BBC & The Black Winged Stilt

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Joe Public/Ian Magness

One of the UK’s rarest birds is raising a family in Kent after escaping record temperatures further south, nature experts say.

Four black-winged stilt chicks have recently fledged in Worth Marshes, near Sandwich, after a pair of the birds arrived from Africa in the spring.

It is believed the species is flying further north as climate change causes its natural habitat in countries like Spain to become too hot.

“The wetland habitat is so incredibly important for them to breed,” said Vicki Peaple, a warden for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) in Worth Marshes.

The nature reserve has been especially prepared to welcome black-winged stilts, which wildlife presenter Bill Oddie named “one of the world’s most elegant birds”.

New water control structures have been put in that hold the water in the winter and control levels over spring and the summer.

“It’s been a big, big change but it’s produced some wonderful results,” said Izzy Donovan, senior site manager.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5138mvyv51o#

Climate change?

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the black-winged stilt has often visited these shores in the past:

Coward 1926

Witherby 1946

.

Bannerman & Lodge 1961

Birds of Wiltshire 2007

As for “escaping record temperatures further south”, given that the birds arrived in spring, I can only say they must have seen a more reliable weather forecast than the Met Office’s 3-Month Outlook!

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July 23, 2023 11:34 pm

Even when the birds are happy and migrating back to England, the climate alarmists have nothing but hand wringing and doom to bring to the discussion.

Reply to  PCman999
July 24, 2023 12:09 am

With all those wind turbines.. they must have been lucky to make it !

Reply to  bnice2000
July 24, 2023 1:31 am

“With all those wind turbines….”

_________________________

Bird Chopper.png
Reply to  Steve Case
July 24, 2023 5:47 am

There’s a lot of mileage to be had from that picture!

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Richard Page
July 24, 2023 1:30 pm

Yeah, like a lot of bad Photoshop.

July 23, 2023 11:37 pm

One pair of of how many thousand? millions? more? is a sign of a changing climate. All the others are too dumb to notice?

antigtiff
Reply to  AndyHce
July 24, 2023 4:27 am

White winged stilts are appearing – it’s evolution……white reflects heat better.

Reply to  AndyHce
July 24, 2023 7:01 am

Yeah, you would think whole flocks of them would be coming to the UK if their habitat was changing drastically.

Bill Toland
July 23, 2023 11:54 pm

The BBC just doesn’t care any more about how mad their reporting is. They will say anything which can be construed as caused by climate change, no matter how idiotic.

Reply to  Bill Toland
July 24, 2023 12:05 am

Climate scientists as a group underwhelm me but every time I hear the BBC (or any other media organization) blame some occurence on climate change I ask out loud: which actual climate scientist told you that?

All these organizations count themselves climate experts now. They encourage each other to ever greater excursions from reality.

leefor
July 24, 2023 1:07 am

So how many marshes are left? I thought they were built out. /sarc.

Reply to  leefor
July 24, 2023 5:22 am

I know that was sarcasm, you left a hint!
But the UK has been putting a lot of effort into “Rewilding” to encourage wildlife back to its old habitats. The area in question has had work done to retain water. Many of the species appearing were either hunted to extinction or left during the LIA, some species were driven into isolated corners of the UK have been reintroduced into their former territories, Red Kites, Pine Martens and many others re-introduced White Tailed Eagle, Bittern, Wild Boar and Beaver some planned some not

But for the BBC a few Black Winged Stilts are a problem

Reply to  Ben Vorlich
July 24, 2023 5:49 am

So we’re encouraging yet more illegal immigrants to come over here by providing them with nice accomodation! sarc

CampsieFellow
July 24, 2023 1:17 am

One pair of black-winged stilts does not climate change make.

Reply to  CampsieFellow
July 24, 2023 5:50 am

Nor a particularly large pie.

Rod Evans
July 24, 2023 1:51 am

As the BBC’s national treasure, newsreader Huw Edwards would have said, “our ornithological editor there Ms Bird giving us the latest crisis report, Ms Bird there”
Sadly due to ongoing mental health difficulties, brought on by paying a young adult for discreet personal pictures costing him £35,000, Huw is presently unavailable to read his auto cue. His ongoing salary of around £half a million is thankfully unaffected by his ‘personal’ difficulties.
“Our national treasure from the BBC there, Huw Edwards”
It can’t be long before a BBC ‘spokes person’ claims the disappearance of the Cuckoo from our shores is Climate Crisis driven. Meanwhile the invasive grey squirrel migrant population a growing nuisance, takes our native specie’s eggs from the nests along with other feathered visitors, leading them towards extinction.
Not dealing with real dangers, while focusing on imaginary ones is never a long term strategy for success, is it?
If we didn’t know our Ps and Qs we would be allowed to describe it as an existential threat……

Reply to  Rod Evans
July 24, 2023 3:26 am

I have heard a cuckoo maybe twice in the UK. But in Spanish woodland at the right time of year you will hear dozens of them. It isn’t our excessively hot weather that keeps cuckoos out of the UK .

(I just ordered 1000 litres of heating oil this morning, such is our summer warmth.)

Rod Evans
Reply to  quelgeek
July 24, 2023 3:32 am

Yup, the incredible heat enveloping Europe is so real, the golfers at Royal Liverpool were forced to wear their winter fleece lined waterproofs for the Open this year.
The golfing sweater looks like it will be around for a few centuries yet….
The heat here is so bad, I actually woke up in the night to close the bedroom window. Too much of that heat plume was coming in and reducing the room temperature to below 15 deg. C.

Reply to  Rod Evans
July 24, 2023 7:06 am

Good one! That was Funny! 🙂

July 24, 2023 2:07 am

ha ha haha hahahahaha: “Birds of Dumfriesshire

There’s yer Climate Change writ large

I know Dumfriesshire, my Cumbrian farming patch was already north of Hadrian’s Wall and any much further would have been in Dumfriesshire.
I was raving about the place very recently as being (probably) where The Wettest Place in Scotland is:
i.e. Eskdalemuir

While Cumbria, home to Wettest Place in England (the Lake District) not exactly known for its Mediterranean Fayre, camels, pyramids or sandy beaches.
Yes: Wellies, webbed feet and Manky Owlde Yows ## – (less than) cheerfully chomping every last shred of greenery and creating what has to be the world’s first/only Fully Waterlogged Desert

Thus: Due to the rigours of Climate Change this hapless (not so) bird-brained pigeon is forced to move 300+ miles closer to the equator to find its preferred climate and a place to drop an egg or two.

what went wrong here. what happened.

Hunga Nunga Tonga Gunga Dindadin Tonga Nonga Gone Gonga Nong Bong-Gong volcano springs to mind at this juncture.
You know the one – that which NASA have recently filled their diapers about and “150 million tonnes of water”
My remit as Cumbrian Farmer was 2 part:

Husbanding 125 black Angus cows and their babiesEscorting over one million tonnes of (rain) water off my 250 acre premises Every Single YearNow tell me about water and climate

## Swaledale sheep

Reply to  Peta of Newark
July 24, 2023 5:55 am

“What went wrong? What happened?” They got lost is what happened – they lost their sense of direction and flew north instead of south. Rare birds indeed – we got the failures, the idiots that can’t navigate and ended up going in completely the wrong direction.

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Peta of Newark
July 24, 2023 1:49 pm

I’m sure Dumfriesshire is nicer than Dumfries, VA.

July 24, 2023 3:34 am

“It probably won’t surprise you to learn that the black-winged stilt has often visited these shores in the past”

but.. but… THIS TIME, it’s gotta be due to climate havoc!

Reply to  Joseph Zorzin
July 24, 2023 7:08 am

I laughed at that! We are going to have to start using “climate havoc” more often! 🙂

July 24, 2023 5:03 am

It is believed the species is flying further north as climate change causes its natural habitat in countries like Spain to become too hot.”

So who, exactly, are the “nature experts” who believe this?

The nature reserve has been especially prepared to welcome black-winged stilts”

So did they go to the cost and trouble of planning, designing and installing “new water control structures” “especially.. [for] ..stilts on the basis of someone’s belief that these birds might fly further north to escape intolerably high temperatures in Spain? Or could it be that persons with real knowledge know that these birds turn up from time to time, know the kind of environment they prefer, and have managed the reserve accordingly?

commieBob
July 24, 2023 5:21 am

The BBC reports that Greta Thunberg was fined for disobeying police at a demonstration.

Thunberg claimed that her actions were justified because:

“I believe that we are in an emergency that threatens life, health and property,” she told the court, adding that “countless people” were at risk.

So, the BBC has provided her with yet another chance to spread disinformation.

The good news is that the court didn’t buy Thunberg’s crap.

commieBob
Reply to  commieBob
July 24, 2023 5:28 am

Darn. This was supposed to be a reply to Bill Toland. It started out as a “story tip” but, on sober second thought, it’s not much of a story. The good news is that the Swedish justice system still works properly.

Reply to  commieBob
July 24, 2023 5:58 am

The Swede’s did better than the German’s did with Greta, or maybe Sweden just knows her better.

Jeff Alberts
Reply to  Richard Page
July 24, 2023 1:51 pm

Alert! Alert! Apostrophe Abuse! Alert! Alert!

Reply to  Jeff Alberts
July 24, 2023 3:12 pm

4 alerts for 2 instances is a bit OTT, isn’t it?

Reply to  Richard Page
July 24, 2023 3:17 pm

As an update, shortly after leaving court following being fined, she did exactly the same thing and the Swedish police have had to remove her from another protest near Malmo. Wonder how long it’ll be before they stop the fines and start the custodoal sentences.

Reply to  commieBob
July 25, 2023 1:28 am

Also good that she presented her delusions as a belief, not a fact.

Jon Garvey
July 24, 2023 7:04 am

Springwatch recently labelled three bee-eaters attempting to breed in Norfolk as “climate refugees.” That too is not as it seems – I wrote about it here.

Reply to  Jon Garvey
July 24, 2023 7:42 am

Chris Packham being a pillock yet again?

Jon Garvey
Reply to  Richard Page
July 25, 2023 4:45 am

‘Fraid so.

Mantis
July 24, 2023 7:41 am

Nature is much more resilient than fragile, confused leftists who can’t figure out their own gender.

Dave Andrews
July 24, 2023 8:01 am

According to my RSPB Handbook of British Birds (2nd Edition 2006)

The black winged stilt is

“In Britain a rare visitor with only 3-5 records per year – although some exceptional years have produced over 20. Birds have been found mainly in the south and east of Britain”

“Britain is on the edge of its range but with recent breeding attempts there is a possibility it will attempt to colonise in the future”

bobpjones
July 24, 2023 8:58 am

So, when do, the er… the pigs on stilts arrive?

Jeff Alberts
July 24, 2023 1:29 pm

More Climate Myopia.

ResourceGuy
July 26, 2023 10:32 am

And when they return in greater numbers because of the water features, it will be labeled confirmation of the climate claims. Sad

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