Weather playing havoc with bird life
The ‘Beast from the East’ certainly put the proverbial cat among the pigeons and the brakes upon bird migration.
Indeed, there are concerns being expressed that some migrants may already be arriving, only to find their quest for the insects upon which they depend, drawing a blank. Yet when at last, there were a few days of spring sunshine last week I noted that there was a sudden emergence of insect life. Thus, hope is not entirely lost. However, Met Office experts were forecasting a ‘White Easter’ a few days ago!
Recent conditions have certainly had a profound effect on our east coast colonies of sea-birds, most notably upon guillemots, for over the course of a couple of weeks, considerable numbers of these essentially marine and sea cliff dwelling birds were literally falling from the sky in inland locations. This time, I only had a single bird to deal with – a quick call to the RSPCA and it was picked up and taken to the Fishcross Centre.
Elsewhere, some disorientated guillemots were landing on motorways and that is where many of their lives came to a grisly end. Others took up residence on our local freshwater loch, whilst more were found scattered around on farmland.
Many years ago, during the 1980s, I became all too deeply involved in what was then an avalanche of guillemots, many of which were being picked up in local forests, not exactly a suitable habitat for these fisheating birds! At one time I was feeding fish daily to up to 50 of these penguin-like birds. Then, although there were strong easterly winds blowing, it was believed that the over-fishing of sand eels was the cause of that particular coastal exodus. Sand eels represent the main source of food for guillemots and a drastic shortage could have been the reason for hundreds of these birds attempting to fly in a westerly direction, presumably in the hope they might reach the west coast, where perhaps there might be more food available.
Global warming is said to be responsible for many of our sea-birds experiencing food shortages as warming seas push their main sources of food, like sand eels, further and further north. Inevitably, the result is declining numbers of young birds being produced making the future of these very important populations here in Britain, questionable. This threat inevitably poses the question that is on so many scientists’ minds - how we can counter the dangers posed by global warming which is said to be largely down to the use of fossil fuels over the course of many years. Perhaps we are now reaping a harvest sown by those who were responsible for the Industrial Revolution and the subsequent development of heavy industry?
The other factor, which we could surely do something to curb if the political-will really was there, is the world-wide felling of the world’s forests. The great forests of the Amazon region, Asia and Africa are under constant threat, mostly from illegal loggers. Neither governments nor world leaders seem to be willing or able to halt this devastation. These forests absorb vast quantities of carbon dioxide and are the ‘lungs’ of the planet, thus as they are felled this vital process is constantly being lessened, and the phenomenon of global warming is accelerated.
So threatening is this activity that as sea levels rise due to the melting of polar ice, many communities around the world will simply have to abandon their homes and move elsewhere to higher ground.
And yet, mankind’s constant pursuit of more and more wealth is such that we are now having a profound effect upon so many aspects of life that we are assuredly, if perhaps sometimes, unconsciously threatening our own survival. I am a born optimist, yet further news that bird-life in France is in rapid decline with as many as a third of some species having been lost during the course of the last 15 years, is alarming news. Furthermore, it is concluded that the increasing use of pesticides by French farmers has wiped out 80 per cent of the flying insects which are absolutely vital to the welfare of so many of those birds. Such figures are also a cause of further alarm for those insects are the vital pollinators, which play a pivotal role in the very fabric of life.
It occurs to me that many of the migrant birds we are currently expecting to arrive during the forthcoming days and weeks, actually travel through France. Thus the findings of French ecologists, who have produced these rather alarming figures, may indeed have an impact upon British migrants returning from Africa. As yet, apart from that short burst of blackcap music heard a week or two ago, I have not thus far either seen or heard any sign of incoming migrants, although I understand a handful of ospreys has arrived. So far, there has been no sign of them here.
What with the hostile weather conditions so far causing the arrival of spring to be extremely fitful, as well as these concerns about the effects of the use in agriculture of pesticides and repeated warnings about global warming, it is easy to feel deep concern. Nevertheless, there are reasons to feel some optimism. Each succeeding day bears witness to the growing chorus of bird-song, chaffinches are in full voice, chuntering away with increasing enthusiasm and in particular I am hearing plenty of the repeating lyrics of song thrushes.
Not so many years ago, song thrushes had become most noticeable at least in this airt by their vocal absence and their numbers were in decline pretty universally. I would have thought that the recent snows might have had a deleterious effect on numbers and indeed, song thrushes often respond to such hostile conditions by undertaking temporary migrations to France for instance. However, during the past couple of years, there has clearly been a resurgence of the song thrush, which has always been a favourite with poets. Robert Burns in particular referred to the ‘mavis’ many times in his writings.
Despite the nature of the weather in this so-called spring, the tuneful melodies of song thrushes are ringing out loud and clear. There is a flutelike quality about the mavis’ voice as he sings sequences of phrases, each phrase repeated four, five or even six times. Each songster has his own favourite passages but these are augmented by occasional bursts of mimicry of the calls of other birds, together with excerpts copied from other thrushes.
Their resilience and that of blackbirds, any number of which are currently to be seen patrolling my lawn as well as the surrounding fields and woods, does at least give some cause for optimism. And this is despite the offcourse guillemots, the decline of farmland birds and the problems relating to global warming, not to mention the activities of those more concerned about the profits they are accumulating as opposed to the future of this planet.
But hope springs eternal! Sing on sweet singing thrush!