April 2014 Wildlife

[Maggi Young]

We've been sent this great link by our friend Beverley Merryfield in Canada to this article, with a great film of Hummingbirds  from Vancouver Island resident Eric Pittman - please take the time to wait through the adverts to see the charming pictures of the birds, who, it has been discovered, raise four familes per year!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/hummingbird-live-webcam-takes-flight-in-b-c-1.2594969

for main film and  the story of Eric Pittman and his study of the humming birds,
plus this you-tube  live webcam :

[mark smyth]

Sad news out of Malta

Retweeted Chris Packham (@ChrisGPackham):

We watched 21 Montagus Harriers going to roost . They are now out with torches shooting at them on the ground - it's beyond bloody belief .

https://twitter.com/search?q=%40chrisGpackham&src=typd

[mark smyth]

and even crazier news from Malta - Maltese want to trap 2.6 million finches

According to renewed demands made by hunters’ lobby FKNK, the federation wants the government to effect a derogation from the EU ban on trapping, so that they can take the astounding number of 300,000 Linnet, 900,000 Chaffinch, 500,000 Greenfinch, 400,000 Goldfinch, 300,000 Siskin, 200,000 Serin, and 60,000 Hawfinch over a period of two months trapping season between 7 October until 7 December – permitting a total catch of 2.6 million finches.
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/lifestyle/environment/37473/muscat_considers_lifting_trapping_ban#.U1TdIPdwZEb

[mark smyth]

http://www.chrispackham.co.uk/

[Anthony Darby]

For this very reason I have never had any desire to visit Malta. I remember having a holiday in southern Spain. I accidentally stumbled across a bloke with a caged song bird and a veritable forest of lime twigs. I stuck around and he eventually packed up and went. No birds stuck to his twigs that day. On holiday in Mallorca I could guarantee finding spent shotgun cartridges in any of the local nature reserves. 

[mark smyth]

I too was amazed at the number of cartridges on Majorca. Everywhere we stopped

[Anthony Darby]

A film about last year's Maltese spring massacre.

[johnralphcarpenter]

I can't read this thread anymore - it makes me too angry.

[mark smyth]

Everyone needs to watch Chris' reports. So sad. Why shoot birds and just leave them where they fall

[Anthony Darby]

At least the seal kill in Scotland seems to have been called off. http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-27109912

Edit: No it hasn't. They lied. They intend to continue killing seals and now they want to seize Sea Shepherd boats.
Victories are always so short lived. The seal killers Scottish Wild Salmon Company are now saying they will not kill seals while Sea Shepherd and the Hunt Saboteurs are in the port.

[Anthony Darby]

Kakapo Live Nest Stream from Codfish Island: http://kakaporecovery.org.nz/meet-the-kakapo/live-nest-stream/

[Roma]

A couple of insects for id.
A tiny weevil on a snowdrop leaf
A metallic blue ?fly with a yellow face found on a frit

[Roma]

I know what this is   I found one last year.  Today I found 4 ( All gone now  )

[Anthony Darby]

Roma, your weevil could be Rhynchites aequatus, which is associated with hawthorn. The other is a male saw fly Acantholyda erythocephala, which has communal web-spinning larvae among pine needles. http://bugguide.net/node/view/874098/bgimage

[mark smyth]

Anthony I thought of you this morning while watching a programme about Auckland Zoo. They were relaesing NZ geckos in to display