A dramatic decline in seabirds is charted by a Manx bird life organisation. There’s a link to the full report here;
http://manxbirdlife.im/seabirdcensus2017-18/
As indicated our current Celtic League Mannin branch Secretary Allen Moore has been prominent in charting the levels of bird life both on and offshore in Mann for many years via his work with ornithological organisations which he continues.
The Manx position replicates decline in the general bird population across all these Islands and indeed Celtic News highlighted the issue in recent years citing surveys in Ireland in particular.
Some sites have linked the decline to the fact that the Irish Sea hosts the largest offshore wind farm however the issues are likely to be more complex than this embracing climate change, pressure on marine resources and therefore the source of food for many threatened species and of course activity by man.
It shows we take the numbers of seabirds for granted and it’s not too many years ago that each summer brought a plague of scare stories about gulls which far from proliferating are declining savagely.
Also it’s only a few years ago that BAE systems wanted to slaughter (they called it a cull – nice word) thousands of black backed gulls on the Ribble estuary. Why? So they could test their war planes safely. Only determined action by the RSPB that had the resources to fight it through the courts averted the slaughter. It was however a close run situation.
So what is going on? At this stage it will take more research but it’s clear that unless man changes his ways we are going to be ‘lonely’. The sound of some shore birds, once common in the late dusk and evening are now gone!
Related links
https://greennews.ie/wintering-waterbirds-decline…/…
https://www.facebook.com/…/a.80637947…/3221335007915238/
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2096730910375659&id=805941286121301
https://www.facebook.com/…/a.806379472…/1067957093253051
Image: BAEs Warton factory and the bird they wanted to slaughter
Bernard Moffatt
ASG Celtic League (08/10/2020)
