Working around nesting birds

[Stubby]

I think the RSPB are missing a chance here . As with the bat conservation trust maybe they should provide some sort of training and quailification for this (maybe they do and please correct me ) We had an ecologist on site watching us work a few weeks ago to keep an eye out for nesting birds and was being charged out at £500 a day and when I asked him what type of qualification relating to birds was his reply was none . Wtf !

 

I want that job .

[stihlmadasever]

Its definetly a tricky one and it would appear there is no definate answer.I can only comment on what we are instructed to do when we come across nests.

If a nest is spotted before work commences the job in question is called off until after nesting season.If a nest is uncovered whilst working in the tree,the nest is inspected for eggs or chicks.

The result of the inspection obviously determines the work re commencing or being halted.

I have been on jobs subbing for private firms where nests were moved to allow work to continue.

[Gary Prentice]

So what's the definition of a nesting bird? Does the absence of eggs and/or young allow work to continue?

 

I understood or assumed that even if the nest was under construction it counted?

[Haironyourchest]

Leally - who's gonna know? Who's gonna care?...morally - you feel terrible when you hit a nest. Birds are sensitive creatures, even exposing a nest without damage will drive the mother bird off for good, never to return. If its nesting season, just don't work on dense hedges.

[devon TWiG]

I had a Goshawk nest in some land I own and they are schedule 1 protected ...and no forestry operations are permitted within 400 metres from when nest construction starts ( feb , until chicks have fledged late june - july and had the police wildlife and crimes officer present to state this ......however the law does not forbid me from entering my land but if it can be proven that i intentionally / recklessly disturbed the bird then i could receive a custodial sentence ....a nest some 20 miles away was found to have been raided and the chick taken , with evidence of spike marks on the tree ( large DF ) , the bird fraternity can be very zealous in its support and protection of birds , yet i do not know of anyone getting in to trouble , accidently or otherwise .

[Mark Bolam]

Leally - who's gonna know? Who's gonna care?...morally - you feel terrible when you hit a nest. Birds are sensitive creatures, even exposing a nest without damage will drive the mother bird off for good, never to return. If its nesting season, just don't work on dense hedges.

 

 

I've exposed nests during plenty of jobs, fledglings and eggs, usually doves or blackbirds. Never intentionally, but we've tried to do the right thing and relocate them, last year to an adjacent conifer.

Always had great results, and on that conifer saw the parents feeding the two dove squabs in the different tree before we left.

It was my mates house and they reared successfully and are back this year.

Try not to disturb nests, obviously, but if you do don't believe the bs that if you touch a nest the parents automatically desert it.

 

 

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[David Humphries]

..........Birds are sensitive creatures, even exposing a nest without damage will drive the mother bird off for good, never to return.

 

This isn't always actually true,

 

couple of weeks back we had a weeping willow starting to delaminate via a developing crack at the base of the stem. Overnight the crack opened alarmingly so we had to do something as it would of collapsed in what is a very public and well used open space.

 

 

 

The tree is heavily colonised by the brown rot of chicken of the woods, (Laetiporus sulphureus) and has a number of significant cavities on a couple of the stems.

 

During our apprentice's ascent into the tree he noted a pigeon nest with two young squabs in one cavity and a couple of meters further up a mallard sitting on 5 eggs in the next cavity.

 

 

Mindful of the Wildlife & Countryside Act we would normally just leave them be and return to carry out any work when the chicks had fledged but due to the imminent nature of the hazard we had to act to stabilise the tree.

 

We decided to remove the canopy to arrest the dynamic split.

 

In doing so it meant that we would inevitably be disturbing the nesting birds and potentially be at odds with the legislation.

 

There is however the exemption that states;

 

"it is not illegal to destroy a nest, egg or bird if it can be shown* that the act was the incidental result of a lawful operation which could not reasonably have been avoided"

 

The reduction to stabilise a dangerous tree like this for safety takes our actions into the realms of it being a lawful operation.

 

For the record both mummy pigeon and mummy duck returned to their chicks and eggs after the work.

 

 

 

We intend to monitor the progress of the chicks and will return to further reduce/pollard/remove the tree once they are no longer in the there, unless of course the tree becomes more unstable in the meantime which gives us the right to remove the hazard with the nests in it, as this would still be a legal exemption.

 

.

[Stubby]

I've exposed nests during plenty of jobs, fledglings and eggs, usually doves or blackbirds. Never intentionally, but we've tried to do the right thing and relocate them, last year to an adjacent conifer.

Always had great results, and on that conifer saw the parents feeding the two dove squabs in the different tree before we left.

It was my mates house and they reared successfully and are back this year.

Try not to disturb nests, obviously, but if you do don't believe the bs that if you touch a nest the parents automatically desert it.

 

 

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This is what I have found also .

[Steve Bullman]

Cracking reduction David!!!

 

Just kidding, good post mate thanks

 

 

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[Joel77]

Iv just done a site clearance for a property developer and 2 nests was found on site by environmental they "badly" taped of a 10m circle around each nest one in brambles and one in a conifer so we've just worked around it

 

On the rail we work around nesting season to avoid the this

 

On demestic work I'd just relocate the nest and this has been successful so far