London and the south east is the new frontier for new bird species

5 Dec 2017 6:00 AM

London and the south east of England are on the front line of climate change in the UK, with the region’s birds already reacting to an apparent one degree rise in average summer temperatures since the 1980’s.

Most species are moving north to remain in their comfort zone, meaning some European species, like the hoopoe, little bittern and zitting cisticola are likely to become resident in the not too distant future.

My daughter thinks the zitting cisticola sounds like an unpleasant disease, but it’s a small warbler, which builds nests like cups in long grass, mostly near water. It makes a sound like the snipping of scissors. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before we get records of breeding zitting cisticola’s in wet grasslands along the Thames Estuary!

The findings are from the latest analysis of bird surveys and monitoring data called the State of the UK’s Birds (SUKB). It’s produced by a coalition of three NGOs: the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), together with the UK’s statutory nature conservation bodies: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs Northern Ireland (DAERA), the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Natural England (NE) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW). That’s enough of the acronyms (8 AMBAR*).

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Does climate change herald sad end of cliff top kittiwake colony in Seaford?

Rising sea temperatures could threaten the future of the popular kittiwake colony at Splash Point in Seaford, according to the RSPB.

There is evidence of a link between rising sea temperatures and a reduction in the numbers of the birds’ main food source, sand eels.

If the colony cannot adapt to find another supply of food it will struggle to survive, the conservation charity warned.

In other parts of the country the impact of rising sea temperatures is already being felt.

Seabird declines are particularly serious in the Northern Isles of Scotland and some colonies in the South East have also been badly affected.

In the early 1990s there was a colony of almost 3,000 pairs of kittiwakes at Langdon Cliffs near Dover in Kent, but this colony has declined alarmingly and in the last few years only a few tens of nests have been recorded.

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Farming for Turtle Doves

Posted on: 10 Sep 2013

To help reverse the fortunes of the ailing Turtle Dove, the RSPB is calling on landowners across the South-East to grow crops to help them.

They have asked farmers and freeholders to consider establishing pollen and nectar mixes targeted at the species as part of their Environmental Stewardship agreements, or even voluntarily.

Turtle Dove, a summer visitor to Britain, was once a common sight and sound across the rural South-East, but has undergone a rapid decline in numbers. The most recent figures show that its population has fallen by 86 per cent since 1994. The species no longer breeds in Wales and there are fears it could soon disappear as a breeding bird in England too, with only a few strongholds remaining in South-East England and East Anglia.

Hayley New, RSPB Agricultural Projects Officer for the South-East, said: “Turtle Dove numbers are drastically low, and the prospect of losing this beautiful bird from our shores is becoming increasingly real."

In response to Turtle Dove’s plight, the RSPB launched Operation Turtle Dove in May 2012, with support from Natural England, a three-year project to begin to reverse its decline. The cause of the population crash is not fully understood, but when they arrive in Britain to breed each spring they depend on small seeds from wild plants to get into breeding condition, and changes in farming practices mean these plants are now scarce.

Hayley New continued: “There are a number of options available to farmers: they can choose to sow Turtle Dove seed mix – which provides optimal foraging habitat – or to cultivate uncropped margins that allow arable weeds to flourish. Now is the perfect time to act and it would be great for farmers looking to help to get in touch for more advice on how to make these options work for them. This year we’ve implemented plots of the seed mix at several of our reserves across the South-East, including Northward Hill and Lydden Valley in Kent, and Pagham Harbour in West Sussex, and we hope to work with other landowners to achieve the same.

“The options will also benefit pollinating insects such as bumblebees and butterflies, which could also do with a helping hand in spring and summer. We are really proud of our wildlife-friendly farmers who are already doing fantastic work for wildlife and the environment through agri-environment schemes and voluntarily. Farming in this way can make a real difference to Turtle Dove and is necessary for its survival in England.

The general public have also played their part this summer with record numbers of calls to the Operation Turtle Dove sightings hotline (01603 697527). These calls are vital in making sure that advice is targeted to the right areas.

For further advice on helping Turtle Dove, please call Hayley New on 01273 763616 or email hayley.new@rspb.org.uk