Truth Or Propaganda

[sammy]

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/dramatic-decline-in-common-birds-1

[JADE]

Saw the guy on bbc breakfast this morning. Not enough hedgerows and use of modern pesticides are the problem. I think I will plant a hedge below the eaves of my house where sparrows were nesting before they got wiped out by a sparrowhawk

[gulkie]

http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/dramatic-decline-in-common-birds-1

I have never read so much tripe in all my life, The RSPB most of the members haven't got the I.Q of a pot noodle

They know what the probs are it's them and there tunnel vision ,take birds and animals habitat away and they will

Find other places take their life away that's a different matter ,and that's what the RSPB are doing by all the protection

Orders they have on birds of prey if there were no pigeons the wild bird population would be all but extinct you RSBP

Members for the sake of the wild birds waken up .

[Guest stb-]

total bollocks there vanishing quicker than snow in the oven because the basta hawks are eating them as soon as there out the nests.

 

prpaganda for more money to raise b o p

[walterboswell59]

this is the time the so called raptor alliance should be going in all guns blazing to tv radio and newspapers telling them the true facts and getting the public on our side while its in the public eye instead of wasting there time trying to go through goverment channels that dont give a dam imo we should all be writing letters to news papers telling them whats happening to our song birds

[paullock]

I will be honest with you guys, My opinion only, There are a whole host of issues for the decline in wild birds across the UK, I’ve been interested in wild birds for nearly 40 years and I identify the decline to the following:

1, Large Lost of key habitat - i.e. marsh / Meadows / Ancient Woodlands.

2, Population explosion of house cats.

3, Pesticides over the last 50 years.

4, Birds of prey.

5, Changes in farming methods.

 

Surly all these changes in the last 50 years would have a huge impact on wild life in general.

[john cumming]

its just same old same old, RSPB blaming everything but the obvious, at the rate the RSPB say wet lands are being drained and property development increasing we will have no birds left in their book , like in previous replies on this thread, now is the time for the raptor alliance to step up and get as much air time and tabloid write up to just highlight the very obvious problem which are/is hammering the birds mentioned in the report, the very existence of these species of birds are in the balance and yet again RSPB still do not recognize that the raptors play an ever increasing part of the decline.

 

 

 

john

 

 

 

[walterboswell59]

agree with some of what you say m8 but birds of prey head the list by far watched a pair of sparrow hawks take 22 birds robins bullfinch chaffinch goldfinch woodpecker sparrows and starlings off next doors bird table in one day they were using it as a takeaway it was a crying shame and the rspb are responsible as they were breeding them a few miles from me the falcons are here every other day killing anything in the air large or small they are known to kill and eat over 70 species of british birds they should hang there heads in shame as they have poluted our country with raptors that are and will wipe out our small birds and will not admit they have made a very big mistake tampering with nature the public will not be fooled for ever there seeing it to

[Guest Owen]

paullock

I see they have got to you!

I live in the Welsh Valleys and I am an ex shepherd. I used to roam the hills all around here and was very used to what was happening on the hills. It is important that you realise that the Welsh Hills have not be changed or altered at all. No-one has spread the merest handful of lime or ploughed a square inch of soil. Yet the wild bird populations have plummeted with the exception of the Goshawks, which are at plague proportions, and the Falcons which are everywhere. The argument about blaming anything other than the Birds of Prey is completely wrong and misleading whatever the RSPB says.

On the lowlands Farmers are doing all they can to encourage birds to nest by creating habitats and suitable habitats are increasing all the time. Ask yourself why habitats are increasing but the song bird populations are shrinking all the time. I grant that sparrows are in trouble due to lack of nesting sites but jackdaws are doing well in spite of the lack of nest sites. I have no doubt that cats are a real threat to the wild birds but the cat numbers have remained stable for a long time now.

The problem is that there are not enough people who understand what affects the wild bird populations and are prepared to believe what the RSPB have to say instead of working out the truth for themselves.

[paullock]

Hi Owen,

Really good to read your points and I do agree with you but also believe on the broader scope of effects concerning wild birds, In shropshire we have our fair share of Raptor attacks, I for one have had attacks but not at the level I am hearing about around our county and the country, I had no sparrow hawk attacks last year and only Percy passing through when birds were not out on a couple of occasions (Luck), I think this is down to the fact I let the birds out to train at 6 - 8am & 6-9pm due to working on average 9 to 5pm so hawks are probably fed by then, I also train early and late.

 

Pigeon fanciers are very very passionate about this subject and who can blame them when the hard work goes up in feathers right in front of their eyes a lot of the time.

 

Walter,

You should start documenting the bird feeder with time log feedback to the RSPB and the fancy so we can we the depth of the problem.

 

I’m not a member of the Chris Peckham brigade so these views are my own and my own experience.

 

Paul.

[walterboswell59]

the guy was so sick of the wee birds getting killed he took the bird table down paul even though he was a bird lover he asked me if i could move them on and i did but another pair appeared in a matter of weeks so he just gave it up rather than see the the birds being killed

[William Reid]

.

[William Reid]

. http://youtu.be/Yg120hHjlfM

[William Reid]

. http://youtu.be/T5pfdEOxmj8

[Guest bigda]

i would say the magpie is 60% to blame for eating chicks then have a bad winter the next year and the sparrows and blackies are done for, add sparrowhawks and you will find out there is thousands taken each year a house cat, would be lucky if it took 2 a week a magpie would strip out 10 nests in a hour, they watch every nest till the chicks squawk.

[William Reid]

. http://youtu.be/SV1WoE1rwu0

[just ask me]

i would say the magpie is 60% to blame for eating chicks then have a bad winter the next year and the sparrows and blackies are done for, add sparrowhawks and you will find out there is thousands taken each year a house cat, would be lucky if it took 2 a week a magpie would strip out 10 nests in a hour, they watch every nest till the chicks squawk.

 

 

 

cats kill thousands there destructive damage to songbirds is untold they will kill every young bird in there nests on hedge row

 

if a house cat gets into your loft would he only kill 1 or 2 not a hope same goes for and hedgerow

 

the amount of cats i see living in the wild now is a lot more than it used to be and i mean in the countryside last spring ive seen cats living in rabbit burrows and hunting even similar to a ferret killing young rabbits only days old one burrow had a large number of recently killed birds and young rabbits

 

the damage that bop do is unreal but don't underestimate your house cat

[Guest bigda]

cats kill thousands there destructive damage to songbirds is untold they will kill every young bird in there nests on hedge row

 

if a house cat gets into your loft would he only kill 1 or 2 not a hope same goes for and hedgerow

 

the amount of cats i see living in the wild now is a lot more than it used to be and i mean in the countryside last spring ive seen cats living in rabbit burrows and hunting even similar to a ferret killing young rabbits only days old one burrow had a large number of recently killed birds and young rabbits

 

the damage that bop do is unreal but don't underestimate your house cat

 

a take it you aint seen the magpie in action then.

i have never seen a cat in a hedge i have seen them under it yes but as most farm hedges are made of brier and hawthorn cats and jaggy hedges don't go, yes a cat will kill birds in your shed if got in, but it don't seem to do to good when your pigeons are out the loft, so that puts your argument to bed, about killing loads of birds

the magpie kills the next years stock and sparrows only last 2 winters at most.

Edited December 10, 2013 by bigda

[john cumming]

a take it you aint seen the magpie in action then.

i have never seen a cat in a hedge i have seen them under it yes but as most farm hedges are made of brier and hawthorn cats and jaggy hedges don't go, yes a cat will kill birds in your shed if got in, but it don't seem to do to good when your pigeons are out the loft, so that puts your argument to bed, about killing loads of birds

the magpie kills the next years stock and sparrows only last 2 winters at most.

 

 

so are the raptors not??

[paullock]

Hi all, this is a good even discussion going on here, that's really good and thought provoking I think.

Paul.

[just ask me]

a take it you aint seen the magpie in action then.

i have never seen a cat in a hedge i have seen them under it yes but as most farm hedges are made of brier and hawthorn cats and jaggy hedges don't go, yes a cat will kill birds in your shed if got in, but it don't seem to do to good when your pigeons are out the loft, so that puts your argument to bed, about killing loads of birds

the magpie kills the next years stock and sparrows only last 2 winters at most.

 

 

bigda ive spent a large amount of time in the country side have done lots of vermin control including magpies i know only all too well what they can do i never said anything about magpies at all

 

my comments on cats from what i have seen the cats that live around you must be of a softer variety than the ones i know lol as ive seen loads in hedge rows they have often bolted while been hunted out by terriers when out for a few rabbits

[Guest bigda]

so are the raptors not??

 

i wouldn't say a percy would find a sparrow appetizing but we have covered the sparrow hawk, and there is about 265,000 pairs in the uk and the sparrow hawks will take what the magpie misses mainly starlings,

Edited December 10, 2013 by bigda

[Guest bigda]

bigda ive spent a large amount of time in the country side have done lots of vermin control including magpies i know only all too well what they can do i never said anything about magpies at all

 

my comments on cats from what i have seen the cats that live around you must be of a softer variety than the ones i know lol as ive seen loads in hedge rows they have often bolted while been hunted out by terriers when out for a few rabbits

 

how can they say farm land is affecting birds, then say less wet lands when its the sparrows

that don't live in the wet lands, they live in hedges or trees i have seen percys take duck at will.no mention of them as most are hand reared for shoots. the thrush both types all but gone the blackies are on there last year or two, never heard a Corncraig in 20 years nor a Cuckoo, the peewee almost gone in areas wood pigeons coming into towns to live among us, as the goshawk sees to keep killing them. those colorful ring necked doves are disappearing very fast. if i had to throw bread out in 3 days i would have to go lift it and put in the bin. birds don't come around our place no more to scared to come out of the hedges

 

[john cumming]

how can they say farm land is affecting birds, then say less wet lands when its the sparrows

that don't live in the wet lands, they live in hedges or trees i have seen percys take duck at will.no mention of them as most are hand reared for shoots. the thrush both types all but gone the blackies are on there last year or two, never heard a Corncraig in 20 years nor a Cuckoo, the peewee almost gone in areas wood pigeons coming into towns to live among us, as the goshawk sees to keep killing them. those colorful ring necked doves are disappearing very fast. if i had to throw bread out in 3 days i would have to go lift it and put in the bin. birds don't come around our place no more to scared to come out of the hedges

 

 

 

I agree, even starlings up here are in decline and when we throw bread out its sea gulls that take the lions share nowadays and we watch the gulls taking starlings on a daily basis

[Guest bigda]

I agree, even starlings up here are in decline and when we throw bread out its sea gulls that take the lions share nowadays and we watch the gulls taking starlings on a daily basis

 

yes that is they way of it, the sea birds we get down here are fed and reared from the bin bag from the tips they gull have fed on any thing from rotting nappies to rats now that the wheelie bin has stopped a free meal, every low life will move into a area where they can get something to eat, pigeon lofts will be the next big target percy has a taste for the Tern and Puffin at the minute, but it will work its way through the lot. given time