Mainly Buzzards With A Few Questions

I can’t decide which is harder at the moment, finding birds to ring or finding birds to watch, as both activities are decidedly difficult. Following a slow morning’s ringing on Wednesday, this morning I decided to have a walk out Pilling Way in the hope of seeing a few birds, so stocked up with a new supply of meal worms hoping even a Wheatear or two might appear. 

But no Wheatears again when there should be a more than a few around, so maybe our UK birds suffered the same fate as most low down nesting birds this year. In about a month’s time the geese will arrive from Iceland and it will be interesting to see if more Wheatears appear then. 

Enough waffle – here’s the short list and a couple of photographs compiled from a few hours slog along the sea wall. Little Grebe, Chiffchaff, Grey Heron and Sparrowhawk at Lane Ends. A number of Swallows, about 70 feeding at Pilling Water, with a single Sand Martin, but no Swifts in evidence. 

 Barn Swallow

A single Common Sandpiper around the wildfowler’s pools plus return of the Teal with 8 flighty birds. Passerines: 2 Pied Wagtail, 24 Linnet, 15 Goldfinch, 2 Greenfinch and 2 Skylark. Two Buzzards over Fluke Hall put on a bit of a show, circling and calling in the bright sunshine. 

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

Buzzard - Buteo buteo

After watching the Buzzards, and then a day or two ago seeing Grey Partridges being reared for “sport” it set me thinking of a number of questions for The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), a government department which earlier this year wished to spend £300,000 of taxpayers’ money on looking into ways of controlling the Buzzard population. 

 Grey Partridge

Here are few questions to be going on with, I’m sure readers can come up with more. 

What research has DEFRA funded into why the UK population of Grey Partridge has plummeted until the species is now listed as of RED Conservation Concern? 

Why does the Government of the UK allow millions of non-native Red-legged Partridge to be released willy-nilly into the wild? 

Before we release any captive bred partridge species into the countryside should there be research into the possible effect on any remaining wild Grey Partridge populations? 

Stay tuned, more soon on Another Bird Blog.