Couple from Knott End held prisoner in own home - by seagulls

RICHARD HUNT

Published: 11:13 Thursday 20 June 2019

Pensioner Roy Pickard had only just walked out of his own front door when he was hit hard on the back of the head - hard enough to draw blood.

Shocked and confused about who or what had hit him, he whirled around and was confronted by a squawking seagull, circling close above him.

A ferociously protective seagull prevented Knott End pensioner Roy Pickard from leaving his house after its two chicks ended up on the canopy directly above his front door.

And then retired ambulance man Roy, aged 77, realised what the commotion was about.

He saw that the two seagull chicks, which had previously been on the highest point of the bungalow roof, had somehow slipped down and were now on the canopy directly above Roy's front door, only about nine feet off the ground.

It was the start of a six-day siege in which Roy, whose wife Brenda is not mobile and relies on him to get out and about, were unable to do what most people take for granted - get out of their front door.

Frantic Roy phoned the RSPCA, the RSPB, Wyre Council and even a number of national newspapers in a desperate attempt to get help, before Graham Liver, of BBC Radio Lancashire, came to the rescue.

After Roy spoke to him, the BBC man and a firm crew visited the couple's home and arranged for a gazebo to be set up temporarily, right outside the door, to provide some relief for the couple.

Roy, of Wyresdale Road, Knott End, said: "It started on the Friday last week and it's been absolutely terrible.

Read on

How you can help save Lancashire's rarest bird

MIKE HILL

Published: 11:27Monday 01 April 2019

The RSPB is calling on people who spend time in the remote hills and moorlands of Lancashire to look out for England’s most threatened bird of prey.

The nature conservation charity has relaunched a hotline with the aim of finding out where hen harriers might be nesting in the county.

In spring, the male hen harrier performs his courtship display known as skydancing, involving a spectacular series of swoops and somersaults. If he attracts a female, he attempts to further impress her by passing food offerings in mid-air.

Experts estimate there is enough suitable habitat in England for around 300 pairs of breeding hen harriers. But last year there were only nine successful nests in the whole country, three of which were in Lancashire.

Hen harriers are teetering on the verge of extinction in England because of ongoing illegal killing. As they sometimes eat red grouse, they are often unwelcome on moors managed for driven grouse shooting.

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Investigation launched after hen harrier disappears without trace from moorland

Published: 11:05 Thursday 18 October 2018

A rare hen harrier has mysteriously disappeared from moorland in Lancashire prompting a police and RSPB investigation. The bird, called Thor, was last monitored on October 3 at Goodber Common, near Salter in Lancashire. Read more: Poignant video of toddler just days before she died in 'cage' bed He was being monitored by RSPB officers using a lightweight satellite tag, which had tracked his movements since fledging.

But his tag suddenly stopped transmitting earlier this month in an area close to a managed driven grouse moor. The Every Mind Matters guide Get expert advice on how to look after your mental health with this free guide from the NHS. Promoted by Public Health England Earlier, conservation officers had monitored his movements, watching him stay close to the Forest of Bowland where he had hatched in the summer. James Bray, RSPB’s Bowland project officer, was involved in monitoring the nests in Bowland over the summer.

He said: “Whilst we know that hen harrier mortality rates are high for young birds, if Thor had died naturally we would expect to find either his body or his tag – or both. "His tag was functioning well before he disappeared, which sadly suggests there has been some kind of interference with it.”

Read more at: 

Moving rare birds to cost Enterprise Zone £500,000

4 hrs ago

Bill Jacobs  @BillJacobsLTLocal Government Reporter

DEVELOPERS of Lancashire's multi-million 'skills city' are to spend £500,000 on relocating skylarks and lapwings to a new site 35 miles away.

Finding the rare birds a new home is essential to next stage of the Enterprise Zone based at BAE Systems Samlesbury site, once condemned by government ministers as ' the worst in the country'.

In 2012 the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, brining together councils and businesses, proposed the development aimed at boosting skills and creating 6,000 hi-tech jobs.

In 2014 government ministers Penny Mordaunt and Greg Clark told the LEP they had 'lost confidence' in the scheme, the only one of 24 in England to have attracted no new businesses or produced any new jobs.

On Thursday the Cabinet of Lancashire County Council, a key player in the LEP, will consider an update confirming leases on the land needed had been agreed with BAE Systems and authorising spending of £11.5 million on road and drainage works to prepare more of the site for occupation.

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Has a rare albino pheasant been spotted in Lancashire?

COLIN AINSCOUGH

Published: 15:12 Wednesday 22 November 2017

While walking her dog on Tuesday morning (November 21, 2017), Tania Harasimiuk captured footage of what she believed to be a rare albino pheasant. Tania was walking her pooch just off Hoghton Lane in Hoghton when she spotted the white shape in the grass nearby.

Tania said: "I felt so lucky to see it, we’ve lived in Hoghton for the past 5 years and recently sold our house and move from the area. "One of our neighbours said he used to see a white crow here too for a while so maybe Hoghton is a special place." Albinism results in white feathers and pink eyes but true albinos are thought to be rare in the wild. True albinism in birds is caused by a genetic mutation resulting in an absence of an enzyme which controls the production of melanin.

Sadly, many albino birds die soon after fledgling due to their poor eyesight. After seeing the footage Alan Wright, Communications Manager for the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, said: "While there are a number of kinds of pheasant there are no white ones. It is likely to be albino or leucistic, the latter is when the colour has been washed out with dark rather than pink eyes, which are found in albinos."

"Obviously we haven't got a close enough look at this specimen to tell the difference. You will have seen albino - or part albino - blackbirds in your garden. "Some experts say white pheasants are not common but could occur as a result of intensive breeding for shoots and food. The ones that we are seeing round about are obviously escapees, like most pheasants which are not historically native to this country. "Seeing a white pheasant is obviously something different and exciting and again shows the diversity of wildlife that we have in the county."

Video footage and Read more at: 

3 nesting male hen harriers vanish in Lancashire

Three nesting male hen harriers have vanished in Lancashire in unexplained circumstances and Lancashire Police and the RSPB are appealing for any information that could uncover the fate of these rare upland birds of prey. The RSPB is also putting up a £10,000 reward for any information which leads to a conviction.

The first of the birds disappeared from its nest on the United Utilities Bowland Estate about a month ago and a further two males on active nests have not been seen since last 30 April. 

In the case of the first nest, a young male arrived almost immediately and took the place of the vanished bird, thereby securing the safety of the eggs. The other two nests were not so fortunate; in the absence of males to provide them with food, the females were forced to abandon their eggs, resulting in the failure of both nests. 

Hen harriers are England’s most threatened breeding bird of prey with only four successful nests in the whole country last year, two of which were on the United Utilities Bowland Estate. 

With the number of breeding birds so low, the failure of the two nests will have a serious impact on the hen harrier’s future in England. 

The disappearance of the birds leaves just one active nest remaining in the Bowland Estate, putting the future of hen harriers in England even further in jeopardy. 

Continued ...

Threatened birds of prey 'vanish' - via Mike Playfair

By Claire Marshall

BBC environment correspondent

Two of the rarest birds of prey in England, which had been satellite tagged, have vanished in unexplained circumstances, conservationists say.

The young female hen harriers had left their nest sites in Lancashire only a few weeks ago.

Named Sky and Hope, they were among the first hen harrier chicks to fledge in England since 2012.

Last year, no chicks were born after the only two nesting pairs failed to breed.

As part of an ongoing conservation project, Sky and Hope had been fitted with lightweight solar-powered tags.

Scientists examining the satellite data became worried when their tags stopped transmitting. Sky's signal stopped suddenly on 10 September and Hope's signal died three days later.

Searches of the area have failed to find any trace of them.

The tracking devices are designed to operate for at least three years. The scientists say it's "improbable" that this is due to technical failure. The more likely cause is that the birds were killed by other animal predators, or humans.

continued ...

Help track one of UK’s most elusive birds

Bird watchers across Lancashire are being asked to play a vital role in the conservation of one of Britain’s most secretive birds, the woodcock.

While the bird has been on the decline in recent years, the North of England remains a stronghold for the mysterious, ground-nesting species. And the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust is asking twitchers to go out at dusk counting woodcock during the summer months, when the males are performing their activity to attract receptive females.
In the last survey roding woodcock were encountered in just under one-third of woodlands surveyed. 
Northern and eastern England (68 per cent) northern Scotland (48 per cent) remained stronghold areas. The lowest occupancy levels were recorded in Wales (13 per cent).
The 2013 national breeding survey estimated that the current breeding woodcock population in Britain is around 69,000 males. 
Go to www.gwct.org.uk for more information.

Source

Pink pigeon is identified - but colour is still a mystery

By Vickie Scullard, News 

A PIGEON expert has identified a pink bird spotted in Bolton as a Tippler — but admits he has no idea why it is such as unusual colour.

Terry Dawber, secretary at the North West Homing Union, says that pigeon fanciers would call the colour red, not pink — but added the colour pattern is rare.

He added that some fanciers dye their pigeons to distinguish which are the better flyers.

And it seems the unusual bird is on the move as it has been spotted elsewhere in Breightmet.

Joanne Carney of Crossdale Road took a snap of the pigeon in her back garden last Thursday.

Local resident David Taylor captured the unusual looking bird in Tetbury Drive at about 8am on Friday.

Since the photograph featured in The Bolton News, it has baffled residents as to why it has such brightly coloured feathers — one saying it might have been dyed the colours of the St George’s flag to represent England in the World Cup.

Mr Dawber said: “Tipplers are bred for their flying endurance and ability. Looking at the photograph, the bird has got a normal coloured head of what we call a 'light print' Tippler, but the coloured sections are definitely 'pink' — or as we pigeon men would call it, red.

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Birds make a home in a Lancashire traffic cone

Last updated Fri 16 May 2014

A family of great tits have made a home in a traffic cone in a Lancashire beauty spot.

Around five chicks were found in the cone and the parent birds were feeding them through the hole in the top of the cone.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust Communciations Officer Alan Wright said:

“It just proves that wildlife is flexible when it comes to making a home and this is a safe place for the chicks if we keep this secret for the time being.

The chicks are almost ready to fly the nest, but this cone keeps them safe from predators like cats and magpies and from too much human disturbance. It proves that wildlife is flexible when it comes to living their lives. Who needs a bird box when you have a handy traffic cone?”

The exact location of the birds is being kept a secret so they're not disturbed.

http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2014-05-16/birds-make-a-home-in-a-lancashire-traffic-cone/

High court challenge over cull backing

Published on the 13 May  2014 

A High Court challenge has been launched against Government backing for the culling of thousands of seabirds on the Lancashire coast.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is concerned that the cull is setting a dangerous precedent for bird conservation in the UK.

The RSPB is asking a judge to quash the Environment Secretary’s decision last May to sanction the cull in the Ribble Estuary on the Lancashire coast, at the request of aerospace firm BAE Systems.

BAE said a reduction in the population of lesser black-backed gulls and herring gulls was required because of fears over birds being sucked into the engines of jets taking off at the airfield at its nearby Warton site.

Consent was for the killing of 552 pairs of lesser black-backed gulls and for further operations to maintain the population at the reduced level for 10 years, provided the overall population was not reduced to lower than 3348 pairs.

There was also consent for further measures to be taken to maintain the herring gull population at the reduced level that followed an earlier cull.

David Forsdick QC, for the RSPB, told a judge sitting in London: “As far as we are aware this has never happened before in the UK and that is why the RSPB is so concerned to have the decision set aside.”

Asking Mr Justice Mitting to order a re-think, he said the culls threatened to undermine the conservation purposes of European Directives for birds and habitats.

The populations of lesser black-backed gulls were in “substantial decline” across the UK and in need of protection.

Continued

Flock of birds found dead in road 'like a scene from The X-Files'

6:00am Wednesday 12th March 2014 in News

Exclusive By Jeremy Culley, reporter

THE mystery appearance of a flock of dead birds in the middle of a busy road has left Ladybridge residents baffled.

Between 20 and 30 dead starlings appeared in Beaumont Road, near the Britannia Hotel, on Sunday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud bang before finding the birds in an "X-Files-like" experience, as if they had “fallen from the sky”.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has said it is unlikely they flew into a poisonous air trail as their injuries would be less uniform.

A spokesman said the low-flying birds, which tend to travel in a tight flock, could have been hit by a vehicle or been confused or dazzled and flown into one.

Craig Clarkson, aged 39, who was in Beaumont Road shortly after the birds first appeared, said there were nearly 100 of them, with some lying still alive in the road.

Read on

Twitchers flock to Bolton as four rare glossy ibis spotted near Bob's Smithy Inn

WHEN it comes to famous visitors to Bolton — few could have attracted quite as much interest as the four who descended on the town over the weekend.

Long lens cameras and binoculars were out in force in an attempt to get a close-up view of four feathered friends — but these are not of the common-or-garden variety.

The rare glossy ibis birds have made a temporary home in a farmer’s field just behind the Bob’s Smithy Inn much to the delight of local twitchers and those from further afield.

Upon hearing the news — announced on the internet — the birds had landed hundreds of birders have been seen around the spot over the weekend as they attempted to catch a glimpse of the bird or, if they are lucky, get a much-prized photograph.

Bernard Hooley is one such bird enthusiast who dragged wife, Irene, along from their Kearsley home.

Apparently either used to human attention — or perhaps unfamiliar with other species — the birds appear completely at ease with all the attention and Bernard, along with his fellow watchers, has managed to get within six feet of them.

Read on

Power line diverters fitted to save 'large birds' in Lancashire

Brightly coloured "flight diverters" have been installed on power lines to help protect birds in Lancashire.

About 150 ball-shaped attachments were fitted near Martin Mere, Burscough, to make cables stand out for "large birds with poor manoeuvrability".

The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) said diverters will help the 40,000 pink-footed geese and whooper swans that migrate to the area each year.

Engineers carried out the work on 1.6km of overhead lines.

Steve Cox, from Electricity North West, said: "We discovered this was a sensitive section of the network as it was located in a known flight path".

Nick Brooks, from Martin Mere nature reserve, said larger birds were particularly prone to flying collisions.

He said: "The project is invaluable to ensure both the safety of the swans and geese as well as ensuring the local community are not affected by these large numbers of birds."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-23872807

RSPB in fracking objection over bird reserve fears

The charity has lodged a letter of objection with Lancashire County Council to proposals by Cuadrilla, which is also facing protests over drilling for oil in Balcombe, West Sussex, for shale gas exploration at a site at Singleton, near Blackpool.

The Lancashire site, where controversial fracking would be used to explore for gas, is close to an internationally important protected area for pink footed geese and whooper swans and could disturb the birds, the RSPB said.

Morecambe Bay special protection area is designated under EU legislation because of its importance as a habitat for a range of breeding and overwintering bird species.

Cuadrilla announced last month it intended to apply for planning permission to frack the existing exploration site at Grange Hill, Singleton.

The RSPB called on Lancashire County Council to ensure Cuadrilla has carried out a full environmental impact assessment before it goes ahead with any work at Singleton.

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Waxwings extend their winter stay in Lancashire

3:44pm Friday 26th April 2013 in News

BIRDWATCHERS have reported ‘unprecedented’ sightings of a rare bird on an estate in Burnley, the latest date they have ever been seen in Lancashire. 

Yesterday, twitchers recorded 13 waxwings feeding on berries at Barnes Court, on the Brunshaw estate. 

The birds have normally migrated back to Scandinavia by the end of March but the unusually cold and prolonged winter has seen them stay here. 

The RSPB estimates only 100 or less of the species winter in the UK, normally in eastern England and Scotland. Allen Rycroft, 66, from Cliviger, is a member of East Lancashire Ornithology. 

He said: “There have been several sightings in the past few weeks of waxwings at Barnes Court and Grindleton Avenue. 

“Waxwings have never been seen here this late. Our records show the latest ever sighting in Lancashire was in 1996, on April 17, in Darwen. 

“They are a real treat to see with magnificent plumage. It’s great that they’re here in the middle of Burnley.” 

The waxwing is a plump bird, which is slightly smaller than a starling. 

It has a prominent reddish-brown crest with a black throat, a small black mask round its eye, yellow and white in the wings and a yellow-tipped tail. 

It does not breed in the UK, but is a winter visitor, when the population on its breeding grounds gets too big for the food available. 

Continued: http://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/news/10383480.Waxwings_extend_their_winter_stay_in_Lancashire/

Golden opportunity to crack bird of prey persecution in Lancashire, before it's too late!

As the hen harrier teeters on the brink of extinction as a breeding bird in England, Coalition and Welsh Government Ministers have a once in a lifetime opportunity to tackle the illegal killing of birds of prey in England and Wales, and must not waste it.

That’s the message from the RSPB as it publishes its annual wildlife crime figures showing yet another shameful year of poisoning, shooting and trapping for red kites, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, goshawks and other persecuted species. Just one pair of hen harriers bred in England in 2012, with Government’s own studies suggesting that illegal killing is the major factor in their decline.

In Lancashire in 2011 the RSPB received 36 reports of incidents relating to birds of prey.

Too little has been done over the years to stop these sickening attacks on birds, but this could change with proposed reforms of wildlife law and policing. The RSPB believes a review of wildlife protection legislation by the Law Commission - currently being consulted on - provides a golden opportunity to address ongoing persecution of bird of prey in England and Wales.

This month will also see the publication of the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into wildlife crime while the imminent reorganisation of the police service and the creation of National Crime Agency will provide further opportunities to prioritise wildlife crime.

RSPB Conservation director Martin Harper said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to tackle the illegal shooting and poisoning of some of our most magnificent birds.

Continued:  http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/326092-golden-opportunity-to-crack-bird-of-prey-persecution-in-lancashire-before-its-too-late