A natural history of Britain

Animal focused street photography

With an old black and white 35mm camera the photographer Giacomo Brunelli prowls the night in search of his subjects in backyards, small villages, fields, farms and near his home in London. Brunellihas developed a style which he calls “animal focused street photography”.”By pushing the boundaries of nature photography he creates eerie and unfamiliar images, which succeed in capturing the instinctive drama and wildness of his subjects” More here

Photos from here

Posted in Photography | Tags: Giacomo Brunelli, Photographs of London's wildlife, Wildlife in London |

Kestrel and Barn Owl fight over vole

Amazing pair of images in the Daily Telegraph here of a kestrel and a barn owl’ battling it out over a vole. By wildlife photographer Mark Hancox.

Posted in Birds of Britain, Birds of prey of Britain, Photography, Scotland | Tags: barn owls in Briitain, Owls in Britain |

Taboos about wild birds

In her classic account of English rural life, Lark Rise to Candleford, Flora Thompson records attitudes to wild birds towards the end of the 19th century.   At a time when egg collecting was a respectable hobby, country boys would engage in wholesale nest robbing and hunting of small birds. The families were chronically poor, and casting a net over a hedge of roosting sparrows would secure a meal:

One boy would often bring home as many as twenty sparrows, which his mother would pluck and make into a pudding.  A small number of birds, or a single bird, would be toasted in front of the fire.

But Thompson notes that the birds in this popular rhyme were left alone: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Birds of Britain, Folklore about British birds | Tags: attitudes to wild birds in Victorian England, Flora Thompson on birds in England, folk lore about robins, Lark Rise to Candleford, popular rhyme about birds, relationship between robins and people, why are robins so popular, wild bird lore |

In praise of the little owl

Michael McCarthy laments the sad decline of the little owl (Athene noctua) in Britain in today’s Independent, noting that unlike other introductions, they have not spelled ecological disaster, forming an attractive addition Britain’s birdlife. They were introduced by Victorian gentleman-ornithologists in the 1870s who wished to pay testament to their fame in Greek mythology. Little owls were linked to the godess Athena, perhaps because they bred in her temple, the Parthenon in Athens. The bird also became the symbol of the city, and its bug-eyed image was such a feature of Athenian silver coins – that they were known as “owls”.

Coincidentally, I came across last week this entry by George Orwell spotting a little owl back in January 1940,

No thaw. Unable to unfreeze pipes etc. Saw a little owl today – have not previously seen any of these round here.

• More on little owls from the RSPB (including sound recording of its cat-like call)

Photo by Arturo Nikolai on Wikipedia

Posted in Birds of Britain | Tags: George Orwell and natural history, George Orwell on birds, George Orwell on nature, Introduced birds in Britain, Little owls in Britain, Non-native birds in Britian, Owls in Britain, Owls in mythology |

Unusual snow phenomenon in Frozen Britain

From a distance, they look like hay bales covered in snow. But close-up it becomes clear they are hollow.  A mystified Ron Trevett photographed them in a field near Yeovil, Somerset.  It occurred to him they might be some large-scale prank in the crop circle tradition but for the complete absence of footprints.  In fact, snow rolls are a natural phenomenon, but more associated with the prairies of North America than Britain.  Certain conditions are necessary for their formation: the right texture of snow, temperature and winds.  Strong winds peel off the top layer of snow when it becomes sticky and bowl the roll along until it’s too heavy.  The snow doughnuts, as they’re also known, look deceptively solid, as they can distintegrate in an instance.

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: how snow rolls are formed, snow landscape in Britain, snow rolls in Britain, unusual natural phenomenon |

Good things about the cold snap

Photo by VickySings on Flickr

Freezing temperatures aren’t all bad for British wildlife, perfectly adapted to long, cold winters, which until recently were the norm. Cold weather helps to “restore the balance of nature”:

• Hibernating creatures (bats, butterflies, bumblebees etc) are less likely to emerge and then get killed off by a cold snap, as has happened in the past few mild winters
• Birds are unlikely to start nesting too early (again, as happens in mild winters)
• Flowers are less likely to emerge and then get killed off by late frosts
• Viruses, parasites etc are killed off, which will benefit their hosts. (Again, mild winters tend to allow disease vectors to multiply)

In contrast mild winters such as those we’ve seen between 1986 and 2008 bring about:

• Early emergence of flowers and insects
• Early breeding of many birds (sometimes before Christmas).
• ‘Summer visitors’ overwintering (eg chiffchaff)
• A major fall in numbers of winter visitors (eg Bewick’s swan and white-fronted goose), as birds stay further east of the UK.

From the BBC’s Snow Watch

Snow Watch are also collecting wildlife stories from people from around the UK. Read them here.

I thought this post by John White was interesting:

We do have a visiting barn owl but have not seen or heard him for some weeks. We have had visiting redpolls and fieldfares taking all the holly berries. Interestingly there have been very few starlings and sparrows around, and a very plump pheasant is missing. I must admit that we do not encourage the larger birds i.e. rooks, crows, jackdaws and magpies, but they still come. It seems that the three squirrels that live in the holly tree have decided to keep warm in their dray, and have not put in an appearance for days. Badgers have taken to the compost for food. They were very active in the autumn feeding off of our fallen fruits and digging up the gardens for slugs etc. Swans and geese that frequent the reservoirs and canals seem to be staying put.

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Effect of cold snap on wild flowers, Effect of cold snap on wildlife, Effect of cold weather on wild birds, Positive things about the cold snap, Snow Watch |

Cold kills thousands of crabs

The freezing  temperatures may have caused the death of thousands of velvet swimming crabs which have been left littering the shoreline in the Thanet area of Kent. So many velvet swimming crabs - or devil crabs, as they are commonly known - have been washed up in Westbrook Bay over the last week that people have struggled in some places to see the sand. More here

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Cold snap in Kent, Cold snap in Thanet, devil crabs, Effect of cold snap on wildlife, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, Kent wildlife, Thanet crabs, Velvet swimming crabs, Westbrook Bay crabs |

Lundy Island becomes first marine conservation zone in England

The waters around Lundy Island today became the first marine conservation zone in England as part of a project to create a network of protected areas. The Guardian

Lundy is the largest island in the Bristol Channel, and lies 19 km off the coast of Devon. The number of puffins on the island which may have given the island its name, declined in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with the 2005 breeding population estimated to be only two or three pairs, as a consequence of depredations by brown and black rats (Rattus rattus) (which have now been eliminated) and possibly also as a result of commercial fishing for sand eels, the puffins’ principal prey. Since 2005, the breeding numbers have been slowly increasing. Adults were seen taking fish into four burrows in 2007, and six burrows in 2008. More on Wikipedia

See also

• Official website
• Lundy Field Society
• Lundy Birds

Posted in Birds of Britain, Conservation issues in the UK | Tags: Devon, Lundy Island, Marine conservation zones, Puffins in Devon, Puffins in the UK |

Peregrine falcon filmed hunting at night

It has long been known that peregrines hunt at night, but film evidence has been lacking. Now, webcameras installed at the Derby Cathedral Peregrine Project have captured them doing it in the dark.

Aided by city lights, at 10.45pm on a freezing winters night, an adult peregrine brings a freshly caught Woodcock back to its feeding place on the tower of Derby Cathedral. We see the bird struggling in the firm grip of the peregrine’s talons. But one swift bite to the neck of its prey swiftly dispatches it. But then the peregrine takes off into the night again, settling first on a projecting lead gutter, then flying off to take yet another prey item. Peregrines are known to cache food items for later consumption, and cold weather may well prompt them to stock up even more. At this time of year we see species like woodcock, golden plover, snipe, redwing and lapwing as favourite prey items, and evidence of prey items help us monitor what species are moving through our towns.

Peregrine Falcons first nested on Derby Cathedral in 2006. Four chicks fledged in mid-June 2009, but one died in a flying accident and another injured its wing and must remain in care. More here from the project.

Posted in Birds of Britain, Birds of prey of Britain, UK wildlife videos, urban nature in Britain | Tags: Birds in Derby, peregine falcons in the UK, Peregrine falcon hunting videos, Peregrine falcons in cathedrals |

The cold snap - Orwell 1940

The Orwell Diaries is a remarkable blog which publishes George Orwell’s diary entries on the same date 6o years later. The entries are full of fascinating insights into the daily life of the author between  1937 and 1947 and include a surprising amount of observations on natural history. The comments by the readers are also, unusually, interesting. Here is his entry of 11th January from the cold winter of 1940:

No thaw. It would be possible to skate on the church pond, but unfortunately I have no skates here. The other ponds not bearing. Water beetles (the kind whose legs look like oars) can be seen moving about under the ice. When a brick lies in the bottom in shallow water, there appears in the ice above it a curious formation the size & shape of the brick itself, presumably something to do with the temperature of the brick when thrown in being higher than that of the water. Turned up a woodcock in the common lane. No rabbits in the field today. Birds very bold & hungry. Rooks in the vegetable garden, where they do not usually come. One or two primroses & polyanthi budding, in spite of the frost upon them. One of the elm trees apparently bleeds a brown-coloured stuff, sap or something, & large icicles of this hanging down, looking like toffee. Milk when frozen goes into a curious flaky stuff like flaky pastry.

Orwell had an enduring interest in natural history which stemmed from his childhood. In letters from school he wrote about caterpillars and butterflies and he had a keen interest in ornithology. He also enjoyed fishing and shooting rabbits, and conducting experiments as in cooking a hedgehog or shooting down a jackdaw from the Eton roof to dissect it. Wikipedia

Posted in Birds of Britain, Information about the 2010 cold snap, Natural history writing, Weather and climate | Tags: Facts about the 2010 cold snap, George Orwell and natural history, George Orwell on birds, George Orwell on nature, Weather in 1940, Wildlife in the cold snap |

Baby badger rescued from the cold

This five-day-old badger cub was on the brink of death after being left abandoned in the snow somewhere in Devon. More ridiculously cute photos and the story here

From the excellent badgerland.co.uk:

Badgers have unusual breeding patterns since mating can take place  at any time of the year. After mating, badgers exhibit what is known as delayed implantation. They keep the fertilised eggs, in the womb in a state of suspended development until they implant at the end of December. Cubs are usually born during the first fortnight in February in the south and west, but sometimes a little later as you go further north in the UK.

So this cub was born rather early in the year. I wonder if the mother was moving her cubs to a warmer sett and this one got dropped, or did it just remove it from the sett because it couldn’t feed it. Please drop me a mail if you can enlighten me on this.

Posted in Badgers in Britain, Information about the 2010 cold snap | Tags: Baby badgers, badger breeding, badger cubs, Badgers in Britain, Badgers in the cold snap, Cute photos of badgers, Effect of cold snap on wildlife, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, Wildlife in the cold snap |

Animal welfare during cold spell

Defra has released this advice on caring for farm animals and pets during the cold weather, including this note for horse and pet owners:

Where pets (such as rabbits and guinea pigs) are normally kept outside in hutches during mild winters, eowners should consider moving them into garages / sheds to provide additional thermal insulation. Where cages cannot be moved additional protection or insulation should be provided wherever possible.

It is also important to ensure a supply of drinking water. Ice should be cleared from drinking water containers and the spouts should be defrosted regularly.

As with farmed livestock, horses and ponies usually kept outside during the winter should have access to shelter at all times and a regular provision of feed and water ensured. Where such provision is inadequate, owners should consider moving the animals and/or permanently stabling in the interim period Water supplies for all horses and ponies should be checked regularly and alternatives sources supplied if mains failure occurs.

In an emergency you should contact the RSPCA for help and advice. Read their advice on animals in the cold spell here.

Posted in Farming, Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Advice to pet and horse owners during cold weather, Defra extreme weather, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, Guinea pigs in cold weather, Pet rabbits in cold weather, Pets during the cold snap, Pets in severe weather, Ponies outside in cold snap, Rabbit hutches in cold snap, Rabbits in cold snap |

Estuary ice

Stunning photo taken on 9/1/10 of the River Dyfi estuary near Aberdfi by John Mason on the UK weather forum (more photos from him), who notes ” ice-floe interacting with a mooring-buoy at Frongoch. The noise was amazing!!“.

Looks more like northern Canada rather than mid Wales.

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Aberdfi, Amazing photos of ice 2010, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, Frongoch, Photos of cold snap in Wales 2010, River Dyfi estuary. Sea ice in the UK, Sea ice in wales |

What’s causing the cold winter?

The Met Office have published this account of what is causing this freezing start to the year. Basically, our winds in winter (particularly in the last 20 years) normally come from the south-west. This means air travels over the relatively warm Atlantic and so have brought mild conditions to the UK. But for the past three weeks theAtlantic air has been ‘blocked’ and cold air has been flowing down from Greenland or the cold winter landmass of Europe. Scientists call this contrast “warm-ocean cold-land phenomenon”.

The Met also note although the mean UK temperature for December was 2.1 °C, making it the coldest for 14 years and colder than the long-term average for December of 4.2 °C, December was one of only two months in 2009 which had a below-average mean temperature. In the UK, 2009 as a whole was the 14th-warmest on record (since 1914). This above-average temperature trend was reflected globally, with 2009 being the fifth-warmest year on the global record (since 1850).

Climate and weather ain’t the same thing.

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Facts about the 2010 cold snap, warm-ocean cold-land phenomenon |

The coldest place in Britain

The tiny hamlet of Altnaharra (Scottish Gaelic: Allt na h-Eirbhe) has been making the news these days as the coldest place in Britain with temperatures dropping as low as -21.6ºC last night. Altnaharra, which means Stream at the boundary wall in Gaelic, also holds the equal absolute equal record for the coldest ever temperatures in the UK (together with Braemar (Aberdeenshire), thanks to its northerly latitude and inland location. On December 30, 1995 the mercury dropped to a parky -27.2ºC. Let’s see if this record is beaten this year…

Wikipedia reports, interestingly, that on the 20th March 2009, Altnaharra was actually the warmest place in the UK, recording 18.5°C. This was the weather station’s warmest recorded March temperature, and possibly the first time the station had recorded the warmest UK temperature. On the same day, it also recorded the second coldest overnight temperature in the UK, at -3°C, giving an indication of how quickly weather conditions can change in remote areas.

• Latest weather in Altnaharra from the Met

Posted in Information about the 2010 cold snap, Weather and climate | Tags: Altnaharra, Facts about the 2010 cold snap, The coldest place in Scotland, The coldest place in the UK |