UK Nature and Environment

RSPB NI are thrilled to announce that three calling Corncrakes have returned to Rathlin Island for the breeding season this year.

They were first heard calling on the island this year in April by Liam McFaul, RSPB NI’s Rathlin Island reserve warden.Once widespread across Northern Ireland, changes to agricultural practices have seen Corncrake suffer a decline in numbers since the 1980s.

However, thanks to conservation efforts from RSPB NI, in partnership with volunteers and landowners, their distinctive “crex-crex” call has been heard once again on Rathlin Island.

Whether it is sewage pollution or carbon emissions the next government will play a crucial role in shaping the country's environmental direction.

Not that you'd know it as so far there's been little talk of climate change, according to some voters, while species decline is another pressing issue.

The Lancashire Wildlife Trust has also been clear on what it wants the next government to do in the north west of England - to take environmental issues "seriously".

A drone is being deployed to spot signs of elm disease across Brighton and Hove, home of Britain’s biggest collection of the threatened species.

The new technology has given the arboriculture team at Brighton and Hove City Council another way to look out for the early signs of disease.

Over the past 60 years or so, elm disease – also known as Dutch elm disease – has led to the destruction of thousands of the trees across the country.

"Too much tidiness isn’t good for nature," a major conference heard, as experts gathered to discuss environmental recovery.

Delegates at last Friday's Tees Valley Nature Conference heard that while the first environmental strategy had sat on a shelf since 1989, the latest Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) were set in law and had the finances to succeed.

Hosted by Tees Valley Nature Partnership (TVNP) and Your Tees Catchment Partnership at Teesside University, the conference, entitled Uniting for Nature’s Recovery, attracted specialists from around the country.

The Isle of May has seen its puffins numbers increase by around a third since 2017.

Home to one of the UK’s largest colonies, the habitat has been monitored by NatureScot and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), released their findings last week.

Based on their all-island count this summer, scientists estimate there are about 52,000 occupied puffin burrows, compared to 39,000 in the last survey in 2017, showing a 33 per cent increase.

However scientists and field workers on the island remain concerned about the ongoing impact of food supplies and climate change on populations.

Beavers have been found to be living on the River Stour in Dorset in the latest sign of a comeback by the dam-making mammal.

Dorset Wildlife Trust has confirmed that a recently planted tree had been felled by a beaver although it was unable to determine how many were living in the area.

Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, which has occurred twice in Britain, is set to become a new addition to the British list, following taxonomic changes confirmed by the International Ornithological Committee (IOC).

In the upcoming updates to version 14.2 of the IOC's World Bird List, which are rumoured to included some significant changes from a British-listing perspective, the Red-rumped Swallow complex has been split.

The nominate form, Cecropis daurica daurica, which is found from southern Siberia to the Amur River, northern Mongolia, western China and Transbaikalia, will become Eastern Red-rumped Swallow, with European Red-rumped (C d rufula) and African Red-rumped Swallows (C d melanocrissus) to be split and treated as full species in their own right.

The Big Butterfly Count is a UK-wide survey aimed at helping us assess the health of our environment simply by counting the amount and type of butterflies (and some day-flying moths) we see.

A farm has installed three osprey nests, on telegraph poles 56ft (17m) high, in a bid to attract the rare birds to breed.

The platforms have been built on land at Warleigh Barton, Plymouth.

Elsa Kent, who set up the Tamar and Tavy Osprey Project, said they had been sighted at Warleigh for about 40 years, but had never bred.

Her mother, Katherine Kent, said the "huge nests" were an equivalent of a "bed and breakfast" for ospreys. Elsa Kent

A campaign week is taking place in a bid to help halt the decline of swifts.

The migratory bird is a summer visitor to the UK after wintering 3,400 miles south in Africa.

The birds mate in the UK, but due to their nests in the eaves of buildings being blocked, the RSPB said numbers were in decline.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust is participating in a national awareness week, from Saturday until Sunday 7 July, to showcase the birds and their plight.

Tens of thousands of native trees have been planted on a Sutherland estate as part of a wild fish conservation project.

Atlantic Salmon Trust is working with the Duke of Westminster-owned Grosvenor's Reay Forest Estate on a 10-year project to restore habitats and boost numbers of Atlantic salmon and sea trout.

The fish spawn in the area's River Laxford.

Trees can play a part in keeping rivers cool and also provide habitat for insects fish feed on, while fallen leaves are a source of nutrients.

The establishment of a new Wildlife and Species Forum has been welcomed by rural business organisation Scottish Land and Estates (SLE).

The forum will facilitate engagement between land management interests, Ministers and senior officials on key areas of wildlife, species and associated land management policy.

Ministers and officials will explore collaborative policy opportunities that align with a just transition to net zero.

Openreach, the UK’s largest wholesale broadband provider and the owner of the nation’s second largest commercial van fleet, has today announced its involvement in the 2024 “Bugs Matter” survey. The national citizen science study is organised by Buglife, Europe’s largest invertebrate conservation charity, and Kent Wildlife Trust, the county’s leading conservation charity to raise awareness of insect conservation. The UK wide survey – which started on May 1st 2024 and runs until September 30th 2024 – encourages volunteer citizen scientists to measure insect splats (the number of dead insects) on vehicle number plates as a sign of insect abundance.

With a fleet of 29,000 vehicles which covers more than four million miles every year, Openreach has the potential to make a huge difference to the study and is aiming to double last year’s input data by recording 4000 Openreach journeys alone. It’s hoped that this commitment, from one of the nation’s largest fleets, will inspire other businesses and organisations to get involved with the survey.

Already supported by a nationwide network of volunteer citizen scientists, the “Bugs Matter” study has been conducted on an annual basis since 2021, based on a reference survey by the RSPB in 2004. Analysis of records from nearly 26,500 UK journeys over this period shows a continuing decrease in insect numbers, with the number of insect splats nationwide in 2023, 78% lower than that of 2004. By logging their 4000 journeys, Openreach will help expand this dataset significantly and generate even more crucial data on flying insect populations across the UK.

Passengers on a pleasure boat were delighted to sail alongside dolphins weaving in and out of the waves.

Chrys Mellor captured the moment the playful pod was spotted diving near Bempton Cliffs, off the coast of Bridlington.

According to the RSPB, external, a pod of bottlenose dolphins often visits the area in search of food, coming all the way down from the north of Scotland.

Though dolphins are known of in the area, it is rare to see a display of breaching up close.

Record numbers of a butterfly once close to extinction have been recorded at a nature reserve, a wildlife trust has said.

The Essex Wildlife Trust said 218 heath fritillary butterflies had been counted at Pound Wood Nature Reserve near Hadleigh, Essex, this year.

Staff said the previous record at the reserve, which is especially managed to encourage the butterfly's recovery, was 148 in 2019.

Sewage was discharged for 18,674 hours – or 778 days – on Scottish political party leaders’ own doorsteps, i has found.

In total, there were 1,440 spills in rivers, lochs and coasts in the leaders’ constituency areas, according to new analysis of Scottish Water data.

i is urging political parties to get behind its manifesto to Save Britain’s Rivers, amid growing public anger over the amount of sewage dumped in the UK’s waterways.

For many voters in the south-east of England, tackling the issue of sewage in the sea and waterways will play a vital role in how they vote at the general election.

Emma Muddle, a sea swimmer from Hastings, said the “relentless and quite often unlawful” dumping of sewage into the sea was at the front of her mind heading into the election.

And Sarah Broadbent, from the Rye & District Chamber of Commerce, said most of the businesses in the area relied on the visitor economy – made harder by ongoing sewage issues.

Sleeping cuckoos, by Yorkshire-based Luke Chambers, has won this year's Royal Entomological Society Insect Week photography competition.

Chambers' photo shows two cuckoo bees resting on a blade of grass.

“Finding any sleeping invertebrate is always brilliant - but two so close together, well that's like winning the photography lottery," he said.

Whether you want to volunteer or just get up close to marine life, here are some of the best places to visit for a fresh view of your shores

Sand martin chicks born at a newly installed habitat have been spotted for the first time.

The chicks arrived at WWT Washington Wetland Centre in March, just eight months after the artificial nesting bank was built.

Sand martins usually breed twice a year and lay four to five eggs each time.

Reserve manager John Gowland said if the birds raise a second brood there could be about 70 chicks born from eight breeding pairs.

England's largest temperate rainforest has been announced as a new National Nature Reserve (NNR) by Natural England and the National Trust.

Borrowdale Valley in Cumbria represents a habitat that previously covered large parts of England but now only covers 1% of land in the country.

Jane Saxon, general manager at the National Trust, said: "By creating this nature reserve, we are actively managing the woodlands for nature conservation and access through compatible practices."

As you might expect, the Green Party’s manifesto for this year’s general election talks a lot about the environment, so there’s a lot for us to dig our teeth into here at EnvirotechOnline. One of these policies addresses a concern that is pretty niche by mainstream standards, but have been taken quite seriously by British politicians and ministers as well as by environmental organisations for quite some time: bee-killing pesticides.

Over 100 people gathered on the shores of Lough Neagh on Sunday afternoon to protest against the ongoing pollution in the local waterway.

The demonstration entitled ‘Loughshore Stands Up’ was organised by environmental activists from Save Lough Neagh.

The collaborative campaign is made up of volunteers from organisations such as Save Our Shores, Friends of the Earth, Surfers Against Sewage, Unison, the Green Party NI, and Queen’s University Belfast.

It’s been more than 170 years since eagles soared above Eryri, its mountains once synonymous with the majestic bird of prey. A video clip posted online has raised hopes that golden eagles may have now returned to their cultural home.

A photographer brewing a cup of tea by the Afon Glaslyn spotted a large bird flying high above Gelert’s Grave in the village of Beddgelert. His footage, taken at some distance, has divided opinion but some experts believe it shows a golden eagle. The spectacular bird has a wingspan of up to 2.3 metres.

Osprey and red kite were ruled out, with a buzzard the most likely alternative. Widespread across North Wales, they are commonly mistaken for eagles.

Thousands of amateur testers have checked on water quality in a huge campaign, and the results reveal pollution and struggling wildlife.