February Nature News

It's time for my monthly round-up of nature and environment news, from the local to national stories and beyond.

Boost for Bats

The Bat Conservation Trust has released its latest "State of UK's Bats" report and generally it's good news(1). Of the UK's 18 resident species most are growing in number or are at least stable. Both the greater and lesser horseshoe bats are doing particularly well.

It's important to remember though that these figures have to be considered in context- there were major declines in bat populations during the 20th century due to human activity. Roost and habitat loss, disruption of insect food supplies, increased urbanisation and the spread of artificial lighting all had an impact and though conservation projects are really helping, bat numbers have not yet reached historic numbers.

Horrible for Hedgehogs

Similarly, the "State of Britain's Hedgehogs 2018" report was recently published but this was far less positive(2). It shows that since 2000, hedgehogs have fallen by about 50%.

The main reason for this, in rural areas at least, is the rise of intensive farming practices. Many farmers have removed hedges and copses to create larger fields, meaning there are fewer safe places and nesting sites for hedgehogs. Large-scale pesticide use is also reducing the amount of invertebrates which hedgehogs eat. Clearly this is not a good combination.

It looks like things are a little better in urban areas with numbers having levelled off. If you have hedgehogs in your area you can leave out wet dog or cat food to support their nutritional needs and ensure there are holes in your fences so that they can move from garden to garden.

Salmon's Secret

We recently saw how genetic testing of grass snakes showed how different our population is. Now it's genetic testing of salmon that has revealed surprises.

Photo by Sam Billington of the Environment Agency, via BBC News

Scientists have discovered that salmon in chalk streams in Hampshire and Dorset (including the Piddle, Frome, Test, Itchen and Avon) appear to be genetically distinct from others and may be a sub-species of Atlantic Salmon(3). The latter two rivers are one I have spend a lot of time looking at so this is a really important local story.

Chalk streams flow through chalk hills and generally have clear, slow-flowing water and are more alkaline than other rivers.

River Itchen

The scientists are saying that the fish might need greater protection and is they are a separate subspecies they can't simply be replaced with salmon from elsewhere in Europe.

Sorry Starlings

Hampshire County Council have come under fire recently for cutting down some trees near Winchester Fire Station where thousands of starlings were roosting(4). There has been a large murmuration of starlings in the city this year and many people have come to see them.

Starling Murmuration in Winchester by Roy Venkatesh via Hampshire Chronicle

So why would the council do this? Well bird poo appears to be the answer- they were removed "due to the impact they were having on operation vehicles and the health and safety of staff".

This is a really awful story because the council made a quick fix which destroyed a roost site for the starling and an important habitat for countless other species. They didn't consult the public and appear to have made no effort to have come up with a less drastic solution. Some people are saying it doesn't matter and that the starlings have moved elsewhere. But if every little conflict with nature was dealt with in such a dramatic way habitat loss would be even more severe than it is already.

Plastic Purge Continues

Last month I talked about how many companies were pledging to reduce the use of plastic packaging and this has contin

Lots of plastic ends up in the oceans having broken down into microscopic pieces known as 'microplastics'. It's thought that these have a huge impact all the way along the food chain from tiny plankton to larger animals like rays, sharks and whales. Scientists are calling for more studies to find out what impact microplastic have on these animals(7) though they suspect that effects might include reduced nutritional uptake and damage to the digestive system. There's also the possibility that toxin exposure from plastic ingestion could affect growth and reproduction.

Of course, that's far from the only threat to our oceans. A study has shown that in 2017 the oceans were by far the hottest ever recorded (records began in the 1950s) (8). Warmer oceans cause bleaching of coral reefs and the melting of ice shelves. The oceans are so delicate and we desperately need to do more to look after them.

Osprey

Last summer eight osprey chicks were translocated to Poole Harbour in the hope of creating a population there. All eight have migrated south for the winter but as they are ringed one has been spotted(9).

LS7 was seen on a long sandy island called, appropriately, Ile des Oiseaux in Saloum Delta National Park in Senegal. It's a popular spot for ospreys with 20 to 30 individuals regularly spotted there. They can fish in the rich, shallow delta and rest up happily on the island.

Ospreys on Ile des Oiseaux by Jon Wright

LS7 is the only Poole Harbour chick to have been sighted so far- no-one knows how many of the other seven even survived migration. They expect to only see one or two birds returning to Poole Harbour this year but LS7 may well be one of them as it is found a perfect site to overwinter.

That's all for now but there will be more Nature News towards the end of March.


1: BBC: Most bat species 'recovering or stable'
2: BBC: Hedgehog numbers 'down by half', warn wildlife groups
3: BBC: Genetic secret of English salmon
4: Hampshire Chronicle: Fury as Winchester Fire Station trees- used by city's much-loved starlings- cut down due to bird poo
5: The Guardian: Asda joins wave of supermarkets pledging to cut plastic waste
6: BBC: Queen backs plan to cut plastic use on royal estates
7: BBC: Plastic pollution: Scientists plea on threat to ocean giants
8: The Guardian: In 2017, oceans were by far the hottest ever recorded
9: Roy Dennis: LS7 seen in Senegal