the vital conservation population necessary for the survival of this duck."


WWT
Tuesday 28th May 2013

Migratory waterbirds have shifted their wintering areas northeastwards due to climate change in Europe, according to a group of scientists including Richard Hearn of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT). Their new study, published in Global Change Biology, found a strong link between changes in the numbers of Goldeneye, Tufted Duck and Goosander wintering across northern Europe and changes in temperature in early winter.

In Finland and Sweden, the midwinter numbers of these three species are more than 130,000 individuals higher than three decades ago. Correspondingly, on the southern edge of the distribution in France, Ireland and Switzerland, numbers have dropped by nearly 120,000 individuals. In several southern countries wintering numbers have halved. Richard Hearn, WWT's Head of Species Monitoring and a contributor to the study, said: "Our world is changing rapidly and conservation tools need to be flexible so they can respond to that challenge. This means more monitoring, to keep track of bird populations that are, in some cases, changing exponentially. It also means maintaining a coherent network of protected areas throughout Europe, and altering their management in response to the changing mix of wildlife that uses them. Studies like this are critical to making governments aware of their shifting responsibilities and helping them plan for the future."

Aleksi Lehikoinen, Curator at the Finnish Museum of Natural History and lead author of the study, said: "In Finland, the change has been strongest in Tufted Ducks and Goldeneyes, whose numbers have increased tenfold. Waterbird numbers are connected with the early winter temperature, which in south Finland increased by about 3.8°C between 1980 and 2010."

This may in turn have implications for their conservation, because birds are making less use of the protected areas that were designated to protect them. The shifts in the birds' ranges may also affect the impact of hunting, as possibilities increase in the north and decrease them in the south, altering potential bag sizes. The research is based on counts from the International Waterbird Census and the results have been published in Global Change Biology.