Fetch Birdwatchers

165 watchers
Feb 2022
8:27am, 9 Feb 2022
54,274 posts
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alpenrose
I just managed to stop this little one getting trampled by my walking group yesterday, loads of frogspawn in the nearby ditch.



This morning I spotted some robins sussing out the ivy covered pyracantha, maybe they'll make a nest there. I don't think I've ever had nesting birds in my garden before.
Feb 2022
3:52pm, 9 Feb 2022
22,217 posts
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Red Squirrel
Male blackcap at inner city station. There's plenty of undergrowth and I regularly see badgers and foxes here. It's not a main line.
Feb 2022
6:46pm, 9 Feb 2022
3,563 posts
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jacdaw
More information about the dead guillemots from last year; a Norwegian report:

seapop.no

tldr: most died of starvation.
Feb 2022
6:56pm, 9 Feb 2022
3,564 posts
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jacdaw
There is a British study too, of 179 birds, with similar results, but it is paywalled, unless you have institutional access, or a spare $12.

bvajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Feb 2022
7:22pm, 9 Feb 2022
519 posts
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paulcook
Intriguing. There's been thousands of dead lobsters and crabs and probably other sea creatures, as well as reports of dogs taking ill, along the North Sea coast particularly around North Yorkshire, Teesside, County Durham and Northumberland. I believe a not entirely independent study has said it's down to algae. Though much more suspicion pointed at chemicals displaced from the River Tees due to work / dredging for a new port on the Tees.
Feb 2022
9:30pm, 9 Feb 2022
3,116 posts
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flyingfinn
I think a better way of putting it would be that a DEFRA cover up report blames algae blooms whereas a more independent scientific report links the deaths to levels of pyridine which have been raised by the dredging for the new Tory flagship freeport on the River Tees!

theguardian.com

Let's face it the Tees estuary and the surrounding land that was historically occupied by massive chemical works, that no doubt operated in a manner that would now be considered criminal, must be a frightening store of horrors that activities such as dredging will disturb and release into the wider environment for years to come with no real control or understanding of (at least officially).
Feb 2022
9:37pm, 9 Feb 2022
24,073 posts
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Rosehip
- or there is a toxic algal bloom that was fed by the sludge

turbid water contaminated with nitrogen containing chemicals could well encourage blooms
Feb 2022
9:45pm, 9 Feb 2022
520 posts
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paulcook
Thanks for that link ff.

We've stayed largely well away from the coast since one of our dogs was severely ill only a day after we'd been and (coincidentally ?) noticed dozens of dead crabs. I'm not any more confident about returning again.
Feb 2022
9:47pm, 9 Feb 2022
3,117 posts
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flyingfinn
RH that would equally suggest that the problem is possibly connected to the disturbance of the Tees estuary, something DEFRA it would seem would sooner not consider.
Feb 2022
9:49pm, 9 Feb 2022
24,074 posts
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Rosehip
Exactly - no untruths, just not quite getting to the point

About This Thread

Maintained by AngelWings
Big Garden Birdwatch 26-28th January rspb.org.uk

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BirdTrack App: bto.org

BTO Website: bto.org

Website for identifying dragon & damselflies: british-dragonflies.org.uk

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