Tag: nesting

Petition Update | Save last North Shields nesting kittiwakes – Remove the netting!

Posted on March 6, 2021March 6, 2021 by Charlie

The netting off of nest sites is becoming a real blight across the UK, as the #NestsNotNets Twitter campaign has been detailing. Why is this happening? Nests of almost all wild birds are protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (and amendments) as we have explored extensively in our ever-evolving post Nesting Birds and the Law, but in most cases nest sites are not. If developers or local authorities can stop nests from being started, then technically they are not breaking the law. It’s a ridiculous situation and is being exploited time and time again. One of the most notorious examples – thanks to excellent work by local campaigners – is the disgraceful deterrent measures being used on ledges used by (Black-legged) Kittiwakes along the Tyne River in North Shields. Daniel Turner launched a petition on Change.org last year, calling for the removal of all bird-deterrent netting. He has been posting regular updates on the petition page, and has just posted this tenth update.

Ireland | Reminder of hedge-cutting ban during nesting season

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Charlie

The UK legislation protecting birds and their nests is the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and the various amendments and provisions that have followed since. Ireland is of course not covered by UK legislation, so it was interesting to read a timely reminder on the law in Ireland that has just been published in the online TheJournal.ie. The relevant law in Ireland is set out in Section 40 of the Wildlife Act 1976 as amended by the Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2000 and the Heritage Act 2018. These Acts stipulate that “it is an offence to destroy vegetation on uncultivated land between the 1st of March and the 31st of August each year”. There are numerous exceptions (of course) but on the face of it, it does seem to offer nesting birds some measure of protection. However, as the comments below TheJournal’s article note (and we often point out ourselves), legislation on its own is next to useless if it’s not enforced…

Nests and the law | Man cautioned after nest removed from loft

Posted on August 18, 2020August 20, 2020 by Charlie

One of our most widely-read articles (as the list of ‘most viewed’ posts to the right shows) is ‘Nesting Birds and the Law’ which we wrote in March this year and which appears to be doing fairly well in Google searches! We pointed out that it is difficult to get an enforcement action against someone breaking the law, because it’s difficult to prove ‘intention’. However, it can be done! And we’re very glad to read that Suffolk police have recently cautioned a 60-year-old man after a sparrow’s nest containing live chicks was removed from a loft space following routine maintenance.

Guest post | The march of progress?

Posted on June 12, 2020June 12, 2020 by Charlie

Over the last few years I have started to feel that the driving force is of ‘progress at any cost’, and that there have been minimal checks and allowances made for wildlife on some long-term development projects. For instance we have ‘suffered’ a major road expansion. Many people will have spent far too long on the A14, the major east-west route through the county, either before it was improved, or during the recent three years of its improvement. Right from the start many of us were horrified when trees containing rookeries were felled…Guest post by Louise Bacon

Guest post: 6,000 mile flights and the lengths Dukes go to avoid bird poo

Posted on April 26, 2020April 30, 2020 by Charlie

This spring Chatsworth House have been permitted to put up bird netting to stop swifts, swallows and martins pooing on their statues. Swallows are visitors to Chatsworth House, migrating up to 6,000 mile to nest in the same place each year. They are summer visitors and have a small timeframe to breed in and it is possible that many of these birds won’t manage to find an appropriate alternative. Instead of supporting the declining population, Chatsworth could in fact be contributing to their further decline.

#NestsNotNets

Posted on March 13, 2020April 23, 2020 by Charlie

It’s unlikely that the politicians that steered incredibly important protections for wild birds and their nests through various parliaments ever imagined that one day some developers would look at the law and instead of thinking, Yes, we must protect nesting wild birds, would instead think Hmm, if we can stop birds nesting we can pretty much do any work we want without the law being able to touch us. But that, writes Charlie Moores, is what’s happening right now…

Wildflower Alley – mature hedge wrecked

Posted on March 3, 2020March 4, 2020 by Charlie

Yesterday we wrote a post looking at Nesting Birds and the Law. We wrote it because at this time of year there are often problems with developers/gardeners trimming or removing hedgerows that may contain nesting birds. Today, writes Charlie Moores, we received news of the destruction of a 40 foot mature hedge in Belfast’s award-winning Wildflower Alley…

Nesting birds and the law

Posted on March 2, 2020March 5, 2021 by Charlie

Here’s a relevant question for the springtime: did you know that it is illegal – ie it is against the law – to disturb nesting birds or to remove any nests that are being used? That includes the birds and nests in our gardens, the birds that are nesting precisely where developers want to build new houses, and the birds that may try to nest on those (and our) houses too. If the answer is ‘No’ or even ‘Yes…but I’m not sure of the details’, hopefully this post will help.

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