Investigation launched after bird shot dead

25 October 2017 at 1:07pm

Police in East Yorkshire are investigating after a sparrowhawk was found shot dead.

Officers say the bird, which had "injuries consistent with being shot with a shotgun", is believed to have been killed around October 16.

The bird was found near to the quarry and Boyes Lane in Keyingham.

Humberside Police say they are treating the death as a wildlife crime and are fully investigating what has happened.

We are appealing for information in relation to the discovery of a dead Sparrowhawk which has injuries consistent with being shot with a shotgun. It is suspected to have been killed on or around October 16 near to the quarry and Boyes Lane in Keyingham. We treat the persecution of birds of prey as a wildlife crime and will fully investigate all such incidents.

– A FORCE SPOKESWOMAN

Last updated Wed 25 Oct 2017

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Heron island bought by RSPB

April 2014: An island in the River Ouse has been bought by the RSPB for £47,500 reports BBC News. Hook Island, near Goole, East Yorkshire, is a 19-acre (8-hectare) Site of Special Scientific Interest that is home to a wealth of wetland birds including herons.

In spring, grey herons raise their chicks on the 19 acre site, while in the winter months hundreds of golden plovers and lapwings roost there after spending the day feeding on the mudflats of the Humber Estuary. Little egrets – a rare type of heron – are sometimes seen on the island and the RSPB hopes they may eventually form a breeding colony.

Pete Short, RSPB’s Humber Sites Manager, said: “The Humber Estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and one of our most important places for wildlife but it’s under serious threat from inappropriate development and recreational disturbance. Through buying Hook Island, which is part of this Site, we can help protect this special place and make it an even better home for nature.” 

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/heron-island-014.html

Seagulls terrorise trapped pensioner

Penny Freeman has spoke of her terror after a flock of seagulls targeted her every time she tried to leave her house.

The 69-year-old was left facing the consequences after beginning to put food out in the garden for small birds, but as she lives in the coastal town of Bridlington in East Yorkshire, she was soon swamped by a large colony of ravenous seagulls.

The problem then escalated when one of the eggs fell from the nest and the adults constantly guarded it.

Ms Freeman told The Sun: "It was terrifying. I couldn't leave the house and I felt like a prisoner. The birds were very threatening - they're like lizards."

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Seagulls_terrorise_trapped_pensioners

Spectacular marsh harriers nesting at nature reserve for first time

THEY are some of the most spectacular birds to watch in the country and now they are breeding at an East Yorkshire nature reserve for the first time.

Marsh harriers have been nesting at Yorkshire Water's Tophill Low reserve, near Driffield, to the delight of staff and volunteers.

Indeed, wildlife is thriving at the reserve, with only the second pair of Cetti's warblers found breeding onsite and otters bringing up a family close to the reservoir.

The exciting additions to the site's varied wildlife have been put down to the careful management of habitats at the site, which means they appeal to the rare birds and animals.

Read more:

http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Rare-breeders-thriving-reserve/story-19418821-detail/story.html#ixzz2XbV8Fb7p

eders-thriving-reserve/story-19418821-detail/story.html#ixzz2XbV1EtKn

Reward after Sproatley buzzards shot dead

The police and RSPB have urged anyone with information to come forward

Two birds of prey have been shot dead and thrown into a ditch near an East Yorkshire village.

The RSPB is offering a £1,000 reward to help catch the person who shot the buzzards on the outskirts of Sproatley earlier this week.

Tests have revealed the birds were wounded with a shot gun.

Buzzards are protected by law and anyone found guilty of shooting one faces a maximum penalty of six months in prison or a £5,000 fine.

Sgt David Jenkins, Humberside Police's wildlife officer, said the birds appeared to have been shot several times at close range.

'Cold and calculating'

He told BBC Look North, buzzards were often targeted because of concerns they could attack pheasants.

"It's a very archaic point of view. Buzzards, if anybody really does their research, tend to eat more dead animals. It's a very lazy bird," he said.

"They've been persecuted for years and years."

Howard Jones, from the RSPB's investigations team, said he hoped the £1,000 reward would help them catch the birds' killer.

He said: "I think that this person has done this in a very cold and calculating way and is probably now thinking that they've got away with it.

"We think that the £1,000 reward will provide the encouragement for someone to come forward to the police or the RSPB in confidence and share their information and hopefully progress this investigation."

Read on:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21491451

Leucistic mandarin duck in Yorkshire

January 2013. Wildlife Extra reader Margaret Richardson has sent us this photo of a very pale Mandarin duck that has appeared on her local pond this winter.  

Margaret said "The Male Mandarin Duck has spent the winter on the pond for the last two winters and seems to have returned again this year with a Leucistic female."

Pale 'leucistic' Mandarin duck seen in East Yorkshire by Margaret Richardson

Mandarin ducks

The species was once widespread in eastern Asia, but habitat destruction and an unsustainable level of exports for the pet trade reduced populations in Russia and China tojust a few hundred pairs in each country, whereas there are estimated to be 7000 pairs in UK, where the bird isn't even a native, as a result of escapes and releases. Japan still has a healthy population.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/pale-mandarin.html

RSPB looks to the sun to power visitor centre

THE visitor centre at one of East Yorkshire's most dramatic beauty spots could end up running on solar power.

The RSPB hopes to install 144 photovoltaic panels at its site at Bempton Cliffs, near Bridlington, as part of a £100,000 investment.
The charity plans to cover part of its car park with a canopy over 56 bays.

As part of this, the panels would be installed on the canopy, covering 235sq m, which would provide 36kW of energy.

Most of this would be used up to run the visitor centre, with any remaining power being fed into the national grid.

Bempton's site manager Ian Kendall believes the project fits into the reserve's ethos.

He said: "This is an organisational decision and the RSPB is considering a number of its sites to install solar panels.

"We have a lot of space at the reserve, if not always the weather, and feel we can use that to provide solar power.

"It is a sustainable form of energy and is at the forefront of what we are trying to do."

While the planning application has been submitted this week, it maybe a while before the panels are installed.

The Government has reduced the money it provides for the feed-in tariff that has made solar energy such an attractive option.

Continued: http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/RSPB-looks-sun-power-visitor-centre/story-17009421-detail/story.html