Any Twitchers Out There?

[User]

 

[rich p]

There seems to be loads of birds of prey along the motorways these days...

Also Wood Pigeons seem to be in abudance.

Anyone know the reason(s) why?

Birders is the term you're hunting for!

The motorway verges have always been a good, undisturbed piece of vegetation for kestrels in particular. Buzzards and red kites are increasing in numbers and range due to less harmful farming methods and less deliberate killing so that may explain their prescence.

 

[accountantpete]

They don't shoot wood pigeon as much these days - fewer crops for them to damage and a change in eating habits.

Verges are overrun with little brown furry things which provide easy pickings and the heat off the motorway may help hovering birds like the Kestrel.

 

[gbb]

Lots of pigeon and doves here, more so than normal. I guess the conditions are good and perhaps as accountantpete says, they're not shooting them as much ?
Birds of prey, Red Kite have increased in numbers here quite considerably. Even seeing a few Buzzard, not a common bird in these parts. That said, i remember driving through Somerset....the sides of the road were festooned with Buzzard.

 

[Globalti]

I bet motorway verges are good because they're a barrier to wildlife on the move. Bird numbers have increased since local authorities realised they could save money and earn brownie points by not mowing the verges.

 

[ChrisBD]

Not sure about other areas of the UK; but we are still culling pigeon heavilly in Gloucestershire, and in the Marches and North Wales.

I know plenty who shoot pigeon throughout the UK; but how recent years compare with the last 10-20 I couldn't say.

There are a greater number of BOP to be seen today compared with 5 or even 3 years ago. In many cases this can only be a good thing as long as they are managed as is their habitat to enable a ballance in all bird life.

Localised increases in BOP's may have coincided with similar reductions in song birds or GNB's, but long term research will tell.

 

[laurence]

wood pigeons, like many other birds, have come into town from the country. Jays are also doing this now (following their Magpie cousins). wood pigeons are now driving out feral pigeons in some towns. they are also known to carry some of the diseases that had had an adverse effect on finches by leaving tha parasites on feeders. tables and bird baths.

there might be more BOP at the moment due to the young having fledged. as said, motorways are always good as there's not a lot of human interference. many birds are hit by cars though.

 

[Hacienda71]

Loads of Buzzards around Cheshire, population has increased 10 fold in the last few years I read somewhere recently.

 

[gbb]

wood pigeons, like many other birds, have come into town from the country. Jays are also doing this now (following their Magpie cousins). wood pigeons are now driving out feral pigeons in some towns. they are also known to carry some of the diseases that had had an adverse effect on finches by leaving tha parasites on feeders. tables and bird baths.

there might be more BOP at the moment due to the young having fledged. as said, motorways are always good as there's not a lot of human interference. many birds are hit by cars though.

This made me think (birds coming in from the countryside and the diseases they may bring)

We've just been through quite a hard winter and i did hear some bird populations have taken quite a hammering (although when i read further, its worldwide populations)...but even so, a hard winter and in the same article (the independant i think) it also stated nature hates a vacuum...surviving birds will often have two of three clutches in the next season, possibly because lower populations mean less competition for food, therefor more possibility for breeding. It all makes semse really.
And on the disease front...Magpies, Wood Pidgeon, Jackdaws, Jays, all traditionally countryside birds that are seen regularly in urban areas now....are they having an effect on traditional urban/town populations ? perhaps...

 

[laurence]

This made me think (birds coming in from the countryside and the diseases they may bring)

We've just been through quite a hard winter and i did hear some bird populations have taken quite a hammering (although when i read further, its worldwide populations)...but even so, a hard winter and in the same article (the independant i think) it also stated nature hates a vacuum...surviving birds will often have two of three clutches in the next season, possibly because lower populations mean less competition for food, therefor more possibility for breeding. It all makes semse really.
And on the disease front...Magpies, Wood Pidgeon, Jackdaws, Jays, all traditionally countryside birds that are seen regularly in urban areas now....are they having an effect on traditional urban/town populations ? perhaps...

birds do seem to have good and bad years. Mallards seem to be suffering recently. the last two years their broods have been down. Tufties are doing well in comparison.

Blackbirds aren't urban birds. a lot have birds have adapted to humans, shame we can't adapt to them. it's that that is damaging populations, the renovation of houses to block up any nooks and crannies, thus depriving birds (and bats) of roosting space. Gardens are paved over and decked, wildflowers are eradicated for non-native prettier ones and the wildlife suffers.

on the upside - peregrines are now a common(er) sight in towns as they have followed the rock doves (pigeons) in and adapted.

the big problem is the lack of biodiversity. all the birds and animals can't compete in the ever-cramped spaces available with dwindling food supplies. some birds may have multiple clutches, but they need to survive and that's not happening. the house sparrow is a good example; they have been seen to be breeding well in some areas, but the fledglings starve once on their own. any attempts to widen their range are thwarted by lack of nest spaces. double whammy.

 

[Mark_J]

We get loads of Buzzards in Shropshire now and they are moving ever closer to populated areas.

They are supposed to be a Bird of Prey but has anyone ever seen one make a kill? A birdy man I was chatting to says they are basically scavengers who rarely -if ever- hunt.

Too much roadkill for them I guess.