Osprey alert at Kielder

Rangers 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 successfully reared three strapping youngsters on an artificial platform erected for the purpose by the Forestry Commission.

The male

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The challenges facing bioidiversity

The Annual Tom Dunn Lecture, one of the key events in the North East’s wildlife calendar, is to take place in Durham Town Hall in Market Square, on November 10.

The guest speaker is Dr Anne Borland, Reader in Molecular Plant Physiology at the School of Biology at Newcastle University and Director of Moorbank Botanic Garden.

Her lecture ‘A perfect storm’  takes the theme of the many threats facing biodiversity on a local and global scale and asks

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TV presenter backs bid to help threatened woodland birds

A County Durham couple have stepped forward to help the region’s threatened woodland birds.

Janice and Michael Baker, whose son Matt Baker presents BBC TV’s Countryfile, have shown that a love of the environment runs deep in the family by pledging to improve an 8 hectare (20 acre) ancient wood on their organic sheep farm near Tow Law for species like Pied Flycatcher and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker.

Matt Baker, from BBC TV’s Countryfile, in woods on his <font face=

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Project aims to help rare butterfly

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene). Photo: James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster - Click photo to enlarge.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene). Photo: James Lindsey at Ecology of Commanster – Click photo to enlarge.

Durham Wildlife Trust and Northumbrian Water have launched a new project to protect rare species in the face of climate change, starting with County Durham‘s rarest butterfly.

At

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Grant helps secure rare wildlife habitat

Male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) - Photo courtesy André Karwath. Click to enlarge... Used under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

Male Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum) – Photo courtesy André Karwath. Click to enlarge… Used under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

One of the UK’s rarest types of wildlife habitat will be expanded following

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More happy returns for Northumberland's bird records

Marsh harrier chicks celebrating life in Northumberland.

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 in Northumberland since circa 1880. This latest news come hot of the heels

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Durham Wildlife Trust gets top marks for educational visits



Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve and Joe’s Pond near Houghton-le-Spring has shown itself to be at the top of the class for educational visits by being awarded a Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge.

The Quality Badge scheme combines for the first time learning and safety into one easily recognisable badge for all organisations providing learning outside the classroom experiences.

Durham Wildlife Trust Director Jim Cokill said: “Being awarded the Quality Badge is a real coup for

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Party time at Rainton Meadows

Durham Wildlife Trust now hosts parties for children and young people from 3-13 years old at Rainton Meadows.

The parties include pond dipping, mini beast hunts, bird watching, themed games and activities, party food, birthday cake, and goodie bags. Parties can last an hour or two or be a whole day of wildlife activities. The minimum number of children is six, with a maximum of 24, and there must be at least one adult with every six children.

For more information, and details of the

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Would you swim in your local river?

River Wear in Durham.

River Wear in Durham.

More than half (52 per cent) of people questioned would not swim in their local river because they think it is too polluted.  That was the shocking finding from a survey carried out for the Blueprint for Water, a coalition of leading conservation groups.

The survey, carried out by ComRes, also found 97 per cent of people in England recognise that rivers,

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Coffee at Beckwith's

Volunteers from Sunderland Provider Services have taken over the coffee shop at Rainton Meadows and transformed it into Beckwith’s at Rainton.

The volunteers will be staffing the coffee shop every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 10.30 and 2.30pm, selling a variety of refreshments. Local MP Fraser Kemp and Mayor of Sunderland Cllr Denis Richardson kindly performed the official opening before the Family Fun Day.

Trust Director Jim Cokill said; “I’d encourage all members to come down and enjoy Beckwith’s. Their custom will support the work

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Free bird feed

 

March 2010
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