Fears harsh winter harmed UK wildlife

[admin]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8575537.stm

During the harsh winter of 1963 the UK wren population was almost wiped out and other birds suffered badly kingfishers suffering up 90% loses. Looks like this one may have had an especially  bad effect again on  kingfishers. Ironic isn't it with all this alleged  climate warming stuff going on  that a colourful bird that looks like it belongs in a warmer climate appears to have suffered so badly.

[sandyborthwick]

Not looking too good for them at all .

They have been trying to mitigate things down here in the south by cleaning some fresh clay bank for the Kingfishers.

Sandy B.O.

[River Chatter]

A single bird doesn't isn't really telling, but I did see a kinfisher flit past me at the usual breakneck speed a week or two back.

[superscot]

We walk doon my local river and came across a couple of the kings ....really braw birds and so fast

[Clan Ford]

I doubt your average Scottish kingfisher has had much trouble accessing water, our kingfishers seem to prefer the streams - which will have had less of a problem with freezing.  Still plenty "buzzing" round the Earn, plenty of Herons as well

Norm

[admin]

I tried to keep our local speugs fed, but they all buggered off during  the worst of the weather, save the dunnocks. Hardy wee blighters indeed.

[burnie]

A lot of the birds we see in winter are from the continent and will have now gone back,I see a lot of this movement sea fishing in the Arbroath area,even flocks of Robins.
Breeding birds seem to be of similar numbers round here,seed eaters like sparrows are helped by the farmers leaving stubble fields for them,they're only now ploughing them in for the next harvest.
I was up Glen Doll yesterday where we saw over a 100 Red deer stags,some with only one antler,which look funny,also saw our first Golden Eagle in Angus.Seems that most of the wildlife has come through ok.
Migrants are back too,Ospreys at Kinnordy fishing,I think it was a Perch one of them had got.

[daz]

The wrens had a really hard time of it round my way. They use the swallows nests round our house during the winter to roost in, I have lost count  of the numbers I have picked up over the winter, I have even seen half a dozen of the nests fall down due to the numbers inside them. Unfortunately it's hard to put out feed for  wrens as they don't tend to eat seeds/nuts and I havent found anywhere yet that sell live insect bags for them. I managed to rescue a few and bring them into the house to warm up a while before letting them back out but I doubt many of them survived. They will sometimes eat a little scrambled egg but that's about all you can do for them.

darren

[Roobarb]

Friends (who are slightly richer than me...) were on the Helmsdale in March. They were told that hundreds of deer had starved in the strath, mostly young ones. I can't help but think that this might be a good thing, not a nice way to go but that's natures way of balancing things.
While kingfishers may have been able to find open water would there be any fish out and about to get eaten, most fish tuck themselves away when it gets really cold. Southern kingfishers in my neck of the woods are doing ok but then we didn't suffer anything like as badly as you did up there.


Andy

[tenfootfive]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8575537.stm

During the harsh winter of 1963 the UK wren population was almost wiped out and other birds suffered badly kingfishers suffering up 90% loses. Looks like this one may have had an especially  bad effect again on  kingfishers. Ironic isn't it with all this alleged  climate warming stuff going on  that a colourful bird that looks like it belongs in a warmer climate appears to have suffered so badly.

now that the snow has cleared -last week - I havent seen a wren......in fact not since early Jan[they would pickup stuff from under the bird tables] - we have rakes of them in the wood next door...or used to..they were often in our woodshed.....not a sight