Anyone still like Labour?

[Yournamehere]

You do insects , I'll do the birds.

Decline in UK bird pops

I'll leave that open, pick whatever source you like.

But re insects and motorbikes: used to have to stop and wipe down jacket and visor after a long trip: not any more.

Used to say you knew when a motorcyclist had had an enjoyable trip by the number of insects on his teeth!

Not any more.

 

As to birdlife decline -  for many species numbers have plummeted by up to 90%: we used to see flocks of yellow hammers and linnets, they would lift and fly ahead of us as we walked down a path or ride; now we may see one or two. They have become a rarity, a highlight of a day out. We used to stop working and listen to the nightingales in the middle of the morning; when I used to go fishing until 11pm or midnight I could hear five or six different nightingales from different parts of the surrounding woodland: not any more, I haven't now heard a nightingale for years and years. Even where I live in a small town (but surrounded by countryside) I used to be woken up by a deafening dawn chorus: it would rise and fall, wave after wave louder and quieter as the songs all mixed in together; sometimes I would get up and sit by the open window for five minutes before having to close it if I was going to get that extra hour's sleep. Over the last few years it has declined and lessened until this year - just last week in fact - I woke up - window wide open - nothing! Silence. A single blackbird giving it that twin burst of four notes (there used to be a dozen from all points and distances mixed in with all the other bird song) and a blackcap in the hawthorn outside the window was all that was singing to me.

 

Yes we see more birds of prey now: buzzards ravens and kites are nearly commonplace but that is because of the cessation of human persecution: does not mean that UK bird populations are not declining. It is ridiculous - tantamount to flat-earthism to claim otherwise. There's any number of credible sources on that link have a look before you comment further.

 

And just to make it easy: the first line off the first source: (RSPB) 

"Are UK birds in decline?

Yes. There has been a serious decline in the numbers of many birds,"

 

Your ball.

[GarethM]

9 minutes ago, sime42 said:

 

Once again, we are not talking about the Net Zero agenda or CO2 omissions here.

The phenomenon of biodiversity collapse is highlighted by reams of research data now. To be honest though you ought to be able to see it with your own eyes, car windscreen splats being an easy place to start. I'm not sure how you can refute all that, but you do seem to be so I guess we've reached the end of the road with this. Discussion stifled. 

Obviously ignoring the car design quote then.

 

"2020 Tesla Model 3 has a drag coefficient of 0.23, making it more aerodynamic than the 60s-era cars. The 60s cars generally had higher drag coefficients, often between 0.4 and 0.5. "

 

Driving the same car since the 60s ?, nope didn't think so. Go drive a flat windscreen tractor you'll soon change your tune when it resembles a massacre.

 

As usual the discussion doesn't fit your narrow end of the world Gretta narrative ergo end of discussion huh ?.

[Haironyourchest]

We don't actually need biodiversity. What we do need is a basic food chain. Look at the most productive agricultural lands - they're monoculture.

 

We need a reliable supply of fertilizer and water, that's all. If the bees collapse we can pollinate with drones. Trust the science.

[GarethM]

2 minutes ago, Yournamehere said:

You do insects , I'll do the birds.

Decline in UK bird pops

I'll leave that open, pick whatever source you like.

But re insects and motorbikes: used to have to stop and wipe down jacket and visor after a long trip: not any more.

Used to say you knew when a motorcyclist had had an enjoyable trip by the number of insects on his teeth!

Not any more.

 

As to birdlife decline -  for many species numbers have plummeted by up to 90%: we used to see flocks of yellow hammers and linnets, they would lift and fly ahead of us as we walked down a path or ride; now we may see one or two. They have become a rarity, a highlight of a day out. We used to stop working and listen to the nightingales in the middle of the morning; when I used to go fishing until 11pm or midnight I could hear five or six different nightingales from different parts of the surrounding woodland: not any more, I haven't now heard a nightingale for years and years. Even where I live in a small town (but surrounded by countryside) I used to be woken up by a deafening dawn chorus: it would rise and fall, wave after wave louder and quieter as the songs all mixed in together; sometimes I would get up and sit by the open window for five minutes before having to close it if I was going to get that extra hour's sleep. Over the last few years it has declined and lessened until this year - just last week in fact - I woke up - window wide open - nothing! Silence. A single blackbird giving it that twin burst of four notes (there used to be a dozen from all points and distances mixed in with all the other bird song) and a blackcap in the hawthorn outside the window was all that was singing to me.

 

Yes we see more birds of prey now: buzzards ravens and kites are nearly commonplace but that is because of the cessation of human persecution: does not mean that UK bird populations are not declining. It is ridiculous - tantamount to flat-earthism to claim otherwise. There's any number of credible sources on that link have a look before you comment further.

 

And just to make it easy: the first line off the first source: (RSPB) 

"Are UK birds in decline?

Yes. There has been a serious decline in the numbers of many birds,"

 

Your ball.

Yet all this money those RSPB types spend on the reservation achieved very little.

 

Yeah, like most shooting estates next to the RSPB found the shooting estates managed habitat had more species and controlled fox predators.

[Steven P]

7 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Obviously ignoring the car design quote then.

 

"2020 Tesla Model 3 has a drag coefficient of 0.23, making it more aerodynamic than the 60s-era cars. The 60s cars generally had higher drag coefficients, often between 0.4 and 0.5. "

 

Driving the same car since the 60s ?, nope didn't think so. Go drive a flat windscreen tractor you'll soon change your tune when it resembles a massacre.

 

As usual the discussion doesn't fit your narrow end of the world Gretta narrative ergo end of discussion huh ?.

 

as above, motorbike aerodynamics haven't changed a lot in the last 50 years, the human on top is till the same shape. Explain that one away. Not buying car aerodynamics as a reason there are practically no inspect splats either by the way.

[Yournamehere]

5 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Yet all this money those RSPB types spend on the reservation achieved very little.

 

Yeah, like most shooting estates next to the RSPB found the shooting estates managed habitat had more species and controlled fox predators.

Discredit.

Distract.

Well done.

[GarethM]

1 minute ago, Yournamehere said:

Discredit.

Distract.

Well done.

Actually it was an estate up on rishworth moor I think, same as one of the wildlife trusts one with starving deer.

 

Believe what you wish, read whatever biased give us more money articles you want.

 

Reality is shooting estates are managed and maintained, they aren't sterile zoos.

[Stubby]

35 minutes ago, Yournamehere said:

You do insects , I'll do the birds.

Decline in UK bird pops

I'll leave that open, pick whatever source you like.

But re insects and motorbikes: used to have to stop and wipe down jacket and visor after a long trip: not any more.

Used to say you knew when a motorcyclist had had an enjoyable trip by the number of insects on his teeth!

Not any more.

 

As to birdlife decline -  for many species numbers have plummeted by up to 90%: we used to see flocks of yellow hammers and linnets, they would lift and fly ahead of us as we walked down a path or ride; now we may see one or two. They have become a rarity, a highlight of a day out. We used to stop working and listen to the nightingales in the middle of the morning; when I used to go fishing until 11pm or midnight I could hear five or six different nightingales from different parts of the surrounding woodland: not any more, I haven't now heard a nightingale for years and years. Even where I live in a small town (but surrounded by countryside) I used to be woken up by a deafening dawn chorus: it would rise and fall, wave after wave louder and quieter as the songs all mixed in together; sometimes I would get up and sit by the open window for five minutes before having to close it if I was going to get that extra hour's sleep. Over the last few years it has declined and lessened until this year - just last week in fact - I woke up - window wide open - nothing! Silence. A single blackbird giving it that twin burst of four notes (there used to be a dozen from all points and distances mixed in with all the other bird song) and a blackcap in the hawthorn outside the window was all that was singing to me.

 

Yes we see more birds of prey now: buzzards ravens and kites are nearly commonplace but that is because of the cessation of human persecution: does not mean that UK bird populations are not declining. It is ridiculous - tantamount to flat-earthism to claim otherwise. There's any number of credible sources on that link have a look before you comment further.

 

And just to make it easy: the first line off the first source: (RSPB) 

"Are UK birds in decline?

Yes. There has been a serious decline in the numbers of many birds,"

 

Your ball.

The balance has changed round here . Where I used to see large murmurations of Starlings I only see a handful now . But I only used to see the odd Goldfinch and now lots . Larks are still singing here . My bird app said so !

[GarethM]

I've said it before, avoid feeding birds too much as it creates a unsustainable population that effectively starves more birds.

 

Feeding 5000 Vs 500, instead of foraging for weed seeds and grubs. You're parents might have given them scraps but not kilos.

 

Cut all hedges back to under 5ft and make them thicker and dense by treating them mean, if you can see through a hedge it needs reducing.

[Youngstu]

33 minutes ago, GarethM said:

Actually it was an estate up on rishworth moor I think, same as one of the wildlife trusts one with starving deer.

 

Believe what you wish, read whatever biased give us more money articles you want.

 

Reality is shooting estates are managed and maintained, they aren't sterile zoos.

There is plenty of information from some of the conservation writers acknowledging that some of the few 'islands' of safety for certain populations are on those moorland shooting estates, but the additional negative consequences of management for singular target species are far from insignificant. 

In reality, the importance of these islands of protection for species that were once widespread is due to the extent of modern farming practises, particularly the loss of historic hay meadows in favour of high production arable and silage production that led to a loss of plant species on the land being farmed as well as the impact on hedgerow species and the wider ecosystems. 

Figures I read recently stated that a greater mass of pheasants are released into the British countryside than the entire mass of wild birds, with very little in the way of control, record keeping or biosecurity. The consequence of this alone (in terms of insect and wild bird populations, as well as general biodiversity), for the enjoyment of a few who like dressing up for a bit of fun is undoubtedly highly significant for the areas where it has become prevalent in recent years.