Back Garden Biodiversity Report 2015

Gold finches on Nyger Feeder

So, coffee in one hand, small pair of binoculars in the other, one hour of intense garden monitoring commenced! The day was cloudy, cold but dry and the task: to record as part of the RSPB's annual Big Garden Bird Watch, bird species and the highest number of individuals of each species seen in just sixty minutes.


The RSPB's fully automated reporting system challenged one of my results. I'll come back to this. Here is the score for a garden that is smaller then a tennis court (a metric used by the RSPB) and which is close to farmland and well equipped with bird tables and feeders:

Pied wagtail 1

Starlings 22

Blackbirds 3

Great tits 3

Feral pigeons 19

Robin 1

House sparrows 6

Chaffinches 5

Coal Tits 2

Blue Tit 1

Wood Pigeons 1

Magpie 2

Collared Doves 2

Gold finches 5

Dunnock 1

Some gulls also flew over but these don't count. So that was a total 15 species. 

Pied wagtail (juvenile)

Not seen but regularly present in the garden are wrens (apparently having a tough winter because of the cold), black caps, long-tailed tits and carrion crows. The spectacular gold finches arrived in just the last few minutes of the survey and a small flock of long-tailed tits arrived an hour too late. The feral pigeon numbers are well up on previous years as the word has clearly gone around pigeon-land that we are a soft touch for easy handouts.

Also arriving too late was the juvenile pied wagtail pictured here, which was very promptly seen off by the resident adult.

Pied wagtail juvenile

Pied wagtail (dominant) adult

The record challenged by the RSPB's web-based system was the number of starlings. The programme was obviously checking for mistakes  but twenty two was correct (meticulously counted as they rapidly bounced from feeding on the lawn to hiding and preening in the fringing hedgerow) and about half the size of of the starling flock that regularly is seen here in the summer.

Another regular garden visitor - the North American grey squirrel

'Vermin' Watch 2015

WARNING: If the sight of certain rodents upsets you - go no further. 

I have encountered a rather unusual and totally unexpected wildlife experience this mid-winter. 

An old hollow tree near the canal proves to be home to a family of brown rats. There is at least one large one and three smaller. Like pretty much everyone else I have seen this species before but usually only out of the corner of my eye and often at dusk, as one moves swiftly to hide. However, in this case - with little effort - I have been able to view them without them startling. 

These are wild rats - not tame one - living in a rural situation - the open countryside and farmland in one direction the town in the other and, in between, the old canal from which they regularly drink. 

Is the coast clear?

Our reaction to rats is typically rather visceral. For some it is a phobia but for most we see them as unwelcome vermin, stored food despoilers and disease-bringers. Those who keep them as pet know them to be sociable and intelligent. In fact., whilst rats no longer threaten us with plague (and that was a different species), in the UK they do carry leptospirosis (or Weil's disease) which affects humans and dogs and if not treated can be fatal. (Curiously, my local paper carries a warning this week to look out for this disease in dogs following a local outbreak.) And despite our relatively rare sightings of them (and their unpopularity), they are very common - their population in this part of the world is probably only second to that of humans. 

What has stuck me about them is their agility (they clamber easily all over the old tree), their swift and silent disappearance when disturbed and their peaceful behavior towards each other. Unless anyone objects strongly more news about rats will follow. 

One of the smaller ones peering out from one of several burrow entrances among the roots of the old hollow tree. 

The biggest one ventures out

Garden Watch 2015

Next weekend in the UK marks one of the most amazing examples of 'citizen science' when, at the behest of the Royal Society for the Preservation of Birds(RSPB), many of us will sit at our windows for an hour armed with a score sheet. We will record all the details of the birds and any other animals that visit during this time. We will submit this online or by post along with a few details of the area that we viewed.

The RSPB uses this information to monitor the trends in garden birds and other wildlife. Through this they have shown significant declines in common birds like starlings and recoveries in others. It is a great example of where ordinary people can help conservation and half a million took part last year: details HERE and a summary of previous results HERE.

Regular readers will know that a small starling flock visits my small back garden and the pleasure I take in watching them raise their broods. Now we are in the midst of winter; the harshest time of year for all wild creatures. Their numbers are reduced - the flock may have spread out - but they are still visiting and at this time of year their dark oily plumage is peppered with stunning white spotting.

Here are a few images of the starlings and some other birds here in mid-winter.

The two young magpies that grew up in the garden over the summer are still around.

And this pied wagtail has taken up residence - only seen in the garden in the winter.

Dragons for the New Year

I cannot resist sharing just a few more photographs from my visit to the Galapagos Islands last November. This time the focus is exclusively on the marine iguanas which are pretty much ubiquitous around the coasts of the Islands. The bigger ones (well over a meter/yard) are apparently the males and they tend to have a more ruddy hue.... except on the Island of Floreana where they are all rather reddish (something to do with diet).

And if they are not the origins of dragons I will eat my old green tilly hat - or I would do if it had not gone missing from my luggage on the way home.

Anyway these marine dragons, swim by lashing their long tails and are mainly indifferent to people but, if irritated, they sneeze salty snot at you (clearly dragon-fire).

They bask in the sunshine on the sand, rocks and even the pavement in the main town and when warm enough swim out to sea to graze on seaweeds... not entirely dragonish that vegetarian diet but I am sure it is very nourishing.

Basking on the rocks of Floreana

warmed up and off to sea

across the warm sand

through the shallows

and away through the waves!

Fast through the mangrove roots

handsome is as handsome does

Best Blogs of 2014

So, as the sun sets on the last day of the year, here is my list of some of the best blogs of 2014. 

Blogs are typically short and punchy and express an opinion. The ones that I have chosen here are also brave, produced by experts and often touch on things we might not otherwise know.  I am undoubtedly biased in terms of topic and author but that is probably not entirely unique in end-of-year-type reviews.

Firstly, here is Birdlife's Luca Bonaccorsi on Europe's new attitude to nature (this is going to be a big issue in the coming year):

'... we keep destroying habitats and endangering the “festival of life”, through careless neglect and culpable plunder. It is us, human beings, that are impoverishing and degrading our living planet. We cover our fields with biocides, concrete and tarmac. We consume resources and dump our waste which poisons the water of rivers and seas. We chop down and burn trees way faster than they can possibly regrow. And we’re altering our climate, setting the stage for unpredictable and possibly catastrophic consequences.'  Full article HERE


Next, here is a short piece that for me reflects on one of the great achievements of 2015, when an international convention (a UN body no less) embraced culture within its lexicon of conservation and this time it is Whale and Dolphin Conservation's Philippa Brakes speaking on the New Scientist website:  

''The new resolution recognises both positive and negative consequences of non-human culture. Individuals passing on knowledge may increase population viability by allowing the rapid spread of innovations amid environmental challenges, which could mean more-resilient social groups. On the other hand, the effects of human-induced threats may be amplified by the presence of non-human culture...'. Full article HERE


In this next piece published in the Ecologist is a prelude to the last meeting of the International Whaling Commission and in it the Environmental Investigation Agency's Clare Perry focuses on Iceland:: 

"Iceland claims its whaling is sustainable when the best available scientific evidence reveals that its fin whale quota is more than three times greater than the level considered sustainable." Full article HERE. 


Leaving the whales, here now is Mark Jones (now with the Borne Free Foundation) looking at the contentious badger cull in the UK on the Huffington Post::

"After two years, the government's own results clearly show the pilot culls have failed to deliver on either effectiveness or humaneness. Its apparent determination to carry on regardless reflects the political motivation behind the policy, which has little or nothing to do with science-led disease control". In full HERE.

Chris Butler Stroud looks at foreign policy and whaling here in a rare analysis of the behavior of the USA in this matter:

"Some would argue that despite decades of the development of international law, some nation states still seek to avoid the ramifications of upholding this growing area of law, relying on historical soft and hard power to influence future policy. The ramifications of such a world-view are that such countries can therefore fail to hold other states to account for their failures under international law. But what has this to do with US foreign policy?" Find out HERE: 

Here Wayne Parcelle reviews the sixty year history of the Humane Society which was celebrated this year:

"In the post-World War II era, their first campaigns helped pass a federal humane slaughter law and restrict the seizure of pets from shelters for use in animal experiments. They realized that we would not be able to rescue our way out of the problems -- but needed to prevent cruelty by raising awareness, professionalizing our entire field of work, and driving sound public policies and corporate reforms."  Full blog HERE.

And, finally, amazing footage of  those (in my experience) very illusive and amazing Welsh Risso's dolphins leaping from the water off Bardsey Island taken last summer and  c/o Vicki James HERE

I started to blog on the Huffington Post this year and you can judge my seven offerings HERE. 

Happy New Year!

Seasons Greetings

Images from in and around Bath at Christmastime to wish all friends, colleagues, students and readers a very happy end to the year and a peaceful 2015. 

(The centre image shows the Christmas Market with Bath Abby behind). 

Final Blog of the Year!

One of the world's cetaceans is poised to go extinct.

This must not be allowed to happen.

In this final piece for the year for the Huffington Post HERE I explain a little more of this desperately urgent situation.

Galapagos Giants REV

The Galapagos Islands are extraordinary. They are populated by a rich variety of remarkable and accessible animals and their diversity famously helped Charles Darwin ferment his theory of evolution. 

Galapagos Mockingbird

The legend is that he was most taken by the birds. He recognised the subtle differences between the different species. The mockingbirds were allegedly the group that drew his attention most, although his name is more associated with the finch species.

Shy giant (they hiss to warn you off)

However, the animals that the island are best-known for, the tortoises whose evolution in this isolated archipelago allowed them to reach great size and develop into a number of subspecies attracted his attention for a different reason. Like many early visitors, famously including visiting whalers, Darwin captured and sailed away with a number of the giants because they survived for many months out at sea, providing a ready source of fresh meat. 

Poor tortoises! Here are some pictures of the descendants of some of those left behind which I met on the Islands of Santa Cruz and Floreana.

First a picture to show both scale and what the well-dressed Englishman is wearing in the tropics this year:

Man meets ancient tortoise (the tortoise is on the right)

A Giant has a snack

A Giant wallows in some lovely green slime

A youngster - maybe 3 years old - on Floreana 

Snack time at the Floreana feeding station - part of a reintroduction programme

Two subspsecies showing the more traditional shell shape on the left and the 'sadlleback' on the right

A small altercation - they soon settled down - when properly riled they bang noses!

And not far away - the tortoise's cousins - Pacific Green turtles

And by vast popular demand - a blue-footed booby

synchronous diving by blue-footed boobies

juvenile frigate bird

Galapagos sealion and marine iguana take a nap - Floreana

And finally one of Darwin's famous ground finches (small female)