Your chance to meet Keilder’s Osprey family

912877022 UT73F S Your chance to meet Keilder’s Osprey familyThree osprey chicks are ready to make more natural history in Northumberland – and now youngsters are being invited to suggest names for each of them.

The record breaking birds in Kielder Water & Forest Park are the second brood to hatch in the north east after their siblings successfully fledged year

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A great ‘spore’ for England

900581169 AMzpH S A great ‘spore’ for EnglandIt might not look much but this little fella is as rare as a good start for England in the World Cup. As the eyes of the world focused on the first football fixture of the tournament, keen-eyed conservationists are already celebrating a special goal for England – the first sighting of a very rare fungus

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Tees Valley’s ‘rainforest’ to be surveyed

878434690 sN2fg S Tees Valley’s ‘rainforest’ to be surveyedThe Forestry Commission is backing a root and branch survey to assess the condition of the Tees Valley’s precious ancient woodlands. A grant of £4,000 has been made to the Tees Valley Biodiversity Partnership to undertake the task, which will take 18 months to complete and cover an area from Hartlepool and Redcar and

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Osprey couple back at Kielder

831736488 kovhv S Osprey couple back at KielderKielder Water & Forest Park’s record breaking ospreys are a couple once again!

The Kielder Partnership can reveal that the female bird – who mothered three chicks last year, the first born in the North East of England for at least 200 years – has returned to the same nest she used last year, where she

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Take a new look at nature

826347896 jXefB S Take a new look at natureLeaders of the three main political parties have been sent a letter from The Wildlife Trusts – urging them to introduce a White Paper on nature and ecological restoration in their manifestoes. The leaders are also being asked to commit to the implementation of the Marine Act and securing the designation of Marine Protected

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Osprey alert at Kielder

802242250 7VZt9 S Osprey alert at KielderRangers in Kielder Water & Forest Park are scanning the skies for the return of ospreys which last year nested in Northumberland for the first time in at least 200 years. The Kielder Partnership says it’s likely that the iconic birds will return to nest once again in the 62,000 hectare (155,000 acre) Northumberland wilderness, after the pair

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More happy returns for Northumberland's bird records

635463361 EkyAu S More happy returns for Northumberlands bird records

Marsh harrier chicks celebrating life in Northumberland.

Northumberland Wildlife Trust is delighted to announce that up to four Marsh Harrier chicks have recently fledged at its East Chevington reserve.

What makes this breeding even more exciting is the fact that this is the first confirmed breeding of Marsh Harriers

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Crimes against wild birds soar

631806813 k23GC S Crimes against wild birds soar

Rescuing a trapped bird of prey.

Wild birds are suffering from near record levels of persecution.

During 2008 the RSPB received 1,206 reports of shooting, poisoning, trapping and disturbance of birds and of the theft of birds and their eggs.

While the figure is slightly down from the all-time high of 1,228 reports in 2007, it remains the second highest we’ve ever recorded. Many more incidents are believed to have gone undetected and unreported and the figures include 210 reports of shooting and destruction of birds of prey.

As a result, the RSPB is using its annual Birdcrime report to repeat its call for a fundamental shake-up of the way such crimes are policed.

Data from the report showed the two worst counties in England for all reported incidents against birds of prey were North Yorkshire with 24 and Derbyshire with 14 reported incidents. In Scotland, problems were worst in Perth and Kinross where there were 18 reported incidents and in the Borders where there were 15. Aberdeenshire, Angus and the Highlands each had 14 reports.

The persecution of birds of prey is something the RSPB is campaigning to stop and which Government has declared one of its ‘wildlife crime priorities’.

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