Award for Friends of Skokholm and Skomer

Skokholm photo by Sid Howells

At a ceremony in London on 29th October, The Friends of Skokholm and Skomer were awarded the Marsh Award for Local Ornithology in recognition of the huge amount of work they have done to put Skokholm Island back onto the British ornithological map. The award was presented by The Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony hosted by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) at the Mall Gallery in London.

Skokholm Island, off the coast of Pembrokeshire, is home to internationally important wildlife populations, and is particularly well known for its seabirds. It was the first Bird Observatory in Britain, but lost its Observatory status in 1976. The island was bought by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales in 2007, by which time the buildings and ‘birding’ infrastructure were in complete disrepair and non-functional. Thanks to the Friends this is no longer the case. The work took four years to complete and almost 20,000 hours of voluntary labour.

The Friends are incredibly important to the islands of Skomer and Skokholm and since 1981 the membership has grown to over 400. Members help finance essential work through their subscriptions, but more importantly, many have taken part in voluntary work parties to help bring Skokholm back to its former glory and its return to official Bird Observatory status in 2014. Some of The Friends often act as voluntary wardens on both Skomer and Skokholm, helping with practical maintenance tasks, wildlife recording and research studies and are currently engaged in digitising the daily bird logbooks which date back to 1933. Well done all you hard workers!

Avian Pox

First it was just a single Great Tit with an ugly brown growth on its head, then there was another with a growth on its leg and another. 

Great Tit with Avian Pox
Birds are normally photographed for their beauty

Avian Pox is a disease spreading northwards and the hope is that the birds will develop an immunity to it; it does not seem to harm them. It is also present in Dunnocks but harder to detect against their brown plumage as they scuttle around beneath bird feeders.

If you see birds with such growths it would be good if you could report the fact on the new website promoting Garden Wildlife Health

It would be wise to give your bird feeding station a thorough clean to reduce the likelihood of the disease being passed on.

In February 2013 I think there were three infected birds regularly visiting my feeders but this year I have seen none. Did they recover?

Bird Atlas book and results available

I was lucky enough to be invited to the launch of the Bird Atlas 2007-11: The breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland, held at the premises of the Royal Society near Trafalgar Square on 21st.

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It was great to see all six authors signing copies of the book (mine was too heavy to take down with me unfortunately), and to meet up with lots of other BTO activists, both staff and volunteers. As this latest Bird Atlas for Britain and Ireland is the third breeding Atlas and the second winter Atlas, the species accounts have lots of maps showing changes in breeding distribution and abundance over 20 and 40 years, and winter distribution changes since 1981-84 (the previous winter Atlas).

Headline findings from the book were released on 25th November. Read the British Trust for Ornithology's press releases to find out more about colonisation of Collared Dove in Wales, the Great Spotted Woodpecker now in Ireland (used to be no woodpeckers there at all!) and the rapid decline of many Scottish breeding waders, like Lapwing and Curlew. This decline is also causing concern here in Wales.

Geoff Gibbs, chair of Natur Cymru

Iolo's Secret Life of Birds

Free copy of Iolo’s Secret Life of Birds 3 disc DVD box set RRP £17.99 [THIS OFFER NO LONGER APPLIES. ALL 5 COPIES HAVE GONE. You will need to order elsehwere.]

The first five people to phone through and order a new Natur Cymru subscription will receive a copy of the Secret Life or Birds, first shown on BBC2 in five half-hour episodes, which is being released as a DVD box set on 9^th April.

Here’s what one reviewer said about it:

For me there were plenty of secrets, some more spectacular than others: such as the aerial passing of freshly caught prey between a pair of hen harriers, or a tree creeper hollowing out a cosy sleeping hole in the bark of a giant redwood. More harrowing though was the story of the pigeons; diligently building their nest in Cardiff, taking turns to sit on eggs for three weeks, despite the rain, then four days of feeding until the sparrowhawk arrived - cruel curtains for the chicks as the helpless parents watched on. I think it makes a fantastic introduction or a great reminder of the rich variety of our bird life across Wales and aspects of behaviour most of us miss; both an inspiration and a snapshot in time.

CALL 01248 387373 to take advantage of this offer: if you leave a message, please remember to leave your phone number and mention the Secret Life of Birds.  Five copies available. First come, first served. Please have your credit / debit card details ready.