I saw an adult eel caught up but released from a fyke net in the Dee catchment near Aberdeen, in April 2017. Also saw tangle of elvers on shores of Loch Earn maybe 3 years ago, summer. They were the subject of some consideration at the time.
But a look through observations shows some nice Ispots more recently, different parts of the UK which is encouraging. Maybe more elusive, so observed when turn up in investigative context or dead?
Help a toad across the road (2): April update. The plan seems to have been successful
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The BBC article is perhaps more useful as it shows how the stump is now Toby Carvery owner admits cutting down ancient Enfield oak tree - BBC News
And whether or not it might regrow after âpollardingâ. Clearly it had been pollarded in the past and that is likely how it survived to be so old. However such an old tree and such severe âpollardingâ may be too much and it might now die.
Difficult to see how any reputable arboriculture people could have said the tree was dead as the images clearly show this was not the case. Possibly some interpretation of words.
So it seems that Betteridgeâs Law of Headlines applies.
But âIs Betteridgeâs Law of Headlines true?â
Iâm trying to recall an article I read some years back, about the problems of managing veteran trees.
They respond less well than younger trees if pollarded or coppiced, and the article focussed on a population that was âin the wayâ of development, with the risk of falling limbs devaluing the properties.
Experiments on similar trees had apparently shown that they stood a better chance of survival and regeneration when âpartialâ pollarding was done. It was argued that if the work was done in stages, giving the tree a couple of seasons to recover, they could be got into a pollarding cycle without losses.
But I donât recall the outcome: I doubt if developers would willingly accommodate a long-winded solution, when a chainsaw to the trunk could solve the problem much more quickly.
I think research on this has been done at Burnham Beeches over the last 30 years. As you say, elderly pollards respond better if not all the limbs are cut at first, leaving one or two to continue to âfeedâ the tree as it recovers.
I can relate to this on a personal basis!
Executions like this are frequently carried out where someone has an eye on future development and wishes to âunconnectedlyâ clear the way early. I donât think anyone has ever been prosecuted in this country - maybe just one, at most.
. Cowboys can be called experts; of course they want the work. A dead branch or two can always be found to terrify people with.
. There are serious questions to be answered here, and lies and evasions to be examined. Itâs high time laws were tightened around this kind of destruction, and properly enforced.
. Give the architect of this decision one month to grow a large oak of the same age, character and ecological value. If they canât, jail them.
Amazing news I thought the rafts etc were just a gimmick and nothing would come of it - weâve had nicer ones before - wonder where they came from and how they got there.
â Toby Carvery owner âsorryâ over ancient tree fellingâ
So thatâs all right thenâŠ..
Not happy about this!
Hunting of iconic species paused since autumn 2021 will continue pushing species to brink.
That they can do it with permission from next week is appalling.
The European Commission has announced (1.4.25) EU countries may re-open the hunting season for the European Turtle-dove (Streptopelia turtur) in parts of Western Europe if they choose to do so. The reopening follows a three-year hunting pause despite the speciesâ ongoing decline and weak enforcement of hunting laws.
What are they hunting them for?
Grown up in another hemisphere so I donât really understand. There are loads of pigeons here in London - so why kill doves?
Itâs âsportâ. When I was there many years ago (more than 50!) I remember seeing a tern being shot at. There was so much gunfire some mornings that youâd think a coup was taking place. Itâs very sad because most of the Maltese I met were lovely people.
When they finally go extinct, the hunters will be saying that when they were young there were thousands of them, and then they just disappeared. Just like Osgood Mackenzie wrote many times in his book, 100 Years in the Highlands.
Oh yes - now I remember being on a number of cruise ships where they had clay pigeon shooting - I see it was outlawed in the 1990âs - so was hitting golf balls - I once worked my passage on a Swedish ship and the shipâs officers enjoyed this in good weather in the tropics - but then on a Greek ship to South America, we were way down south, and the superstitious Captain would come to the stern to throw food to the Albatross that followed the ship.
Much smaller ships in those days,
Found this link:
There are several activities that cruise lines have dropped due to environmental concerns over the years. Skeet shooting is one, hitting golf balls into the sea is another, along with midnight buffets and messages in a bottle.
Skeet Shooting At Sea: The New Reality
Loved those midnight buffets or on the Union Castle Intermediate vessels a steward in the pantry would offer us delicious ham sandwiches - but in those days we had no fresh water baths - how things have changed!!
Canât get on to the main site but seem to be OK reachng the forums (fora?). This is in The Times (daily email) today:
Curlew numbers are rebounding in the UK after the start of a project to wipe out the stoats eating their chicks.
The wading birds make simple nests in the ground, leaving their young vulnerable, and they have been menaced by stoats on the islands of Orkney since the invasive species arrived 15 years ago.
The declines sparked an RSPB-led effort to trap and eradicate the stoats, called the Orkney Native Wildlife Project. A new survey of 100 sites in Orkney suggests curlew numbers have climbed 21 per cent since the programme began in 2019.
You may like the latest news from a friend in North Yorkshire - a heavenly spot for nature lovers:
I have been keeping a sharp lookout for the swallows completing their long journey north. The first arrivals have appeared this morning!!!, just two so far, Iâm sure they will soon be chattering away and rebuilding their nests. Peak numbers are around a dozen around my house and barn.
In late February the lapwings started calling and prospecting for nest sites in my fields, then a week or so later the curlews started gliding over and calling as they do.
My resident family of pheasants number one very aggressive cockrell and five hens he chases off any male competition most assiduously.
Then there are the tawny owl pair calling during the night, sometimes very loudly just outside my bedroom window and the barn owl that I see morning and evening which sometimes rest during the day in my hay shed, but hasnât nested there.
