Bill's Blog - August 4th
NEWS OF THE WILD

ANYTHING I FANCY

Mmm, no sooner had I resolved to make my blog more inclusive – meaning I shall deal with anything I fancy, not just wildlife – what happens? Most of the stories that have caught my eye during the past two weeks have been about – you guessed it – wildlife.

DECEPTION

First, a little bit of politics. Am I right in believing that we live in a democracy? And is it a basic principle of a democracy that the government takes notice of public opinion – based on authoritively researched unbiased information - and acts accordingly? Obviously now and then, there will be exceptions to this rule, when the politicians clearly know better than us. For example, Blair and Iraq.

Actually, I think that one goes down as what one might call a mistake - or a deception? - so blatantly wrong that we shall never see the like of it again. Unless it’s Cameron and Badgers.

DO YOU MIND?

Will a cull of badgers curtail the spread of bovine TB in cattle? Or not? Is badger poo the ‘smoking gun’? How many years have there been discussions, arguments, research, disagreements and dithering? “The cull is on. No, the cull is off. It’s on again, it’s off again.”

The latest pronouncement is that “the government is minded” to allow a cull. Do we translate that as “we think we will, but we’re not quite sure yet? We are also minded to dither a bit longer, if you don’t mind.” Well, we do mind. And we are minded to continue minding, until you recognize that the vast majority of authoritative scientific research suggests that a cull would not achieve the desired result, and that a large percentage of people find it morally objectionable. Please accept that and then – if you don’t mind - make a democratic decision. Call it off.

SAVE THE BADGERS

For more about badgers, Google “badger cull”, visit  a selection of websites, and come to your own conclusions.

FOLLOW

And now for something much more uplifting. Have you been following the BTO’s cuckoos? There have been occasional updates in the papers or on the news, but to get the deluxe edition go to the British Trust for Ornithology’s website www.bto.org/cuckoos
Now or later?

SPRINGWATCH

Either way, let me say that I am not unfamiliar with the idea of marking or tagging migrant birds and attempting to follow their journeys. Heavens knows, we did it on Springwatch several times. I will just run down the basic ingredients. First, an ornithologist has to capture the birds. They might be chicks in the nest (any species), or adults that are moulting and have temporarily lost their powers of flight (for example wild swans), or birds on the wintering grounds that are “rocket netted” (particularly geese). The bird is then fitted with a ring on its leg and a tiny transmitter. It is then released, and in due course will set off on its journey either north to the breeding area or south to winter quarters.

As long as the transmitter continues to work it is possible to pretty accurately follow the bird's itinerary. As I recall, on Autumnwatch we tracked Whooper Swans from Iceland to Lancashire, and on Springwatch a group of Brent Geese from Ireland to Greenland, Iceland and even to Arctic Canada. It was undeniably exciting, and indeed quite upsetting on the occasions we lost contact, and presumably the bird. Some did get lost and some got shot, but most of them made it.

To be a little churlish though, there was one element missing. There were very few surprises.

WE KNOW THAT!

Basically, if you want to fly from Britain to Iceland you don’t have to go through, round, or over, anything especially dangerous, apart from the weather if it cuts up rough. Look at the map and draw a line. Whether you are a Whooper Swan or a Brent Goose, from Britain to Iceland and beyond, travel north west, and keep going till you get there. Or south west the other way round.

To be a little dismissive, fond though we were of them, the Springwatch birds confirmed what we already knew. Swan and Goose rings are so big it is possible to read the numbers in the field with a good telescope, added to which rings may be ‘recovered’ from birds that have been killed or re-captured. The result is that we have a pretty wide knowledge of the migration routes of quite a few species, particularly large birds like wildfowl and waders, but also quite a few “small migrants” like swallows, warblers, pipits and so on. But NOT cuckoos. 

WE DON’T KNOW

Cuckoos are mystery birds. They arrive in spring, invariably they are heard rather than seen.  They behave as a couple only long enough to carry out the physical act of mating, after which it is ‘job done’ for the male. And once the female has laid her egg in the eventual foster parents' nest (a reed warbler, meadow pipit) it is ‘job done’ for her too. You don’t often see or hear an adult cuckoo after June. So what happens?  Do they just go quiet, or do they go altogether? And when they do set off south, what route do they take, and where do they spend the winter?

BRILLIANT BTO

I am certainly not going to deflect any limelight from the BTO. Quite the contrary. I simply want to congratulate them on taking up such a challenge and doing it brilliantly. Neither will I pre-empt any of the many extraordinary discoveries they have already made. If you haven’t already been, go to their website now and catch up on the whole saga: www.bto.org.

Do come back to me though, I have got a bit more for you.

MY LUDICROUS GARDEN

Back at a more domestic level, here is the latest news from my ludicrous garden. (My wife’s description, not mine. I call it quirky.) This is the time of the year when my neighbours accuse me of stealing their birds. “What have you done with my birds? They’ve all disappeared.” At which I explain that they are probably still there, but they are moulting, and if they have a few flight feathers missing they may not be able to flap away from predators as niftily as usual. Added to which some of them look so tatty they probably don’t want anyone to see them. They haven’t gone, they are hiding. They’ll be back, looking a lot sprucer than my Blackbird is right now (he is clearly feeding a second brood) or my Robin (would you want anyone to see you tail less?)

THERE’S MORE

And now for something completely different, but also from my garden. Most nights the trees, bushes, and our neighbour’s bedroom windows are illuminated by the unsubtle blinding glare of my moth trap. The lamp is roughly as bright as a small lighthouse. The fact that I have not yet had any complaints makes me wonder if the couple next door rather enjoy being in the spotlight. Indeed, they may be putting on a bit of a ‘show‘ - nudge nudge, wink wink - but I  am too embarrassed to look up!  Added to which, if I caught their eye and they asked me to “turn off that **** ing moth trap!” I would be very upset.

I should say at this point that my ludicrous garden (rendered even more ludicrous at night by fairy lights and a luminous Buddha) is only small (about half tennis court size) and is in suburban London. It is not surprising then that I don’t get a lot of different moths. It is surprising that I get as many as I do.

On an average night, there’ll be about a dozen species, and on a ‘good’ one maybe 20. There are a lot of little brown ones that are hard to find in the book – though they are definitely in there somewhere - and every now and then I get a Hawk Moth – usually Poplar or Elephant – which I pop into a perspex pot and take down to the local tea room to show to the regular clientel, who never fail to be impressed. “In your garden?! This morning!? Wow!”