Two recent press releases from the RSPB adressing issues in the South-west – one positive the other unfortunately not so. RSPB ‘Appalling’ destruction of wildlife-rich land in Devon by NHS The RSPB has this morning sent a formal letter of complaint to Devon NHS bosses concerning the wilful destruction of land near Exminster. The site, Hillcrest, is home to a nationally important population of Cirl Buntings. The charity believes that the Devon NHS Trust’s action is a deliberate move to reduce the […]

  Work has begun at last to restore the island on Millbrook Lake.  Millbrook Lake Conservation Group (of which I’m Chairperson) have been working on this for over 3 years, now with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Community Spaces Fund, and Devon based contractor TMS Maritime work is underway.

The boat cruise yesterday gave people the first chance to see the Osprey Platforms installed in the summer by Peter Kent and his band of willing volunteers. Peter and I had the idea of trying to attract Ospreys to breed in the Tamar Valley after a bird called Tore, ringed at the RSPBs Loch Garten eyrie, spent several weeks exploring the valley in autumn 2011. (Unfortunately Tore is thought to have died in its west African wintering area). However, Peter’s […]

The dates and Saltash departure times for this winters cruises are 17th November 2013 11.00am 15th December 2013 10.30am 29th January 2014 10.00am 15th February 2014 12.00 mid-day For details and how to book click on the Birdwatching Cruise page in the banner above.

After a quiet summer we’re now finalising the winter 2013/14 birdwatching cruises. The first will be on Sunday 17th November, leaving Saltash at 11am. Phone 01752 829163 to reserve your places. There are more trips planned for December, January and February. Details to follow shortly.

5 March 2013 Environment Minister Richard Benyon today visited Hillesden Farm in Buckinghamshire, which is at the forefront of research work into how Environmental Stewardship can better deliver benefits to wildlife alongside the vital role the scheme plays in investing in England’s farm businesses. Richard Benyon finds out more about winter bird feeding at Hillesden Farm © Linzee Kottman / Natural England For the last five years, Hillesden has been the home of a detailed study where areas of the farm have […]

   A rather chilly day on the river this one! Wind had been blowing from the east for a week or so but at least it wasn’t raining. As we sailed upriver towards the pickup at Saltash, the 3 Spoonbills were again feeding off Bull Point. Therefore we collected our passengers and went back to have a look…..but they’d flown off!  Not a good start. However, we headed back upstream following our usual route and picking up the normal species […]

You know how on some days everything goes right …..well the 9th Feb trip ticked all the    boxes. Firstly we had a dry day, not that frequent recently and although it wasn’t sunny we had light winds, good visibility and it wasn’t that cold either. I joined the boat at Cremyll and as we sailed upstream a Razorbill got us off to a good start – a new species for our cruise list. Then I noticed 2 Spoonbills feeding […]

The Great Black backs on Looe Island, along with many other species last summer, had a poor breeding season. Although we counted 75 nests containing 197 eggs and two chicks in May, when it came to ringing we were only able to find 27 chicks of which 24 were colour ringed. This compares to 91 colour ringed in 2011 and 49 in 2010. It is not known whether failures occurred during incubation or nestling stages but we suspect that many […]

Looe Island is a Cornwall Wildlife Trust reserve off Looe in south-east Cornwall. It holds what is now the largest breeding colony of Great Black-backed Gulls with 78 pairs in 2012, 66 pairs in 2011 and 79 pairs in 2010. Historically, Mullion Island, off the Lizard held the largest colony. This was certainly true in the mid 1980s when the Seabird Colony Register noted 117 pairs. However, by Seabird 2000, the last complete national survey, numbers had dropped to 49 […]