Kingfisher feels chill in winter
THIS may seem a bit like déjà vu but I do get really worried about our wildlife at this time of year.
In fact, I am probably more worried than they are.
Our wonderful birds and mammals just huddle together, fluff up and wait for the return of spring.
I was walking through a retail park with snow on the ground when I noticed a tree packed with pied wagtails.
There must have been 300 of them. I suppose the ones in the middle were OK, but those on the edge would be shivering.
We know in harsh winters that we do lose some birds and mammals and one that really suffers is the kingfisher.
In fact, I am getting even more upset the more I hear about our most colourful bird.
The average lifespan of a kingfisher is just two years and half of the young only survive less than two weeks because they are driven out by their parents – before they learn to fish!
Add to this the cold winters when the rivers, lakes and canals freeze over and there is no fishing at all, and it’s no wonder our wonderful kingfishers are in decline.
Around the beginning of this decade we had around 125 pairs in Lancashire, but there have been some rotten winters since then. On the whole we have about two per cent of the national kingfisher population in the region.
Kingfishers tend to hang out on the same branches every day in a small territory close to their burrowed nests on riverbanks.
They are an astonishing bright blue on their back, with a copper-coloured breast, a blue cap and a black bill.
Conservation work is definitely helping kingfishers, where rivers and other watery areas are being cleaned up to create habitats for wildlife and places for people to visit. In fact, the Wildlife Trust has helped to create the Kingfisher Trail, a 14-mile conservation area following the rivers Croal and Irwell from Bolton into Salford.
Work on this stretch of river is raising awareness of the area’s industrial past and the wildlife that lives there now.
The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside is dedicated to the protection and promotion of the wildlife in Lancashire, seven boroughs of Greater Manchester and four of Merseyside, all lying north of the River Mersey. To become a member of the trust, go to lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. »●For more about Cheshire Wildlife Trust, call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust. org.uk.