SALISBURY Cathedral’s peregrines are back in their South Tower eyrie and so far have four eggs, which can be watched via one of the three peregrine-cams. The eggs have been laid over the last few weeks. The fourth was spotted by sharp -eyed RSPB South Wilts member Nicola Bowes one evening last week. The cathedral…
THE national conservation charity, the Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT), is planting fast-growing willows (osiers) on Bere Marsh Farm near Shillingstone in Dorset and is appealing for public donations to help protect the young trees. Deer cause catastrophic damage to trees by stripping the shoots, foliage and flowering buds. The fence will protect the recently planted willow…
FLO, one of the 2021 Salisbury Cathedral peregrine falcon fledglings, has set up home in the centre of Hertford, 90 miles from home as the crow (or the falcon) flies. British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringer, Nigel Jones contacted the Cathedral peregrine team to let them know that Flo (named for Florence Nightingale to mark…
BRITAIN’S only surf contest for canines, the UK Dog Surfing Championships rides the waves back on to the beach at Branksome Dene Chine in Poole on Saturday 23rd July from 10am to 10pm. Bigger and better than ever, the fourth annual Dog Masters Festival is now an all-day event that extends into the evening with…
THE four peregrine chicks that have been hatched at Salisbury Cathedral have been ringed, reading for their imminent fledging. The chicks, that hatched in the nestbox on the South Tower balcony, were ringed by Nigel Jones from the British Trust for Ornithology, assisted by Phil Sheldrake, the Cathedral’s nature conservation adviser. The two females and…
ONE of Britain’s rarest birds, the dimunitive Dartford warbler, which was threatened with extinction, with just a handful of pairs in Dorset in the 1960s, has made an impressive come-back, with 183 pairs recorded on RSPB reserves in 2021. The recently launched RSPB Ecology Report records this good news, which is attributed to concerted conservation…
WE all need some good news, even if it is only very small – an egg. Salisbury Cathedral’s peregrines have laid their first egg – and within a few days there may be more. The female returned to the nest just before 7pm on Saturday 19th March and laid the egg just before 8. She…
THE peregrines are back on their lofty perch at Salisbury Cathedral – and the webcam which allows us to see them has now gone live. They’ve been hanging around the tower for a while and have been seen mating, so the signs are good. Last year the first egg was laid on 15th March so…
AN unusual friendship has developed at Longleat where an emu chick which was rejected by its parents and a flock of farmyard chickens. The two-month old chick is being reared by keepers who have named it Bueno. It is the first to have been successfully reared at the Wiltshire safari park. Keepers initially cared for…
DEVON-based alcohol-free spirits company Sea Arch Drinks is working with The Seahorse Trust to help boost awareness of the charity and raise much-needed funds to support its research and conservation work. Both based in Devon, Sea Arch and The Seahorse Trust share a passion for the coast and a commitment to protecting the natural world….