Making the news today....

[Mick Dempsey]

10 hours ago, peds said:

 

Are you suggesting that newspapers tend to print more stories about people who are famous? Or something else?

I'm not sure many of the more obscure cases would make the front page, to be honest. 

 

From my point of view, being a ordinary, untalented, not very good looking offspring of a famous talented celebrity must be a bitter pill to swallow for some.

Drawing attention to yourself in a way that doesn’t require anything from you but cosplaying a woman and having people talk to you about you rather than your famous relative must be an easy enough path.

[Steve Bullman]

1 hour ago, Mick Dempsey said:

 

From my point of view, being a ordinary, untalented, not very good looking offspring of a famous talented celebrity must be a bitter pill to swallow for some.

Drawing attention to yourself in a way that doesn’t require anything from you but cosplaying a woman and having people talk to you about you rather than your famous relative must be an easy enough path.

Yep. Micks articulated exactly what I was thinking.

[BillQ]

1 hour ago, Anno said:

this just provides a snapshot of where you are at that moment in time, what is required is long term data that can be reviewed and used to make decisions to halt the decline,

That's the problem though, we only have quantitive data that only goes back so far other than that its just 2nd 3rd 4th hand much like the garden bird survey. I remember the amount of starling in the town as a kid and adolescent now there aren't as many but I have to run under bridges or walk in the road because of the amount of kittiwake that I never saw back in the day. 

However its toasty in the garden and there's loads of greenfly flying past and I wonder if there will be a  huge amount of ladybirds next year like we got a couple of times back in the 60's 70's?

[Mark Bolam]

2 hours ago, Anno said:

guys all the above is great if only that it has raised awareness, however this just provides a snapshot of where you are at that moment in time, what is required is long term data that can be reviewed and used to make decisions to halt the decline, many opportunities online to get involved.

Buglife Surveys

WWW.BUGLIFE.ORG.UK

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One of the best ways for you to learn more about bugs and help conserve wildlife at the same time is take part in a wildlife surveys.

 

 

That’s exactly it.

 

I do think bugs have declined massively in my lifetime.

 

Birds are weird.

Some populations, especially raptors and magpies, seem to be growing exponentially.

Others are definitely declining.

 

Where have all the thrushes gone?

[Steven P]

Supply and demand, raptors don't feed on bugs but thrushes do

[sime42]

On 30/04/2025 at 10:48, Anno said:

‘Alarming’ bug splat decline on UK cars raises fears for flying insect numbers | Insects | The Guardian

WWW.THEGUARDIAN.COM

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Annual survey of numberplates from more than 25,000 journeys reveals 63% fall in squashed bugs since 2021

 

UK news today, not Marple obviously...

 

That's shit.

 

 

 

Edited May 1 by sime42
*state of affairs

[Mark Bolam]

3 hours ago, Steven P said:

Supply and demand, raptors don't feed on bugs but thrushes do

Why would bugs decline in rural Northumberland though?

It’s sheep and cattle country.

 

No one is spraying glyphosate and herbicides around at any great rate.

 

There are still plenty of blackbirds about.

[Johnsond]

13 minutes ago, Mark Bolam said:

Why would bugs decline in rural Northumberland though?

It’s sheep and cattle country.

 

No one is spraying glyphosate and herbicides around at any great rate.

 

There are still plenty of blackbirds about.

It’s not just what happens here that has an impact on things in regards birds numbers. As for bugs there’s no shortage in rural Aberdeenshire, not that I’ve actually tried counting mind. The front of my ranger seems to confirm this. 

[Stubby]

5 hours ago, Steven P said:

Supply and demand, raptors don't feed on bugs but thrushes do

The song thrush prefers snails when it can get them . When I was a kid I quite often saw a " Thrushes Anvil " Usually a big flat stone surrounded by broken snail shells . The Mistle Thrush will eat slugs , berries and invertebrates . I only see them in the woods . Song thrushes used to be a regular garden bird in my youth . Don't see one now .  🙁

[sime42]

First time I heard a Thrush I thought it was about 10 different birds. Such is their long, varied, random sounding song. They're like the bird version of a one man band.

 

I think they've just gotten very localised. Round my mum's you can hear one without fail walking along a certain path. And John Lennon airport in Liverpool bizarrely. I was staying in a hotel on the old site recently and heard one there, going on and on. They're unmistakable,; saying that though I wouldn't be able to tell between the normal and Mistle versions.