Rare birds to be protected at Poole Harbour

22 January 2019

Rare and endangered birds will be protected with the expansion of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Dorset, Natural England has said.

A further 1,800 hectares (4,450 acres) of land and sea at Poole Harbour is to be moved into the SSSI.

Its saltmarshes and mudflats are a feeding and breeding ground for seabirds including spoonbills, avocets and black-tailed godwits.

They are all listed on Schedule 1 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act.

Spoonbills are also described as a "very rare breeding bird" in the UK by the RSPB.

Natural England said: "Below the waves, seagrass beds flourish in the shallows while the channels hide the spectacular peacock worm and a rich variety of other marine species including sponges, sea squirts and tube worms."

Emma Rance, marine conservation officer at Dorset Wildlife Trust, said the seagrass beds "provide refuge for juvenile fish and shellfish which become a rich food source for overwintering and roosting seabirds".

More than 4,100 hectares (10,100 acres) of the harbour are already protected within the SSSI.

This SSSI extension connects to heathland as well as marine habitat protected under the Bluebelt programme, including Poole Rocks Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ), and Studland Bay proposed MCZ.

Continued

Iconic wild birds once close to extinction make astonishing comeback in Britain

Dean Kirby

Tuesday June 21st 2016

Conservationists are witnessing record numbers of an iconic bird that has made an astonishing comeback after it was once close to extinction in Britain.

Avocets, the black and white waders that grace the emblem of the RSPB, have been having a record-breaking year at wildlife reserves across the country.

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has announced that it has had a record 34 birds at its Washington Wetland Centre in the North East, just a decade after they first returned.

“We’re absolutely thrilled at the number of avocets this year. For the avocets to return year after year is fantastic”

John Gowland, WWT Washington Wetland Centre

It is thanks to a huge amount of work by conservationists to improve habitats for the birds and to protect them from predators. More than £20,000 has been spent on new shingle islands for the birds at Washington.

‘Real conservation success story’

More than 170 pairs were also recorded at the RSPB’s Cliffe Pools reserve in North Kent last autumn – one of the highest concentrations ever recorded in Britain.

The RSPB said numbers have also continued to grow at its reserve at Minsmere in Suffolk after the birds returned in 1947 after an absence of more than a century.

Avocets also overwintered at Middleton Lakes in Staffordshire – the first in the county. Frampton Marsh reserve in

Lincolnshire has also recorded its best ever year with 81 pairs compared with zero in 2008. Record numbers were also recorded at the Dee Estuary in Cheshire.

John Gowland, reserve manager at WWT Washington Wedland Centre, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled at the number of avocets this year. For the avocets to return year after year is fantastic and a real conservation success story.”

Around 7,500 of the long-legged birds were thought to be in Britain in autumn. They included a huge wintering colony at Poole Harbour in Dorset, where numbers have risen from 25 to almost 2,000 in just 30 years.

Read on ...

Rare avocets delay roadwork closures

MOTORISTS have protected birds to thank for avoiding a full summer of roadworks, after avocets were found nesting alongside the A13.

Two dozen pairs of the protected species were found by National Grid engineers, who were hoping to carry out £30million of repairs to overhead cables and pylons along 24 miles from Rayleigh to Tilbury.

The proposed work meant drivers would have had to contend with temporary lane and road closures on the A127, A130 and A13 throughout the summer, but the work has been put back until the end of July, so the birds are not disturbed during the nesting season.

Work was scheduled to start in May, but was rescheduled following the discovery.

Project manager Graham Livings said: “National Grid has a vital job to do connecting people to their energy supplies. However, we always try to do our vital work as sensitively as possible, doing all we canto minimise any impact on local communities and the environment.

“Our ecologists work closely with local community stakeholders, including the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, to ensure we don’t have any adverse impact on the local environment.

“Avocets are a very rare bird and, after discussions with the RSPB, we decided the best thing to do would be to postpone this section of the work".

Read on