Unusual visitors to the reserve during September
Every so often something unusual turns up on our reserves, which is what happened at the beginning of September, when a redbacked shrike was found on the North Wall of our RSPB Pagham Harbour reserve. Slightly smaller than a starling, with a hooked bill, the male is a smart little bird, sporting a pinkish breast and a rich brown back, a powder blue-grey crown and rump, white throat and a black ‘mask’ through its eye. Females and juveniles are less conspicuously marked with brown heads and backs, and pale fronts with light barring. They often perch prominently in the open on bushes or fences, with good views of potential prey, such as beetles or other insects and even lizards. Shrikes are also known as ‘butcher birds’ because of their habit of impaling their prey items on thorns or wedged in the fork of a branch, forming a sort of larder. Once this bird would have bred in Britain but unfortunately now it is extinct as a UK breeding species, with only a handful being seen on migration along the south and east coasts.
Another bird, rarely seen or heard in the UK, is the quail. This tiny, secretive little farmland bird lives in open country, such as chalk downlands, where the vegetation is thick and dry, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover one was seen on our Medmerry reserve. The quail is cryptically camouflaged with yellowbrown streaks and is our only migratory game bird.
The disappearance of these species from our countryside has happened in my lifetime and there has been much documented regarding the rate of wildlife decline in the UK and around the world. Sir David Attenborough explained in ‘Extinction: The Facts’, how this is linked to us and the consequences it has for us as a species. His final words, ‘What happens next, is up to every one of us’, are left hanging in the air.
What can we do? There are of course many answers to what we can do individually or in groups.
You can find just a few here: www. rspb.org.uk/get-involved/campaigning/ revive-our-world-five-other-actions/