Back in the UK: Red kites
July 5th, 2009 | by lucy |
Red Kites have become a symbol of Britain’s change of heart. For centuries an incredibly varied and long list of species, including kingfishers and hedgehogs, were systematically killed with the aim of wiping them off the face of the Earth. Laws were passed to eliminate wildlife, seen as competition for natural resources, and rewards were doled out by church wardens. The slaughter reached a peak in the 19th century with widespread gun use. It was a time when suburban sparrow shooting clubs competed for bounty payments. This phase of Britain’s relationship with the natural world is documented in detail in “Silent Fields” by Roger Lovegrove.
The Red Kite was persecuted with particular zeal, but a very successful conservation effort has saved the species from extinction in the UK. Reports of this happy story are inevitably accompanied by quotes from Shakespeare, because the playwright knew London when these scavenging raptors flourished there, appreciated for keeping the city’s filth in check. He called it “the city of Crows and Kites”.
Today’s growing Red Kite population has been built up from the few birds that survived in remote Welsh valleys and others brought in from Spain. There are now over 1,000 breeding pairs in the UK, the highest concentration found in the Chilterns.
Considering the long tradition of slaughter, it’s hardly surprising that cases of illegal poisoning, trapping and shooting of birds of prey continue to be highlighted by the RSPB and other conservation groups. A culture of valuing these species for their own sake is growing, but historically it’s a new tendency. Most people are awestruck by their encounters with Red Kites, entranced by their grace and five-foot wingspans. Some still think “vermin” and reach for the poison bottle.
The photo is from http://www.redkites.co.uk/
Check out Silent Fields by Roger Lovegrove
A new measure to help the rapidly declining British eel population will oblige owners of weirs and locks to install bypasses, allowing the fish to swim up and down stream unhindered. See 
When asked what he thought about 
Prisoners from a number of prisons in the UK joined the hundreds of thousands of Britons recording sightings at last weekend’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch.
The eel population of the Thames has dropped by 98% in 5 years and conservationists can only speculate why. The Thames eels (Anguilla anguilla) are born 4000 miles away in the Sargasso Sea, located in the North Atlantic Ocean, from where they migrate to British fresh waters. After up to 20 years they return to their breeding grounds to spawn and die. To make these long journeys the eels rely on ocean currents, which are susceptible to changes in temperature.
Disease and pollution could also be causing problems for the eel. Although the Thames has revived since its “biological death” in the 1950s, the river remains under heavy urban pressure. And the Sargasso Sea, in contrast with its romantic image, suffers from a particularly high concentration of non-biodegradable plastic waste, trapped there by ocean currents. 
