The Decline in Numbers, of British Mammals.

idahoblues said:
I’m an avid hunter, I have spent years wandering through huge tracts of forest in Idaho, that might sound a contradiction but I have killed 6 elk in that whole time. I have been lucky enough to have seen some crazy things, wolves, bull elk fighting, owls, eagles, coyotes blah blah…
There are strict regulations on what I can and cannot shoot, only one animal. To be able to harvest the finest wild game imaginable and actually get it out, butcher it myself might sound weird but it is a wonderful thing.
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Serious question...do you hunt for ' sport ' or necessity.
 
Kirkstall Blue said:
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A rare sight indeed a kingfisher not far from me actually caught a fish while watching it.
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See a few near us whilst walking the dogs which sort of surprises me. People complain about the quality of rivers but Kingfishers are around, we have loads of herons with a heronry very close by, a pair of dippers near the bridge, Shags by the score at certain times of the year, goosanders etc etc., I've had 4 sightings of otters in the past few years...and people say the rivers are dead.
 
When we lived in Droylsden we used to see Herons everyday catching fish, Canada geese, Mallard ducks constantly making nests in my back garden with as many as nine/eleven little ducklings
At night bats flying overhead and
Birds of every description this was taken near the coast
1737567778025.jpeg
 
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Kirkstall Blue said:
When we lived in Droylsden we used to see Herons everyday catching fish, Canada geese, Mallard ducks constantly making nests in my back garden with as many as nine/eleven little ducklings
At night bats flying overhead and
Birds of every description this was taken near the coast
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We had a bat, 9.15 pm every night flying past the window yet when we lived in Sale there were thousands.
 
There is a biped British mammal that has a red top that is making a comeback. It’s Latin name is dipperalis dillusionalis and it comes out early spring with its unmistakable dolphin like high pitched squeal and says they are going to win the quadruple only to stick it’s head up it’s arse and disappear about May until August. It’s closely related to gooneralis bottlingus
 
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dennishasdoneit said:
Your observations mirror mine,over the years.

And it is why I created the thread with its rather dramatic title...
For me, as a keen observer of natural history for some 4 decades,I can say,without a doubt ...we are in decline.
. Turning to birds ...I can remember in the mid 80s,on open arable land
The Grey Partridge, when disturbed would rise in a covey of up to 20 birds.....this figure gradually declined to the present day when , a quite pathetic 2 or 3 would take to the skies. Something is quite wrong..

Turning to mammals again , in the mid 80s, I recall fields of maybe 40 Rabbits , lots and lots of rabbit warrens,well used down the years...
It's not something I see now out on walks ...the odd rabbit here and there.
As I've mentioned before in this thread, The Rabbit being the staple diet of many many predators,this is worrying ... the food chain is depleted ,with obvious effect ...

This saddens me too.

The decline of Nature is something which will effect us all....in time.

Thanks for your candid observations...
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One of my neighbours is a scientist, and we were walking up the road a while ago having a chat.

He was not impressed with the council that had recently installed LED lights in the lamposts, saying they were really bad news for insects. They mess with their life cycle and hinders their reproduction, leading to a decline in numbers with the knock on affect that has on the numbers of animals feeding on them.

He was not at all happy about it.
 
NPBlue said:
One of my neighbours is a scientist, and we were walking up the road a while ago having a chat.

He was not impressed with the council that had recently installed LED lights in the lamposts, saying they were really bad news for insects. They mess with their life cycle and hinders their reproduction, leading to a decline in numbers with the knock on affect that has on the numbers of animals feeding on them.

He was not at all happy about it.
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Ive been highlighting the lack of insects for a couple of years now and the off topic thread " Where have all the Insects gone ?" contains intresting reasons for their decline , together with the usual sneering opinion from some who don't agree...Which I find baffling .Tbh


I would imagine LED lights have a negative effect on all wild life directly or indirectly .there are dark mornings when I can hear birds awake at say 3am singing completely out of key and at the wrong time ...you'd have to have listened to bird song over the years to notice the difference ..the fluorescent street lights are upsetting their body clocks
Then you have super fast cable/ wifi which hums an ominous deadly tune which I can only imagine how it affects insects Inc bees wasps hornets etc
Insect eating birds have been decimated in Numbers.
The Sand Martin's near me returned in smaller numbers this summer from their winter shores .....why would you continue to fly half way round the world for less food supplies ? The cuckoo has been declining for over a decade now ; once THE voice of the meadow and low.and country side,

At least you have added scientific debate to the thread! ....I've been aware of it for years tbh. Getting folk to talk about it is another matter; much to much else happening as a distraction......
 
NPBlue said:
One of my neighbours is a scientist, and we were walking up the road a while ago having a chat.

He was not impressed with the council that had recently installed LED lights in the lamposts, saying they were really bad news for insects. They mess with their life cycle and hinders their reproduction, leading to a decline in numbers with the knock on affect that has on the numbers of animals feeding on them.

He was not at all happy about it.
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That's as maybe but what did insects do for the 500 million years before the council changed the streetlight bulbs ;)
 
Our local council are for once on the ball. A guy we know has just bought the house next door about 6 months ago, it's been empty for at least 12 years and because of that the local council have stopped him starting any work before march just in case there are bats, they've also instructed him to put up bat boxes and bird nesting boxes in certain positions on his house.
 
If you live near open water then your chances of seeing mammals are much higher, last year I caught a glimpse of a rat type thing so quick not sure what it was.

When we lived up in Rossendale we used to see foxes and in our back garden and up an oak tree a song thrush. Even heard a cuckoo.

Last year hardly any greenfly on the roses or daddy long legs, moths and only one white cabbage fly, house flies and spiders all in short supply. I thought it was the weather it never stopped raining and this year has carried on much the same. A lack of insects will affect the bird population eventually.


A lovely picture of five barn owls born on the Spencer estate
 
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dennishasdoneit said:
Ive been highlighting the lack of insects for a couple of years now and the off topic thread " Where have all the Insects gone ?" contains intresting reasons for their decline , together with the usual sneering opinion from some who don't agree...Which I find baffling .Tbh


I would imagine LED lights have a negative effect on all wild life directly or indirectly .there are dark mornings when I can hear birds awake at say 3am singing completely out of key and at the wrong time ...you'd have to have listened to bird song over the years to notice the difference ..the fluorescent street lights are upsetting their body clocks
Then you have super fast cable/ wifi which hums an ominous deadly tune which I can only imagine how it affects insects Inc bees wasps hornets etc
Insect eating birds have been decimated in Numbers.
The Sand Martin's near me returned in smaller numbers this summer from their winter shores .....why would you continue to fly half way round the world for less food supplies ? The cuckoo has been declining for over a decade now ; once THE voice of the meadow and low.and country side,

At least you have added scientific debate to the thread! ....I've been aware of it for years tbh. Getting folk to talk about it is another matter; much to much else happening as a distraction......
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I don't know about adding scientific debate. It's nice of you to say it but that's a bit too far fetched for my simple brain.

It's an interesting point you made, though, about birds chirping away in the dead of night. There have been a couple of occasions over recent years I've heard it, and on both occasions it was in the depths of winter.

It was full on constant chirping throughout the night, and I just thought 'Oh man, you're wasting your time' and well, kind of felt sorry for them looking for a mate at the wrong time of year, but I admired their persistence.

Thinking about the points you've made, I never thought at the time it was the street lights scrambling their brains, but it makes sense now.

Yes, there are many aspects of life we once knew which have changed.

With regard to insects, I used to drive for a living at night, and it became very noticeable at some time over the last 15 years or so ago, maybe less, I don't remember exactly when, the amount of dead insects on the front of our vehicles had diminished significantly during the summer months.

I wasn't the only driver to notice it, and it promoted a sort of 'what's going wrong with nature' discussion amongst us because the contrast was so obvious when compared to previous years.
 
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Dave Ewing's Back 'eader said:
I saw a mink on the opposite side of the towpath on the Rochdale Canal. I thought it was quite a rare sighting until Mrs Ewing's cousin told us that they were quite common.
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I've never seen one. I've heard that they are quite common though..

I've never seen a wild Otter before either ,not for the lack of trying..!
 
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